Big Vision Empty Wallet co-founders Alex Cirillo and Dani Leonard understand the plight of the underfunded creator. That’s why their company helps television, film, digital series and multi-platform projects get off the ground. Cirillo and Leonard will be moderating the SXSW Interactive panel “Breaking Into TV in the Digital Age,” where they will discuss today’s creators, maintaining audiences and how the definition of television has changed.

Cirillo and Leonard have two programs in their company. The first they call an “incubator,” or a sort of two-week business focused retreat to Costa Rica. Because, as Cirillo says, “Who doesn’t want to develop their project in paradise?”

“I think it’s something that’s really enticing,” she said. “It helps us keep the quality high. It comes with a certain level of prestige, so we know that the people who are submitting, our working creators that have really high-quality projects, that they want to accelerate while they’re there.”

Their other project is Kickstart Diversity, a program to support the work of women, people of color and the LGBT community.

The Kickstart Diversity project was launched this past October and the two noted it’s nice to see diversity is something getting attention in recent weeks.

“In the past it was difficult for women, people of color and LGBT filmmakers to get their voices heard,” said Cirillo. “The tide is really turning and that’s something we’ll be speaking a lot about.”

“I think the Oscars are a really great opportunity to show people what the problem is,” Leonard said. “Because there is going to be this visual, they’re going to see a sea of white people in a room. It always was, but nobody pointed it out to people like our parents before.”

The panelists for the session have not yet been confirmed, and Cirillo says they’re looking to have a diverse panel as well.

Both Cirillo and Leonard are producers as well and have a separate company called Big Vision Creative, in which they often choose projects to work on that have first come through the Big Vision Empty Wallet program.

During the panel, the two hope to bring up a few issues within the changing world of television. Firstly, how do we now define TV? We watch shows on tablets and phones. We watch web series on big screen TVs. Television platforms, aside from networks, now have original content television shows.

“When it comes to broadcast TV, there are certain fewer independent creators because you need to be working with a network at the very least, to be getting your show on broadcast television,” Cirillo said. “In digital spaces there are far more independent creators.”

This is a time that benefits the creator, both Cirillo and Leonard said. But all creators need to stay on top of new happenings and new ways to engage their audience, they said.

“Both networks and platforms are looking at independent creators, seeing what properties have already been created that audiences have been attracted to,” said Leonard. “They’re looking for creators that have a built in audience they’re coming to the table with.”

With many platforms on which to share a series, and increasing competition for big networks, the market is hungry for good, unique content, Cirillo said.

“There’s so much more content that we’re able to watch now,” said Leonard. “They’re going to really have to make sure that their content is really engaging and maybe even participatory, especially if they want to keep a young audience.”

The panel is Saturday, March 12 at 3:30 p.m. in Austin Convention Center Room 12AB.