Entertainment and LA Creative Economy

In the LA Region, the Entertainment/Creative Economy industries have not received the attention they deserved: Southern California has the largest concentration of creative industries in the state, accounting for 49% of California’s creative wage and salary employment and 52% of its contract employees. Creative industries account for 9% of the region’s total work (Otis Report, 2021). This project will consult with businesses and industry to create new certificates and degrees to meet labor market demand and channel our students into high-demand or living wage jobs within the creative economy in Los Angeles County. Additionally, this project examines community college career technical education and workforce development courses, credentials, certificates, degrees, programs, and pathways that are responsive to the needs of employers, workers, civic leaders, and students within the creative economy. We achieve this aim by partnering with employers, workforce partners, and other stakeholders, using labor market data to understand the current economy, and auditing the existing curriculum to understand how the contemporary curriculum fits and identifies areas of misalignment and new opportunities.