The Screenwriting Research Network is looking for proposals to host its international conferences in 2018, 2019 and 2020.
The Screenwriting Research Network (www.screenwritingresearch.com) is an international research network of scholars, reflective practitioners and practice-based researchers, interested in the conceptualisation of film, TV and other media narratives; or Screenwriting Studies, as it has become known. Membership is currently drawn from 30 countries worldwide and is growing strongly; it is up 35% on last year. There is strong representation from the USA, Europe and Australasia, with recent members also drawn from other countries, including Brazil, Portugal, Peru and South Korea.
The SRN began as a study group at the University of Leeds, UK, in 2006, and started its programme of international conferences in 2008, also at Leeds. Since then annual conferences have been held in Helsinki (2009), Copenhagen (2010), Brussels (2011), Sydney (2012), Madison, Wisconsin (2013), Potsdam-Babelsberg (2014) and London (2015). A special international conference was also held in Santiago, Chile in May 2015. In 2016 we will meet in Stockholm, and the 2017 conference will be held at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand.
The programme has attracted eminent scholars and Oscar-winning screenwriters amongst the keynote speakers, and includes: David Bordwell, Janet Staiger, Kristin Thompson, Torben Grodal, Adrian Martin, Brian Winston, Jonathan Powell, Milcho Manchevski, Larry Gross, Jean-Claude Carrière and Ronald Harwood. Key papers are often published in the Journal of Screenwriting (Intellect).
Such conferences usually take place at the end of summer or beginning of fall, in September/October each year. Recent conferences have attracted 150-175 participants and around 100 papers and presentations. We expect further growth.
Our conferences are usually hosted by university departments or film schools, often as a partnership between such institutions; for example, our 2015 London conference was a collaboration between Royal Holloway University of London, University of Greeenwich, University of East London and Bangor University. Collaborations with archives or festivals, writers associations or guilds, and other public bodies are welcomed.
Each conference is financially self-supporting with actual costs borne or raised by the host institutions. Sources range from public bodies and institutions to sponsorship of some events, to conference fees from participants. The SRN supports each conference with advice and contacts, but not finance. This is not a profit-making enterprise, and commercial proposals are not accepted.
If you are interested in organizing an SRN annual international conference, please contact the SRN Chairman, Dr. Claus Tieber (University of Vienna) at the address below, for further information or for an informal chat. Formal proposals should be received by February 29th 2016, via email, The proposal should be no longer than four or five pages, outlining the location and institution, facilities, ease of travel and communication, appropriate organising staff, and an indication of how institutional and financial commitment will be forthcoming. A simple budget should be appended.
For further information or an informal chat (preferably via Skype), contact Dr. Tieber on claus.tieber@univie.ac.at
The SRN Executive Council will consider all proposals through March/April 2016, and may require further information, before making decisions. We hope to complete the process by the end of April 2016.
The SRN exists to encourage networking among screenwriting scholars and will support and disseminate information about appropriate events. Besides our annual conferences, therefore, there is also the possibility of regional conferences, one-day workshops and other forms of smaller events. If you are planning to organize such an event and want the help and support of the network, please contact us, and the SRN Executive Council will consider how we might help.