Broadcasting school teaches students to wear all hats in showbiz

The world is one big book with plenty of stories to tell. Centennial College Professor, Sheldon Reisler, can relate to that as he introduces the Broadcasting and Film (6401) program. This three-year program “trains you in radio, television, and film” and covers different areas of work within these three major categories. Students learn technical writing, the filmmaking process, and the production process. Rieslersays that what makes Centennial College unique from a list of broadcasting schools in Toronto is the relevance of its curriculum to the industry expectations.

“(Centennial) offers a generalist program. More so now than ever before, people have been called to be generalists. They’re not being called to be specifically shooters, editors, producers, directors, writers, or production assistants. There’s a whole variety of different skills being required. And because we have a generalist program, we cover a pretty significant gamut or spectrum of the industry,” says Reisler, who also has over 25 years of experience in the broadcasting industry, producing content and managing technical aspects in the field.

The first five semesters of the program includes a creative storytelling process, technical skill building, and portfolio creation, with practical experience in on-campus studios, led by trained instructors. Centennial’s radio broadcast part of the program includes training on studio equipment and control boards, and the television and film includes the creative writing and visual production process.Here is what you can expect during your time at Centennial:

• The creative production is combined with the technical production, where students are involved in all aspects of video production in studio classes.
• Upgraded facilities with four new HD cameras, an HD switcher, and monitor, allowing to shoot HD films.
• Students can create films and TV for Centennial, such as JOURNAL, a news magazine TV show led by students which broadcasts live and online.
• Faculty members with years of relevant experience teach their students about industry expectations and trends within broadcasting professions.
• The program is known to have produced some of Canada's best professionals in the broadcasting and film industry.

“If you finish five semesters in this program, and you feel that you got a pretty good training, and you really want to apply your skills and really test it out, you’ve got a sixth semester which is 15 weeks, on-location in a real-world working environment, where not only do you get the chance to work with other professionals, but there’s a chance you may get hired out of that particular job,”Reisler describes of the program’s top highlight for students. Here is what you can expect of your field placement:

• Apply your knowledge and training from your classes to the workplace, where you will find similar equipment and production processes that will help with your career transition after graduation.
• Networking is important in this industry and you can build your connections through this internship by getting to know business insiders and showing them your talents and abilities.
• Students have been placed in various production sets including the following companies: CBC, FLOW 93.5, Spy Films, BITE TV, Sportsnet, Dome Productions, CityTV, and TV Ontario.

Students are exposed to different types of production, which will serve valuable as they apply in the wide pool of job opportunities. The program teaches students to be generalists, in which they can lead a career as various content and technical producers in the film and broadcasting industry. Some careers that graduates have accomplished are TV Series Directors, Web Producers, Script Writers, and Traffic Coordinators.