Blackmagic Design announced today that it has formed a strategic partnership with the USC School of Cinematic Arts to provide Blackmagic hardware and software to the School over three years. The products will be used by USC students studying filmmaking and post-production, while broadcast production students will now have the opportunity to work with UltraHD in the school’s television station, Trojan Vision.

Through the partnership, Blackmagic Design will provide URSA Broadcast cameras and URSA Mini Pro Cinema cameras, ATEM 4 M/E Broadcast Studio 4K switchers, ATEM Camera Control Panels, HyperDeck Studio Pro recorders and Resolve Micro and Resolve Mini Panels.

“Blackmagic is known for providing high-quality equipment that filmmakers and other content creators find accessible,” said Elizabeth Daley, Dean of the School of Cinematic Arts. “We are thrilled our students get to use Blackmagic Design tools because we know that means they will be better prepared for the work environments they will encounter after graduation.”

The partnership with Blackmagic Design will provide a major upgrade to the equipment used by USC students who create programming for Trojan Vision, the School of Cinematic Arts’ award-winning television station that airs to homes across Los Angeles, and online.

Greg Vannoy, who oversees Trojan Vision, said: “While we broadcast in HD, the upgrade gives us full Ultra HD capability, which we feel creates a better learning facility for our students.” The studio, which is located in the Robert Zemeckis Center for Digital Arts, will now have URSA Broadcast cameras, ATEM 4 M/E Broadcast Studio 4K switchers, ATEM 1 M/E Advanced Panels, ATEM Camera Control Panels, and a massive array of routing components, as well as HyperDeck Studio Pro recorders; transforming the facility into a modern teaching environment.

“We are thrilled that some of the media industry’s most talented young creators will be consistently learning on and using our products and we are excited to see what they end up creating,” said Grant Petty, CEO of Blackmagic Design.

Beyond the broadcast equipment, the partnership provides DaVinci Resolve Micro Panels for students studying color grading. Students will have access to DaVinci Resolve Studio and instructors will have DaVinci Resolve Mini Panels for use in their classes. A number of URSA Mini Pro cinema cameras will be used for student productions.

“It’s important for our students to learn in an environment that closely resembles the industry,” said Meri Weingarten, Director of Digital Media & Technology at the School. “We know this will improve their skills,”

“We are excited to offer the URSA Mini Pro to our students. Blackmagic has done a great job creating a compact, multi-purpose camera that captures a beautiful image,” said Vannoy. “We are always interested in the newest and best tools the industry is using and we’re excited to see what our students do with the URSA Mini Pro.”