 Creative industry training in Georgia’s higher education sector

Roughly half of the University System of Georgia’s higher educational institutions are either expanding their existing media production programs to train for the growth in film industry work, or have added new degree proposal requests now under consideration in the Board of Regents. A key example is the new Master of Fine Arts degree, authorized as a collaboration between the University of Georgia and the Georgia Film Academy. That three-year program aims to train advanced above-the-line (that is, individuals who have creative control) workers who will benefit both from the strong academic preparation of UGA film faculty, along with the opportunity for in-person, in-studio training at the GFA’s advanced content production complex. Students will produce major final projects in the GFA studios under the supervision of University of Georgia faculty—both institutions are expecting that graduates will help populate the state’s workforce, so that state-produced projects can be launched and produced from start to finish.

The Georgia Film Academy plays an essential role in workforce training. Authorized by the state legislature and headed until 2022 by Jeff Stepakoff, an industry professional attracted to Georgia by the fast growth in television production work, the GFA partners with more than two dozen state universities and technical and community colleges in Georgia to provide hands-on industry training. The initial, and now most popular, program is an 18-credit hour certificate in film production. Students enroll from across the state in a first course that teaches students the various crew positions on a live film stage. Later, GFA matches the most promising students with internships (in 2020, GFA launched an internship partnership with Disney), while the certificate is completed by taking other elective industry-focused classes. In 2019, GFA formed a partnership with AVID, the producer of key digital film and sound editing software. Today students can enroll in a two course sequence that prepares them to be AVID-certified.

In February 2021, the Georgia Film Academy announced two new certificate programs that reflect the core case made here: that the state investments in the film industry can be leveraged to build a broader content creation ecosystem. Both launched in fall 2021. One program trains students for work in postproduction, digital editing, and special effects— beyond the AVID course sequence, students will have access to new classes in sound editing. The other new certificate prepares students for work in the emerging esports industry. In partnership with SkillShot and other key games industries studios at work in Georgia, the esports certificate will train students to organize videogame competitions, to produce those at professional levels of production quality for live broadcast over online platforms such as Twitch, and to develop broadcasting skills. Georgia State University partnered with GFA to offer the first course in the esports curriculum in 2020; like the other GFA programs, students across the state will have full access to the training.

GFA has also begun programs to train high school teachers connected to school media centers and media training classes, so that students can be taught starting in high school by teachers knowledgeable of statewide opportunities. On a limited basis, students can enroll in the first film production certificate course given access through dual enrollment.

The range of training programs offered by the state’s higher educational institutions now offer multiple pathways to career success. Some of the oldest degree programs (such as those offered in film at the University of Georgia and Georgia State University) are film-focused, providing students with the contextualizing background knowledge in film history and theory necessary to build a maturing artistic vision suitable to the most advanced studio work. Many others contextualize media production skills in mass communication majors, where students blend training in social media, public relations, strategic communication, and television production, all preparing them for work in corporate media (those programs include the generalist communication majors at Georgia Southern, Kennesaw State University, Georgia State University, Georgia Gwinnett College, and others). Still others focus almost entirely in hands-on production coursework (such as a new undergraduate major at Clark Atlanta University) or utilize the state’s new commitment to vocationallygrounded Nexus degrees (e.g., Columbus State University). At Georgia Tech, students can undertake a videogame development sequence contextualized by classes offered in a new media major. And at Georgia State University, a media entrepreneurship major educates students desiring to combine core production specializations (e.g., in film, games, music, and social media) with integrated instruction in media entrepreneurship and advanced technology production pipelines.

The statewide enrollment growth in these programs of study is significant and has helped to provide the core workforce necessary to support multiple simultaneous productions. While some program graduates migrate to California and New York to pursue professional opportunities there, the largest majorities remain in Georgia. The GFA training pipeline is one of the factors that has led to fast growth in Georgia membership in the main production unions, especially the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts (IATSE). The Georgia IATSE chapter (Local 479) now includes more than 6,000 certified professionals.