College to Open New-Media Academy

Aiming to help ease a talent crunch in Southern California’s burgeoning new-media industry, Santa Monica College is set to unveil Tuesday a new academy designed to train students for careers in computer animation, special effects and other digital jobs in high demand.

Dubbed the Academy of Entertainment & Technology, the two-year program is the most extensive of its kind among community colleges, administrators say. It is housed in a new center that has been outfitted with $2.5 million worth of computer equipment and sits near the hub of the region’s multimedia industry.

“We want to train students for a growing job market,” said Katharine Muller, dean of the academy. “We did a lot of research two years ago and it became obvious that this was an area where there was a big need.”

Indeed, many of the region’s leading multimedia companies helped shape the program and expect it to become an important training ground for future employees. Companies including DreamWorks SKG, Lucas Digital, Walt Disney Pictures and Capitol Records have been key backers, participating on the academy’s advisory board and offering internships to students.

The academy could help fill a yawning employment gap at the intersection of Hollywood and high-technology, said Bob Hoffman, director of publicity at Digital Domain, a Venice-based special effects studio whose work includes scenes in the motion picture “Titanic” and the Budweiser lizard commercials.

“Digital Domain and other companies like us are searching the world for digital artists,” said Hoffman, who serves on the academy’s advisory board. “It would be nice to think that we could cultivate local candidates.”

At $12 per unit, the academy will offer some of the most affordable high-tech training around. But administrators emphasized that the program aims to teach fundamentals, not to compete with the high-level training offered at local universities and arts schools, such as the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia and the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena.

The Santa Monica program will offer training in computer animation, visual effects and new media. It will also offer a business track for students seeking management careers in the entertainment industry, including theme parks.

The program was introduced in temporary quarters on campus last year but moved to a newly refurbished building off campus earlier this year. The building was completed recently, and the college has planned a celebratory inaugural for Tuesday evening.

Admission to the program is already competitive. Muller said about 300 students are enrolled and that about 200 applicants have been turned away. Within two years, the program is expected to have room for as many as 600 students.

The academy was created with the help of $1.25 million in state funds and with equipment donations from companies such as 3Com, Digital Equipment and Intergraph.

Greg Brown, director of telecommunications for the college, said the technology systems were designed to mimic those in place at many of Southern California’s leading multimedia and special effects studios.

There are two full-time faculty members at the academy, with about 15 other part-time instructors, many of whom work in the local multimedia industry.

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Greg Miller can be reached via e-mail at greg.miller@latimes.com.