New Job Training Opportunities for New Yorkers through “Made in NY” Media Academy

Photo Courtesy of MOME / Made in NY

Multiple City University of New York (CUNY) Colleges, Including Queensborough, Kingsborough and Hunter, to Offer Courses for In-Demand Job Markets, Including Music Production, Content Creation, Graphic Design, and More 

MOME and NYC SBS proudly announce the “Made in NY” Media Academy, a new workforce development initiative that aims to meet the evolving workforce needs of New York City’s media and entertainment industries, offered at no cost to New Yorkers. Through active partnerships with the continuing education divisions of several City University of New York (CUNY) colleges, including Queensborough Community College, Kingsborough Community College, and Hunter College, the Academy will offer an adaptive training portfolio to prepare New Yorkers for a range of diverse areas, including audio production, graphic arts, digital content creation, emerging technologies, and more. CUNY will facilitate job placements for trainees with companies in their respective fields. The announcement was made at an event held at Queensborough Community College on Tuesday, June 16, which included a tour of the music facilities and a Masterclass in Music Production given by Global Hip Hop Grammy Award Winning Producer Kid Capri.

The announcement was made at an event held at Queensborough Community College on Tuesday, June 16, which included a tour of the music facilities. The event also included a Masterclass in Music Production given by Global Hip Hop Grammy Award Winning Producer Kid Capri, who said “I enjoyed hanging out with everyone at Queensborough! Always remember to hit Control S,” to remind beat producers to always save their work. 

Initial “Made in NY” Media Academy course offerings include: 

• Music Production Bootcamp at Queensborough Community College – Course begins September 15. Register now at QCC.cuny.edu 
• Content Creation Bootcamp at Kingsborough Community College –  Course begins September 23. Register now at KBCC.cuny.edu
• Graphic Design Bootcamp at Hunter College – Course begins Fall 2026. Register interest now at Hunter College Graphic Design Bootcamp – Interest Form. 

For each training topic, individual CUNY schools will leverage relationships with studios and vendors, current curriculum, and instructional capacity to deliver courses and provide job placement for participants. Applicants must be New York City residents who are 18 or older, authorized to work in the United States. Selective Service compliant (if applicable), and have a high school diploma or HSE. Applicants must demonstrate interest in pursuing a career in their course topic, make under $60,000 if employed, and commit to the full training schedule and attendance requirements.

More on the course offerings: 

Music Production Bootcamp

• 10-week innovative training at QCC that combines music production techniques with hands-on experience in recording studio environments. 
• Selected as an initial training topic based on labor market analysis using Lightcast Q2 2025 data, which identified 114 unique job postings and 177 total postings from 51 employers in the past year across roles such as music producers, sound designers, and sound engineering technicians. 
• Graduates will receive assistance with securing employment in commercial recording studios, live recording venues, radio and broadcast networks, and with manufacturers serving the music production field, including Dead Zone Production, J&D Warren Music, Likeable Media, Prime Content, Quirk Creative, Studio Center, and Truluvent. 

Content Creation Bootcamp 

• Seven-week deep dive at KCC into digital storytelling and multimedia production to prepare students for core competencies in content creation, video editing, and digital strategy, with dedicated career planning support in partnership with Reel Works for roles in creative agencies and marketing departments.
• Selected as an initial training topic based on labor market analysis that identified strong employer demand across related occupations, including public relations specialists (718 job postings), writers and editors (983 job postings), producers and directors (482 job postings), writers and editors (529 postings), and news analysts (206 job postings) over the past year. 
• Occupations in these sectors offer median wages ranging from approximately $68,400 to $70,400 annually and support career pathways throughout the media, entertainment, publishing, advertising, broadcasting, and digital communications sectors.

Graphic Design Bootcamp 

• 11-weeks with more than 100 hours of instruction at Hunter to prepare New Yorkers for entry-level careers as graphic artists, multimedia designers, and digital content creators with job-ready skills in industry-standard tools including Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator, alongside career-readiness training, a capstone portfolio project, and paid micro-internships with NYC employers. 
• The Bootcamp will serve two cohorts totaling 30 underrepresented New Yorkers in its first year, providing supportive services including transit assistance, a Hunter College credential upon completion, and job-placement support connecting graduates directly to employment opportunities in NYC’s creative economy. 
• Hunter College will incorporate a micro internship component into its program, providing participants with hands-on professional experience while building industry networks with organizations such as Bloomberg, Hearst, NBCUniversal, ABC News, Warner Bros. Discovery, WNYC/Gothamist, Simon & Schuster, Penguin Random House, News Corp, The New York Post, BBC Studios, and U.S. News & World Report, as well as communications and branding firms including Rubenstein Communications, Edelman, BPCM, ICR, Shore Fire Media, Turner PR, and Hotwire.