Huge skills gap, potential in media & entertainment

Ramoji Film City: Media and Entertainment Skills Council (MESC) with support from Ministry of Human Resources and Development (MHRD), Government of India, organised 'Manthan – An Academia Meet' at RFC on Monday. This platform was for the dignitaries to connect, exchange ideas and build relations for career opportunities for the coming generations.

Manthan was inaugurated by the chief guest, Subhash Ghai, a renowned filmmaker, educationist and chairman of MESC, along with Subba Rao, Senior Economic Advisor, Ministry of HRD, Rajeev Jalnapurkar, CEO of Ramoji Film City, and Mohit Soni, CEO of MESC, amongst others. The event brought together academicians, media and the entertainment industry and was focused on the skills training and career opportunities in the media and entertainment industry.

It also highlighted the possibilities of an association between MESC and participating esteemed academic institutions. The event also showcased the unveiling of 'Creative Warriors,' MESC's specialised programmes in B Sc courses in Performing Arts, Animation and VFX and Film Making. The programmes would cover Graphics, Gaming and VFX etc. at a later stage. This will provide the students with complete and in-depth knowledge in their chosen trades and equip them with job-ready skills.

Subhash Ghai, said, "We are all working together to develop and innovate young creative minds through this initiative of Manthan. Today, India is only a job-doers country despite the rich and glorious 3,000 years of wisdom and knowledge.

Currently, we are facing a huge problem of lack of jobs for youngsters with degrees, here is when, we come into the picture of rethinking and reinitiating processes to develop what should be developed. I believe, Indians are a very creative set of people but we far behind the times. With the initiative of Manthan, we will be able to focus on human, skill, creative and innovation development to make our future generations seekers, explorers and believers."

Sharing his views, Subba Rao, said, "With great anticipation and hope we have started this initiative of merging the two most huge segments Media & Entertainment and Human Resource Development to garner unexplored possibilities and opportunities for the sector. The introduction of relevant courses and developing the right skillset will provide students with complete in-depth knowledge in their chosen trades and make them industry-ready."

Mohit Soni said, "Media & Entertainment Industry is growing at an exponential rate but at the same time it is grappling with many skill development challenges including a huge supply-demand gap both in terms of quality and quantity of workforce. Our focus is to create entrepreneurs, who in turn will create jobs bridging the existing job gap in this fastest growing industry."

Other renowned personalities among many others who addressed the delegates included Manvendra Shukul, CEO of Lakshya Digital Studios, and Treasurer of MESC; Pete Draper, Co-Founder, Division Head and Chief Technical Director, Makuta VFx (Baahubali movie fame); Sathish Narayanan, Founder, DMES, Chief Expert WorldSkills India, Graphic Design Technology; and Chaitanya Chinchlikar, Chief Technology Officer, Whistling Woods International.