On a hot April afternoon, Channing Smith, a radio-television-film (RTF) master’s student, listens closely to a voice crackling through a walkie talkie as the production team, filled with Moody College of Communication undergraduate and graduate students, readies themselves for the next scene. It’s an otherwise ordinary day on set as Smith, the film’s production manager, makes sure things run smoothly and on time, while also ensuring that the team’s basic needs are taken care of, from water to sunscreen.

What isn’t ordinary is the fact that the shoot is taking place at filmmaker Robert Rodriguez’s Troublemaker Studios in East Austin. Not only that, the film, “Piojo,” is directed by Miguel Alvarez, RTF area head for media production and assistant professor.

“I wanted this to be an experience of what it's really like to work on a professional set,” Alvarez said. “Here are the expectations, here's how fast things move, here's how things connect. I just wanted to take advantage of all the energy and creativity of the students because I get set into my ways. It’s a great opportunity to take in ideas from students and feed off their energy.”

Smith has held many positions on a set before, but this was her first time being a production manager. She says that getting to work on Alvarez’s film, and at such an interesting location, is a testament to not only the unique opportunities afforded by being a student at The University of Texas in Austin but also to the relationship between students, especially graduate students, and professors.

“I didn't go here for undergrad, but I do remember how those relationships were between me and professors during undergrad, and it's very different,” Smith said. “Here, they truly see us in this program as peers and as colleagues. It doesn’t feel like there’s a hierarchy in the classroom.”

“Piojo” is a short film set in the near future about a father who must confront his spirituality when the authorities use a new technology to take away his memories of his son. The sets at Troublemaker Studios were the perfect backdrop, featuring weathered-looking buildings that appear old yet still of a modern era. For a pivotal scene featuring the father and son characters, only the actors, Alvarez, and the film’s cinematographer, Sebastian Valdivieso, were able to fit in the un-air-conditioned room. The students on the crew running the lights used a scissor lift to reach the second-floor window.

Valdivieso is a 2022 graduate from the RTF Master of Fine Arts program. Originally from South America, Valdivieso didn’t initially study film, focusing instead of communications, but says that he always appreciated cinema. That appreciation led him to pursue his graduate education. Alvarez was on Valdivieso’s thesis committee, but was also one of his professors, so when he was asked to lend a hand on “Piojo,” there was no hesitation.

“I always find myself drawn to stories of struggle,” Valdivieso says. “I love naturalistic dramas and stories that are focused on characters. Those are the stories that really move me. Though ‘Piojo’ is a bit of a sci-fi movie, it’s very rooted in a father-son story so I’m happy that Miguel asked me to help. I knew that I was in good hands when working with him.”

As the scenes were captured upstairs, down below, others huddled around monitors, fitted with headphones, listening closely to ensure the audio and lines were captured clearly.

Alyssa Young, a recent RTF undergraduate who walked the stage last May, relished the opportunity to be on set.

“I was the production sound mixer for ‘Piojo’,” Young said. “This was a great opportunity to gain hands-on experience and to grow more confidence in my skills.”

Young was recommended to the production team by Korey Pereira, RTF audio area head and assistant professor of practice. She says she’s incredibly grateful to have been trusted with the sound on this project.

“Filming at Troublemaker Studios offered a unique experience that's rarely available to students,” Young said. “With the nature of the studio lot, I had the opportunity to debut Moody Equipment Checkout's new Blackbird sound cart. Korey let me assemble it and put it to use, which significantly elevated the workflow and professionalism of the sound department. This experience really pushed me to refine my workflow and operate at a more professional level.”

While Young captured the sound in real time, Pereira’s sound design class in Fall 2025 had the unique chance to edit it, making “Piojo” the ultimate group project, and major opportunity, for even more Moody College students.

“A big part of what I want to do is to give students an opportunity to experience what it’s like to work in real-world environments and I think this collaboration with Miguel did just that,” Pereira said. “It’s giving my students the chance to work on a real film while they are still students.”

Pereira was part of the inaugural cohort of faculty members and professors that collaborated with the Moody College of Communication's Center for Advancing Teaching Excellence (CATE). Together with CATE, project-based learning was incorporated into Pereira’s, and others, teaching methodology.

“After a conversation with Miguel, we decided to have my class work on this film,” Pereira said, noting how well this fit into the project-based learning model. “Typically, the challenge is that filmmakers want their film done within a specific timeframe, which can make it difficult to do as a course, but he worked alongside us and we developed a schedule, and he discussed with the class where he wants the sound of the film to go.”

Some of Pereira’s students even had the chance to be part of the talent, recording background voices for the film.

“When I talked to Korey, I told him that I had this weird short film, that it’s nontraditional and it literally has no dialogue in it and that if you hear people talking, it’s off camera,” Alvarez said. “I wanted the voices to be in Spanish, in English. It’s set in this fictional Latin American small city so I felt like it would allow his students to just play and to be creative as they came up with different things. I told them to have fun with the elements that are in the background, city sounds, people on the street, prayers, things like that. I wanted them to run with it!”

After years of planning and production, the release of “Piojo” during the Spring 2026 RTF End-of-Semester Screenings was a celebration of everyone’s hard work. Alvarez is proud of the final product and hopes students were able to walk away with a sense of accomplishment.

“One thing I hope students away from this shoot with is that no matter that ambition of the project, no matter how large it is, I think that if they really work hard and they really trust in themselves and their collaborators, they can really do anything.”