BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — A free program at Buffalo State University is seeking people interested in working in the film and music industries.
Applications are now open for the third year of the Post Production Development Initiative (PPDI), a one-year program that trains people for entry-level careers in video editing and audio mixing.
The program is open to anyone in the community who is at least 18 years old and lives in Western New York. Applicants do not need to be college students.
Twenty-two participants from diverse backgrounds will be selected. A New York state grant funds the initiative with the goal of increasing diversity in the film industry. Several local groups are partnering with Buffalo State University to make the program possible.
Those groups include the Motion Picture Editors Guild – New York, Get Fokus'd Productions, Squeaky Wheel Film & Media Art Center, GCR Audio, and Buffalo State's Career and Professional Education (CAPE) office. PPDI is funded by a New York State Career Readiness Entertainment Workforce (CREW) Diversity Grant with the goal of increasing diversity in the film industry, according to the program's project managers.
Classes will meet twice a month on Saturdays at Buffalo State. Sessions start in late September and run through the summer of 2027.
The application deadline is September 4. Applications can be submitted online. More information is available on the program's website and Instagram: @ppdiprogram.
