Sheridan welcomes support from TD Bank Group to empower mid-career creative professionals through The Creative Industries Catalyst

Mid-career professionals in creative fields will soon have access to hands-on programming led by some of the best in the business, thanks to a grant of $500,000 from TD Bank Group (TD).

The grant will allow Sheridan to create The Creative Industries Catalyst, a program that will equip individuals with the skills and resilience to navigate the ever-evolving job landscape in creative industries and help them improve their income stability to thrive in the economy of the future.

The Creative Industries Catalyst will develop ground-breaking programming that is tailored to busy mid-career professionals with course content offered in workshops, masterclasses, microcredentials, networking events, professional talks, and mentorship sessions that will cultivate and bolster business and entrepreneurship skills and technical competencies. Programming will have a focus on sharing diverse voices and feature mental-health supports. Training will be offered in person and virtually, with some sessions at Sheridan’s Screen Industries Research and Training Centre (SIRT), a leader in applied research in storytelling and immersive technologies.

“...New technologies and disrupted funding and business models are shifting the way creative content is produced and experienced. This program will allow us to help mid-career creative professionals adapt to these ever-changing realities and unlock their potential.”

– Mark Jones, Dean, Faculty of Animation, Arts & Design

“Sheridan is extremely grateful for the support of TD, which will allow us to launch The Creative Industries Catalyst at a time when new technologies and disrupted funding and business models are shifting the way creative content is produced and experienced,” says Mark Jones, Dean of the Faculty of Animation, Arts & Design. “This program will allow us to help mid-career creative professionals adapt to these ever-changing realities and unlock their potential.”

TD’s support will ensure the programming is offered free of charge, making it accessible to all mid-career professionals, including underrepresented individuals, who face the risk of job loss, aspire to enter – or re-enter – the job market, seek career advancement, or who are encountering limitations in their current careers due to difficulties adapting to disruptive changes in the labour market.

The Creative Industries Catalyst builds on Sheridan’s legacy of creating innovative programs that respond to the needs of industry. For over 50 years, Sheridan has led the way in building programming that responds to creative, business and technological challenges, including the first computer animation program in Canada, the first four-year bachelor’s degree in game design, and the first bachelor’s degree in interaction design. Alumni from Sheridan’s renowned Faculty of Animation, Art and Design have a long history of success across the creative industries and have won Emmys, Oscars and Canadian Screen Awards.