MHRD and MESC organized MANTHAN in Mumbai to integrate Media & Entertainment industry skills into degree education

by Suman Gupta

Mumbai, October, 2019: Media and Entertainment Skills Council (MESC) with support from the Ministry of Human Resources and Development (MHRD), Government of India organized “Manthan” – Impeccable Academia at Whistling Woods International, Mumbai today. 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, Shri Subhash Ghai, Renowned Filmmaker, Educationist and Chairman-MESC along with Mr. Subba Rao, Sr. Economic Advisor, Ministry of HRD, Govt. of India. Mr. Amit Behl, Indian Television and Film Actor and Sec.General CINTAA; Mr. Wiz Sabbas Joseph, Secretary – MESC; Mr. Chaitanya Chinchlikar, VP of Whistling Woods International; Mr. Ramesh Anumukonda, Unity Education and Centre of Excellence Initiatives: Asia Pacific (APAC) at unity Technologies; and Mr. Mohit Soni, CEO, MESC. The event brought together academicians, media and the entertainment industry. MANTHAN is focused on a plethora of opportunities available in the Media and Entertainment Industry.

It’s highlighting the possibilities of Association between Media and Entertainment Skills Council (MESC) and participating esteemed Academic Institutions, colleges & universities. The Ministry of Human Resource & Development along with MESC has developed specialized employment-oriented Bachelor Courses as: BSc. Animation & VFX, BSc. Performing Arts and B.Sc. Film Making.

The Universities concerned are empowered to take up these courses through their colleges, autonomous colleges are readily empowered, and other colleges can take up these courses with their University approval.11 Colleges/ Universities, signed the MoU with MESC for making the specialized courses for the students. Sharing his views, Mr. Subba Rao, Senior Economic Advisor, MHRD, Government of India, said, “With great anticipation and hope we have started this initiative of merging the two 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. This would help in addressing the gap between education and economy with the industry growing at an autonomous rate.” Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Subhash Ghai, Renowned Filmmaker, Educationist and Chairman-MESC, said, “We have been tirelessly working together to develop and innovate young creative minds through Manthan. India has the potential to be more than a job doer country.

There’s a huge level of unemployment prevalent currently, youngsters with degrees are sitting idle. Here’s where initiatives of MESC comes in to develop the current system and to rethink the process to develop the required. Through Manthan we will be able to focus on human, skill, creative and innovation development to make our future generations’ go-getters, explorers and believers. “ Addressing the delegates, Mr. Mohit Soni, CEO-MESC, 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. Through this event and the encouraging words and presence from the industry, we are hoping to have many more Manthan sessions.” In his address Mr. Chaitanya Chinchlikar, Vice President – Whistling Woods International said, “ Education in India is dual, under the MHRD & under specialized ministries, almost all universities have set up a formal institutionalized educational structures. However, the same has been missing for the Media & Entertainment Industry.

There is no multi-level structure (undergraduate/ post-graduate/ doctoral, etc.) that has been set up as the standard or the norm for M&E education in India. This has left no scope for private institutions to set up specialized institutes to cater to these needs of the industry. Hence, Film, Media and Creative Arts education has never been mainstreamed in India. Consequently, it has led to a global unprecedented situation, that a country which is a strong global force in a particular industry is not a global force in terms of the education in that same field.” Mr Aamir, Head of Operations, Red Chillies Entertainment said, “Today, the industry is looking forward to making quality outputs which were much higher as compared to what it was 20 years ago, and that too in lesser time.

This has opened up other avenues, where Hollywood studios have started distributing their work all over the world, making it possible to get the job done faster by sharing it with other studios. In India, Redchillies was one of the studios that started to distribute work within the country with other partner studios. The key challenge faced by the industry today is that the same work needs to be done in better quality and shorter time, which requires a talent pool that is ready to do the job.” About Media & Entertainment Skills Council: Media & Entertainment Skills Council (MESC) is an industry led sector skill council set up through Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship to create the skilled resource for the media and entertainment industry.

Founded in 2012, MESC is a Not-for-Profit Organization, registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. The Council has been promoted by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) with financial support from National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC). Under the strong leadership of Chairman Shri Subhash Ghai, MESC is proud to have eminent industry leaders in the Governing Board responsible for driving forward the strategic direction of the organization