Costa Mesa : Coast Colleges to Open Television Academy

Coast Community College District this fall is launching its new Cooperative Television Academy.

The academy courses will train community college students in skills used in the television and video industries.

The academy will use all of the district’s teaching outlets: Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, Coastline Community College with centers in different parts of the district, and Golden West College and television station KOCE, both in Huntington Beach.

The district, whose headquarters are in Costa Mesa, announced last spring that it plans to save KOCE by using the Public Broadcasting Station channel as part of a proposed academy for teaching community college students various television skills. At one time the district had planned to end its funding of the station.

The initial classes being offered this fall will cover 17 instructional areas, including theater arts, video, cinema, script writing, computer graphics and equipment operation. The courses will be in four categories: performance, production, maintenance/operations and consumer video.

The academy “is a concept, not a place or a thing,” said Richard Brightman, district director of special programs. “It pulls together all the courses that the three community colleges have previously offered and that are related to the television industry.”

Students enrolling in any of the three colleges may take the television-related courses in the other institutions at no extra cost. Brightman noted that the $50-a-semester maximum fee covers enrollment at all three colleges.

“Next spring we’ll be offering classes at KOCE,” Brightman said. “We think this new academy is an exciting idea. Students may currently enroll and pursue certificates in existing majors, such as TV production and broadcasting arts. Eventually we think there will be new certificate programs that will be added.”