Everyone Wants to Watch Content — But Far Fewer Study It in Singapore’s Arts Schools

Media Production was never part of the plan for Nikhita Alisha Ohri, 28, who graduated from Lasalle's Broadcast Media diploma in 2021. During her time in ITE, she never considered film or cameras as a "real" future.

But her room was already betraying her: shelves stacked with old DVDs, foreign films playing on her laptop till 3am, and projects where she somehow always ended up doing media work.

By the time she graduated from ITE and enrolled in Lasalle, it did not feel like a surprise; she drifted straight into the world of media production she had been orbiting her whole life.

However, her trajectory is increasingly uncommon. Despite the boom of digital content, Media Production diplomas in Singapore’s arts institutions continue to produce far fewer graduates than other arts diplomas.

Between 2005 and 2023, Media Production consistently lagged, with only 84 graduates in 2021, significantly below the 318 graduates in Fine & Performing Arts and the 613 graduates in Design & Applied Arts.

According to Nauwroz Khan, 46, Technical Director at SPH Media, this trend is largely due to a perception that media skills are easily accessible on the internet.

“Just because they can post content online, they think that they are media-trained,” he says.

Mr Khan warns that this "point-and-shoot" mindset diminishes the value of professional expertise. While basic technical skills are easy to acquire, formal education teaches key fundamentals, like framing, audio levels, and production workflows, that are often overlooked by those who are self-taught.

Another major deterrent is the industry’s financial instability, which clashes with current graduate priorities. A 2025 study by the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) found that youths now value financial gain and job stability.

This concern is reflected in Lasalle’s 2023 graduate employment survey, which showed that only 25.3% of visual and applied arts diploma graduates, including Broadcast Media, hold full-time jobs with a median gross monthly salary of $2,900.

Moreover, freelancers, Ms Ohri says, often “bring home maybe $800 to $1,000 on a good month,” with on-set day rates sometimes “as low as $80 a day.”

The industry also demands a hybrid skill set, where one media professional needs to "write, copyright, produce...and also needs to go out and shoot." 

Despite these challenges, what motivates people like Nikhita to stay is deeply personal.

"What else am I going to do?" she asks, explaining that her personality thrives in this environment. "I don’t want to do a 9-to-5 desk job, I’m going to hate myself." 

For her, the creative freedom and the non-traditional work structure are irreplaceable benefits.

"It’s a path that I choose for myself," she concludes.

For students who are passionate but discouraged by the industry's challenges, Ms Ohri advises to “just do what you want”.

“You are setting the trajectory of your own life,” she says. “No one should discourage you from your own path.”