NEW YORK CITY — The Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME), the NYC Department of Small Business Services (SBS), and Brooklyn Workforce Innovations (BWI) have announced the first class of graduates from the Made in NY Post Production Training Program (http://bwiny.org/post/hire), which is designed to prepare New Yorkers for high-quality careers in New York’s film and TV industry. The full-time, five-week intensive training course prepares unemployed and underemployed New Yorkers for entry-level positions in animation, editing, motion graphics, and visual effects. The program recently graduated its first cohort of 17 participants. As part of the next phase of the program, they will enter paid, work-based learning placements with local post production businesses working with film, television, commercial, and music video projects.
“Post production is a fast-growing sector of the larger film and television industry here in New York City, which continues to experience record-breaking growth,” says Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment commissioner Julie Menin. “We want to make sure that New Yorkers from all walks of life have the ability to access job opportunities in this exciting field. The Made in NY Post Production Training Program provides participants with specialized skills, and valuable work experience that will help them build promising careers.”
“The entertainment industry has always been closely linked with New York City, and this program is creating opportunities for more people to succeed in this field,” says Gregg Bishop, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Small Business Services. “The City is breaking down barriers to support an entertainment industry that reflects the talents and diversity of all of our people. Through an industry-informed, tailored program, we are also supporting sustained growth in the entertainment industry.”
The post production industry in New York is currently experiencing a period of significant expansion. Since the New York State Post-Production Film Tax Credit was created in 2010, the state has become a national leader, with 20 percent of all US post production firms based here. A recent study from the Post NY Alliance, a trade group that advocates for the industry, found that employment in New York’s post production field grew by 35 percent from 2004 to 2015, supporting over 23,000 jobs and generating $1.87 billion in income. Over 40 percent of the jobs in this industry do not require a bachelor’s degree, and over 90 percent of those offer on-the-job training.
Participants go through a comprehensive curriculum offering an overview of the post production industry. They then learn industry specific software programs, including Adobe Photoshop, Premiere, After Effects, Avid Media Composer, and The Foundry’s Nuke software. Upon completion of the five-week training, participants are connected to paid, work-based learning opportunities with local industry employers as part of the program. Trainees will receive $15 per hour for up to 280 hours of their work-based learning placements with a minimum of 30 hours worked per week. The city will provide 80 percent of the participants’ wages for the first six months of their placement with local post production businesses as an added incentive for hiring participants in the program.