Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/21561
plied more universally to a number of applications.” CHRIS DAVIE VP of Operations SAE Institute www.sae.edu Atlanta Chris Davie is the VP of operations at SAE, which offers courses in filmmaking, animation, Web and game design, and audio He has been with the school for nearly 10 years, having worked earlier in his career as a music engineer. Davie oper- ates out of the Atlanta location and oversees all US campuses, which also include those in New York, Nashville, Miami, Los Angeles and San Francisco. SAE currently has over 50 campuses worldwide. STRENGTHS: “Overall, what I am seeing is a large demand for post work, so I think that having a qualified workforce to support that is definitely in need. One of the things we’ve seen [are] states putting very attractive tax incentives in place for film and television productions, and that is certainly driving up the need in those lo- cations to make sure there is a workforce that can handle the in- creased loads. Georgia is one of those states. Florida is one of those states. In Georgia, it’s been absolutely astonishing what we’ve seen here in the past couple of years since the tax incentive has been put in place: large film lots,Tyler Perry is based here, the world of Turner is here, but even beyond that, there are a couple of more film lots.We are lucky, having locations in so many places — we are in every major city more or less — so we can really tap into that.” WEAKNESSES:“One of the things that we run into is [that] the attraction of audio engineering typically falls into a music recording nature. Students will come in to see if the school is a match and will be very focused on that. It’s tougher to market a post production education.We find that they come in and want to make records, but once they get into our post classes, we see a large conversion of students that say,‘This is really cool,’ and ‘[I] had no idea what sound design was or what Foley work was.’We see that in every class.One of the challenges is giving the proper exposure that they can get ed- ucated in that. [Post production] is a huge aspect of our field.” OPPORTUNITIES: “For new markets, it’s a combination. Each market has its niche, and I think we certainly assess the markets that we’re in and determine what is the main demand.When we came to Atlanta three years ago,we saw there is a great deal of post here. Obviously, you can see this in areas like LA and Miami. “In terms of new media, we have expanded into iPhone and iPad application development courses.We’re on the brink of launching a digital journalism course. It’s a little bit more geared to the guerilla journalism structure, which we are seeing in all of these industries. [Networks] are not sending out a zillion trucks anymore. They are looking for stories to be brought in and buttoned up and pitched, and they put them on.We are seeing that as an opportu- nity, and when you consider having a laptop and Final Cut and a de- cent camera and some decent journalism skills, you can really but- This audio suite at SAE’s Atlanta location features a Neve console. ton up a nice piece.” THREATS: “There are those that lean toward the online envi- ronment, which we’ve recognized and [have] started to develop our online component.That is certainly one. Other institutions — we all teach similar things, so it all boils down to the delivery methods and the people that are actually delivering it as the biggest opportunity to overcome some of those threats.” OUTLOOK FOR 2011:“We do have some program launches that are going to be coming out in the next year — no question about that. I would anticipate some more growth in the campuses as well. Digital Journalism will be rolling out for us in 2011, and that’s an international roll out.That’s going to be occurring across all SAEs across the world.” CHARLES CELANDER Manager of Technical Operations, Film & Video Department Columbia College Chicago www.colum.edu Columbia operates an eight story vertical campus with each floor supporting a different facet, be it production, develop- ment, cinematography, audio post and video post.The top floor features a 263-seat theater with both 2K and 35mm projection capabilities. Celander has a filmmaking background, and has worked on industrials and features. In addition to working as an assistant editor, he also has audio, camera and animation experience. STRENGTHS: “Problem solving — first and foremost. In terms of post, there is such a diversity of workflow out there, whether you are dealing with Red or DSLR. I like to tell the students that they should have a great sense of job security ahead of them because there are so many problems on that bleeding edge that post pro- duction people have to deal with. “This is one of the things that a formal education provides — a context and a perspective for problem solving in post. If you can have a more formal education that has depth and context to what you are doing, it will help you problem solve in the future.” WEAKNESSES: “The inconsistencies of workflows and the changes that are always out there. One thing that I am always www.postmagazine.com December 2010 • Post 39