Watch: Carnegie Mellon’s ETC Celebrates 25 Years in New Video
By Hannah Kinney-Kobre Email Hannah Kinney-Kobre
This academic year marked the 25th anniversary of Carnegie Mellon University’s Entertainment Technology Center. Since its founding in 2000, the ETC has grown into a globally recognized program with more than 1,000 alumni working across games, film, immersive media, themed entertainment, and emerging technology.
To celebrate the milestone, the ETC released a new video featuring reflections from the artists, designers, technologists, and storytellers who have shaped the program over the past quarter century. It includes interviews with ETC Director Derek Ham; faculty members Jesse Schell, Ralph Vituccio, Brenda Bakker Harger, Vivian Shen, and Heather Kelley; staff members Steve Audia and Rebecca Lombardi; and alumni like Neil Druckmann (2005) and John Balash (2013).
The video was directed by 2016 ETC graduate Jaehee Cho, founder of the Pittsburgh-based creative studio Orta Interactive. To mark the occasion, we spoke with Cho about returning to the ETC to help tell the story of the program’s first 25 years.
What was it like coming back to the ETC to make this video?
It was really meaningful to come back to a place that had such a big impact on my life and career. The ETC was where I learned how to be ambitious, collaborate with others, and learn from failure. Returning to make this film brought back a lot of great memories.
How did you approach condensing the story of the ETC into just 5 minutes?
That was definitely the hardest part. The ETC has so many stories, people, and accomplishments that you could make a full documentary on it. In a short amount of time, I wanted to share the story of how the ETC was created, what’s happening now, and where it’s going. I hope I was able to capture the ETC’s unique creativity, collaboration, and energy that make it special.
What was your favorite part of making the video?
My favorite part was the interviews. 10 years after graduating, I had the chance to sit down with the people who shaped the ETC and get to know them on a more personal level. It was meaningful to reconnect with them and hear their stories in a new way. Also, being able to capture current students in class felt like stepping into a time machine.