The University of Missouri-Columbia has pushed beyond the leading edge in the curriculum of technology for digital film and entertainment. A unique feature of the media and entertainment emphasis area of the IT program is that it is part of the Department of Computer Science within the College of Engineering. The recognition that film production is as much an engineering exercise as it is an artistic endeavor is a radical departure from traditional film and theater programs. The state of Missouri demonstrated its support for this ambitious vision by placing the Missouri Film office within the University's College of Engineering during the production. The University of Missouri-Columbia is the only university in the nation that has operated its state's film office, and it is also the only one that has feature film production as a regular part of its academic curriculum:

Previously, only graduate programs like the USC's Institute for Creative Technologies and Carnegie-Mellon's Entertainment Technology Center trained engineering skills required to pursue careers in Hollywood "magic factories".

But now, in addition to Missouri's new IT program, Georgia Tech and Purdue University are offering multidisciplinary undergraduate degrees geared toward the tech-savvy student.

The biggest difference between the media engineering programs at other schools and the one at the University of Missouri is, of course, [the] unbelievably ambitious on-campus movie production.

- MovieMaker Magazine

ACADEMY OF DOOM was an experimental film for the Information Technology program because it was produced, directed, and edited by instructors and students in the program with a budget less than 15% of that of the MUMMY film. It served as an exercise for students and instructors to identify and address the most significant workflow constraints of low-budget film production.

Although the primary focus of ACADEMY OF DOOM was not cinematic artistry, the film has nonetheless proved extremely popular at film festivals around the world. In fact, it competed successfully with the MUMMY film for festival selections and awards.