EEI Recent Projects

"Pennsylvania's Motion Picture and Television Industry: A Workforce Analysis"
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Department of Labor and Industry
through The Three Rivers Workforce Investment Board
January - September 2009 Released March 2010
http://www.trwib.org/trwib-enews/webroot/user/files/PA_Report_FINAL.pdf

This report was in response to significant growth in Pennsylvania's film and television production industry and the demand for local crews and services.  As with the California project cited above, EEI again drew on our proprietary methodology to identify companies in the sector and analyze their workers across industries.  In addition, we conducted direct interviews with producers who had filmed in the state, developed an inventory of Pennsylvania's high schools, colleges, universities and other post-secondary training providers in the field, and analyzed other state, provincial and country initiatives to develop a creative sector workforce.

When the study was released, our clients stated: "This gives us a snapshot of where we are now and where we need to be," said Dawn Keezer, director of the Pittsburgh Film Office.  "This study helps us nail down how we can target more training to produce special skills and meet the needs of the industry," said Kelleigh Boland, director of research, planning and business development for the TRWIB.  Although film productions are finite -- generally lasting about three months -- Ms. Boland said the jobs should not be considered temporary because they help workers develop a skill set that is transferable.  Cinematic, organizational and technical skills are all necessary for film work.

One of our recommendations, based on extensive interviews with producers, was to train more production accountants.  Allegheny Community College, near Pittsburgh, has already started working with production accounting giant, Entertainment Partners, to develop courses in production estimating, production payroll and other aspects of production accounting.

"California Career Technical Education Model Curriculum Standards in Arts, Media and Entertainment"
July 2004 - May 2005 Adopted by the State Board of Education on May 11, 2005 and Published in 2006.  We continue to serve as principal industry consultant.  http://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/ct/sf/documents/ctestandards.pdf pages 46-73

California has a long history of exemplary vocational and career education.  However, until 2003, there were no programs focused on Arts, Media and Entertainment.  When this sector was added during the 2003-04 CTE reform initiative, this creative sector was added.  EEI has been the principal industry consultant to this project since July 2004.  The first major effort was the development of the standards referenced above.  These were the result of countless meetings with industry professionals across the state as well as with experienced educators in the field.  After the standards were adopted, EEI continued to serve the project through the development of the model curriculum frameworks.  Once they were adopted by the state, EEI worked to disseminate them and provide professional development on integrating the standards and frameworks into the classroom as well as into the small schools and partnership academy movement.  Currently, we are developing an AME website, which can be viewed while it's under construction at www.amecareers.org.  We continue to provide guidance to the State as well as professional development, presentations as conferences, labor market information and other resources to educators and administrators throughout California.

"Opportunities in the Arts are Larger than They Appear"
The Otis Creative Economy Report
Otis College of Art and Design
June - September 2009  Released October 2009
http://www.otis.edu/assets/user/Creative Economy 2009 report(1).pdf

This paper was prepared and released as part of the Otis' third annual Creative Economy Report.  It revised and updated research previously conducted for the Los Angeles Community College District in 2006 on multimedia artists and animators (see below).  The purpose of these studies was to illustrate that artists employed in this classification work in an abundance of industry sectors besides motion pictures and television.  They work in architecture, aerospace, biomedical, forensic science, real estate and many other industries that rely upon design visualization.  We also provided wages and employment forecasts.  EEI's President, Kathleen Milnes, also represented the College and the Report on NBC.com in a live interview via Skype on the afternoon of the release.

For the 2010 Report, we are focusing on product designers.  In addition to the essay being included in the annual Creative Economy Report, Otis will sponsor their first campus wide event for faculty and students featuring Otis President Sammy Hoi and Kathleen Milnes.

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