Multimedia academy to open next month

The Africa Digital Multimedia Academy, which is supported by Pixel Corps, a US-based digital media firm, will next month open its doors, according to a top official at the Workforce Development Authority (WDA). Based in Kigali, the academy will focus on quality video and film production, basic production skills such as computer graphics, shooting/editing, and audio lighting. Speaking to The New Times, yesterday, Jerome Gasana, the Director General of WDA, said registration for students will take place early this month, adding that the renovation of the premises where the school will be housed is ongoing. The school will be located in the structures of Kigali Institute of Science and Technology (KIST). “We missed the initial schedule because we were still procuring equipment that will be used in the academy but we hope to start in the first week of February,” he asserted. A team of instructors from the US will be in Rwanda on January 14 and they are the ones to select ligible students, he added. Gasana observed that the academy will equip young people with skills to produce high-quality films and computer graphics, among other things. The official explained that the criteria to select students wishing to enrol into the academy will mainly be based on computer literacy, adding that candidates with knowledge of photoshop and computer graphics will stand a chance as well. He said the academy will do most of its productions in High Definition (HD). The US Pixel Corps has specialised in computer graphics and video production for close to 30 years and has worked with some of the largest visual production companies in the US, such as Industrial Light and Magic and Lucas Film on the Box Office hit movie, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. The project was, in November, transferred from the Office of the President to the Ministry of Education and placed under WDA, Gasana explained. Jolie Murenzi, the Art Director in film industry at Rwanda Cinema Centre, told The New Times that the academy is of great importance to the future of media production in the country. “There are very few film producers in Rwanda and even the available ones are qualified by experience, they never went to school to study all the basic production skills like computer graphics, shooting/editing, and audio lighting,” she said. Murenzi said that the new institution will enable trainees to take up challenging jobs in the emerging animation industry. According to Pierre Kayitana, CEO and Senior Producer Rwanda Film Headquarters Limited, the opening of a multimedia academy in Rwanda is timely. We are in an era where all sorts of campaigns, social messages and other subjects are expressed through films and video productions, which makes the school critical, he added. “It is very important to have Rwandans empowered with skills in multimedia industry. It will help unlock the entire industry and encourage innovation and cretativity”. “We cannot wait to see it open doors,” he added. The government will fund the academy, while Pixel Corps will provide the requisite technology. frank.kanyesigye@newtimes.co.rw

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Multimedia academy to open next month