Introduction
In an industry often driven by proximity to Hollywood, London, or Vancouver, creatives from remote regions like Hawaiʻi have long faced steep barriers to accessing high-end production careers. But with the rapid rise of cloud computing, virtual production, and remote collaboration tools, those barriers are crumbling.
The CG Pro Unreal Engine for Filmmakers course stands as a pioneering model for how cloud technology and inclusive educational practices can transform opportunity for historically underserved communities. Through a partnership between CG Pro, University of Hawaii System Windward Community College (WCC), and cloud computing provider CenterGrid, this initiative empowered Hawaiʻi students to acquire industry-ready realtime filmmaking skills — from their homes, on personal laptops, without leaving their islands.
This case study traces how a culturally mindful, cloud-based training program unlocked new career pathways, proving that world-class creative talent can thrive anywhere, given access and support.
The Challenge: Creative Careers from Remote Islands
Hawaiʻi’s beauty comes with a paradox: its geographic isolation limits career opportunities in technology and media. The islands’ small population, high living costs, and distance from mainland creative hubs have long left aspiring filmmakers, animators, and game developers with a stark choice: leave home, or settle for work outside their passion.
“A lot of students had given up on the idea that you could build a creative career without leaving Hawaiʻi. This program gave them a new option — and new hope.”
— Daniel Langhjelm, Instructor
Program Origins and Strategic Alignment
“Over 35% of jobs will soon be remote, making this program critical.”
— Neva Supe-Roque, Workforce Development Coordinator, WCC
The program was born from necessity — and opportunity. Funded through the federally backed Good Jobs Hawaiʻi initiative, the collaboration between Windward Community College (WCC) and CG Pro was a direct response to the unique economic and geographic realities of Hawaiʻi. With one of the highest costs of living in the U.S., limited local job opportunities, and significant distances between communities, many residents faced stark choices: leave their homeland or settle for underpaying, inflexible work.
Recognizing that over 35% of future jobs would be remote, WCC’s workforce team saw virtual production and cloud-based creative careers as a vital new path for local talent. The program strategically leveraged existing interest in esports and digital arts within the community to build job-focused, industry-certified pathways in Unreal Engine and virtual production — industries designed for remote work and scalable, sustainable employment.
“For many Hawaiʻi residents, the high cost of living has pushed people to relocate off-island, fragmenting communities and draining local talent.”
— Neva Supe-Roque
The program’s mission extended beyond career training; it aimed to strengthen local communities, preserve cultural continuity, and reverse the out-migration of Hawaiʻi’s youth by creating meaningful career opportunities that residents could pursue from their own homes.
Key Points:
- High cost of living and geographic isolation limit local opportunities.
- Good Jobs Hawaiʻi grant catalyzed this strategic initiative.
- Program provides accessible, job-focused, remote career training.
- Remote work trends accelerated program urgency.
- Focus on building certified pathways for virtual production careers.
- Designed to retain local talent and strengthen communities.
The Solution Expertise and Technology Integration
“Delivering seamless, GPU enabled workstations thousands of miles away was a true validation of our cloud solutions.”
— Chris Beard, COO, CenterGrid
CG Pro, a specialized training provider focusing on Unreal Engine, virtual production, and realtime filmmaking, brought significant expertise to this collaboration. Owners Jacqueline Cooper and Edward Dawson-Taylor had long partnered with CenterGrid to deliver cloud-based workstations for their students across various programs.
When the Hawaiʻi project was conceived, Jacqueline approached CenterGrid to explore the feasibility of streaming high-end Unreal Engine workstations from their Ohio-based VFX data center directly to students on Oʻahu — over 5,000 miles away across the US and the Pacific Ocean.
CenterGrid generously provided these workstations at no cost to test their Unreal Learning Lab platform in such a remote, real-world environment.
This presented CenterGrid’s leadership, led by COO Chris Beard, with a compelling opportunity to validate their cloud platform’s performance in a demanding scenario where low-latency streaming over a vast oceanic distance was essential — and it worked perfectly..
Key Points
- CG Pro’s expertise in Unreal Engine and virtual production was critical.
- CenterGrid provided cloud-based workstation infrastructure from Ohio to Hawaiʻi.
- Streaming technology was tested over a challenging long-distance connection.
Instructional Leadership and Educational Philosophy
“The spark of realization that ‘I can do this’ was the driving force behind the program’s design.”
“From an educator’s perspective, my goal is to make creative technology education accessible to people from all walks of life. It’s not just about what we teach — it’s about evolving how we teach so that no matter your background, this knowledge is attainable and usable.”
— Daniel Langhjelm, Course Instructor.
At the instructional core was Daniel Langhjelm, a seasoned CG artist and educator with nearly two decades of industry experience, including teaching roles at Vancouver Film School and Epic Games Worldbuilding Fellowships. Drawing on this background, Daniel designed and led the eight-week Unreal Engine for Filmmakers course, driven by a mission to empower a new generation of storytellers by making complex technical knowledge accessible to all.
Daniel’s teaching philosophy centered on democratizing access to creative technology education, believing deeply that the method of teaching is as important as the content itself. He emphasized the imperative of evolving educational models so that creative knowledge becomes attainable and applicable regardless of a student’s background, location, or prior experience.
“I built the course to be iterative and approachable. Every week we’d focus on a different concept — lighting, environment building, camera animation, post-processing — so students had clear, achievable wins along the way. That pacing is critical when working with newcomers to Unreal and real-time pipelines.”— Daniel Langhjelm,
Daniel found immense satisfaction in witnessing students with little or no previous exposure to professional CG workflows complete their first cinematic shots and experience the transformative moment of self-belief and empowerment that comes with mastering such complex tools.
Key Points:
- Emphasis on democratizing creative technology education.
- Course designed to be accessible to students with diverse backgrounds.
- Focus on empowering students through hands-on achievement.
“Unreal isn’t just a tool — it’s a gateway to telling your story visually. I wanted students to feel empowered to try ideas, make mistakes, and troubleshoot like real professionals. That’s why live mentorship and feedback loops are essential, especially in cloud classrooms where isolation can be a risk.”— Daniel Langhjelm,
Addressing Structural Barriers and Retaining Local Talent Through Cloud Classrooms
Cloud classrooms effectively dismantled barriers by allowing access from home on personal laptops.”
— Neva Supe-Roque, Workforce Development Coordinator, WCC
For both Windward Community College (WCC) and CG Pro, adopting cloud-based classrooms wasn’t a convenience — it was an essential strategy to overcome the deeply rooted structural challenges unique to Hawaiʻi. Neva Supe-Roque detailed the significant financial pressures students face, particularly among Generation Z and Alpha, who are highly cautious about taking on debt without reliable career prospects. Hawaiʻi’s exceptionally high cost of living only compounds this issue, making traditional education models, with their added costs of commuting or relocation, largely inaccessible for many.
Geographic challenges are equally significant. Many students live in rural or remote areas, with daily commutes exceeding three hours, further limiting access to quality education and creative industry jobs. Cloud classrooms changed that dynamic, enabling students to connect to high-performance, cloud-based Unreal Engine workstations directly from their personal laptops at home — eliminating prohibitive logistical and financial obstacles.
“The out-migration of talented youth threatens Hawaiʻi’s economic and cultural vitality.”
— Neva Supe-Roque
Looking at the broader workforce development landscape, Neva spoke candidly about the systemic challenges Hawaiʻi faces. The state’s economy has long been dominated by tourism, healthcare, and military industries, with an emerging but still fragile creative technology sector. Traditionally, local students lacked the tools, professional networks, and nearby opportunities needed to build careers in digital media or virtual production without leaving the islands. This ongoing out-migration of young creative talent poses a serious threat to both Hawaiʻi’s economic resilience and its cultural heritage.
This cloud-powered initiative directly counteracts that trend, proving that through strategic use of cloud technology, it’s possible to nurture local talent, provide high-value technical training, and open doors to global industry opportunities — all without forcing young creatives to leave home.
Key Points:
- High financial and geographic barriers have historically limited access to education and creative careers in Hawaiʻi.
- Cloud classrooms eliminated the need for costly commutes or relocation, delivering high-performance virtual workstations directly to students’ personal devices.
- Hawaiʻi’s economy, traditionally centered on a narrow set of industries, urgently needs sustainable creative technology career paths.
- Retaining local talent is vital for preserving Hawaiʻi’s economic stability and cultural identity.
Collaborative, Supportive, and Culturally Rooted Learning Environment
“A nurturing environment where students feel valued is key to their growth.”
— Neva Supe-Roque, Workforce Development Coordinator, WCC
This program was carefully crafted as a collaborative, supportive, and culturally integrated learning environment blending live Zoom labs, cloud workstations, and real-time industry mentorship. Daniel Langhjelm designed the course with an iterative structure, where each week tackled specific Unreal Engine components with clear, achievable milestones.
Beyond technical skills, Daniel placed strong emphasis on mentorship and community-building, recognizing the risk of isolation inherent in cloud classrooms. This was Hawaiʻi’s first comprehensive training initiative of its kind, and Neva Supe-Roque noted how unique it was to see every student fully engaged, making tangible strides toward real careers in filmmaking and virtual production — opportunities that simply hadn’t existed locally before.
Windward Community College further reinforced this supportive framework by integrating instructional designers and successful student coaches who helped onboard students, addressed accessibility needs, provided technical troubleshooting, answered questions about deadlines, and maintained student motivation throughout the course.
“Our instructional support staff helped onboard students, ensured accessibility needs were met, and acted as success coaches throughout the course. They answered questions about technology, deadlines, and kept students motivated. That’s a huge piece of what made this work.”
— Neva Supe-Roque
Culturally, Neva stressed the importance of embedding Hawaiian values of community, inclusion, and respect into the program’s foundation. Daniel echoed this, explaining that beyond teaching Unreal Engine, the class was about building confidence, teamwork, and resilience — critical soft skills that elevate entry-level students into valuable, collaborative hires in the creative tech industry.
“It’s not just about learning Unreal — it’s about building confidence, teamwork, and resilience. Those soft skills are what turn entry-level students into great hires. This class created that environment, even virtually.”
— Daniel Langhjelm, Course Instructor
Key Points:
- Course structure built around achievable weekly milestones and technical skill-building.
- Strong emphasis on mentorship, community, and culturally rooted values of inclusion and respect.
- Soft skills like teamwork, resilience, and confidence nurtured alongside technical expertise, fostering both personal and professional growth in a virtual environment.
Advantages of Cloud-Based Education
“Cloud learning democratizes access to the most current creative tools.”
— Daniel Langhjelm, Course Instructor
From an industry perspective, Daniel underscored the rapid pace of technological change and the pitfalls of relying on outdated curricula. Cloud classrooms excel in this regard, enabling educators to quickly integrate new software updates and workflows, giving students immediate hands-on experience with the same tools studios use. The seamless deployment of CenterGrid’s infrastructure, even for late-joining students or those using Mac computers, illustrated how cloud-based learning can democratize access to cutting-edge technology.
Key Points:
- Cloud platforms enable quick adoption of latest software and workflows.
- Students gain hands-on experience with industry-standard tools.
- Compatibility with diverse hardware (Windows and Mac) enhances accessibility.
“A huge opportunity here is being able to give students access to software and hardware-intensive programs without requiring schools to buy expensive computers. Cloud technology made this possible, and CenterGrid’s system was smooth and easy for students to onboard. It’s a model I think other regions should absolutely be looking at.”
— Daniel Langhjelm, Course Instructor
“Cloud technology has dramatically lowered the cost of entry for diverse learners.”
— Neva Supe-Roque, Workforce Development Coordinator, WCC
Technical and Practical Challenges
The cloud-based classrooms also highlighted some challenges, including dependence on reliable internet connectivity and the need for faculty training to support new workflows and tools. Despite these hurdles, the technical rollout was smooth, students quickly gained access to their virtual workstations, and those with less powerful personal devices or Mac systems found themselves fully equipped to engage with Unreal Engine.
Key Points:
- Reliable internet remains a critical requirement.
- Faculty training necessary for new cloud workflows.
- Students across device types successfully engaged with curriculum.
📚 Course Experience & Student Feedback
The Unreal Engine for Filmmakers program combined foundational skills with expert mentorship, structured teaching, and hands-on labs that gave students the confidence to pursue creative careers immediately after completion. Students consistently praised the logical lesson progression, approachable instruction, and the accessibility of cloud-based workstations.
“Structured teaching gave students the confidence to pursue careers immediately.”
— Program Student
Kaile, one of the program’s standout participants, reflected on how the course fundamentally changed her creative journey:
“I’ve always enjoyed editing video and content, but this course showed me how to do it in a virtual world. Daniel’s environment-building class was a turning point — it gave me the confidence to create my own environment from scratch rather than rely on premade ones. That was huge for me.”
— Kaile
The critical role cloud-based technology played was clear throughout.
“It would have been impossible to participate and complete this course without the cloud-based workstation. My computer just couldn’t handle Unreal Engine. This program made something inaccessible suddenly feel possible.”
— Kaile
Neva Supe-Roque, Workforce Development Coordinator at WCC, emphasized the significance:
“Cloud workstations removed the hardware barrier for our students. Those who couldn’t otherwise afford or access powerful machines could fully participate — a game changer for this remote community.”
Students also highlighted the value of consistent, one-on-one mentorship and feedback from both CGPro instructors and industry guests:
“In no way did I feel lost in the numerous screens. We received one-on-one mentorship and helpful, critical feedback that improved our projects. I just wish there had been even more time with our teachers!”
— Kaile
Daniel Langhjelm, Course Instructor, reflected on the transformation he witnessed:
“Removing access barriers unlocks potential. Many students started unsure if this path was even possible. By the end, they were confidently launching their careers. That’s why we built this program.”
Key Takeaways:
- Hands-on, project-based approach boosted confidence and skills.
- Cloud technology made high-end tools accessible to students who would otherwise be left out.
- Strong, personal industry mentorship motivated students to think bigger and believe in their capabilities.
- Real-time feedback and an environment of support helped transform uncertainty into tangible career aspirations.
Kaile’s story and those like hers show how a thoughtfully designed, cloud-powered, culturally inclusive course can do more than teach software — it can open entirely new creative futures
Advice for Institutions Launching Cloud-Based Programs
“Strong partnerships and support structures are keys to success.”
— Neva Supe-Roque, Workforce Development Coordinator, WCC
Neva advises securing strong industry partnerships, leveraging grants, employing instructional designers and coaches, planning for connectivity issues, starting with small cohorts, and integrating industry credentials early.
Key Points:
- Build partnerships for expertise and job placement.
- Use grants to reduce student financial barriers.
- Prepare for technical contingencies and foster peer learning.
Future Directions, Sustainability, and the Vision for Cloud Classrooms
“Remote cloud-based education aligns strongly with young generations’ values.”
— Neva Supe-Roque, Workforce Development Coordinator, WCC
Looking ahead, there’s a significant opportunity to expand cloud-based creative education programs locally and internationally. Neva Supe-Roque highlighted plans for global partnerships, integrating workforce practicums earlier in academic pathways, and piloting leadership certification initiatives to formalize career tracks in virtual production and creative technology.
Cloud-based education also supports sustainability goals by reducing commute-related emissions and large campus infrastructure demands — aligning with Gen Z and Alpha’s priorities for flexibility, work-life balance, and environmental responsibility.
“Cloud classrooms are the future of inclusive, sustainable workforce training.”
— Neva Supe-Roque
Students from this pilot program voiced strong interest in advanced courses, particularly in Unreal Engine, virtual art department workflows, and LED video wall technologies. WCC, CG Pro, and CenterGrid are committed to meeting that demand and strengthening connections to the global virtual production industry.
The success of this initiative demonstrates that cloud-based education isn’t just a practical solution for remote areas — it’s a scalable model for equitable, sustainable, and industry-relevant workforce development. Neva envisions cloud classrooms driving the evolution of creative industry training, combining academic rigor with real-world experience. Moving forward, coordinated leadership among universities, industry partners, and government agencies will be key to scaling these programs and ensuring equitable access.
Key Points:
- Potential for international scaling, advanced coursework, and leadership certifications.
- Cloud classrooms reduce environmental impact and operational costs.
- Aligns with Gen Z and Alpha’s values for sustainability and flexibility.
- Coordinated partnerships are essential for program growth and industry relevance.
- Establishes formal career pathways in emerging creative technologies
Conclusion: Harnessing Cloud Technology to Empower Artists Everywhere
This case study vividly illustrates how the collaboration between Windward Community College, CG Pro, and CenterGrid successfully leveraged cloud virtual production technology to dismantle traditional barriers to creative careers. By providing remote access to high-performance, real-time production education, the program empowered a diverse group of students in Hawaiʻi and created a replicable model for communities worldwide.
Cloud technology’s true power lies in its ability to reach the farthest corners of the earth — connecting artists in remote, underserved regions with global opportunities and industry-standard tools. This technological democratization is not only fueling artistic innovation but also bringing meaningful, sustainable jobs to creative talents who might otherwise face geographic and economic isolation. As cloud virtual production continues to evolve, it holds the promise of reshaping the creative economy into one that is more inclusive, accessible, and boundaryless, bridging divides and cultivating thriving creative ecosystems worldwide.
https://www.hawaii.edu/campuses/windward/
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