Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hello and welcome to Storyteller in depth, a podcast where we go behind the scenes to learn more about the school of communications media Arts and designs, people, places and things. I'm your host, Pat Quigley. In today's episode, we're exploring a type of educational pursuit that you might not have heard of within an industry that you've definitely heard of. I'm talking about micro credentials in the film and television industry. To take us through this journey, we have two industry professionals who are both instructors at the School of Communications Media Arts and Design, Sasha Borisma and Tara Jan. In this episode, Sasha and Tara will share valuable insight into specific areas within the film and television industry that you don't want to miss.
We also get into which micro credential they teach, what exactly a micro credential even is. And before we get into the podcast itself, I want to direct you to our micro credential website where you can check out all of the courses, the starting dates and more. Please visit storyarts ca tvfilm micro credentials. You can also check out our social media accounts at Story Art center for posts about it as well. Now let's get into the interview.
[00:01:21] Speaker B: Thank you so much, Tara and Sasha, for being on the podcast today.
[00:01:25] Speaker C: Thank you.
[00:01:26] Speaker D: Yeah, it's great. Thank you.
[00:01:28] Speaker B: Yeah. And now to start off, Tara, can you tell listeners a little bit about yourself as an instructor at Centennial and your experience in the industry?
[00:01:36] Speaker D: For sure? Yes, I've been fortunate to be teaching at Centennial for the last ten years, but I am a full time producer here in Toronto and have been in the industry for several decades. I don't tell anybody how long anymore because it just scares people. But yeah, a very long time. I've been very fortunate. And my last 20 years of my career, I've been freelance as a producer and my lane is mostly in the unscripted space. So I tend to work as a supervising producer on shows where I'm bringing the team together and working on the budget, logistics schedule, that kind of thing. And yeah, I've been fortunate to work in all kinds of different spaces within documentary, as I say, unscripted series, productions, reality, and some drama as well. So I thoroughly enjoyed my time at centennial and found it a very win win situation for myself and the students. I learned a ton from them and they find it quite cool that I'm in the industry and able to kind of tell them what happened yesterday on set. So it works really well.
[00:02:44] Speaker B: Cool. And what brought you to the college?
[00:02:47] Speaker D: It was actually somebody else at the college, a teacher that's still there.
Called me one day and recommended me to the college, and we were working together. This individual and I were working together on a documentary, and it intrigued me. My father's a teacher and retired now, but he taught at Ryerson for many, many years, and he's also a producer, a director. And I was fortunate enough to kind of glean that kind of interest and fascination from him. So I never went to teacher's college.
I am a producer by trade, but I have just found a very sweet spot and just enjoyed every minute of it. So I've been very lucky to be able to be able to juggle both and keep my toe in the teaching as I continue to produce, for sure.
[00:03:35] Speaker B: Yeah. And we talked a little bit before we got going that I took one of your classes way back when you started, and that dates me as well, to how long it's been since I've been in college.
But it's cool to kind of make those connections and see people again after so many years.
[00:03:50] Speaker D: It's great. It's funny. And I've met many students over the last few years that circle back and they go, oh, my God. They recognize my name or my voice or some other thing. But I also tell my students all the time, I have literally worked for people that used to work for me as a freelancer. Right.
I've had many production coordinators, et cetera, that I hired underneath me years and years ago, and now there have been moments where I've sat in a job interview and they are the person I'm applying to. True story. So if that isn't a lesson in don't burn any bridges, et cetera, but that keeps me on my toes. And I just think it's fantastic. And I'm all about trying to mentor as many of the young people and experienced people up through the chains, and there's no ego for me because I'm like, please surpass me, go team.
So I'm just fortunate that way. I worked for my father, who was in the industry, so I had a lucky break and a shoe in. So I feel that that is least I can do is provide an opportunity for those that didn't have that opportunity or that extra privilege, let's say, for lack of a better word, to get a foot in, because it is that kind of an industry. It truly is. It's kind of like who you know and when you know. And there's a ton of luck involved as well.
So that's one of my main goals in terms of my teaching career, is to do everything I can to help foster and mentor and boost people up into positions just to get them in the door.
[00:05:26] Speaker B: That's awesome and really important, especially in today's world where you need that kind of stuff, right? So it's awesome to hear that.
And Sasha, we're not strangers. We've done a podcast before this, and it's nice to see you again. It's been a little while.
[00:05:44] Speaker C: Great to see you, too. Yeah. The podcast about disability and equity or something.
[00:05:48] Speaker B: Yeah. And if people haven't heard that, they should definitely go check that out.
But you can do that after you listen to this one. Obviously, listen to this one first, then go over there. But for those people who haven't listened to that podcast yet, Sasha, can you just tell listeners a little bit about yourself as an instructor at centennial and your experience in the industry?
[00:06:07] Speaker C: Definitely.
We're just talking earlier about coughing when the talking on the microphone and I go to talk and now I'm coughing.
So I've been teaching at Centennial College for 14 years now. I've taught in a variety of the postgraduate programs over the years, mostly focused on the business end of helping creative people work through the business challenges and business thinking of what they're doing. And I've been specifically teaching production accounting for the film and tv business program for the past ten years, which is what brought us to this micro credential. And then I like Tara. I am outside in the industry. Very active. Bit amusing in that while I'm trained in film and television, about ten or 15 years ago, I off ramped film and tv to work in the video game space. That being said, here in Toronto, the funding and methodologies of running a video game studio is not unlike a film and tv studio. And so I actually run my video game company in a lot of ways like a film company does, including right down to the accounting practices, which is kind of why I teach film and tv production accounting, even though I'm actually a video game producer by trade.
[00:07:21] Speaker B: And it's cool. Like, we were talking about how you are actually going to be going away in the next little while to be showcasing a game. So do you want to talk a little bit about that at all?
[00:07:33] Speaker C: Happy to. So, yeah. My company is sticky Brain Studios, and we are heading off to GDC 2024 to show off for the first time publicly our new game called Rooster, which is an exploration of chinese folklore and culture mythology. And it's around the chinese Lunar New Year characters. They get mad at Rooster, who's one of the animals. Rooster's a jerk. And so they send Rooster back in time to learn grace, humility and how to be a better rooster. And the game is looking gorgeous. So we're really looking forward to getting all that out there.
[00:08:13] Speaker B: That's awesome. I can't wait to see it at some point. That's awesome.
[00:08:18] Speaker C: January 2025 is our planned launch date exclusive. We got an exclusive here just for the centennial community.
[00:08:28] Speaker B: So the School of Communications, Media Arts and Design offers three micro credentials. The film and television production, accounting, film and television production, management and grip and lighting. Now, each one will teach students the basics, skills needed to start an exciting career in the industry. Can you provide an overview of what a micro credential is for those that might not know about them?
[00:08:50] Speaker C: Micro credentials were created as a designation, or rather encouraged as a designation by the province of Ontario about five or six years ago. And it's the recognition that gone are the days where you stay in one career your whole life. Gone are the days in industry where you can learn on the job so much more. In Ontario's economy, it's like to do the job, you have to already have training in the job. Well, if everyone's too busy to give you training in the job, how do you get into that? And that's a problem across all sectors, not unique to the film and tv industry. And so the province of Ontario a number of years ago started encouraging the Ontario colleges and universities to start getting creative with these micro credential elements. And the idea behind the micro credentials is there to support either working industry professionals who are looking to upskill or reskill also can be useful for recent college and university graduates to just get that one little course of a boost, especially if they're not able to afford doing a postgraduate program or a master's program. This is a great way for them to quickly learn something else as they continue to evolve their career. Some micro credentials at different schools are stacked to earn, like, an actual certification. At this time at Centennial, the three micro credentials are entirely independent, although the course I teach and the course Tara teaches are closely related, just due to the nature of what we're covering and what these career paths are.
[00:10:21] Speaker B: Cool, Tara, do you have anything to add to that?
[00:10:25] Speaker D: No, I don't think so. I mean, the fact that these are courses that are accessible is the key. From my perspective.
We have them available in the evenings, they're available online. So people can be actively continuing pursuing their current trajectory. And these can be easily, as I say, accessible. So I think that's a huge value add and part of the so. And anywhere across Canada as mean? I don't know, actually, Sasha, I just stepped in it. Are they available across Canada or.
[00:11:02] Speaker C: They are, actually. I mean, as long as they can manage the time zones. And so last time you and I ran the courses, we had students from Nova Scotia, and it's looking like this current intake. We have a lot of interest from British Columbia in both of them. So. Yeah, because they're online and they're online and they're virtual, so anyone across Canada can easily register. I had a student from New York actually, in the last year as well, so it makes it accessible. Of course there's some considerations, but Tara and I manage that through the courses.
[00:11:33] Speaker B: Cool.
I've been taking LinkedIn learning courses for a couple of years now just to expand my learning and learning about the micro credentials. They sound somewhat similar, but different. So what would be, like, that main difference between these two things?
[00:11:49] Speaker C: Yeah. And so LinkedIn learning is typically very specific, very modular, very self directed. You can kind of pop in, pop out at any time. The micro credentials, because they are through the college system or the university system, they're still attached to timelines. The other thing that you'll get in the micro credentials, at least the ones that we have at centennial, is you're getting actual instructor time in that it's a specific person working with you, versus LinkedIn learning, where they're very typically. Here's a bunch of stuff you watch. Here's a bunch of videos. Now let's test your memory. These micro credentials are much more assignment driven, actually make elements, actually do things. They're much more hands on as a result of having a specific instructor attached.
[00:12:33] Speaker D: I just had one more thing to add to the kind of LinkedIn learning versus a micro credential. One huge element as well is I've been able to bring in some guest speakers. So there's that element of not only live interaction with your professors, but also we can tailor drive the content to the group in that particular session, which is quite an opportunity and a privilege, I would suggest.
[00:13:01] Speaker B: Cool. Yeah, I definitely need to be checking these things out at some point, because I'm starting to realize as I'm growing through my work, I need to learn more and more to keep up with what's going on. Right. Like my education was ten years ago now it seems like, and that's wild to me. But now the industry has changed so much and there's so many new things that I would never have that knowledge for just being within the industry.
So having a micro credential is such a huge benefit to so many.
[00:13:44] Speaker D: Yeah. And with instructors like Sasha and I that are currently in the field and in the business, it just is a great value add for the students so that we can be talking about the strike that was happening last year or the other impending legislation that's changing, or the sustainability conference coming up. And it's all relevant. It's changing so fast, so we can keep it quite relevant and pertinent.
[00:14:10] Speaker B: Right. So, Sasha, you teach the film and television production accounting micro credential. And Tara, you are with the film and television production management micro credential. Hopefully I got all that properly. And before we kind of get into the specifics of it, let's first look at the film and television industry as a whole. Many might think about careers in front of camera or on set, but several careers take place behind the camera. And now, Tara, can you explain what production management is and what someone in the production management department may be responsible for in the.
[00:14:45] Speaker D: I mean, so the film and television industry is not been suffering, I'm happy to say, despite other industries having impacts in terms of the economy. The good news is Covid and all kinds of other things reminded us all how important entertainment and film and television is for. My course specifically, production management covers a huge gamut of running the production underneath the producer's supervision. But the production management department oversees the budget, the schedule, all those elements of pulling all of the logistics together. So this course is a basic skills into an entry level trainee assistant production manager, to be fair. But what I like about it is, because of the basic skills element, it is open and accessible to anyone. You can be somebody who's already in the industry and pivoting into production management, and it would be a fantastic refresher to get into that specific department. You could be brand new to the industry and just being taught the basic skills, or you could be somebody already in that department who then wants to kind of get some specific skills or brush up on those skills to potentially move up in that field. So I think that keeps the broad range quite open.
And we have, over the ten week sessions, we have a very carefully kind of set out curriculum that builds. Right. So we talk about the different phases of production, and then we get into scheduling before we get into budgeting. And they all kind of build on each other so that there's a kind of logic up to the learning and presenting the skills as you go.
[00:16:42] Speaker B: Cool. And Sasha, can you share a little bit of insight into what works in accounting within the film and tv industry?
[00:16:50] Speaker C: Definitely. And so when we think of film and tv, we think know directors and the plans and the visions. And if we're thinking about behind the scenes, we do think of production managers and the people who make the budgets and keep everything on track. A lot of people don't realize how many crew positions require all these other skill sets. So like construction, carpenters, electricians, hair, makeup, like all these other crafts and trades. And accounting is a big one. I mean, people want to get paid, but there are a lot of regulations that you have to be mindful of. You have to be mindful of the Canadian Revenue Agency and their requirements when it comes to GST, HST, the rules around payroll. We have a lot of unions in the industry and understanding a lot of new producers are kind of afraid of working with the unions because they think it's just so much work. And what we realize is, but once you teach people, no, this is how the unions work. This is how you pay the actors and writers. Here's how you do their paperwork. Here's the stuff you consider when you're paying the other professions. People start going, oh, that's not so scary. Working with the unions and also to work with the production managers, the accounting department is required to report on the financial goings on. And that financial reporting, called a cost report, is like the backbone of all the financial management planning of any production. These are meetings that happen on a weekly, biweekly basis, depending on the size and scope of the project. The production managers depend on this information to make decisions as they go forward. Producers need it. We're an industry of a lot of funding bodies. So if you're working on a canadian made, produced, held show, things like Murdoch Mysteries, we have a lot of government investors and we're responsible for the taxpayers dollars that are invested in our projects and we want to make sure that we report them cleanly, properly, et cetera. Even if you're on a Netflix show, these are big private dollars and they want to make sure every dollar counts, that every dollar gets on screen. And so the two courses are really nice companions. Especially because if you are a DGC member, many senior DGC members that are senior in the production management and senior in accounting will actually bounce between accounting and production management at that senior level. And so in production accounting too, what we learned last year was, because we have had an accountant shortage in the industry for the last eight or nine years, both union career and nonunion career, that the accounting course last year was half made up of producers.
Because production accounting is just not taught in film school. And part of it's like you just don't have time to. You have so much else to do. But also, accounting for film and television is so different than accounting in business school. The base practice is the same of bookkeeping, but the documentation, the tracking, the considerations are just their own nuanced element that need to be considered. Like, are you documenting properly to get your tax credits? And all of that stuff needs to be thought of. And because of the shortage, more and more producers, small producers, are finding they have to do their own accounting. They don't know how to do was, which was not the intent of the course. The intent of the course. Like Tara alluded to earlier, it was like, hey, if you're mid career, you've been on your feet on set, you want something more in the production office that you can manage because you've got kids at home. Maybe that was sort of the thinking of the reskilling. But it's turned out that this accounting course has become very popular with senior production managers who want to better work with accounting to actual studio owners, like filmmakers themselves, who make their own shows, because they're like, I don't understand how to work with the accounting team and I want to better understand this or I have to do my own corporate books. Which has been really interesting to learn. Like, there was the intent of what the course was supposed to do and then how the industry has responded in a much broader sense, which makes for a really fun experience in the teaching, because I know what I know other people know and because these are all adults learning. And so my class last year, we had non union accountants, we had union accountants, we had producers, we had animation production managers. We had people from live action. We covered the gamut of all the areas. And it was fun because I'm not afraid to admin if I don't know something. And if someone asks me something super specific about the DGC, and I'm like, that's not really what I know. But you three, you three are in the DGC. Can you answer? Which builds camaraderie. It builds that Tara alluded to, that networking, the connection. So you're not just. And actually further to your question about how it's different from LinkedIn learning, that it's a case of that now, as a class, we're building a network and we're getting to know other people. And people go, oh, you also work in animation. I work in animation and making other connections that way. And then it's been fun to go out to industry events and people come up and say, hey, I took your course last year. It's like, yeah, remember that?
Or my current students in the postgraduate program that Tara and I teach at, they're meeting with people in industry for their field placements and they're going, oh, yeah, you have Sasha and Tara's teachers. It's like, how do you know? Oh, I took their micro credentials. And so it's also got this really interesting industry building component that wasn't really like, I thought these were going to be people in the industry who come into work, do the thing, and then they got to work. No, they really want to get a lot out of this, which has made it a really fulfilling course to teach.
[00:22:35] Speaker D: Can I just add a comment?
I agree with everything sass just said. And also to add, because the industry is changing so much.
I think that's why these are also so valuable, because we can pivot. And yes, we have our existing curriculum, but because we're teaching here and other places at like, we've really got a good pulse on the industry where the needs are. I'm on a bunch of boards. Sasha's on a bunch of boards. So we're listening to other producers, we're listening to the owners of the companies, we're listening to canadian producers. So we are keeping a pulse on where the jobs are, where the needs are, and we're trying to help fill in the gaps, really, truly. And these micro credentials, I think, are a really awesome step towards filling in.
[00:23:23] Speaker B: Some of those holes, for sure. It's funny, as I'm listening to both of you talk so much about the micro credentials and just kind of the way things used to be and how things used to be taught and taught to people is that you've got to find your niche. You got to find your thing, right? So if you want to be a lighting guy or you want to be a grip, that's your thing that you do. Or you want to get into the back end and get into the books for accounting, that's the thing you got to do. And now in today's world, you need to know how to shoot, you need to know how to edit, you need to know how to be on camera, you need to know how to do the books, you need to know how to write a call sheet and do all these things, or you're not employable, right? You're not worth your weight in gold to the company anymore because you don't have all these things. So that if somebody's missing on shoot day number five, you can slip into that role. Right. So being able to have these micro credentials to lift up your knowledge in some of these areas is amazing.
[00:24:21] Speaker C: And it's fun just to add to what you're saying. It's not so much that you have to be able to do all the things, but it's that this industry, we were trained very much in these silos. It was like, you do camera, you do lighting, you write the script, you plan the production. And what Tara and I both have been learning through the industry activities and talking to other people working in the industry, both on those that work on the Netflix, Amazon shows and those that work on the CBCC tv shows, is the budgets aren't growing. And so what's happening is there has to be so much more how money, dollars of this is getting on screen and how can we be creative with it? And what we've been hearing from all across the Toronto industry, it's that everyone's being brought together and it's like, okay, this is the budget we have. How do we do it? I mean, I was in a workshop last weekend working with someone who's an ayatzi, eight seven three member head of their department. Eight seven three is art, sets, props, hair, makeup, that sort of thing. And she's head of her department. And she's floored because on her recent production, they didn't go to her and say, here's your money. Make sure you spend it. Don't go a dollar more. They came, hey, if this is the show, how much do you need? And she's like, what? So here's someone who's like, fully trained, decades in hair and makeup, knows her craft, knows what she's doing, but because everyone's trying to make sure that we're putting the money where it should be, now these department heads are being asked to give input into the budget and into the spends. And there's also in Ayah eight seven three, they're hiring trackers. And trackers are because the leads are so busy with the creative direction, but they have to keep track of their expenses. And so now if you want to be a props person and you want to eventually be, like, a senior head of props or sets, these accounting and production management skills and these are soft skills that haven't traditionally been taught in film and tv. And now, yet almost every craft in the industry is being asked to contribute, to make sure that we're making the best products.
So it's made this micro credentials. Really interesting timing because of all these shifts, because the industry is slowly moving to collaboration, to how can we help you do your job? How can we make sure you have enough money? And so you have people in roles of tracking costs and budgeting that didn't have to before, which is a really interesting. I think it's exciting, and so far, I think most people in the industry in these positions are excited about it because they're having a say in how the money spent versus someone coming at them, yelling at them all the time to do more with less. So it's exciting changes which these micro credentials were not designed with that in mind. But as Tara said, we move quickly and it's like, great. These are the people in the classroom. Okay, let's shift this.
[00:27:14] Speaker D: Yep. Another thing I'm just going to add is in production management, specifically, as a production manager, you touch every single role on that set because you do their deal memo, you negotiate their contract, et cetera. You're doing the sketch, so you have access to everybody on the set. So as Sasha's mentioned earlier, I've had many producers take my production management course. I've had directors take my production management course because certain roles, they want to understand what the production manager does. They talk to everybody. So their challenges become their challenge.
The production manager's challenges become the director's challenges. So it's in their best interest to work with these key roles on set and a production. It is such a team sport, this industry, it is such a team sport so that there's value in and for the micro credential is again, so accessible. It's just ten weeks at night. You can kind of squeeze this in in between other goodies. It's attainable and accessible and manageable so that you could actually have the privilege of that extra knowledge so that you can actually do your job better even if you're not interested in production management. That's the beauty of it. I say to many of my students, if you walk away from the saying you hate this, in the end, actually, that's successful for me because. Not hate it, but I mean, they go, I do not want to do that. Fine, now that you know that's not your lane, but then you'll make sure next time you work with somebody who you know that is absolutely their lane because they are going to help you do your job better if they're good at their job. So it's a great learning kind of exposure to what that role does so that you can just be more empowered in your role as well.
[00:28:58] Speaker B: Especially for people who might be going out on set or might be going out to productions or working in production houses, know, they meet somebody and you're like, I don't know anything about this. Right. Like, and this is a great kind of foot in the door to progress through this industry. And why do you think that is? Sasha, we'll start with you.
[00:29:17] Speaker C: I'm sorry, can you repeat the question? My mind went, zip. Zip.
[00:29:21] Speaker B: I know it was a lot of things that I said all in one go and nothing made sense. I do that a lot. Usually. Sometimes people go, that's the one. I'll go this way.
Why do you think this is such a great option for somebody who wants to progress in the industry?
[00:29:39] Speaker C: I think just to echo what we've covered, which is you're upskilling for yourself to do next step in your career. Upskilling, reskilling. You're learning what others are doing on set, which only makes it more collaborative experience, a better understanding.
And then in terms of, with the micro credentials being, as Tara noted, they're online so you can work your full time job and you're not then running to a campus, which is often the stress, it's like, I can get home, I can get dinner in. The other thing, too, with the micro credentials is the vibe of it is very different than teaching. Like in traditional university college credential courses, because these are focused on your competencies and what you can do. And unlike in a day program or like in a main program where it's like you miss class, it's like, oh, my gosh, the producer. The producer. The professors. I'm going to let them down in this case. It's like, we know we're teaching adults and so people come in and they're like, you know what? For the next two weeks, I'm going to be shooting and I'm going to be going from eight to eight and I'm probably not going to be on class. It's like, yes, cool. All this stuff's online. I'm here when you pick your head back up, which is a very different kind of vibe. And I think that's one thing that holds people back from some of the micro credentials, is they're very afraid of the traditional film and tv or, sorry, the traditional school experience, which is not this. It's an interesting hybrid between industry workshop and school and kind of grabbing the best of both worlds. And so it's like, we're working adults, they're working adults.
We're all in this together. So I hope that answered your question. Sorry.
[00:31:24] Speaker B: Yeah, no, perfect. It was perfectly answered my question. Tara, do you have anything to add to that?
[00:31:30] Speaker D: Yeah. So the other thing is, I don't give a lot of homework, frankly, on mine. And it's kind of like the more you put in, the more you get out. Right. I give options to read this, try this out, but it's not a driving aspect. I'm like, if you did this script breakdown, next week's class will be more valuable for you. But it's like you can still participate in the classes and get a lot out of it. So that's, I think, empowering the student. Again, the more they, I'll give them all kinds of goodies to tackle and look up, but if they are really busy, because many students are, then fine. They can also keep the reading list, as I call it, for later.
So that is also, I think, something that makes it quite flexible.
[00:32:17] Speaker B: I think you kind of sold me on yours, Tara, a little bit. Just no homework. I like that. I like that philosophy.
[00:32:24] Speaker D: Fair enough.
[00:32:26] Speaker C: And then for the accounting course, just to build on this, Tara, reference the homework element. The accounting course works a little bit different in that every week there is an exercise to do that does need to be done. However, again, it's not like traditional school, where it's like, I have 3 hours of learning now I have to do 6 hours of homework.
I tell everyone, it's like you need roughly 3 hours a week to put into this course. Whether, and some people are going to jet right through and get it done in 2 hours. Other people, their learning processes are different, or the content is so foreign to them, it might take them five or 6 hours total. But we're trying that sweet spot of 3 hours, which, again, makes it digestible. It means that if you fall behind by a week because work got busy, kid got sick, you just needed the world to stop for a day. It's like, it's not the end of the world. You can keep up. And then usually at the end of the courses for Tara and I, we have a couple of weeks after, before we can have to get the grades in. So, again, it's like if someone needs that little extra time because something happened and they got caught up with market prep, that it's like, okay, well, there's still a window for them to be able to submit and get things in so they can earn the credential, which is, again, very different than traditional school, which is, this is the last day of school, and the grades are in three days later, and end of story. We have a little bit more flexibility. Not a lot, but some nice.
[00:33:51] Speaker B: So, Sasha, starting with you. What would you tell a listener, considering that they might enroll into one of these micro credentials?
[00:34:00] Speaker C: I'd say if this is what you want to learn, come join us.
I think we've covered much of it. It's all hands on work. I can get to the other thing. None of these are essays. Tara and I work in the industry. We don't write essays for our jobs. So why are we going to have you write essays here? And so what you walk out of in both of these courses, we call them in the accounting, like a portfolio. So you have in your kit, like, hey, I have done an extra remittance. I know what that looks like. I have that in my kit. And so if they go to do it in whatever job they're in as a second ad or a second accountant or whatever, like, crap, I have to do this. I've done this before.
They do three cost reports. Again, they're not just studying theory of cost reports, they're actually making three cost reports. So they get to the end of it and it's okay. Now I understand the mechanics of it. And since everything's focused on that, hands on, on that doing of that, now I have a kit for myself to refer to whenever I go back to doing it in the industry. It makes all of these things much less foreign, much less scary.
And then for those that actually want to go into the accounting track, these are the things that when employers ask me in the non union roles, and specifically, just to be clear, DGC is a very different process. But in the non union positions, these are the things that the employers want to know in an entry level person in accounting. Do you understand how to do? How payroll, do you understand the notion of payroll? Can you read a cost report? Can you do petty cash? Do you understand how HST works? You do. Awesome. That's the core of a lot of the junior trainee work, both union and nonunion.
And then just to be clear, because some people ask, it's know DGC is aware of the course, but they don't play preferences to anything.
And so I can't say if this gives you a leg up in a DGC application or not, but it definitely doesn't hurt if you want to go into the DGC gap training program. And the fact you can say, I've done this other thing, I've actually proven to. They can prove to the DGC that they're clearly interested in accounting, which can help. It's not a shoe in, but it can help in their assessment of your entry into their gap training initiative.
[00:36:18] Speaker B: And Sasha, for you, what would you tell listeners considering enrolling in your micro credential?
[00:36:23] Speaker C: You mean Tara?
[00:36:24] Speaker B: Tara. Sorry.
[00:36:26] Speaker D: No problem. Yeah, so I agree. The other thing I didn't mention earlier was the non union union aspect is that I definitely try know kind of feed both those lanes. So if you are in the union and want to know about the nonunion world, I think I can deliver that and vice versa.
I often have union people come as guest speakers, so I think that's just good to know. That might encourage people to sometimes it's a whole other world that you could be in a nonunion space for 20 years in your career and just be daunted by that other side. So I think it's a very friendly space that way.
Yeah. And again, it's not a huge commitment. It's kind of fun. You get to meet other people in the industry and learn a lot about production in terms of who does what as again, basics for the actual production phases.
And I think people find it a lot more interesting than they thought. Even if they decide it's not their lane at the end of it, they are very happy to have gleaned that extra knowledge because it's just kind of all relevant to all the roles and how everyone works together and who's in charge of what and why does that person get to decide that? Well, I can help explain that. It might be an insurance reason, it might be a reporting issue. There may be very specific reasons that people would find helpful to know. So I think it's just a know easy, comfortable space to learn a lot more about the industry and yeah, and I said meet some great people along the way.
[00:37:58] Speaker B: No kidding. For sure. Thank you so much Tara and Sasha, for being on the podcast today and helping me learn a little bit about these micro credentials and hopefully inspiring some people to do it themselves.
[00:38:09] Speaker C: Awesome. Thank you for the chance to share how great we think these are.
[00:38:13] Speaker D: Yep, we've got some coming up in the next two months, so check out Centennial's website for the next sign up.
[00:38:27] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:38:28] Speaker A: Thank you so much Tara and Sasha, for providing such amazing information. The micro credentials offered by the School of Communications, media Arts and Design really do sound like incredible opportunities to gain the skills you need to know in a short amount of time. I know that I'm looking into it myself, so I think maybe you should too. Now, I'm going to repeat myself just a little bit from the beginning of this episode, but please, if you're interested in pursuing one of these micro credentials visit micro credentials, as they will be starting very shortly. Until next time, I'm your host, Pat Quigley, and this is storyteller in depth.
