BATON ROUGE, La. – Baton Rouge Community College’s Film and New Media Production Program is the latest recipient of a grant from the state’s Entertainment Development Fund. The community college will receive $750,000 over three years to support its collaboration with Celtic Media Centre and the International Alliance for Theatrical and Stage Employees (IATSE) to create a comprehensive, immersive and career-oriented education for its students.
The program is part of BRCC’s commitment to improve its film and television workforce development curricula through scalable course enhancements, new staff, new equipment and a novel approach to virtual course content delivery rooted in practical and experiential learning. BRCC will work with industry and educational partners to fast-track this endeavor in order to align its curriculum to meet the future needs, demands and expectations of the film industry.
“The Entertainment Development Fund is designed to help educate and train Louisiana residents for an array of good jobs the entertainment industry has brought to our state,” said Chris Stelly, executive director of Louisiana Entertainment, a division of Louisiana Economic Development. “Empowering students to become proficient in the many skill sets required by the film industry – while also equipping them with practical filmmaking skills – will revolutionize the onboarding process for film and television production employees who aspire to careers in the motion picture production industry.”
The Entertainment Development Fund supports the state’s entertainment workforce through customized education and training programs. BRCC will receive $250,000 a year from the fund for three years, for a total of $750,000.
“With LED’s support, BRCC will revolutionize filmmaker training by integrating hands-on practical instruction with an immersive virtual learning platform, replicating key industry settings like Celtic Studios,” said Rhett Poche, BRCC dean of liberal arts. “Our aim is to offer students from diverse backgrounds an accessible fast-track education based on industry best practices, ensuring they are job-ready before their first day on set. This initiative will help narrow local industry workforce gaps by fostering new talent from and for the greater Baton Rouge area and beyond.”
Through the Entertainment Development Fund, LED has invested more than $7.5 million to date in education and workforce development programs at higher education and nonprofit institutions throughout Louisiana. The fund initiative earned top honors at the 2023 International Economic Development Council Awards ceremony in September, receiving a Gold Award for Innovative Programs and Initiatives as well as a nomination for Best in Show, recognizing the best economic development program in all categories