A New Approach to post-graduate educational programs for the Creative Industries

Abstract

The purpose of this project was to develop a new and innovative approach to post-graduate training for the creative industries that would involve students structuring their learning around the development of their own industry-ready product capable of subsequent commercialisation. The final outcome for the project is a Master of Creative Industries curriculum. The project was conducted through JMC Academy, a higher education provider with facilities in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, which has been delivering undergraduate degrees in the creative industries for more than a decade in the areas of audio engineering, music, film and TV, animation and games design and entertainment business management. JMC Academy has always supported a multi-disciplinary approach to training and product development for the creative industries, believing that the commercial success of creative industries products in the areas taught by JMC largely depends on the involvement of expertise from multiple disciplines. This philosophy underpins the product development approach used for this project. The project is also based on the belief that the primary emphasis of successful training and product development for the creative industries must be Mode 2 knowledge production (multi-disciplinary) rather than Mode 1 knowledge production (mono-disciplinary). It is for this reason that the Masters program is built around the conceptualisation and development of collaborative work to produce genuinely industry-ready and commercialisation-ready product by the students themselves. In this sense, the learning base for the project mirrors the philosophy and learning base for the Professional Doctorate for Industry and the Professions. This project was jointly undertaken by two senior staff members of JMC Academy, both of whom are enrolled for the Professional Doctorate (Industry and the Professions) at the University of New England. In broad terms, there are two parts to this project, each of which was the focus of one of the candidates: 1. The development of an accreditation-ready curriculum and associated teaching and learning strategies and resources (for which this candidate was responsible) and 2. The development of the business and commercialisation strategy and framework, for which Mr George Markakis is responsible. Unfortunately, the timelines associated with enrolment for the Professional Doctorate do not allow for a longitudinal evaluation of the Master of Creative Industries project to be undertaken at this time (it will be a further two or three years before the first graduates emerge). Nevertheless, the structured feedback collected as part of this project from potential students and key members of the entertainment industry has been extremely positive - there is a real and dynamic 'belief' in the nature of this product, and its potential to revolutionise training for the creative industries. The major potential benefit of the program reported by students is the ability to 'kick start' their career through the guided development of actual commercial product while they are doing their course of study. The major benefit reported by the production companies is that at a time when production costs are increasing rapidly and the capacity to invest in new artists is decreasing rapidly, the approach to training taken by the new Master of Creative Industries should provide the industry with access to (students') commercial-ready product at no production cost to the companies. This creates a win-win situation for the student and the industry in general.