[IMG]http://www.theeca.com/newsletters/flashpoint_lab.jpg[/IMG]A relatively new Chicago school that teaches digital media features a leader that calls traditional academic institutions a “joke.”

The New York Times [URL="http:// http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/07/us/07cncwarren.html"]takes a look inside[/URL] the [URL=http://www.flashpointacademy.com]Flashpoint Academy of Media Arts & Sciences[/URL] in downtown Chicago. The school offers two-year programs focused on Film & Broadcast, Recording Arts, Game & Interactive Media or Animation & Visual Effects. Tuition runs around $25,000 a year. Founded in 2007, Flashpoint currently houses 450 students and 26 full time faculty members.

Howard Tullman is President and CEO of the school, and is not a fan of more conventional schooling, calling professor lectures a “joke” and labeling most university film schools a waste of time, as they produce nothing more than “coffee fetchers.”

Flashpoint’s Game Development program serves up four areas of focus: Design, Art (3D Modeling & Animation), Programming and Project Management. Graduates are awarded an Associate of Applied Science degree.

One student labeled Flashpoint “the Julliard of digital technology.”

[url=http://www.gamepolitics.com/2010/02/10/nyt-profiles-digital-media-school]More...[/url]