Overview The Digital Pathways Initiative (DPI):Dakar Apprenticeship Education Experience. We propose a Warner Brother -led experiential education designed to prepare student participants to connect with business executives from Warner Brothers and family organizations(e.g. HBO) as qualified candidates for internships and entry-level opportunities. The program will educate the students in areas including content creation, communication, project management, and leadership and collaboration skills, along with frameworks for understanding the larger entertainment/technology industry landscape. The program will culminate students producing individual Portfolio Pieces appropriate for seeking real-world career opportunities.
Student Selection The program’s participants will be selected from the group that has already completed a significant portion of the Strong Work-Force core instructional programs related to media production (entertainment technology, interaction design, media content development, promo pathways).
Industry Participation The program will feature industry practitioners and business leaders from Warner Brother who will participate in all phases of the experience: as guest lecturers, advisors, team mentors, and judges. We will also look to create partnerships with governmental and educational partners to allow for site visits, donation of time and resources and more.
Program Sequence The program will comprise 2- semesters and winter-break instructional workshops (every Friday for 5 hours). Its curriculum will draw on those from Warner Brother, and will be augmented by guest visitor lectures, visits to partner company sites, and “field-based” experiential learning opportunities. Picked Warner Brothers professionals will serve as participating mentors to the students, helping them to “move up the food-chain” - e.g., from community colleges to four-year universities’ and eventually to apprenticeship.
Outcomes The program’s primary goal is participant placement in Warner Brother or one of its family company’s apprenticeship and/or entry-level roles. We also expect to incubate selected students beyond the sixweek track and link them with industry relationships such as Hart Beat Studios where they can further develop their skills and gain real-world experience. Workshops and instructional sessions and experiences will also be captured and packaged online for livestream (and then archived) sharing with the broader community college audience (outreach metrics will be gathered as proof points).
Timeline A pilot version of the program can start October 2022 (see below). Lessons learned and emerging best practices (as well as evolving partnerships) can be developed and applied to the first flight program in the new year. First flight can start fall semester 2022. It’s expected the program can subsequently run annually, with time in between each flight to develop and apply iterative optimizations, and to gather partner participants (organizations, mentors, curriculum events, etc.)
Pilot program: Sequence & Activities We propose a pilot program – an abbreviated version of the initiative – to develop lessons learned, best practices, and to cultivate existing and possible new partnership and participation opportunities. All elements for this pilot are in place to be delivered and measured my modules that are in 20 hours units. •
Introduction: Warner Brother Welcome, Thursday, Semptember9th, Warner Brothers Studio, Burbank, hosted by, Sally Chan, invited 10 students for pre-apprenticeship.
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Instruction & pre-training: Student, Damone Williams will get instruction on business information worker moduleshttps://ict-dm.net/biw, conditional coding from Applehttps://www.apple.com/everyone-can-code/and trained on effective work habits, small group communication, and ideation https://issuu.com/victorybyvalorfinal/docs/lavrh_rapid_ideation_workshop_18031
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Module 1:Warner Brothers History and Possibilities. Students learn about how Warner Brothers has grown to be the world’s largest entertainment organization, and especially how to interview and possibly enter a career in one of Warner Brothers many divisions (and/or family companies). Classes will feature guest speakers from Warner Brothers Employee Resource groups, from leading tech and entertainment companies, and visits to Warner and other sites.
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Module 2: Building Your Digital Footprint. Students determine and begin their Portfolio Projects. Students are assigned an industry mentor to help guide them, and match their project and its execution to real-world opportunities, so their outputs can be used in seeking career opportunities.
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Module 3: Decision-Making and Team Building. (Concurrent with Module 2), student teams learn frameworks and concepts for working in corporate environments, including rapid ideation, development and deployment, project scoping and planning, prioritization strategies, communication best practices, data-driven decisioning, etc. (DPI Badgeshttp://s172518151.onlinehome.us/dpi/site/).
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Module 4: Presentation: Students present their portfolio projects for the class and industry partners, and can make the final projects available online.
Cost This program will be run by DPI and delivered at a cost per Apprentice to cover instructional & materials costs, transportation for site visits as needed, and some equipment. We expect partners to provide instructional space, use of partners logos and marks, and potentially a venue for the pitch and screening days.
About the Digital Pathways Initiative: The Digital Pathways Initiative seeks to transform the economic landscape for the next generation of digital leaders by connecting underrepresented groups with educational, experiential and job opportunities in the technology and media sectors.
About Dakar Interactive DAKAR helps companies innovate, solve problems and leverage data & insights to make better decisions. DAKAR is passionate about solving problems and turning innovation into things that can improve people’s lives. Our proprietary tool provides certification and leveraged portfolio collateral. DPIhttp://s172518151.onlinehome.us/dpi/site/
Dakar Apprenticeship: First Flight (1) student to start registered apprenticeship model. Damone Williams, a college student that we’ve been working with since April, 2022 will officially launch Apprenticeship September 9th. •
Damone Williams is a student is a senior at the beginning of the program Apprenticeship. All apprentices must complete an application, turn in a resume, cover letter, and two letters of recommendation.
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Damone Williams Apprenticeship at Warner Brothers, 144-hours of Apprenticeship Credit from Dakar, and 2000 hours of pay from $15 per hour to scale to $20 per hour
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Damone will work as Production and Development Apprentices for Dakar Foundation, including ,www.Brownbagtv.org,www.dakarfoundation.org,
Damone will produce (5) projects over the calendar year, Fall 2022-2023 Spring 2023 •
Damone will develop an idea for a project and pitch them as if they were in the studio system. Dakar fellows will vote on which projects they decide to “pick up”. Students are assigned roles within production and roles are switched per project so students can learn different positions.
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Damone will participate in professional development and production courses The Business of Hollywood (Lectures, panels, and Q&A’s with industry professionals) The Development Process for the Creative Industries Professional Production Methods Promotional trailers, encoding, transcoding for all platforms, mobile, Immersive Media, 2D-3D-4d Modeling. Creating digital profile, i.e. LinkedIn, IMDB, YouTube, Vimeo, WordPress, Twitter. Enter Participating Partners Pipeline Database, lead generation for recruitment ,AME Conference, 2022,ODMEO,USC ICT Research, Mobile World Congress Las Vegas, NAB, Warner Brothers Studio, , UCLA Global Sports Summit, Veterans Day Parade Of Heroes, Fallen 66 Memorial Day Campaign, AME Conference 2023
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Additional Incentives Damone is paired with professional mentors based on his specific career interest. Damone is given the opportunity to tour major production studios and attend industry-related events. Damone earns an IMDb credit for his productions and Apprenticeship work. Damone’s projects are showcased and celebrated during a mini-film festival with friends and family. Damone is assisted with job/ placement upon completion of the program. Things to decide Payment/Stipend – Apprentice Damone Williams is paid $15 per hour, so he doesn’t have to find outside work while attending Cal State Northridge. Damone will learn financial literacy, and learn how to build a business plan, with financials. Housing –Dakar Foundation is providing housing for Damone, ag 6115 ½ South Victoria Ave. 90043 Funding Partners – Warner Brothers, City of Los Angeles,EWDD, JP Morgan Chase.
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Point of Contact Kevin Clark Dakar Foundation 6115 ½ South Victoria Ave Los Angeles, Ca 90043 www.dakarfoundation.org Kevinclark@dakarfoundation.org (818) 918-7684