CRED

Creative Entrepreneur Development Program

Overview

The Creative Entrepreneur Development (CrED) Program is a 12-week experience that grows emerging artists in the Twin Cities as creators, entrepreneurs, and learners through experiential learning, mentorship, and paid work.

Over the course of the program, participants will explore disciplines in the digital arts, build creative skills, access freelance opportunities, and get support to direct independent projects.

Choosing a Track

The program offers three tracks built for the different creative interests and levels of experience each learner has in their chosen discipline.

Read more to decide which track suits you best.

Arian Tomar Productions is an independent production company specializing in short social impact documentaries typically about environmental topics. Track instructor, Arian Tomar, has directed projects ranging in subject from academic research to aquaculture, urban agriculture, climate action, outdoor access, conservation, education, and science. His films have screened at over a dozen festivals internationally and have supported impact campaigns that raised $3 million in climate action funding, educated on the cultural impact of Pacific salmon, and bridged American political divides through action driven initiatives. Arian’s documentary practice blends social impact, education, and storytelling all packaged in a sustainable business model.

To support learners with different experience levels and creative interests, this track offers both shadow and specialist experiences. For beginners with limited experience, shadowing looks like following the production of a short documentary from start to finish. This exposes the learner to all aspects of documentary filmmaking so that they might develop some initial experience and gather insight into which specialist disciplines they would like to develop.

For intermediate learners with some preliminary experience, the specialist experience similarly follows the production of a short documentary but instead focuses more narrowly on the role of a single department over the course of the film’s production. Specialist disciplines include:

  • Production (Producing and Directing)
  • Cinematography
  • Picture Editing & Coloring
  • Sound Recording, Editing, Design & Mixing

Whether a shadow or specialist experience is right for you will be decided during your interview in the next phase of the application process. Learners who have completed a program cycle as a shadow will automatically be considered for a second cycle as a specialist.

MisMatched Media is a production company that creates photos, videos, and digital brand assets for local musicians, venues, and studios.

For beginners with limited experience, shadowing looks like following the production of concert photography, videography, and produced music videos. For intermediate learners with some prior knowledge, the specialist experience goes deeper into production of one of the individual media assets created by MisMatched Media. Specialist disciplines include:

  • Concert Photography (Photography and Editing)
  • Live Concert Videography (Camera Operation and Editing)
  • Music Video Production

Whether a shadow or specialist experience is right for you will be decided during your interview in the next phase of the application process. Learners who have completed a program cycle as a shadow will automatically be considered for a second cycle as a specialist.

The Skill-Building Track is our catch all experience for those with creative interests outside of documentary and live music. If neither Documentary Film nor Live Music interest you, then this is the track for you.

Due to the focused expertise of our mentors, the Skill-Building Track is exclusively a specialist experience and relies on learners having at least some prior knowledge of or practice with their chosen discipline.

What counts as prior knowledge or practice will vary from learner to learner but taking a high school, post-secondary, or otherwise organized course in a discipline or having completed three or more works independently would suffice in most cases. Some examples of disciplines we can support include but are not limited to:

  • Creative Writing
  • Screenwriting
  • Screen Acting
  • Photography
  • Journalism
  • Audio Production
  • Graphic & Web Design
  • Animation
  • Illustration
  • Game Design

If you are curious about our ability to support your chosen creative discipline before you decide to apply, please get in touch with us.

If you are a creative with professional experience in any of these disciplines and would be interested in leading a track, please contact Arian Tomar to learn more about the opportunity.

There are three program tracks: 1) Documentary Film 2) Live Music and 3) Skill-Building

The Documentary Film and Live Music Tracks offer the most structured learning experience designed around our founders’ businesses.

The Skill-Building track offers a broader experience where learners can get support and accountability in developing specific creative skills outside of those offered in the first two tracks.

Application

Applications will be considered on a rolling basis.

If the form is still accessible, do consider applying.

Eligible learners are:

  • 18 years old or older
  • Living or studying in the Twin Cities for more than 6 months of the year
  • Interested in growing as a creative, entrepreneur, or learner
APPLY HERE

I had no filmmaking experience when I first met Arian. He is an incredibly articulate and caring mentor who goes above and beyond. Arian always finds ways to structure ideas in a way that’s tangible and relatable. There’s never a dull moment and it’s incredibly fulfilling when you’re willing to put in the same level of commitment and dedication he invests in you.

Maddie Ghatavi, Documentary Film Track Alumna

Arian’s recommendations helped me learn how to shape light in a way I never could before. He balances creativity with practicality and hearing lessons from his professional experience has influenced how I navigate my own career. It’s been reassuring to see someone else create a career for themselves outside of the industry. I recommend working with Arian because it’s rare to find someone with an artistic perspective who can also sell their ideas.

Maceo Perez, Skill-Building Track Alumnus

Working with Arian has been incredibly valuable in learning how to be intentional and impact-driven. I’ve seen how films can be more than just simple entertainment. He opened the door to the possibilities of environmental storytelling and provided invaluable opportunities. Arian has been incredibly important in refining my voice as a creator and helped me realize how art can intersect with environmental issues. As a result, I’ve grown into a more confident, purpose-driven creative.

Nika Wallach, Skill-Building Track Alumna

The guidance I’ve received is nothing short of the best. Arian taught me everything about how to tell a story through lighting. When I was starting out, I was filled with constant self doubt but Arian gave me countless opportunities to build my confidence and prove to myself that I really did know what I was doing. He helped me realize I had the skill to make a career out of my passion. If you are perpetually curious and never stop, you are the perfect fit to work with Arian.

Mitchell Jung, Skill-Building Track Alumnus

Expanding my creative portfolio has landed me life-changing experiences and I wouldn’t be working in esports without Arian’s mentorship. I feel like I’ve become a more professional creative and now know what it means to truly work for something. The most valuable part of working with Arian has been his commitment to making sure I learn and that I’m highly involved in shaping that learning.

Jordan Clarke, Skill-Building Track Alumnus

Alex has been our go to videographer since day one. He quickly picked up on our style and perfectly captures it visually. He’s a great communicator and has always delivered on bringing our ideas into reality.

Heed the Warning, MisMatched Media Client

MisMatched Media has been an incredible asset to our business. Alex is an expert at capturing the user experience of our product and made a great product demo video. His creativity and professionalism have made the process seamless.

TeePal, MisMatched Media Client

I’ve worked with Alex for three years and he’s really helped build my portfolio by providing a variety of projects to work on. From live music to corporate video and weddings, there’s been tons of diverse and interesting work. He also helped me pick up on how to better navigate client-contractor relationships as an emerging creative.

Joyce Lam, MisMatched Media Editor

Program


The CrED Program is built around the Independent Directing Project (IDP), a learner defined and driven creative venture. With support from a mentor, learners will design a plan to make progress on the IDP and identify barriers to progress that the mentor can help the learner overcome. This will often look like skill building but may also look like networking, connecting with grant funding opportunities, and accountability. Paid work offers learners the chance to apply skills developed during the IDP in a new context to build a professional portfolio of work that will help them secure future paid opportunities.

By repeating this process of skill building, mentorship, and accessing paid work opportunities, CrED learners develop their confidence as creative entrepreneurs who may deicide to continue their learning as freelancers who eventually start their own creative businesses.

Approach

Curated over eight years of experience in mentoring, leadership development, and community empowerment initiatives, these are the learning practices that best serve the program:

Embodied by the IDP, experiential learning creates the foundation of our approach to learning where we facilitate new experiences for participants who then reflect on it to reach new understandings that they then apply to their next experience. The reflections and findings generated by learners contribute to the knowledge exchange between mentor and mentee through a process known as reciprocal learning. Through this process, mentors benefit from the lessons mentees learn as much as mentees benefit from the skills that mentors help them build. Finally, the gradual release of responsibility (GRR) represents our approach to the paid work opportunities CrED learners access via our production partner, Mismatched Media. GRR is a method by which responsibility transitions from teacher to learner in four steps:

This approach empowers learners to acquire completely new skills by gradually building confidence while offering support throughout the entire process. Together, these three practices create a rich environment for development fueled by experience, mutual learning, and accessible growth.

I’m Arian and this is my friend Alex. We met in high school and after falling out of touch we reconnected in 2026 over a shared passion for creative entrepreneurship, storytelling, and lifelong learning. This program was born of that shared passion and our 10 years of combined experience running creative businesses.

Arian Tomar, Co-Founder &

Program Director

Arian Tomar is an internationally awarded documentary filmmaker and outdoor professional dedicated to uplifting stories of environmental hope.

He holds a BFA in Film Production from the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts and a minor in entrepreneurship from the Marshall School of business.

Arian combines business, storytelling, and sustainability in his production company that specializes in high quality brand films and web content.

At USC, Arian was part of the Arts and Climate Collective where he mentored student creatives using storytelling and art to uplift environmental issues. He also served as the Director of the Eco Media Festival— Southern California’s premier student film festival for the environment.

As CrED Program Director, Arian oversees all aspects of creative mentorship, education, and program coordination. You’ll be working with him regularly to develop your independent directing project and grow your creative skills.

Alex James, Co-Founder &

Program Producer

Alex James is a self taught creative entrepreneur from Afton, where he grew up on a small farm. At a young age, Alex fell in love with film and media which helped him make sense of the world around him.

Alex studied graphic design at Dunwoody College of Technology and upon graduating, pivoted to pursue his passion for photography and videography.

In 2023, he attended his first house show where his photos and videos instantly connected with the bands playing.

When bands offered to pay Alex for his media, a new world opened up. After that day, Alex created MisMatched Media, an agency specializing in digital media for live music artists.

Recently, Alex has ventured into booking live music, leveraging his network of musicians and media company to create high quality media and experiences.

As a producer for the CrED Program, Alex manages many of the paid opportunities learners get access to and leads his own track on live music media production.