EDUCATION
Interested in a career in TV? Look no further. The Académie Libanaise des Beaux-arts (ALBA), which is renowned for having set the benchmark for higher education in creative communication and fine arts studies, has launched in 2015 a new academic program in September 2015, the Television Department, which is a unique educational program in Beirut and the MENA region, aiming to educate and form qualified TV professionals to serve the entire region. Rosy Ragy, head of the department, details the curriculum as she provides greater insight and gives a taste of the coursework of the degree program. What prompted the university to launch a department solely dedicated to Television?
As Alba-balamand has been a pioneer with creating one of the first Cinema Majors in Lebanon, it has come to our attention that there may be a need for a new program that is both essential and exciting in order to keep up with the television and the digital revolution that has swept through the media industry over the past decade. MENA’S traditional TV industry was worth more than USD
3.37 billion in revenues in 2015. Upon our benchmarking studies within the broad industry of Television; we noticed that it grew dramatically within the Arab region as well; creating around 700 channels. Those channels expressed the need for more qualified professionals and specialists.
In parallel to this increase in the number of Arabic television channels, we have witnessed an increase in the number of viewers. Audience has grown to over 200 million viewers according to an article by the global consulting firm Booz & Co published in 2008: «The Middle East has an attractive TV market, with a large and growing population, an ample number of affluent viewers, and high media consumption. With more than 200 million people and 38 million households, the region’s population is more than half the size of Western Europe. Growth prospects for the TV market in the region are positive: By the year 2015, in three Gulf States and Egypt alone, more than 13 million households are projected to reach medium to high income levels. » So when Alain Brenas, Director of the School of Cinema and Audiovisual Directing, and Andre Bekhazi, Dean of Alba-balamand, offered me the opportunity to create this department, I enthusiastically took this responsibility and produced an undergraduate and graduate programs specialized in teaching writing, directing and producing for TV and digital media.
And why in English--it’s a premiere at ALBA isn’t it?
As ALBA’S language of choice is French, we decided that the Television program should be in English as is the TV world; thus it will prove beneficial in venturing into Arab markets that have a huge demand, and to include English speakers that have had an interest in joining ALBA but previously couldn’t, ultimately enabling us to introduce content to larger audiences.
Could you give us an overview on the program offered?
As television and digital media are powerful forces within our lives and cultures, we designed a rich program that provides the students with a broadbased understanding of all the things audio-visual: camera, sound, editing, and adding the most prominent factors of modern day Tv--namely writing, directing and producing series, reports and documentaries, and TV programs. As we further apply the relation between digital media and television to our curriculum, we have also introduced content creation for the web like webseries and web programs. The specificity of our program is the emphasis on teaching how to create, structure, produce and direct different
kind of programs. With the ongoing spread of big TV and game shows, it is becoming clearer to us that the market requires our in-depth preparation for the multi camera directing, its concept of direction and corresponding cameras placement. The major provides a general liberal arts education: history of art, cinema, television and documentaries and other general university requirements, as well as coursework in the technical process of creation for television; production, writing, directing, in addition to postproduction techniques. Through this program, we encourage the development of a personal vision through honing the students’ creative talents in order to incorporate creative, practical, and well-developed material that would hopefully come to resemble us instead of imitating foreign television programs as is the current situation.
How is the feedback since the department’s launch? Is there a demand from students’ side for such exclusive studies? Wouldn’t they rather select Communication Arts to broaden their know-how (eventually with a major in TV)?
This program offers the students the opportunity to master field-specific skills, while at the same time establishing a broad-based understanding of the whole communication arts domain. Communication Arts as is, is not a specific specialty; however, TV is a specialization that provides an entire world of jobs and careers based within our history and forever changing and innovating, we see what people before us created and we keep moving from there. The television industry will remain broad with currently so many uncovered areas of expertise within our region. When we first started in 2015, the concept was very new to the market, with people having prejudice towards Television, as it did not carry the dreaminess factor that the Cinema field promised, unaware of the immense opportunities and endless types of work and creativity available within the field that would for sure fit each person’s interests and set of skills. After all, television is a medium that allows people to tell their stories based on who they are, what they want, and where they come from. In June 2018, the first batch of students graduated from the Television department, already maintaining jobs prior to graduation. As graduates and current students constantly prove that there is so much room for creativity in television, we believe that the prejudice will keep decreasing, and hopefully the number of the students will keep increasing.
What’s so specific about this department and how would you define its competitive edge vis-a vis other similar programs offered by Lebanese universities?
Our program combines theory with the practical side of television and digital media, with the theory part assigning a heavy load of analysis, critical thinking, well-structured essay writing, and research. After all, no matter what the student will end up doing in life, whether is it creating a character, he or she must know the psychology behind it, or creating a program, he or she will need the essential knowledge of knowing what and how to research, be it general or artistic research. As for the technical side of the program, we dive in depth with the different uses and forms of image, sound, lighting, editing, directing, etc. There appears to be a lack of skillful and creative content writing and therefore we give so much emphasis on the different needs and types of script, journalistic, and show writing. The students directly get hands-on exposure to the camera and all sets of tools necessary for all functions of television at all different levels, therefore getting the student closer and closer to discovering what he or she likes and what fits his or her character in writing, directing, producing, etc. We incorporate within our program all the new trends in the TV and digital
media, and with sufficient specialization to prepare them for all the know-hows that are very current within the market so they can deliver immediate value to any company/project they get into and without running into any surprises therefore ultimately insuring long-term success in the field. We also have courses that help the students enhance and structure their creativity. We prepare them to adopt our motto “creating tomorrow’s television”.
Can you elaborate on the curriculum offered?
The BFA (bachelor of Fine Arts) requires three years / six semesters minimum for completion. It is an undergraduate program requiring the completion of the baccalaureate 2 and/or an equivalent certificate by the Ministry of Higher Education. Theoretic courses provide the required historical and theoretical knowledge, while working simultaneously on the practical base with seminars, workshops, hand-on projects, methodology practical approach, in such a way that the practical side is supported by the theory side and vice versa. Our courses dig deep into real and sustainable character creation (from season to season), reports and documentaries, the different languages used depending on the type of the program, making us the first specialized TV program in the MENA region, therefore evading further trainings that previously had to be imposed on new television staff or trainees.
What are the qualifications of the professors recruited?
We have two kinds of teachers under the BFA; the academic professors teaching history of arts, philosophy, and other theory courses, and what I would like to call “Artist Teachers” that were mainly onthe-field professionals and specialists that are now using their creative expertise and skills to inspire the future professionals. Graduates will be uniquely prepared to succeed at any agency, go freelance, or join a TV station.
How long does a student need to graduate? What are the employment prospects?
A project may be complete editing, production, and/or writing of mini-series pilot, the students may have to write an entire program, create and pitch as if going to a real TV manager to showcase their ideas. On several occasions, a jury of experienced professionals was assigned to give insight and feedback on students’ projects. On other occasions, the students were able to pitch their ideas to professionals who may buy and produce the idea, in real life situation. The Capstone project for (diploma) is writing and directing a full pilot for a series which can be later shown to real producers in the hope of receiving their support to continue production if the project grabbed their attention. The Artist Teachers with the use of projects, created a big networking hub connecting the students with current and future employers and opportunities. Our students are finding jobs before graduation, in fact we have a student that found a job in being part of the writing team in a production house, another student is currently working in the digital media domain, and all our graduates have already acquired full-time jobs. There is a huge demand for professionals in this occupation, and that was the main reason we moved forward with creating this program.
Anything you’d like to add?
We have put a lot of work in the designing of the TV program and still working in order to show the full capabilities of the broad domain of television. We are constantly enhancing the program, integrating major digital media subjects, and enriching the curriculum with updated content by keeping an eye on international trends in TV.
Our main objective is to contribute to the TV domain in Lebanon and Arab countries with not only content creation, but in forming a think tank and a research laboratory to collaborate, reflect and ultimately publish through media. Aside from the majors above, we also give acting, hosting, and writing classes/ workshops, focusing our mission on more audio-visual aspects. In order to cover all the televisual aspect and attain our main objective: preparing qualified professionals for television and digital media, we need to stay focused with the current specialization.
Through this program, we encourage the development of a personal vision through honing the students’ creative talents in order to incorporate creative, practical, and welldeveloped material that would hopefully come to resemble us instead of imitating foreign television programs as is the current situation.