Entertainment Design & Technology: Performance Technology, Level 1

The Entertainment Design & Technology: Performance Technology Level 1 Certificate of Achievement is a Career Technical Education certificate designed to train and prepare students to enter the technical theater and live performance sectors of the entertainment industry. Entertainment Design & Technology is a multi-disciplinary program featuring stackable certificates which cover photography, animation, commercial music and audio production, film and video making, technical theater, and entertainment entrepreneurship. Upon successful completion of the requirements of this foundational course group the student will be able to: • demonstrate collaboration and team-building skills • evaluate and analyze the use of tools and painting techniques for the construction and rigging of a show • demonstrate appropriate use and care of hand tools, major power tools and lighting instruments • choose the correct rigging for the flying of people or scenery • participate in the hanging, circuiting, focusing, and operation of theatrical lighting equipment • compile a sound library and select the proper cues during a live performance. Potential careers specific to these skills include but are not limited to: Rigger, Set & Exhibit Designer, Lighting Technician, and Theatrical Sound Engineer.

4 - 6 completion each year is our initial goal for this certificate.

The Cilker School of Art & Design has created a new Entertainment Design and Technology Program which combines Film/Video, Commercial Music, Photography, Animation, Technical Theater, and Entrepreneurship. It consists of three separate career tracks: Audiovisual Production, Performance Technology, and Entertainment Entrepreneurship, each with 2-3 stackable 16-17 unit certificates. The Entertainment Design & Technology: Performance Technology Level 1 Certificate of Achievement is the foundational certificate of the Performance Technology track.

The purpose of the Entertainment Design & Technology program and this certificate coordinates with the college’s educational master plan for career programs which seeks to align career courses and programs with labor market opportunities.

The Entertainment Design & Technology program aligns with the California Community College system’s plans to boost the numbers of students enrolled in Career Technical Education, increase the number of students transferring to four year universities, and improve the time to completion by offering a comprehensive package of stackable degrees as well as an AA-T in Film, Television, and Electronic Media. The program is designed to be tightly career-focused, yet expandable to fit the student’s professional needs, while also offering the possibility of CSU transfer if required General Education courses are also taken.

The Entertainment Design & Technology program was first proposed in the fall of 2018 as a first step towards increasing interdisciplinary course offerings and coordination within the Cilker School of Art & Design. The program’s purpose is to utilize and foster the connections between relevant areas of study in the fine and performing arts.

	2018	2019
Course Department Number	Course Title	Annual # Sections	Annual Enrollment Total	Annual # Sections	Annual Enrollment Total
THEA 002A	Intro to Theater Design	1	10	1	20
THEA 018A	Intro to Lighting Design	1	18	1	9
MUSC 064	Sound Design	1	17	0	0
THEA 45B	Stagecraft	0	0	1	4
THEA 021A	Practical Theater (Scene/Stage)	2	16	2	9
THEA 020A, B, C, D	Studio Theater Production Workshop	2	30	2	25

This certificate is designed to replace the dormant Technical Theater AA (CTE). When the courses in the degree were re-designated as occupational, the degree could no longer be offered without the relevant CTE data. The Theatre and Music departments are now working together to create foundational CTE certificates which align with our interdisciplinary Entertainment Design & Technology program goals. There is currently a Theater AA-T degree offered by the Theater department, which offers some flexibility in students' area of focus, but no other degrees or certificates in Technical Theater.

West Valley College’s Entertainment Design and Technology program would be the first of its kind in our service area to offer multidisciplinary, stackable, career-oriented certificates in film/video, sound/music, technical theatre, and entertainment entrepreneurship.