Drama & Media Arts Academy

The CREOarts.Live Drama & Media Arts Academy centers around producing a recurring variety show that is performed for a studio audience and live-streamed on our website. The Friday Night Showcase at CREOarts.Live will feature a variety of comedic and dramatic sketches, local bands and other musical guests, educational presentations, "talk show" segments, and more. With a strong focus on teamwork, creative collaboration, ensemble performances, and peer instruction, the students enrolled in this program will develop, produce, and perform nearly all creative and technical aspects of the show. Performance oriented students may perform on the show frequently while the more technical students will learn to operate the cameras, video switcher, lights & sound, graphics, and more. There are many performance opportunities and technical roles for students to explore in our media arts program. Potential areas of focus include (but are not limited to) the following: - Acting for the small stage or screen - Stage and cinematic lighting - Live sound production and recording - Live-streaming video production - Graphic design and presentation - Studio photography - Short-form film production - Stop animation The CREOarts.Live Drama & Media Arts Academy is open to students in grades 7 thru 12 (ages 12 to 18) and meets 5 days per week: Monday through Friday from 4:30 to 6:00 PM. Our live shows will be presented Friday evenings. Throughout the week, students will be engaged in writing skits, learning lines, researching presentation topics, developing graphics, lighting and sound cues, and more, all in preparation for the live show on Friday evening. Pricing is $90 per week or $288 per month. Taught by: Neil Buckland (founder of CREOarts.Live) is a commercial photographer/videographer, graphic designer, and passionate educator with more than 25 years of experience in the field. As a graduate of performing arts school, he studied instrumental music, audio engineering, graphic design, and theater. From 2008 to 2022, he owned and operated a commercial studio and vocational training school in Seattle where he personally mentored more than 2,500 aspiring creatives of all ages and skill levels from novice to working professional. He now lives in Alamogordo and teaches media arts for Alamogordo Public Schools.