The Future of Storytelling: Where Creativity Meets Technology

Event ID: PP1163048

Fri, Mar 13, 2026 | 7:30 PM - 8:30 PM

Venue: Mexic-Arte Museum

View on Official SXSW

Summary

Storytelling has always been shaped by the tools we use to create. From Pixar’s cinematic rendering technologies to real-time game engines and emerging AI-native tools, a new creative infrastructure is transforming how stories are imagined, built, and experienced. In this conversation, leaders from film, gaming, and AI explore how creative pipelines are evolving—and what happens when intelligent tools begin collaborating with creators. As film, games, and AI converge, the next era of storytelling may emerge from entirely new ways of imagining and building worlds.

Contributors

Raw Event JSON

Large nested arrays are compacted for page readability. Full payload remains in dataset files.

Open JSON payload
{
  "id": "PP1163048",
  "track": "Tech & AI",
  "focus_area": null,
  "category": "Panel",
  "event_id": "PP1163048",
  "event_type": "panel",
  "format": "Panel",
  "genre": null,
  "subgenre": null,
  "name": "The Future of Storytelling: Where Creativity Meets Technology",
  "presented_by": "FuturePIXEL",
  "publish_at": "2026-03-10T17:30:00.000-05:00",
  "reservable": true,
  "reservable_id": "PP1163048",
  "reserved": false,
  "date": "2026-03-13",
  "end_time": "2026-03-13T15:30:00.000-05:00",
  "start_time": "2026-03-13T14:30:00.000-05:00",
  "message": null,
  "image": {
    "alt_text": "The Future of Storytelling: Where Creativity Meets Technology",
    "credit": null,
    "url": "https://images.sxsw.com/u6XHQHNcbi5osBrwDlHC7qRYAB4=/950x633/images.sxsw.com/187/2326f2c7-17de-6e26-486b-0fef02b79f03/pp1163048"
  },
  "credentials": [
    {
      "name": "Music Badge",
      "type": "music"
    },
    {
      "name": "Platinum Badge",
      "type": "platinum"
    },
    {
      "name": "Innovation Badge",
      "type": "innovation"
    },
    {
      "name": "Film & TV Badge",
      "type": "filmtv"
    }
  ],
  "contributors": [
    {
      "id": 109586,
      "company": "IDEO",
      "credential_types": [
        "filmtv",
        "innovation",
        "music"
      ],
      "entity_id": 2284796,
      "name": "Ziyuan Zhu",
      "speaker_types": [
        "Speaker"
      ],
      "title": "Creative Technologist",
      "image": {
        "alt_text": "Ziyuan Zhu",
        "credit": null,
        "url": "https://images.sxsw.com/CUFA6kVSxrbKUNDRw0r9Uq6-H40=/600x600/images.sxsw.com/48/19325743-10e4-2455-97e5-fe7e2711b1b1/pcid-1660537"
      },
      "speaker_type": "Speaker",
      "details": "Ziyuan “Zoey” Zhu is a designer, creative technologist, and curator exploring the intersection of art, design, and emerging technology. She works at IDEO, where she prototypes future product experiences using AI, data visualization, and spatial computing, investigating how new tools reshape creativity and storytelling.\n\nHer work has been featured at SXSW, the MIT Museum, iF Design Award, and SF Design Week. Previously, she conducted research at the MIT Senseable City Lab, focusing on interactive data visualization and intelligent hardware systems.\n\nZoey is also the co-founder of FuturePIXEL House at SXSW, a platform bringing together artists, technologists, and founders to explore the future of creativity. She holds dual master’s degrees in Design Studies and Computer Science from MIT.",
      "links": {},
      "type": "person"
    },
    {
      "id": 109585,
      "company": "Amber Studio",
      "credential_types": [
        "filmtv",
        "innovation",
        "music"
      ],
      "entity_id": 2284795,
      "name": "Mihai Pohontu",
      "speaker_types": [
        "Speaker"
      ],
      "title": "CEO",
      "image": {
        "alt_text": "Mihai Pohontu",
        "credit": null,
        "url": "https://images.sxsw.com/8GW7SEl1WhgMZ3vB_ivA7b3-NMw=/600x600/images.sxsw.com/48/e80c9a57-b58e-2959-d59d-c54c17cecc30/pcid-736"
      },
      "speaker_type": "Speaker",
      "details": "Mihai Pohontu is the founder and CEO of Amber, a global game development agency working with major entertainment companies including Amazon, Disney, Warner Media, and Roblox. Amber operates as a network of studios across North America, Europe, and Latin America, supporting the development of interactive entertainment experiences.\n\nBefore founding Amber, Mihai held leadership roles across the gaming and technology industries, including VP of Emerging Platforms at Samsung, Product Operations at Disney Interactive, and leadership positions at Electronic Arts.\n\nHis work focuses on building global creative teams and developing large-scale interactive storytelling experiences across the games industry.",
      "links": {},
      "type": "person"
    },
    {
      "id": 109584,
      "company": "TapNow",
      "credential_types": [
        "filmtv",
        "innovation",
        "music"
      ],
      "entity_id": 2284794,
      "name": "Jessie Qin",
      "speaker_types": [
        "Speaker"
      ],
      "title": "CEO, co-Founder",
      "image": {
        "alt_text": "Jessie Qin",
        "credit": null,
        "url": "https://images.sxsw.com/MJKZDqCf6BVmU1HygLkhL2bFN-o=/600x600/images.sxsw.com/48/b2c0f04a-76cf-7fd4-7c06-fe3ef40fd525/pcid-735"
      },
      "speaker_type": "Speaker",
      "details": "Jessie Qin is the Co-founder and CEO of TapNow, an AI-native creative platform focused on transforming commercial video production. Her work explores how intelligent tools can radically simplify complex creative workflows while giving creators greater control and flexibility.\n\nJessie began experimenting with applied AI agents in creative and commercial workflows as early as 2023. Her team has developed new interaction models for visual production, including an Infinite Canvas system powered by AI-driven nodes that enables creators to collaborate with intelligent systems in real time.\n\nWith a background spanning technology, finance, and product innovation, Jessie focuses on building tools that redefine how creators work with AI.",
      "links": {},
      "type": "person"
    },
    {
      "id": 109583,
      "company": "Pixar",
      "credential_types": [
        "filmtv",
        "innovation",
        "music"
      ],
      "entity_id": 2284793,
      "name": "Dylan Sisson",
      "speaker_types": [
        "Speaker"
      ],
      "title": "Head of RenderMan Creative Engagement",
      "image": {
        "alt_text": "Dylan Sisson",
        "credit": null,
        "url": "https://images.sxsw.com/Z1hV3RZ6_9RJxJhqHfWRt4SCOwA=/600x600/images.sxsw.com/48/ef612f4e-2f4d-7beb-a180-b4b0ca092734/pcid-733"
      },
      "speaker_type": "Speaker",
      "details": "Dylan Sisson is a digital artist and creative leader at Pixar Animation Studios, where he serves as Head of Creative Strategy for RenderMan, Pixar’s groundbreaking rendering technology used in every Pixar film. Over more than two decades at Pixar, he has helped shape the evolution and adoption of RenderMan across the film industry.\n\nBeyond Pixar, Dylan is an active artist exploring emerging media including VR, AI, 3D printing, and stylized rendering. His work focuses on how new technologies expand the language of visual storytelling. Through both technical innovation and artistic experimentation, Dylan continues to explore how creative tools shape the future of cinematic expression.",
      "links": {},
      "type": "person"
    }
  ],
  "venue": {
    "accessible": false,
    "age_policy": null,
    "floor": null,
    "id": "V1039",
    "indoor_outdoor": "INDOOR",
    "mixhalo_url": null,
    "name": "Mexic-Arte Museum",
    "parent_id": null,
    "parent_venue_name": null,
    "venue_entry_info": null,
    "formats": null,
    "location": {
      "address": "419 Congress Ave.",
      "lat_lon": [
        30.266849,
        -97.742784
      ],
      "city": "Austin",
      "postal_code": "78701",
      "state": "TX",
      "name": "Mexic-Arte Museum"
    },
    "root": null,
    "events": "[omitted 5 venue events]"
  },
  "description": "Storytelling has always been shaped by the tools we use to create. From Pixar’s cinematic rendering technologies to real-time game engines and emerging AI-native tools, a new creative infrastructure is transforming how stories are imagined, built, and experienced.\n\nIn this conversation, leaders from film, gaming, and AI explore how creative pipelines are evolving—and what happens when intelligent tools begin collaborating with creators. As film, games, and AI converge, the next era of storytelling may emerge from entirely new ways of imagining and building worlds.",
  "experience_level": "Intermediate",
  "audio_url": null,
  "accessibility": [],
  "accessible_venue": false,
  "add_bcl_url": false,
  "add_slido": false,
  "after_midnight": null,
  "age_policy": null,
  "american_sign_language": false,
  "apple_url": null,
  "audio_description": false,
  "caption_url": null,
  "captioned_qa": false,
  "closed_captioned": false,
  "cpe_credit": false,
  "event_status": "none",
  "has_subtitles": false,
  "hash_tags": [],
  "high_sensory_experience": false,
  "live": false,
  "long_description": "Storytelling has always been shaped by the tools we use to create. From Pixar’s cinematic rendering technologies to real-time game engines and emerging AI-native tools, a new creative infrastructure is transforming how stories are imagined, built, and experienced.\n\nIn this conversation, leaders from film, gaming, and AI explore how creative pipelines are evolving—and what happens when intelligent tools begin collaborating with creators. As film, games, and AI converge, the next era of storytelling may emerge from entirely new ways of imagining and building worlds.",
  "meeting_url": null,
  "meeting_url_live": false,
  "mentorly_url": null,
  "mobile_audio_url": null,
  "open_captioned": false,
  "playlist_tag": null,
  "rebroadcast": false,
  "recommended_ids": [],
  "search_conversions": null,
  "short_program": false,
  "slido_url": null,
  "sort": "FUTURE OF STORYTELLING: WHERE CREATIVITY MEETS TECHNOLOGY",
  "source": "Official",
  "squad_up_url": null,
  "stream_embed": null,
  "stream_id": null,
  "stream_url": null,
  "strobe_warning": false,
  "subdiscipline": null,
  "summit": null,
  "summit_display_name": null,
  "tags": [
    {
      "id": 2576,
      "name": "Recently Added",
      "created_at": "2026-02-26T12:08:59.538-06:00",
      "updated_at": "2026-02-26T12:08:59.538-06:00",
      "sort": "RECENTLY ADDED",
      "alpha": "R"
    }
  ],
  "talent_attending": null,
  "title_only": false,
  "track_display_name": "Tech & AI track sponsored by IBM",
  "trailer_id": null,
  "trailer_url": null,
  "video_on_demand": null,
  "vimeo_id": null,
  "vod": false,
  "xr_project_type": null,
  "youtube_id": null,
  "related_events": [],
  "related_sales_client": null
}