Entertainment Technician Certification Program (ETCP)

- Description & Mission
- French ETCP Exams
- On-line Practice Exams
- Bilingual Glossary of Rigging Terms

CITT/ICTS is a member of the

About ETCP

The Entertainment Technician Certification Program (ETCP) is an industry-wide program that has brought together an unprecedented group of industry organizations, businesses and individuals to create a program of rigorous assessments for professional technicians. ETCP focuses on disciplines that directly affect the health and safety of crews, performers, and audiences. You may become certified through ETCP in the following areas: Rigger – Arena, Rigger – Theatre, Entertainment Electrician and Portable Power Distribution Technician.

Personnel certification is the voluntary process by which a nongovernmental organization grants recognition to an individual who has demonstrated mastery in a discipline. ETCP is responsible for:

Creating exams based on identified bodies of knowledge
Conducting said exams
Awarding certifications
Managing certification renewal

ETCP is a program of ESTA. The following organizations maintain seats on the ETCP Council:

Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP)
Audiovisual and Integrated Experience Association (AVIXA)
Canadian Institute for Theatre Technology (CITT/ICTS)
International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE)
International Association of Venue Managers (IAVM)
The League of American Theatres and Producers
Themed Entertainment Association (TEA)
United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT)

ETCP Certification Council membership also includes the following entertainment business leaders: Cirque du Soleil, Disney Theatrical Productions, Encore Global, Live Nation, NBC Universal, and PRG.

For information on how to get certified or re-certified, renewal credits or to find a certified technician:

⇒ Visit the ETCP WEBSITE

ETCP Mission Statement

We endeavor to develop a Personnel Certification Program to the highest standards that recognizes individuals who have demonstrated knowledge, skills, and abilities in specific entertainment technology disciplines. By providing a thorough, independent assessment of aptitude, ETCP strives to enhance safety, improve performance, stimulate training, reduce workplace risk, and give due recognition to the professional skills of entertainment technicians.

French translation of the rigging exams

In Québec, the ETCP program posed a problem for French-speaking professionals: because the exams were written in English, Francophone candidates found themselves greatly disadvantaged if they did not sufficiently mastered the English language. Note that the exams include 150 questions plus 15 pretest questions and the time allocated to complete it is three hours.  For those reasons, CITT/ICTS approached the ETCP Council in 2006 to obtain permission to translate into French the certification exams for Arena Rigging and Theatre Rigging. With the help of its Québec Section CQICTS, it then turned to the Quebec’s cultural human resources council (CQRHC*) who prepared and filed the request for funding for this ambitious project at a provincial funding program for workforce development and the recognition of skills (FDRCMO). The project and its financing were approved in June 2009, the translation began in August 2009 and ended in March 2010. Read more here.  

The first administration of the French exams took place on April 27, 2010 in Montréal and a second administration was repeated on September 30, 2010. A third administration took place on October 1, 2011 and a forth took place on May 3rd, 2014 in Montréal. Since then, the French exams have been administered numerous times over the pass 10 years.

CITT/ICTS will continue to work with its Québec section CQICTS in assuring that the French ETCP paper and pencil arena and theatre rigging exams be made available annually, notably during the EN COULISSE tradeshow, which is usually held in April in Montréal, and in September, depending of the demand. Our goal is to ensure an annual and recurrent administration of the French ETCP pencil and paper rigging exams in Québec.  For more information about the administration of the French exams, please contact the CQICTS.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE FRENCH EXAMS HERE

On-line Practice Exams

The French certification exams are available only in the paper and pencil version, and the English examinations are available online as well as in paper and pencil version. In addition, the ETCP online practice exams of 50 questions were also translated into French and are available online at a low cost.

Bilingual Glossary

The translation of both exams was validated by a group of subject matter experts, many of whom were certified riggers ETCP. A subsequent benefit of this impressive work is the creation of a bilingual glossary of terms used for rigging.

The document is available in PDF format or in EXCEL (for search and sorting in both languages).

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* CQRHC intervention in the translation process - History

Cultural sector consensus has led CQRHC - Conseil québécois des ressources humaines en culture (now Compétence Culture) to recommend the Entertainment Technician Certification Program (ETCP) for the accreditation of experienced Theatre and Arena riggers.

They mandated Collège Lionel-Groulx to design and exclusively offer a 35-hour advanced professional development program for experienced riggers.

The CQRHC (now Compétence Culture) was responding to a 2004 Commission de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CSST) notice recommending certification for four hazardous occupations, one of which was rigging. The CQRHC benefited from the support of the Fonds de développement et de reconnaissance de la main-d’oeuvre (FDRCMO) while producing the French adaptation of the ETCP program and designing the 35-hour advanced professional development program.