West O`ahu Expansion
By Sen. Will Espero (`Ewa Beach, `Ewa by Gentry, Ocean Pointe, `Ewa Villages, West Loch, Honouliuli, Lower Waipahu)
The UH-West O`ahu (UHWO) campus will soon break ground on the `Ewa Plain. One of the more exciting departments that some legislators hope to see there is the Academy for Creative Media, which is currently located at UH-Mānoa. Senate Bill 3168 would establish the Academy at UHWO. It’s a measure that would benefit west O`ahu, and here’s why.
Situating the Academy at the new UHWO campus is great news for Leeward residents, especially since we already have large numbers of students enthusiastically participating in the field. Leeward Community College has a TV-Pro program to instruct students in all facets of television production. Waianae’s Searider Program is already famous for its award-winning productions and transformational power to engage the most at-risk students. In the Island Movie Contest, James Campbell High School students took the Grand Prize last year, as well as first place in the 2008 “Tell Me A Story” category.
Waipahu and Kapolei High Schools have creative media departments. A new `Olelo studio opened at Waipahu Intermediate School last year, giving students the hands-on chance to learn all aspects of media production and see their finished products.
Establishing the Academy at UHWO is part of the public-private effort to establish a film industry in West O`ahu, which provides high paying jobs as well as educational opportunities for students. Having the Academy for Creative Media on the Leeward coast makes sense. The school will be in close proximity to the new film studio that will be built on the `Ewa plain in the near future. This puts actual job opportunities for students within a short commute of their classes at UHWO. Though Disney is only opening a resort at Ko `Olina, siting the school on the scenic West O`ahu coast creates the possibility of a future partnership between Disney’s film studio and the Academy.
The Academy for Creative Media is the fastest growing new program at the UH, since it opened three years ago. Last year, 176 students took courses in film production, screenwriting, filmmaking, computer animation, critical studies and video game design. Almost 50 films produced at the Academy have been screened at film festivals in the U.S. and China. More than 350 original short films and video games have been produced. Students have enjoyed internships with major motion picture and television productions. Designing and developing video games is also a component of Academy instruction.
Other campuses of the UH system will have access to the Academy via the internet. Donors generously funded an animation render farm of over 50 computers that convert, assign, and monitor animation projects, which all UH students can reach via the internet. Grants from private foundations made its digital media programs available via the internet to all UH and Hawaii public schools.
The Academy for Creative Media does not have a permanent site. Situating it within or near the new UH West O`ahu campus gives it the chance to have a facility designed specifically to meet the needs of this emerging, non-traditional school. Students trained at the Academy will learn by doing and develop the skills they need to support film and digital media productions, post-production services and related businesses.