Since 2006, the city of New York’s Made in NY Production Assistant Training Program has been an onramp to successful careers in TV and film production open to low-income New Yorkers across the five boroughs. A new study has measured the long-term return on that investment for the more than 1,100 people who have gone through the four-week program over the past 16 years.
The study, commissioned by Brooklyn Workforce Innovations and Bloomberg Philanthropies, measured the impact of training program, which is a highly competitive intensive offered yearly to about 80 New Yorkers each year since its inception. The training program was birthed during Michael Bloomberg’s mayoral administration. Bloomberg Philanthropies has kept a close watch on it since the billionaire investor left office in 2013.
“From an economic development standpoint, [TV and film production] was a sector that was growing, and we were looking around at the productions and seeing that they needed to be more diverse,” says Katherine Oliver, a principal at Bloomberg Philanthropies who was commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment when the training program began.
“The productions, the crews needed to be more reflective of the city that they served and were working in. And so there was a unique opportunity to create a pipeline for more job opportunity in New York to a thriving industry,” Oliver says. She was one of six participants in a panel discussion on the success of the Made in NY program featured on the latest episode of PvNew podcast “Strictly Business.”
Made in NY consists of five weeks of training, after which prospective filmmakers are provided with on-going support in job placement and career counseling for up to two years.
Since 2006, around half of all individuals selected to participate are Black, and in total, 94% of all enrollees are people of color.
The study found that nearly three-quarters of Made in NY enrollees did not have an education degree beyond their high school diploma and on average, were making $15,600 annually before joining the program. A year after finishing the program, Made in NY PAs make an average annual salary of $37,000 — 2.5x their pre-enrollment income.
Made in NY graduates have a lot to say about the program: 93% of program graduates felt confident they would progress or have progressed into high-paying film and TV roles after being a PA.
“The training program opened doors for me in a way I never thought was possible. Coming from a low- income immigrant family I never imagined to be working in the industry I dreamt about when I was a child,” said Daisy Zumba, a 2022 graduate who is now an office PA.
While working as PAs, grads say picked up on-set etiquette and lingo, learned how to conduct a lock up and read a call sheet and got a better understanding of the many roles and departments that make up a set.
“I walked into a life-changing thing,” says Eduardo Holder, a Made in NY graduate who is an experienced production crew member and is now moving into stunt work. “Because at that moment right there, I was like, this is where I belong. This is where I need to be. I thought you needed to be educated with degrees. I thought you needed to have certifications. You just need to be willing to work and learn. That’s the first thing I noticed. And it opened doors for me I never thought would open for me,” Holder tells “Strictly Business.”
When looking at Made in NY’s return on investment, the study found that each enrollee costs the BWI around $5,600. In the five-year period post-graduation, each former student goes on to earn an incremental income of $100,800 compared to what she would have earned in a lower-paying job outside of the film and TV industry. In all, this gives Made in NY an 18x ROI rate.
Paradise Montanez, a Made in NY graduate who came into the program after a felony conviction, tells “Strictly Business” that the benefits are more the financial.
“It also gives you like a sense of self-worth and self-respect, because you walk in as a PA, and you’re like, This is entry level. But as you continue to move through your career, and to your ultimate position, you gain more respect and more titles,” Montanez says. “And as you gain more titles, more people come to look to you for guidance, and then you’re able to take that back to Made in New York [classes] and say, ‘Hey, these are the things I’ve learned throughout the years. Here, let me teach this to you.’ And it kind of just manifests itself in a snowball effect of self-respect.
The “Made in NY Production Assistant Training Program evaluation and Impact Study” was authored by Buro Happold who collected data from over 240 program graduates and cost information from BWI.
“Strictly Business” isPvNew’s weekly podcast featuring conversations with industry leaders about the business of media and entertainment. New episodes debut every week and can be downloaded on iTunes, Amazon Music, Spotify, Google Play, Stitcher and SoundCloud.
