Film produced by Erin Miller ’16 to have its world premiere at SXSW

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A film produced by Erin Miller ’16, will have its world premiere at the South by Southwest (SXSW) 2020 Film Festival next month in Austin, Texas.  An Innovation Council program coordinator at the Capital Factory in Austin, Miller was a Newhouse Advertising major and an Information Technology, Design, and Startups (IDS) minor in the iSchool.  Along with co-founders Losa Amara Meru and Johnny Rosa, she launched Out There Productions as a student startup, one of the first companies to graduate from the LaunchPad.

Zoe Hanh is a narrative short that tells the story of a young woman caught in a lie by her suspicious mom.  With tensions already high from recently losing a loved one, their relationship unhinges.  It will debut at the AUSTIN CONVENTION CENTER  SXSW FILM THEATER on March 13, 2020 during the 8:45 p.m. to  10:15 p.m. block, and has other showings also scheduled at the festival throughout the week.

“This was the first film I made in Austin and we finally get to share it with the world,” said Miller.  “Written and directed by the comedic mastermind Kim Tran, the film highlights the dynamic between a mother and daughter through an Asian American lens. Sometimes we lie to the people close to us because we don’t know how to talk to them. And it hurts all of us. Let’s continue to tell stories that make people think and change behavior. Let’s challenge genres and entertainment expectations. We’re taking small steps and making big moves. We ascend together.”

The film was written and directed by Kim Tran, a writer and director who has written for Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls, and is a finalist for the HBO Pitch Competition at the Women in Comedy Festival. She performs with Austin’s first and only all Asian-American improv and sketch groups.  Miller formed the collaboration with Tran after moving to Austin to work at the Capital Factory, an accelerator where tech and creative communities come together to learn and connect. With over 81,000 square feet of coworking space, 900 tech-focused events, 150+ of the top tech mentors in Texas, quarterly Founders Academy, and a VR Lab, it brands itself as the “center of gravity” for the innovation community in Austin.Miller described her film making journey that led her to Texas. “I make shareable content about people with game-changing ideas. After graduating from Syracuse University, I raised $15,000 to purchase and renovate an old school bus into a mobile studio. My two founders and I traveled across the country for an entire year making movies about entrepreneurs to help them with their growth and marketing.  After a year on the road, my founders and I decided to park in Syracuse, NY where we got out start. We took a year to give back to the community by co-producing a short film called No Nuts which stars 11 Syracuse youth who went through a 2-day workshop to learn about character development, current issues in the film industry, and how they could identify and amplify their individual voices on and off film.”

“I am an entrepreneur, advertising specialist, and artist. With a passion for creative storytelling and a knack for making connections, I plan to make my way in the world through creating honest, moving, and shareable content to get awesome ideas out there.”

She also continues to mentor SU student entrepreneurs through the iSchool and the LaunchPad.  Catch her Tuesday evening, February 11 at 7 p.m. for a video chat in the LaunchPad in Bird Library.

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Learn more about Zoe and Hanh here:  https://schedule.sxsw.com/2020/films/2024848