The Spring sessions of the Video and Vlogging Boot Camps for the Gig Economy have come to a close, with over fifty students learning what it takes to get started in entertainment. The eight-week boot camps were held at both Birmingham High School and Los Angeles Valley College (LAVC) in parallel sessions attended by students from multiple community colleges in the region, culminating with Meet the Pros, a final event at LAVC.
Dan Watanabe, ICT-Digital Media Deputy Sector Navigator (Los Angeles Region) worked closely with Doris Driver, Business & Entrepreneurship DSN to produce the boot camps, and is pleased with the student feedback they received.
“The feedback was highly positive, with all attendees rating it either “excellent” or “very good,” said Watanabe. “More than half said they would definitely recommend others take it and almost all are interested in attending further sessions over the summer.”
By the end of the eight weeks, students came away with a working knowledge of how a production operates in the office, on the set and during post-production and delivery.
Numerous industry professionals were brought in to help students understand what skills they need to get a job in a particular sector. To help students see the roadmap, each session also included information on what courses should be taken, certificates earned, and strategies for moving from an entry level position to a higher-level position.
Experts also showed how they’ve been able to use the skills gained from their years in the business in other endeavors.
Watanabe says the boot camps are highly scalable and can be one in a compact one-day session or the usual nine-week iteration. He has plans to make this offering available to more community college students across the state.
“One of the things I would like to do with our funding, if possible, is to travel the boot camp not only throughout the area, but ultimately have smaller versions that can move statewide,” said Watanabe.
Have you heard?
The ICT-Digital Media Sector has launched the Entertainment-EDGE website, designed specifically for students interested in getting started in entertainment. It’s a comprehensive search engine for all entertainment courses available in the community colleges across the state and offers how-to advice on pathways that lead to a job in the industry.
Colleges are invited to list their courses and feature their talented instructors on the site, to show up in student searches.
Enter your courses today: www.ent-edge.org