Arizona State tackles the merging of entertainment and tech

Most people have heard of the emerging field of biotech but EnterTech, what's that? The New York Times reports that Arizona State University is launching a new degree program in the new cross-discipline of entertainment and technology, or EnterTech.

"We know that the dominance of 35-millimeter film is over," said Peter Lehman, the director of the film and media studies program, and one of two professors who teaches the course. "We're in a period of massive change and uncertainty. We need a new kind of person in this industry who understands that entertainment and technology are converging, and who is fluent in the concepts and the language of both."

Under the auspices of ASU's media studies program, a degree in EnterTech would prepare students to work in the changing world of Hollywood.

"The digital age and that 800-pound distribution gorilla, the Internet, is changing everything," he said. "The technical people and the creative people need to be able to work together, and there is no forum for that now."

Programs at established film schools such as University of Southern California or New York University have tried to integrate new technology into their curricula. Other schools are also attempting the fill the high-tech need.

Arizona State University is taking a different approach, however, to addressing the rapid changes that the movie industry is currently experiencing. Everything from intellectual copyright issues to technology that is changing consumers' leisure habits is fair game for the program.

"Ideally we should be teaching students to think of film in relation to new media in a quite different model than we had in the past. It's not as simple as, 'We need content for a new delivery system.' It's more, 'We need to understand the new technology and how it will shape entertainment.' We're creating a new industry job, as it were," said Lehman.