WarnerMedia Teams With Reel Works for Post Coordinator Training Program (Exclusive)

Originally published in the Hollywood Reporter.

The WarnerMedia Access Post Coordinator Training is now recruiting for its third cohort, which will begin April 26 and run virtually for seven weeks.

BY REBECCA SUN

MARCH 19, 2021 8:15AM

WarnerMedia has teamed with New York-based youth program Reel Works for a program that teaches BIPOC young adults how to become post-production coordinators.

The seven-week WarnerMedia Access Post Coordinator Training program, which pays its participants a small stipend, includes instruction from industry professionals as well as collaborative scenario-based practicums for trainees to practice their skills. After successful cohorts of 15 and 16 trainees last fall and winter, respectively, the program is now recruiting for its third cohort, which will begin April 26.

Although the program so far is completely run virtually, it has already yielded results. WarnerMedia Access shares trainee resumes with department heads and hiring managers across the company and provides trainees with networking opportunities, information about job openings as well as one-year memberships to both the Post New York Alliance and the Hollywood Post Alliance. “The last day of class, I met a post producer who then passed my resume along to a studio exec, who then passed my resume to my now post producer,” said one trainee.

To date, 14 graduates have been hired as post-production coordinators, and two more in related post-production roles. A spokesman for the program said that he expects more alumni to join their ranks as they finish up current job commitments and return to the city following the pandemic.

The program is part of MediaMKRS, a workforce readiness partnership launched in 2019 among Reel Works, the New York City Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, the City University of New York and media companies and unions, and it is also part of WarnerMedia’s Access to Action program, aimed at exposing below-the-line job opportunities to people who aren’t traditionally part of the entertainment industry pipeline. Access to Action has yielded more than 400 participants from more than 20 cities placed on WarnerMedia productions, including Joker, Watchmen, Insecure and In the Heights.

“When I looked for a group to work with us to create this program, Reel Works stood out from other organizations,” said HBO senior vice president of post production Cynthia Kanner. “They have a 20-year track record of teaching aspiring young filmmakers, and thanks to their ties to CUNY and the City of New York through MediaMKRS, they have the knowledge, passion and organization to educate outstanding professionals.”

Reel Works, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, works with more than 1,000 New York City youth every year, matching teenagers one-on-one with professional filmmakers as mentors. Previous MediaMKRS partners include Netflix, AMC Networks, A+E Networks and ViacomCBS.

“We are so proud to have been chosen by WarnerMedia to create this unique program which will help increase diversity and inclusion in post-production management,” Reel Works co-founders John Williams and Stephanie Williams said in a statement. “With almost 700 people registered for the upcoming sessions and only 30 spots between our NY/LA programs, we are thrilled with the interest for on-the-job virtual instruction with WarnerMedia. We are excited to partner with WarnerMedia to train, credential and prepare our diverse talent for technical careers in the thriving television and film production industries.”