Chicago State University is partnering with the Illinois Film Office, Kennedy King College and Filmscape to host the Illinois Film Industry Workforce Training Conference on June 21st.
The event will take place at Chicago State University in Breakey Theater in the Douglas Hall building from 10 am to 3 pm.
The featured speakers will include prominent film industry leaders RoseMary Prodonovich, General Manager of The Fields Studios; Peter Hawley, Director of the Illinois Film Office; Jonah Zeiger, Director of the Chicago Film Office; Lisa Masseur, Executive Producer/Founder of Tessa, Wesley Julian, Executive Director of Independent Film Alliance; Troy Pryor, Producer/Founder of Creative Cypher; Anthony J. Barracca, Business Manager of IATSE Local 476; Jennifer Jobst, President of 769 (Studio Mechanics and Chicago Theatrical Unions) and Rubye Lane, Founder Mustard Seed Vision, LLC.
The conference is designed to provide access to film industry experts for the most recent participants of the Illinois Film Workforce Training Program. Funded by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, the program was created to address the short falls in the number of trained crew for film production in Illinois.
Crystal Barnes, Director of the pilot program explains the mission, “The Illinois Film Office has been tasked with overseeing seven agencies that have developed curricula to educate Illinois citizens who have a passion for film but are missing the necessary access to training in communities that have not been traditionally at the forefront of filmmaking.”
CSU’s Department of Communication Media Arts & Theatre is a key player in providing a media education to a diverse student population in the Chicago area. CSU has developed partnerships and paid internships with both local and global media companies including Paramount/Showtime/MTV Entertainment, Cinespace Studios and Leo Burnett Advertising. This year, CSU received a 1.6 million dollar grant for new film equipment.
To sign up for information about the Illinois Workforce Film Training Program and/or Media Arts courses at Chicago State University contact Dr. Christine List, Chairperson for the Department of Communications, Media Arts & Theatre at clist@csu.edu.
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