How to future-proof your career in the Screen Arts

University of Technology Sydney (UTS) academic, filmmaker and artist, Dr Gregory Ferris, discusses the future of this exciting industry.

How has the media landscape changed?

Rapid technological advancements and the rise of digital and streaming services have led to considerable changes in media and the screen arts industry. This transformation is creating new opportunities and roles for media professionals. Innovation in virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and artificial intelligence (AI) has led to new ways to tell stories and engage audiences. To take advantage of this dynamic environment, gaining relevant skills and experience in emerging technologies is crucial.

“I’ve been working in the industry since the early nineties,” says Dr Gregory Ferris, filmmaker, artist and academic at UTS. “I’ve seen as they’ve changed from analogue to digital and from digital tape to purely digital, and obviously, there has been a change in the way that we experience media, from screens from cinema to CRTs to flat screens and to mobile devices.

“But I’ve also personally embraced changes or new ways of experiences in terms of things like immersion and extended reality and those sorts of things – interaction.”

Streaming platforms have changed the way people consume media. With vast libraries of content that can be accessed on demand, a binge-watching culture has led to changes in storytelling techniques and a stronger emphasis on serialised content or episodic narrative.

“It was a bit of a time for a refresh, and we’re refocusing on industry best practice,” says Ferris of a new postgraduate degree in screen arts and production available at UTS from autumn next year.

“We’re also very future-focused and have designed this new postgrad to be able to respond quickly to changes in technology as well. So, getting students industry ready but also making them be able to respond to change, which I think is very important.”

What sorts of opportunities are there in the industry at the moment?

It’s an exciting time to be part of the screen arts industry. Government support, such as the Australian Screen Production Incentive, is helping to revitalise the industry. Thanks to advancements in technology, there are expanding areas in which to specialise.

“I would say what’s interesting is the changes in job descriptions… changes in the way films are made and the changes in all invention of new crew roles. Twenty years ago, we would not have had a data wrangler on set, for instance,” says Ferris. “The job of a prompt engineer didn’t exist a year or two ago.”

“These are roles and technologies that will become more and more prominent, particularly things like comp-engineering and rigging in relationship to special effects.”

There are various opportunities and new roles in pre-production, production, and post-production. The increasing demand for new and original content translates to jobs for writers, directors, and producers, whereas technological advances in visual effects provide opportunities for a variety of specialities.

“In the last year or two, with the rise of AI, again, this is one of the technologies that we’re responding to as quick as we can.

“For me, AI, in terms of image and video generation is an opportunity, particularly for things like storyboarding structural ideas; I don’t think it’s particularly there in terms of creativity, in terms of writing, but certainly in terms of being a springboard for your own ideas.

“Personally, I think it’s an opportunity for our students to work with these sorts of tools.”

Australia’s unique locations and facilities also make it attractive and increasingly popular for international and big-budget productions.

“There are a lot of international co-pros happening. Netflix is reasonably active in that space.

“The Netflix production Boy Swallows Universe is a great example of where a streaming production works.

“We’re training people to be multi-skilled self-producers but also able to be slotted into as many industry roles as we can get, which is why if you look at the subjects, a lot are specific to industry-standard equipment, whether that be cameras or Avid editing systems.”

How to make yourself valuable.

Future-proofing a career in the screen arts requires continuous learning, networking, and versatility. Ferris notes the importance of collaboration, teamwork as well as “enthusiasm and ability to be a self-creator”.

“A lot of it for us is that networking that you get while you’re a student, and if you look at our graduates, a lot of that networking takes place while they’re studying. We have creative teams that have gone through the undergrad and the postgrad that continue to work outside, post the education experience.

“The future media industry practitioner needs to be multi-skilled as well, so we’re offering a suite of electives.

“If you look at our core subjects, such as screen experience, nonfiction and fiction, that gives them a whole range of different experiences to be able to work between drama and documentary, but also work in other ways of experiencing those genres, whether that be extended reality… certainly interactive stuff and stuff that you experience using mobile devices, we’re very much aware of with this new postgrad.”

In making yourself valuable on international streaming productions, Ferris says opportunities are in “key career roles, particularly with cinematography and editing”. Adding, “we do teach basic skill sets like data wrangling and organising of rushes and that sort of thing, which obviously, if you’re coming into the industry, you might start as an assistant editor, grip or gaffer… But certainly, the understanding of set structures and hierarchy is very important.

“It’s very much hands-on practice-based learning with industry-level academics.

“If someone wanted to focus on those electives purely in terms of industry skill sets, then the cinematography and editing subjects are very much leaning towards industry-standard equipment. It’s not all about the tech, though for us, it’s about the craft.”

The Master of Screen Arts and Production is a tailored and industry-focused postgraduate degree for industry practitioners who want to enhance their career opportunities and their ability to work across diverse and emerging platforms. Screen arts is a robust industry with perpetual opportunities for creatives to help shape the nation’s personal and collective identity. You can find out more about the Master of Screen Arts and Production degree here.

This article is republished from FilmInk. Read the original article written by Amanda Webster.