Mentor Session: Michaela Guzy (OTPYM Productions)

{
  "id": "PP1149529",
  "track": "Creator Economy",
  "focus_area": null,
  "category": "Mentor Session",
  "event_id": "PP1149529",
  "event_type": "panel",
  "format": "Mentor Session",
  "genre": null,
  "subgenre": null,
  "name": "Mentor Session: Michaela Guzy (OTPYM Productions)",
  "presented_by": null,
  "publish_at": "2026-01-16T10:00:00.000-06:00",
  "reservable": true,
  "reservable_id": "PP1149529",
  "reserved": false,
  "date": "2026-03-13",
  "end_time": "2026-03-13T11:15:00.000-05:00",
  "start_time": "2026-03-13T10:00:00.000-05:00",
  "message": null,
  "image": null,
  "credentials": [
    {
      "name": "Platinum Badge",
      "type": "platinum"
    },
    {
      "name": "Innovation Badge",
      "type": "innovation"
    }
  ],
  "contributors": [
    {
      "id": 79184,
      "company": "OTPYM Productions",
      "credential_types": [
        "innovation"
      ],
      "entity_id": 2240255,
      "name": "Michaela Guzy",
      "speaker_types": [
        "Speaker"
      ],
      "title": "Founder/CEO/Exec Producer/Director/Writer/On-Air",
      "image": {
        "alt_text": "Michaela Guzy",
        "credit": null,
        "url": "https://images.sxsw.com/5LYnVK-wR8Sjno87abJDY308-oE=/1x811:4282x5092/600x600/images.sxsw.com/48/e3621cb2-ab43-4103-a057-1a84f2e82eb0/pcid-1581058"
      },
      "speaker_type": "Speaker",
      "details": "Founder, Creator + Executive Producer\nMichaela Guzy is an American documentary filmmaker, travel journalist, media executive, producer, and on-air host. She is the founder of OhThePeopleYouMeet Productions (OTPYM), launched in 2012 after serving as VP of Global Travel & Strategic Development at American Express Publishing.\n\nShe creates and hosts the award-winning series OH THE PEOPLE YOU MEET with Michaela Guzy, spotlighting PEOPLE, PLACES + PURPOSES while empowering local voices to tell their own stories. The series has aired on Qatar Airways and American Airlines in-flight, Modern Luxury’s M/LUX Network, People’s Planet (Southern Africa), KTLA+, and Thrive Global. Season 4 began filming in May 2025.\n\nIn response to COVID-19, Michaela launched InspirationStation, a visual podcast with 125+ episodes and more than 10 million views across OTPYM channels. In June 2020, she gave up her NYC home and belongings to launch SLEEPING AROUND SAFELY, demonstrating that travel could resume responsibly. Since then, she has embraced a houseless (not homeless) lifestyle, traveling to 120+ countries while highlighting the world’s best luxury hotels, cruise lines, and safari experiences. The series has won multiple film festival awards and is distributed on M/LUX, People’s Planet, and KTLA+.\n\nA global advocate for sustainable living, regenerative travel, and human connection, Michaela speaks at conferences and festivals worldwide and appears as an expert on CBS, FOX, NBC, FintechTV at the NYSE, PIX11, Channel News Asia, CHEK TV, and KTLA. A former NYU adjunct professor, she mentors emerging filmmakers across Southern Africa and supports initiatives focused on ending homelessness and breaking the poverty cycle. She serves on advisory boards including Global Women’s Foundation Band of Brothers (Veterans) and Future of Hospitality Summit Africa.",
      "links": {},
      "type": "person"
    }
  ],
  "venue": {
    "accessible": false,
    "age_policy": null,
    "floor": "4",
    "id": "V0367",
    "indoor_outdoor": "INDOOR",
    "mixhalo_url": "https://translate.mixhalo.rocks/?venue_id=429&partner=true",
    "name": "Room 400-402",
    "parent_id": "V0365",
    "parent_venue_name": "Hilton Austin Downtown",
    "venue_entry_info": null,
    "formats": null,
    "location": {
      "address": "500 E 4th St.",
      "lat_lon": [
        30.2651364,
        -97.7381904
      ],
      "city": "Austin",
      "postal_code": "78701",
      "state": "TX",
      "name": "Hilton Austin Downtown"
    },
    "root": {
      "id": "V0365",
      "name": "Hilton Austin Downtown",
      "mixhalo_url": null
    },
    "events": "[omitted 5 venue events]"
  },
  "description": "Meeting with this mentor is highly recommended if you're interested in Content Strategy/Production, \"Diversity, Equity & Inclusion\", Entrepreneurship, Journalism, Marketing/Advertising/PR, Storytelling, Sustainability.",
  "experience_level": "Beginner",
  "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": "Meeting with this mentor is highly recommended if you're interested in Content Strategy/Production, \"Diversity, Equity & Inclusion\", Entrepreneurship, Journalism, Marketing/Advertising/PR, Storytelling, Sustainability.",
  "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": "MENTOR SESSION: MICHAELA GUZY (OTPYM PRODUCTIONS)",
  "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": [],
  "talent_attending": null,
  "title_only": false,
  "track_display_name": "Creator Economy track sponsored by Yamaha",
  "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
}