Independent producer Billie Mintz says while he knew filmmaking, he needed skills like financial literacy, smart risk-taking and understanding how to pitch ideas to succeed in the film industry.
While Billie Mintz had a good grasp on filmmaking, he understood early on that if he didn't acquire the skills to run a business, he wasn't going to make it. "This is a hard business to be a part of," he says from Los Angeles, where he's just finished production of Jesus Town, USA, a documentary about a passion play in Oklahoma he'll be screening at the upcoming American Documentary Film Festival in Palm Springs. "I knew how to make films, but I knew nothing about business plans or raising money, I wasn't an entrepreneur in that sense."
He solved the problem by attending the Independent Television Producers (ITP) program delivered by the Centre of Entrepreneurship at Centennial College in Toronto, an intensive program designed to teach participants how to survive and thrive in the television and film industries. Upon graduation, Mr. Mintz launched his own film company and shot a film, both of which did "extremely well."
According to Trish Dryden, Centennial's associate vice-president applied research and corporate planning, teaching motivated individuals to be entrepreneurs is at the core of Centennial's mandate, regardless of the discipline. "We offer a suite of programs that do this," she says. "We feel that smart risk-taking, financial literacy and understanding how to pitch ideas and be innovative – whether you open your own business or work in an existing one – are the kinds of skill sets everybody needs to ensure innovation flourishes. We have lots of people with great ideas, but getting those ideas to market can be daunting, so we ensure that the necessary skills are embedded in all our programs."
The 10-month entrepreneurship programs, offered through the provincial Ontario Self-Employment Benefits (OSEB) program, typically include intensive, mentor-delivered and supervised education revolving around business planning, financing, marketing and other core skills. By the time participants graduate, they are expected to open their own business. It sounds daunting, but it works.
"Over the past 28 years, graduates have enjoyed a 97 per cent success rate and Centennial has incubated or accelerated nearly 3,600 companies," says Ms. Dryden of Centennial's OSEB programs. Recently Centennial launched ACCEL, an enhanced business accelerator program aimed at young entrepreneurs with the goal of starting or building their business within six months.
Creativity and ambition are good things, but programs teaching essential business skills and inspiring entrepreneurialism are helping to ensure that Canadians transform their dreams into reality.
BY THE NUMBERS | |
1,083 | areas of research specialization |
32,093 | students were engaged in applied research in 2013-14, up 9% from last year |
87% | of colleges and institutes supported student entrepreneurship |
7,639 | students received support to pursue an entrepreneurial idea, up 52% from last year |
Source: Colleges and Institutes Canada
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