MediaMKRS Advisory Council Meeting
We're thrilled to announce the launch of MediaMKRS, a collaboration between educators, employers, unions and The Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME) to train, credential and prepare young New Yorkers for technical careers in the City's thriving television and film production industries. This 3-year pilot workforce program in partnership with The City University of New York (CUNY) has been designed to provide more equitable access to opportunity and build a talent pipeline that reflects the diversity of New York City.
On Tuesday, October 15, 2019, MOME Commissioner Anne del Castillo convened the MediaMKRS Advisory Council at Viacom. The MediaMKRS Advisory Council represents industry leaders committed to building a more equitable and inclusive workforce - one that reflects the diversity of our city. The Council will set career readiness standards for entry-level jobs and will partner with educators to create pathways from classrooms to careers in media for New Yorkers.
The council is comprised of media and entertainment companies, as well as unions including: AMC Networks, CBS, Comedy Central, Discovery, Inc., FilmNation Entertainment, Harbor Picture Company, HBO, IATSE International, Jax Media, Jigsaw Productions, MTV, New York Production Alliance, OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network, Panavision New York, Paramount Network, POV | American Documentary, Producers Guide of America East, RadicalMedia, Showtime, Sundance Productions, and Viacom.
Executive Director John C. Williams and Director of Workforce and External Partnership Keisha Katz provided an overview of the MediaMKRS program. CUNY's Kathyrn Lyon and Brooklyn College Film Department's Judith Kenny shared a strategy for industry engagement and career readiness within the university.
"MediaMKRS is a first of its kind public private partnership that engages employers and unions from the start to create a credentialing system for media skills that translates into real jobs," said Commissioner del Castillo. "MediaMKRS will give more talented, young New Yorkers the opportunities and training they need to thrive in New York's growing media and entertainment industry."
"After nearly twenty years of mentoring young filmmakers at Reel Works, we have learned that there is no shortage of talent in NYC," said John C. Williams. "But there are shortages of opportunities especially for under-represented young people to gain footholds into careers in media and entertainment. We need to build pathways from classrooms to careers. And to do that we need educators, employers, labor and government to work together to build a media workforce that reflects the diversity of our city. That's what MediaMKRS does."
Industry representatives took part in a roundtable discussion on workforce readiness where they discussed what skill sets media employers are looking for and the recent changes in the industry that may affect those going into it. This discussion was facilitated by Alia Jones-Harvey of the Mayor's Office of Media & Entertainment and Kathryn Lyon of CUNY.
We look forward to having our next Advisory Council Meeting in January 2020 to continue these discussions around workforce readiness.