The Academy of Entertainment & Technology is a satellite campus of Santa Monica College and is home to the Entertainment Technology program. Created in 1997 in collaboration with entertainment industry employers, the Academyˇs mission is to provide students with a comprehensive and well-rounded education, preparing them to be flexible professionals in rapidly evolving media fields. Satisfying industry requirements for creative professionals who can develop ideas as well as execute them, the programs emphasize conceptual and design excellence while ensuring technical proficiency
The Entertainment Technology program offers career certificates in the following areas:
• Animation – With a foundation in story and traditional animation, this career certificate focuses on the animation pre-production and production processes. Technical areas of 2D and 3D production are covered in detail using industry standard software and hardware.
• Game Development (Pending Approval) – This career certificate is a comprehensive study of the design and implementation of interactive media for the game industry. Areas of study include storytelling, visual design, audio and video production techniques, software authoring, 3D animation, and project management.
• Post Production (Pending Approval) – Focusing on the design and implementation of digital media for the entertainment industry, this career certificate covers a range of audio and video production and post production techniques. Areas of study also include storytelling, visual design, motion graphics, and project management.
• Visual Effects (Pending Approval) – This career certificate provides a detailed analysis of the production process used in creating digital effects for the entertainment industry. Areas of study also include storytelling, visual design, audio and video production and post production techniques, 3D animation, and project management.
• Web Design (Pending Approval) – The Web Design career certificate provides a thorough study of the design and implementation of interactive media for the World Wide Web. Areas of study include visual design, information design, audio and video production techniques, scripting, and e-business.
The Entertainment Technology program works in close collaboration with the entertainment industry to ensure that students learn practical, job oriented skills. Our full-time and part-time faculty are experienced media professionals who bring first-hand knowledge of industry practices to the classroom. Faculty and industry advisors review the curriculum annually to keep up with trends and changing requirements. In addition, participating companies often provide student internships and guest lecturers for classes.
The Academy campus is specially designed for media education, and is located in the heart of the Westside entertainment production district at 1660 Stewart Street in Santa Monica. The facility features 25 lecture and computer classrooms, a computer lab of over 80 Mac and PC workstations using industry standard software (Director, Dreamweaver, Final Cut Pro, Flash, Houdini, Maya, Photoshop, ProTools, etc.), video and audio production and editing facilities, a dedicated file server network, a bookstore, and on-site counseling and student services.
The Academy also offers an intensive Middle College program called LaunchPad for high school students. The program provides a head start on Entertainment Technology coursework, plus an opportunity for the students to explore their interest in digital media. In addition, some Entertainment Technology courses are available online through the college Distance Education program. See http://www.smconline.org/ for more information.
Many of the courses offered at the Academy campus are open to all Santa Monica College students. Certain courses in the career certificate programs require passing prerequisite courses. For more information, please call (310) 434-3700, or visit the Academy web site at http://academy.smc.edu/.