Depok-Media Production study program, Vocational Education Program, Universitas Indonesia (UI) has just signed a cooperation agreement with PT Bumilangit Entertainment Corpora (Bumilangit), an intellectual property-based entertainment company that has many comic characters, to develop educational programs in the creative industry at the beginning of last October. The form of collaboration is a certified student internship program, field work practice, certification, education, training and community service. As the beginning of the implementation of this collaboration, Media Production students, Sara Amadea and Hafsyah Hamidah, had the opportunity to undergo an internship program. They gain experience and are directly involved in creative content production at Bumilangit.
Collaboration between UI Vocational and Bumilangit has been initiated since 2022 through holding public lectures on Indonesia’s creative industries. Both see the importance of synergy between educational institutions and industry together to develop the quality of education and creative industries in Indonesia. Founded in 2003, Bumilangit was the first milestone in an effort to revive the culture of comic storytelling with heroic themes in Indonesia. Bumilangit is a family for many creative artists from the early generations to the present, as well as loyal fans who always appreciate the artists’ works. Now, Bumilangit is the leading character-based entertainment company in Indonesia that manages the largest character library.
Director of the UI Vocational Education Program, Padang Wicaksono, S.E., Ph.D, said that graduates of the Media Production study program will later become people who work in the creative industry. “By adapting various scientific knowledge in creative fields, such as content production for games, comics, films, music and others, we strive to create graduates who have the opportunity to become developers of these new media. Of course, developing a curriculum together with industry is one of the important points to achieve this vision,” said Padang.
Currently, Sara, one of the students taking part in the internship program, has been involved as a content creator in various content productions on Bumilangit’s social media channels. Sara has the opportunity to become a content creator at Bumilangit. She took on the role of creating content to promote Bumilangit merchandise. For example, mix and match outfits using the Bumilangit X Damn I Love Indonesia collaboration merchandise, my outfit to go with the Bumilangit X Kreaby collaboration, how to be fashionable in 2023 with the Bumilangit X Jerjhon collaboration jersey, and others.
(Photo: Sara’s internship process at Bumilangit)
She also acts as an assistant illustrator in two projects, namely the comic-strip and the audio series “Tira Tragedi”. In the comic-strip project, Sara designs characters, starting from color tone, facial illustrations based on character traits, clothing style, eye color, facial expressions, and poses. In the audio series project, Sara is in charge of the lineart or toning section. Several times Sara was also given the opportunity to provide voices for side characters in the audio series “Tira Tragedi”. Another project she worked on was as an illustrator for the one-shot comic “What If Kamu Satu Sekolah dengan Godam, Awang, dan Chuluika?!” and chibi versions of Bumilangit characters, namely Aquanus, Virgo, Si Buta dari Goa Hantu, Tira, Gundala, Godam, Maza, and Sri Asih.
“While at Bumilangit, I gained many new insights. I determined that I must always have a thirst for knowledge and never be easily satisfied. Together with the knowledge brought from Bumilangit, I hope that in the future I can build a small studio, create personal projects that can collaborate with Bumilangit. Apart from that, the knowledge provided in class, one of which is the Innovation and Media Principles course which I like, helped a lot in this internship program. Before entering the world of work, students have first honed their illustration skills through this course. In addition, the lecturers also shared the working environment conditions in the creative industry, especially in the field of animation or comics,” added Sara.
Apart from the internship program, another form of strategic collaboration carried out is the preparation of a curriculum for comic making material as part of courses in the Media Production study program. The existence of a curriculum prepared together with industry allows students to access material that is more applicable to the needs of professional industry. This collaboration also allows students to utilize the IP library managed by Bumilangit as part of learning materials and production practices for various types of works.
(Photo: One of the works Sara produced while doing an internship at Bumilangit)
Apart from that, talents involved in Bumilangit will also have the opportunity to share knowledge in the capacity of guest lecturers at lectures. So, students also gain insight directly related to the industry they have the potential to enter in the future.
Bismarka Kurniawan, CEO of Bumilangit said that the collaboration built between Bumilangit and UI Vocational is expected to continue and produce various creative works produced by students and graduates. He said, “Implementation of this collaboration will get positive feedback for both parties. I hope that Media Production students can provide fresh ideas as generation Z to Bumilangit. “On the contrary, we will provide a platform for students to express these ideas into creative works that can be accepted by society.”
It is hoped that the collaboration between UI Vocational and Bumilangit can further advance the comic-based creative industry, which can be done not only through non-formal education, but also formal education. The development of courses on comic production is also one of the specialties of the Media Production study program since it first opened in 2021. The hope is that comic characters in Indonesia will become more diverse, and comics will no longer only be used as a medium for telling stories, but also as a means of education.
