Are you a movie buff? Do you play games? Love TV? Read click-bait articles? Spend time agonising over your filters on Instagram? If so, then you probably already love media, even if you don’t know it yet. In today’s world, media is all around us and has become such a ubiquitous part of our daily lives, that it should come as no surprise that it is one of the fastest growing industries out there.
Media touches almost every part of our daily lives, from film and TV, to online like videos, social media, and gaming. It opens up a world of dynamic and interesting career opportunities, from filmmaking to game coding, sound engineering, writing, and even media analytics. The list goes on… and on.
Ultimately media isn’t just a talent you’re born with, but the good news is an education focusing on media-related studies will help get you started.
Not quite sure if a media career may be for you? Here are some latest numbers to give you a quick overview of the industry:
- The global media industry is worth over $2.4 trillion, and with the huge leaps happening literally every day in areas like animation, digital, gaming and VR, it’s only getting bigger.
- In Singapore, the media industry has grown by over 150% in the last 5 years alone, and is worth a staggering $33 billion or roughly 11% of the entire economy; by comparison Singapore’s economy as a whole grew less than 2% last year – and that included giant industries like construction, manufacturing and retail.
- Singapore is developing Infocomm Media 2025 into tangible outcomes and seizing the many new opportunities presented by the infocomm media sector.
The Media Education Scholarship (MES)
If you’re thinking of a career in media, including film, then why not consider applying for the Media Education Scholarship? It’s an initiative by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) to nurture and develop industry leaders and professionals in the media sector.
For one, it gives you full funding for your media education tuition and compulsory fees at any educational institution of your choice, PLUS an annual allowance to defray living expenses during the period of study.
For example, Alvin Lee (Media Education Scholar, 2014) is presently studying at the prestigious Beijing Film Academy for the Bachelor in Film Directing programme. At 25, his short films ‘Timeline’ and ‘Seed’ have already won him awards at the Very Short International Film Festival, France and the China Short Film Golden Hummingbird Awards, respectively.
Land yourself a media industry job
Media Education Scholars also get training, internships and even a career with co-sponsoring companies like Ubisoft, Mediacorp, mm2 Entertainment, SPH, and more.
With his new role at Starhub, Kenson Tan (Media Education Scholar, 2012) applies his knowledge of digital media to influence decision-making in the media sector.
If that’s not exciting, how about a job in the fast-paced game industry.
Gavin Yeo (Media Education Scholar, 2011) graduated with a Bachelor of Science and Game Design from DigiPen Institute of Technology which was paid for by the Media Education Scholarship. He is now a Game Designer with a multinational game publisher, Ubisoft – creator of Assassin’s Creed and Overwatch.
If you love telling stories, you can become a filmmaker and put Singapore on the cinema map.
Anthony Chen did just that with his film Ilo Ilo, which thrusted Singapore into the global limelight, winning the Caméra d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. He also won 40 other festival awards, and was named one of Variety magazine’s 10 Directors to Watch.
Hot on his heels is Kirsten Tan, whose arthouse film Popeye won the World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award earlier this year at the Sundance Festival – another Singaporean film first.
You too can follow in the footsteps of Anthony and Kirsten, both former Media Education Scholars.
Who can apply?
If you’re a Singaporean with a vision to work in and transform the media industry, then the Media Education Scholarship wants you. Some criteria to qualify:
- You only need to have applied or be accepted to an institution of your choice for a full-time media-related undergraduate or postgraduate programme.
- Or if you have at least 1 academic year left of your current undergraduate or postgraduate programme.
- Or if you have a strong interest in media but currently studying in other fields, like business administration.
How do I apply?
Applicants for the Media Education Scholarship will be assessed based on their:
- Creativity: assessed through a portfolio or track record (if any)
- Leadership and management skills (assessed through CCA, community involvement, contributions to media industry, etc)
- Other requirements specified by IMDA and co-sponsoring companies
If you meet these criteria, and you think you have what it takes to make it in the media industry, embark on your next milestone by applying here: www.imda.gov.sg
