Creating Pathways Through Film: Niloo Jalilvand

#156: In this episode of the Dance Behind the Screen Podcast, host Martheya Nygaard Scott sits down with Niloo Jalilvand, filmmaker, educator, multidisciplinary artist, and founder and executive director of Pegasus Media Project, to explore how storytelling, technology, and education can create more accessible pathways into the creative industries.

Niloo shares how more than two decades in education—and an after-school film club she started while teaching mathematics at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts—eventually grew into Pegasus Media Project. She discusses the connection between math and filmmaking, the importance of removing barriers to creative education, and Pegasus's whole-person approach to supporting emerging filmmakers.

The conversation explores collaboration, access, and creative workforce development, including how Pegasus provides tuition-free training, mentorship, hands-on production experience, and pathways into the professional film industry. Niloo reflects on why trust and care are essential to learning and why the impact of arts education can't always be captured by numbers alone.

Niloo and Martheya also dig into dance on screen, exploring the relationship between movement and filmmaking. Niloo offers practical advice for dance filmmakers—from building the right team and rehearsing with the camera to thinking of the camera itself as part of the choreography.

The conversation then turns toward AI, technology, and ethics in the arts. Niloo shares her perspective on balancing technological access with the need to protect human creativity, consent, and original thought. Through a deeply personal story about her late father's voice being recreated with AI, she raises important questions about ownership, ethics, and how far emerging technologies should go.

Finally, Niloo reflects on the growing North Texas film community, the value of collaboration over competition, and why curiosity is essential to building a more open and creative future.

00:00 Meet Niloo Jalilvand + Flash Four
02:00 From Math Teacher to Filmmaker
04:00 The Origins of Pegasus Media Project
05:00 Creating Accessible Pathways into Film
09:00 Trust + the Whole-Person Approach
12:00 Why Filmmaking Starts with Connection
14:00 Measuring Impact Beyond the Numbers
16:00 Creating Pathways into the Film Industry
18:00 Dance + Movement for the Camera
22:00 Advice for Dance Filmmakers
24:00 Building a Film Team on a Budget
26:00 AI, Technology + the Future of Creativity
33:00 Technology as a Tool for Access
36:00 AI, Voice + Consent
40:00 Making Space for Difficult Conversations
44:00 The Future of Film in North Texas
45:00 Collaboration Over Competition
50:00 Saying NO to the BOX
51:00 Curiosity as a Creative Practice
53:00 Connect with Niloo + Pegasus Media Project
54:00 Global Recognition at Cannes

To watch the show click HERE.

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This season of the Dance Behind the Screen Podcast is supported in part by the Moody Fund for the Arts and our generous individual Season Sponsors, Dexter & Jenel Evans and Helen & James Gallas.

Say NO to the BOX and YES to the future of dance.