Our screen students can shape the future of global entertainment

Tuesday, 3 September 2024

Discussing virtual production at the pre launch party of the National Academy of Screen Arts which Massey University has opened in Wellington.

Professor Margaret Maile is the pro vice-chancellor at Massey University’s College of Creative Arts.

OPINION: In recent months the steady drum beat of public sector job losses and funding cuts have become a grim mainstay across national media. Given such widespread retrenchment it is not surprising that the attention turns to the near horizon of stabilisation.

Unfortunately this leaves limited resource to plan and drive economic growth and resilience. At times like this we need to be asking where is job growth most likely? Which sectors offer the greatest potential sustainability? How do we best provision a foundation for New Zealand’s future prosperity?

These are the questions we are asking at Massey University, because preparing our graduates for jobs of the future is core to our mission. As a university, it’s imperative we calibrate our degrees, research and engagement activities to the far horizon, looking to areas where New Zealand has distinctive strengths, where there are green sprouts of growth, and where we can see increasing global demand.

Students working in the Great Hall studio.

At the College of Creative Arts we believe one of the more promising horizons for Aotearoa will be shaped by development of our screen arts sector, which last year globally was worth over US$280 billion for film and video and US$215b for gaming.

Wellington is fertile ground from which to support the green shoots of the nation’s screen industry. In addition to being home to the well-known heavyweights, the region has earned the designation as a UNESCO City of Film, and has a dedicated sector resource with Screen Wellington.

Industry collaboration is a driving factor behind our latest endeavour, the National Academy of Screen Arts — a world-class facility newly fitted-out with the latest screen technologies required to equip our Bachelor of Screen Arts students to be ready to join New Zealand’s screen sector from day one. The academy further strengthens the regional sector connectivity, serving as serve as a hub for cross-sector collaboration and an incubator for development of new creative content and screen technologies.

The National Academy of Screen Arts is housed in the former Dominion Museum building on the university’s Wellington campus.

Based in the former Dominion Museum building on our Wellington campus, the academy takes shape from a number of targeted renovations including the creation of a state-of-the-art sound stage and entertainment venue.

It boasts a 3-storey tall, high resolution LED screen that integrates game engine software and camera tracking technology to create real-time virtual environments; a green screen and motion capture studio; 11 industry-equipped post-production editing suite; a fully restored 155-seat surround-sound cinema; and tech stores stocked with a full range of industry-grade equipment.

The academy also includes a custom-built broadcast studio to produce and stream live video broadcasts from anywhere on the Wellington campus, as well as Massey Studios, our highly regarded recording studio facilities.

At the new academy, students, staff and industry came together to produce a special live stream of a mini, Fly My Pretties, using equipment from the university’s broadcast studio.

Massey has invested in the academy because the screen sector offers promising career opportunities for our graduates, but it is also an investment in New Zealand’s future prosperity. Aotearoa’s film sector, recognised around the world for its excellence and innovation, is currently worth about NZ$3.3b in annual revenue and employs over 24,000 people. Other subsectors like gaming ‒ which generated over NZ$400m last year ‒ are predicted to demonstrate significant growth over the next decade. Growth is what we need.

As New Zealand continues to narrowly escape recession, there is increased urgency to focus on drivers for improved employment outcomes, economic diversification and GDP growth, such as supporting the development of our domestic screen arts sector. We have equipped the academy for this challenge.

Jayde Marter, the audio director for PikPok, said the academy would empower students to shape the future of global entertainment. That’s the ultimate ambition, and one that arguably, New Zealand needs now more than ever.

Learn more about the National Academy of Screen Arts here.