Rafael Leal

SRN Awards 2021

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The winners of the 2021 SRN AWARDS were announced ‘live’ by the Jury during the closing session of SRN2021 on Day 5, Friday 17 September.

 

Best Monograph (£300)

Palgrave Macmillan is kindly offering 20% OFF the printed book of the fabulous The Modernist Screenplay by Alexandra. To claim the discount, simply click on the button here below and follow the instructions to use the token.

Discount-Palgrave-book-Ksenofontova DOWNLOAD

Best Journal Article/Book Chapter (£100)

You can access Raffaele’s article for FREE by clicking on the title page above.

Both Raffaele Chiarulli and Alexandra Ksenofontova gave their winners’ lectures at the close of Day 5.

The prize money this year is kindly funded by the School of Arts of Oxford Brookes University, as part of the activities promoted by CIRIN (Creative Industries Research & Innovation Network).

SRN EC Minutes – November 2021

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SRN Executive Meeting

Monday 22 November October 2021 10 pm GMT/UTC 

Tuesday 23 November 2021 7.00 am AEST (via Teams)

 

Circulation list: Rosanne Welch (RW), Rose Ferrell (RF), Rafael Leal (RL), Jan Cernik (JC), Isadora Garcia Avis (IGA), Shaopeng Chen (SC), Margaret McVeigh (MM),

  • Apologies

RL, SC

  • Minutes of previous meeting

RF – proposes accepting.

IG – Seconded. 

  • SRN Conference Vienna 2022 (Guests: Conference Hosts: Claus Tieber & Stephanie Schwarz Uni of Vienna)

 

CT gives information on planning stages. Funding in process. One has come through. Fee for conference will be similar to past (in vicinity 100 Euro). Special rates for ECRs.  Keynote speakers invited. Discussion of narrative new perspectives, one on Cinema in Diaspora and practical keynote – masterclass at film academy by (female director nominated for Oscar 2 years ago).

  • Elefteria Thanouli, University of Thessaloniki, Greece

https://www.film.auth.gr/en/eleftheria-thanouli/

  • Jigna Desai, University of Minnesota (not yet confirmed)

https://cla.umn.edu/about/directory/profile/desai003

  • Götz Spielmann, writer-director 

https://www.filmakademie.wien/de/author/goetz-spielmann/

https://www.prismafilm.at/en/film/revanche

 

CFP reminder will go out in early December on old website. Plus FB site. Awaiting new graphic logo.

Reception at City Hall on night before – Wed 21st.  Outdoor event in the works. 

3 day conference, a few rooms available, will affect how many can present.  Round Tables in the works.

AGM on middle day – Friday – to collect more members will start with Round Table as happened online for Oxford conference to bring in Austrian screenwriters with members of Network.

Presentation for next conference will be near the end.  Close with award ceremony.  

EC organizes members of jury for awards. Which jury member will be in person in Vienna? 

EC will make graphic design certificates for the book and article award winners. 

Sponsored by Tom Stempel at first. 

Last EC I was part of we decided to give away a lifetime achievement from time to time – to someone who had done a lot for screenwriting studies and to the SRN.  We had intended to give it in Oxford.  We should prepare a video of colleagues congratulating him. 

Framing the AGM with all these events should bring in more attendees.

Planning room for work groups to meet in person.

Asks for suggestions of anything else needed for the program.

Print program or only online?  

 

MM – I’ve attended conferences with apps that held programs and other info.  Those who want can print their own copy. Might use a billboard display for everyone to check. 

CT – Room events will be posted on the doors. Registration will have a full list.  Internet access from the university.  

MM – Final meeting of this EC before conference. Chance to let the chairperson explain what will be in the AGM meeting.  

CT – Will find a room on Wednesday for that. Perhaps during lunch. 

MM – So we need to find a new judge for the awards. Possible sponsorship for monetary award.

CT – Due to Covid we should set a date for deciding if this conference should go online.  Much depends on if members can find funding from their universities.  

RW – For travelers across the ocean we should settle the date by May/June. Revisit this question in April.

MM – In Otago they had to pay to rent the rooms at their uni – do you have to do that?

CT – One room only.  But if we cancel we don’t have to pay.  

JC – Are you considering limitations such as requiring vaccinations?

CT – You have to be currently.  Some colleagues in the UK aren’t given funds to travel to the EU right now.

RF – Is there a minimum number you need to attend?

CT – We can have a small number but what happens to those who can’t come?

RW – How many attended the South American regional conference?

RF – 20 or so – wonderful for meeting and getting to know each other but not planned as the full, annual conference.  

CT – When we have questions for EC to organize a conference do we email the whole EC or is there a contact person?

MM – I will do that but then CC all others if they need to know.  Thanks to Claus and Stephanie for their report today.  We are looking forward to meeting you both in person in Vienna in September.

  • SRN Digital Marketing updates (Newsletter, Facebook etc)

MM – Congratulations to Jan and Isadora on a wonderful first newsletter.

JC – It will come out quarterly.

MM – Constitution doesn’t say the ECR has to do FB posts so we should look for a new plan.

RF – Perhaps ECR assembles material – sends to other member to do posting.  Or ask newsletter person to do FB.  

MM – Table this for next month agenda. 

JC – We could have call with ECR to think about sharing communication duties.

MM – Excellent.

  • SRN Executive proposed dates for meetings 2022

 

All good – just moved Aug. 22 to 29 for Spanish holidays.

  • SRN Action Plan 2022

MM – Going over Action Plan.  What should we prioriticize. Covering topics in Action Plan – we can look into any website business next meeting.

–Approach Jill Nelmes or Jule Selbo?  

RF – We should research all the top academics in the field now. We could all have a list at the next meeting. Might find someone who isn’t an English-first speaker.

MM – Action item – we will all come with a list of a few people to approach. Bring a short bio.  

JC – Warren Buckland?

RW – He works with Paolo so he could be asked.  But we are replacing a female academic so we should keep that in mind.

IG – I can look at non-English speakers and bring a list. 

RF – Great way to keep it international.

MM – Need to check the publication dates required for entrants.

MM – Point #7 – how to attract international membership beyond current members.

RF – Ongoing – I’m about to put out a new post about asking colleagues to join the network. It’s always worth adding a sentence to communications with non-members to see if they know about the Network. I just met on the ECR Symposium a dual-language screenwriter and asked him about other colleagues.

MM – Points 10 and 11 have to do with posting short videos and continuing the online oral history.  Ongoing.   #12 is to support working groups.  Has that become so normalized that we can’t add much to that?

RF – Our role is to encourage them but not necessarily to motivate them.  They may be stumbling a bit but they have to live in their own worlds and manage themselves. The script reading from the online conference worked well as a way to show how the practice-based working group works.  Such groups have their own lives but not sure the EC has a place in pushing them on.

MM – I wonder how many new members we have who might not know about the working groups – we could post about them in the newsletter with contacts.

IG – If we coordinate the marketing strategy and do something like ‘The Month of the Working Group” – we can discuss that at the next meeting to establish.

RF – We should check in with the coordinators to see if they are still in existence and want the support.

IG – We can do that closer to the time we plan the next newsletter. 

  • SRN Academic Papers Database

 

RF – A new member said she joined in order to Access our database. She wasn’t yet a student and needed articles for study. As I understand it we only have the bibliography list – we need to find who set that up to see what state it is in. If it’s a going concern we can post more about it. Meant to offer everyone a growing list of new materials worth using.

MM – There are certain key pieces that have advanced our discipline so it’s worth collecting them for new members to learn.  

  • Other business 

 

RF – We need to add coordinating the next oral history interview to get that done this year.

           –  Screen Industries Growth Network email plus other business 

MM – Meeting adjourned 2:18pm PST.

 

SRN EC Minutes – October 2021

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SRN EC Meeting – October Minutes

Monday 18 October 2021 10 pm GMT/UTC 

Tuesday 19 October 2021 7.00 am AEST (via Teams)

 

Circulation list: Rosanne Welch (RW), Rose Ferrell (RF), Rafael Leal (RL), Jan Cernik (JC), Isadora Garcia Avis (IGA), Shaopeng Chen (SC), Margaret McVeigh (MM), 

 

Agenda

 

1. Apologies for absence

Isadora Garcia Avis (IGA

 

2. Minutes of previous EC Meeting for approval

RF – Proposes approval.

RW – Seconds

 

2021 SRN Conference Follow up (All)

MM – General response?  And request to send a thank you to Paolo Russo.

RW – Very much appreciated the way online let many more members take part.

RF – Agree – need to thank Paolo for meeting the challenge.  Also, we should find a way to incorporate some of the advantages of these online events.

MM – Claus Tieber would like to meet with us next month to address upcoming conference plans.  As to online being part of in person events – we did try this for ASPERA in Australia but they wanted in person people to confirm to pay for keynote speakers and their lodging/travel.

 

RF – upcoming conference in Australia is offering one day online and 2 days in person. Also, online doesn’t have to be free.  It can attract more people to take part.

 

MM – Recent online event I attended was 350 Euros in person / 150 Euros online.  In regards to thanking Paolo shall I write thank you letter from me as Executive or mention in the newsletter?  

RW – Yes in the newsletter as some newer members might not know his complete involvement.

RF – And he had planned 2 conferences actually, with the first being cancelled due to the pandemic.

 

2021 Early Career Researchers Online Symposium  

MM – Anne has been away on school holidays but sent message – things moving along well.  RF will be morning co-chair host/Rosamund co-chair host afternoon.  Anne will send more info and would like it posted to FB as well.

RF – Will be hosted on the 2021 conference site so it should go as smoothly as the SRN conference.

JC- It’s already up on the conference site.

 

2022 SRN Conference (All)

MM – Claus will speak with us next November.  Call for Papers went out yesterday – time to plan your abstract/paper.  We expect to all be present in person.  

 

EC roles and planning (All)

  1. Inductions
  2. Status update
  3. Collaborations

MM – Time to plan for new roles in the new year and advise new members about roles and responsibilities.

RF – We could have each older member explain their role…

MM – Elections are 2 year periods. I’m starting again a second term. We agreed that I would be Chair this year through the Vienna conference – then Rosanne will take the 2nd year leading up to her conference in the U.S. in 2023.  As an Australian member I want to build on our membership from this part of the world.  Happy to have Shaopeng here to represent that part of the world and thanks to RF for all of her work as Membership member to build that.  I plan to set up a small regional conference during ASPERA this year to engage the Asian world.

RW – As Secretary I type the Minutes and sometimes ask for clarification for some of what has been said.

RF – As Membership and Inclusion Officer I help people who want to join who find us online and click the link that leads to JISCMAIL, hosted by Leeds for a few more years thanks to RL’s work on all things tech.  Then I’m listed as an administrator of JISCMAIL so I can accept the membership and then send a personal letter of welcome to new members that explains the SRN.  Then I send the form that asks for further data to get more data on who are our members. I’m the first person in contact with them.  I read all the forms and learn who the person is so I can understand what level they are at their university and what interests them in the SRN.  I want to be able to use the forms to create stronger connections between members.  I like to be in contact with academics around the world to encourage us to join – just like when MM and RL and I met in Chile and here we are involved deeply with the organization.

RW – It was RF who made sure that our JOS Special Issue on Women in Screenwriting was as international as possible so that there are now 4 people on this EC that had articles in that issue.

MM – And you were instrumental to the online interview series with past conference organizers to begin our oral history of the SRN.

RF – Which reminds me to tell SP and JC that the EC is a chance to bring any of your own new ideas to the table.

RL –  Extending SRN into underrepresented areas such as Latin America where the challenge is to make people go to in person conferences which can be very expensive considering universities don’t cover such expenses.  I have to do it on my own funds, which I have because I am also a screenwriter.  So we should look to ways to help there.  Then we need better membership in Asia and Africa.  We are woefully underrepresented there.  

Also I think we should continue the oral histories because history matters so that our information won’t disappear into a data hole.  We need to interview them while the have photos and fresh memories. Those are my 2 most important goals.  We talked last term about revamping the website but the more I use it, the more I think it’s fine.  It suits us now.

RW – I agree. Why revamp what looks fine? Better to build up the YouTube Channel and other social media areas (TikTok) to keep us connected to newer and younger members.  

RF – Can we share the Google password for us all to access?  

RL – The security alerts make that difficult because it requests the SCMS confirmation which makes it difficult.

JC – Does the Google Drive allow us to share files anyway?  

RL – You don’t have to log in to upload to the GoogleDrive.

MM – And you upload the Minutes after each meeting…

RL – Yes.

MM- From last meeting Jan and Isadora will do the newsletter together.  I forwarded them the templates which came to me form Carmen, using Pages.  Then SC as ECR will look after the social media.  Also, you both have new ideas to share – but first I wanted to put on the table that we have a bunch of communications channels but they don’t always talk to each other.  A marketing master I know offered some advice on what she thought – she saw a newsletter as a permanent consolidation of information and social media as updates.  Would you both like to address that going forward?

JC – We discussed newsletter with Isadora and proposal to update it.  We don’t use Pages and aren’t graphic designers so we want to create a new version. We are thinking of using MailChimp.

RW – Yes I use that in my MFA.

RL – Yes it is good.  But I also suggest Canva. I use it for my presentations.

JC – We will try Canva.  I prepared a draft newsletter for this meeting. I will share now.  We want to include more images/less text and have it branded so it matches our social media as well.  This edition is about the past conference – highlights, winners of SRN awards, news from the Council, etc.  Then there can be permanent sections on Call for Papers and such.  We wanted to keep those older sections and maybe a new permanent section – a short interview or a Q&A we found from older newsletters.

ALL MEMBERS – Much approval of new design/new ideas.

JC – As non-native speakers we’d need proofreaders so if MM, RF or RW will help that will be great.

RW – That’s another reason that more photos/less text is a great idea.

RF – More than happy to proofread.

MM- It should appear 4 times a year.  All it needs is Issue # to separate them out.  One issue with images – in Australia we are very big on trademarks – we’d need official permission for use of images in emails. 

JC – So everyone will receive this in an email – we can make it a pdf for posting. More people will click on links in their inbox.

RL – Pdf can also have clickable links but it’s friendlier in email.  To post to the website HTML is easier and more friendly.

MM – So it will be permanently on the site for new members to see. 

JC/RL – Yes it can be done.

RF – Question – Where will the original document live?  I’m wondering about the long term if Leeds stops being our host?

RL – Then we will move the entire website to another server and copy all the media that is stored.  But it would also be wise to save sensitive stuff in the GoogleDrive. I’ll investigate that.

MM – All approve new newsletter set up.

JC- As to sharing info for the newsletter I can share it and you all can propose what should be in the newsletter.  We can have it ready in beginning November.  

SC – First, apologies for missing the last meeting due to technical difficulties. I worked with RF during my article in the JOS and read the one written by MM and it was indeed wonderful.  So it’s a great honor to serve as a member of the EC.  

As to social media Anne sent an email handover guide on what to do about ECR – very comprehensive, detailed document.  I read it all. The biggest work of posting on FB and Twitter I have the question about the fact that those are banned in China. I can access them but software can be unstable. 

Second question, same as Jan, I’m not a native speaker of English so if I need some copyediting. 

MM – I want you to be comfortable in this role.

SC – Yes, I believe it is possible.

RF – We don’t use Twitter very much at all.  FB is more important.

RL – I just posted to Twitter because when I post Minutes it automatically posts to Twitter so it’s not dormant.

  1. Admin matters

I plan to send out a call for new Agenda items the Monday the week before our Monday/Tuesday meetings and would hope for added items by Friday so I can send out the full Agenda.

 

Other business

MM – We are asked to have 9 meetings across the year – we need to think about the Christmas and summer holidays – and have the last meeting pre-conference (which will be in Vienna). I will send out a list of proposed dates for the year before our next meeting.

 

Date of next meeting: TBD 

November 22, 2021 

SRN 2022 Vienna – Conference Call for Papers

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Call for Papers

14th Screenwriting Research Network International Conference:
Globalizing Screenwriting

22nd-24th September 2022

Department of Theatre, Film and Media Studies, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

UZA II-Rotunde, Althanstraße 14, 1090 Wien

Film Academy Vienna,
Anton-von-Webern-Platz 1, 1030 Wien

Essential Information:

Deadline for abstracts: 15th December 2021
Shortlisting/notification of acceptance by: End of January 2022
Early-bird registration: From early March until end of May 2022
Regular registration by: Mid-July 2022
Late registration by: End of August 2022
Submissions via email and contact: stephanie.schwarz@univie.ac.at

Call for Papers:

The SRN is comprised of scholars, writers, and practice-based researchers. Started in 2006, the network has achieved a substantial critical mass over the years – currently counting 700 members from 50+ countries.

The aim of the annual International Conference is to continue, and expand, discussions around the screenplay and to strengthen a rapidly emerging, and global, research network. So far, they have taken place in Leeds (2008), Helsinki (2009), Copenhagen (2010), Brussels (2011), Sydney (2012), Madison-Wisconsin (2013), Potsdam-Babelsberg (2014), London (2015), Leeds (2016), Dunedin (2017), Milan (2018) and Porto (2019) and due to pandemic online, organized by Oxford Brookes in 2021.

Submission of abstracts/proposals

Proposals/Abstracts can be sent as either a Word or PDF document: please indicate “yourname_PROPOSALTYPE” (i.e. paper, panel, or videoessay; see below) clearly in the file title and in the subject heading of your submission.

Format of presentations/abstracts

After the cancelling of the 2020 conference and the online seminar series we are planning a face-to face conference, the first since Porto 2019.

All presentations, regardless of format, must therefore be delivered in person (i.e. no pre-recorded presentations), in English, and be underpinned by original research work being conducted by the presenter (i.e. no recycling/repetitions from previous SRN or other conferences). Multiple presenters (max. 2) for co-written papers are allowed.

We accept proposals for presentations in the following formats:

Individual papers

Proposals for traditional 20-minute papers, followed by Q&A. They should include:

  • Title
  • Author’s name
  • Affiliation (university, independent, practitioner, etc.)
  • Contact details
  • Abstract (max. 300 words)
  • 4-6 keywords
  • short bio (max 150 words), detailing your research activity, publications and/or screenwriting practice.

Pre-constituted panels

individual papers + Q&A (as per guidelines above) on a shared topic. Proposals for pre-constituted panels can be submitted by any of the presenters or the Chair of the
panel and should include:

  • title of the panel
  • brief outline (100 words maximum) of the overall topic
  • abstracts of all the presentations – no more than 3 papers.

Abstracts should follow the guidelines for individual papers as above and include short bios and contact details of both the speakers and the panel Chair. Wherever possible, the Chair should NOT be one of the presenters. If a proposal for a pre-constituted panel does not include a Chair, the Conference Committee will appoint one. All proposals should indicate “Panel Proposal SRN 2022 in the file title and in the subject heading of the submission email.

Audiovisual essays

Proposals are invited to present an audiovisual essay of 15 minutes maximum, in which the presenter(s) express a position on one of the above topics. It should NOT be a recording of a traditional paper presentation nor an experimental film; rather, it is an audiovisual discourse on a theoretical position. Essays can be submitted both individually or in panels of 3 videos grouped thematically (see guidelines above).

Note: the presence of the presenter at the conference is required.

Shortlisting

We warmly recommend that the abstracts be as well-drafted as possible with a well-
defined research question, a clear focus, and a short summary of the intended

content of the presentation at the time of submission.
We aim to notify acceptance/rejection of proposals by the end of January 2022.

Website and registration

The Website for the Vienna conference will include a wealth of useful information (e.g., registration, travel arrangements, accommodation options, Covid rules), as well as all the updates and the program leading up to the Conference.

Registration will have the usual phased deadlines (early-bird, regular, late-premium, student concession); the conference fee is expected to be in the region of 100 Euro.

Contacts

Please address any query regarding abstracts, registration, program, etc. to claus.tieber@univie.ac.at or stephanie.schwarz@univie.ac.at

  • Claus Tieber University of Vienna, FWF-Project (Organizer)
  • Stephanie Schwarz University of Vienna, FWF-Project (Co-Organizer)
  • Claudia Walkensteiner-Preschl, Film Academy Vienna (Co-Organizer)

Department of Theatre, Film and Media Studies, University of Vienna
UZA II-Rotunde, Althanstraße 14, 1090 Wien

Film Academy Vienna
Anton-von-Webern-Platz 1, 1030 Wien

SRN Executive Minutes – September 2021

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SRN EC Meeting

Monday 6.9.2021 at 10 pm GMT/UTC (via Zoom)

 

Circulation list: Carmen Sofia Brenes (CSB), Rose Ferrell (RF), Ann Igelström (AI), Rafael Leal (RL), Margaret McVeigh (MM), Paolo Russo (PR), Rosanne Welch (RW)

 

Minutes

 

Apologies for absence

RL

Minutes of previous EC Meeting for approval

All pending Action Points have been either discharged or itemized below in the agenda.

Approved by All. Sent to RL for website posting by PR.

 

Approval of Annual Report and Action Plan (All)

To be approved by AGM on 13 September 2021

PR – Available on SRN2021 website for all members to read/approve during AGM. Grown more detailed each year. Report complete – Action Plan can be addended over next 2 weeks. Usually full report read at AGM, with it online we can summarize main points.

RW – Love the pie chart of membership by countries so please include that in short summary.

PR – Noted.  

Any last-minute updates/info still pending

EC members attending/presenting at AGM

Strategic priorities (from Action Plan) for new academic year

PR – Time to prioritize the Action Plan during first meeting of new EC after AGM/conference.  Suggestions:  

2.b. Generate/share guidelines for running conference. 

6.a. Replace Janet as judge next year, then Tom Stempel year after, then Eva year after that.

7 i. ii. Iii. – Website updates with banner, new forms, DEI statement

RF – Would like a mail out to all members requesting new form for new data.  Need access to GoogleDrive from RL to create form.  Will also clear out lists based on responses by certain time. 

PR – Almost 700 members to date.  Worth cleaning the list for clarity.

RF – Would like to blend JISCmail and our list together for clarity.  New points to discuss at ongoing EC in the new year.a. record round table with earlier conference organizers

PR – Intends to do some one off Zoom talks – one could be another of these oral histories

14 – Yearbook of international organizations – done 4 years ago and contacted us again to check our info for updated edition

CSB – Find a way to offer an email for later connection since EC Chair changes every 2 years

Update on SRN2021 (PR, All)

Status update, attendance, issues

PR – Conference going well. Factoring in live panel attendance (50-60) and online views (1,700 or so).  Only issues were last minute presenters withdrawing, causing schedule updates.  When we went online we had 118 papers for in person conference, retained 60% of them in recorded/online presence.  Feedback after first Keynote overwhelmingly positive.  This week Prof. Murray Smith.

 

Presentation of Vienna 2022 (dates, venues)

Claus Tieber will do this at second AGM.  Video will also be posted. Dates now change – set on Sept. 22, 23, 24, 2022.  U of Vienna has buildings scattered across city. Venue will be at building in northwestern section of time.  10 minute underground ride to city center.  

SRN Award: Prof. Janet Staiger standing down from Jury (ask Jule Selbo?)

EC election and roles (All)

Rota for current members who will remain in post

To assess nominations and whether Elections will take place (if so, closing at end of AGM on 13 September 2021). If not:

      1. Extension of mandate of current members ad interim
      2. New Call for Nominations with October deadline
      3. Online voting system

PR – 3 nominations for ECR. One for EC. Isadora Garcia-Avis nominated from ECR to EC by PR and RW.  New EC is now RW, RF, RL, MM, IG.  Need to fill proper roles.  I suggest that CSB role has less involvement – should blend with other roles as interim until next election. 

Two that can subsume Treasure/Resources Officer – can go along with Newsletter Editor OR Membership Coordinator.  

CSB – OR leave Treasurer vacant for a while since we don’t take in funds.

PR – Need to choose new Chair as I am stepping down.  Others returning need to decide if they will change or stay the same.

RW – We could use a Happy Hour.

PR – No we’re attending separate Sessions

MM – We could keep this time as it works for all of us here now and the new member is from Spain.

PR – Rose will you continue as Membership officer?

RF – Yes.

PR – MM how about you for Newsletter?

MM – I’m hosting a conference here next year so interested in being the Chair for one year and splitting it with someone else next year.

RW – I’d be up for splitting it in the 2nd year as I prepare the SRN 2023. So this year you’ll be Chair and I’ll stay on as Secretary.  Next year’ I’ll serve as Chair and you’ll step in as Secretary.

MM – I decided on this conference a week ago so can we discuss it?  It is in June each year.  We’d like to include SRN members.  We’d like to invite CSB to visit meetings to explain her Chilean regional conference.

CSB – Originally, the Chilean conference was to expand members into Latin America and for those who could not go to London that year.  

MM – Appreciated that you had translators and that will be useful for Asian presenters.

PR – The fruits of the Chilean conference can be seen in that Brazil has the most presenters attending.  And RL came to us from attending that one.

PR – Time to thank Anne Inglestrom for her service as the ECR.

 

Induction of new Early Career Representative (All, minus AI)

AI exits meeting.

PR – We have 2 ECR nominations.  Jan Chernick/ Czech Republic and Shaopeng from China.

 

Date of first “informal” meeting of new EC (if any)

    1. Soon after AGM, if new EC in post

    2. October, if new EC not in post yet

RW – Tuesday Oct. 21st for first.  Will be on Microsoft Teams via MM. 

CSB – WE all thank PR for his excellent job as a Chair in the midst of all the chaos that was created by the pandemic.  Then his exceptional work creating the online version of SRN2020/2021 which will lead to other ways to use the online technology to keep SRN members connected between conferences. 

RW/RF – Likewise many thanks to CSB for all her work for the EC and the SRN over the years. She is the reason so many of us are involved in the EC and we are so happy for the opportunities she made possible.

 

Any other business

PR – Online offers us a chance to stay in touch between conferences.  

MM – Might need a 3 year business plan for use of technology/social media.

Date of next meeting: TBD (see item 7)

The website for the SRN2021 Research Seminar Series Online is now LIVE… and kicking!

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That’s right! The wait is over, the whole event has finally taken shape and as of today you can start accessing all content and information via the website at srn2020.com (I know, but changing the domain name meant additional costs, and if sport events can keep the original 2020 name, why shouldn’t we at least in the URL).

Let’s get to business! The first thing everyone should do is register to SRN2021. Registration is FREE but “required” for everyone – speakers and regular attendees alike. This is because, among other things, while a good wealth of information is freely accessible anyway, the core content of SRN2021 – namely, pre-recorded video-presentations of papers, live panels and related recordings – will only be accessible via password, which you will receive when you register. To register, simply fill in and submit the form that applies to you (speaker or attendee) on the website. Registered delegates will also receive the login details (i.e. link, session ID and password) for all the live panels’ sessions (these will be sent out as invitations around mid-late August).

Then you can take a look at the schedule for the Live panels to get an idea of the incredible amount, variety and originality of the research being presented by our panelists this year. Despite everything that is going on, we still have 20 panels and 76 papers in our line-up. More about this in a minute.

As you all know, SRN2021 Online replaces (or, at least, will do its best to try) our Annual Conference, which had to be cancelled. Switching online meant having to adjust to the unusual format but also gives us the opportunity to make the most out of what it offers. Therefore, the SRN2021 experience is not limited to the “live” sessions: it starts before (essentially, NOW) and it continues afterwards, with the website as your central control hub for everything – as easy as 1, 2, 3!

1)    PRE-RECORDED PRESENTATIONS: all speakers have been asked to submit their papers as pre-recorded 15’ video-presentations; they will then attend their respective live Q&A panels in a few weeks’ time. Given the number of papers, the best approach is to watch as many presentations as possible ahead of the live sessions so as to be able to make an active contribution to those. On the website you can find all the abstracts and bios, and you can easily access (via password) all the presentations. A dozen or so are already online (many thanks to those of you who submitted early!) and most other submissions are expected in the next week or two – I will upload them on the website on a daily basis.

2)    LIVE PANELS: bookmark the dates on your calendars if you haven’t done so already. We kick off on Tuesday 31 August, then continue in September, on Friday 3, Wednesday 8, Monday 13 and Friday 17. The full schedule is available as a PDF document: the reference time zone is UTC/GMT (i.e. UK time), but you will find downloadable versions for all time zones (at least those of our speakers). And you can also access the programme for each individual day. The schedule is now pretty much final although some tweaks might still occur.

As per previous emails, on each day we will have two sessions so as to give delegates from all geographic areas a chance to attend at least one (colleagues from Europe can easily attend both). Unless you turn into owls you will probably miss a few sessions when it’s night time in your country: not to worry because we will record all of them and make them available ASAP as catch-up via the website. However, please please please do try and attend as many as reasonably possible: we do need lively panels to make this work. And remember that, on top of the regular panels’ Q&As, the live sessions also include the two keynotes, the AGM, the EC Elections, a round table, the SRN Awards, the Working Groups, plus time to network with colleagues. Again, info on all of these are available on the website.

Q&As: each panel will last on average 45 minutes (a little longer if it’s a panel of five). How to ask questions to our speakers? During the live session you can ask questions either in person or via chat (the chair/host will moderate these). But you can also submit your comments/questions on the website when you watch the presentations; in this case, the relevant chairs will collect them and forward them to the speakers during the live panels.

3)    The AFTERPARTY: I am planning to organize a few extra one-off events with special guests (I’m still working on this though). If things go to plan these will be in late September/October/early November. These will likely be informal chats with writers and/or producers, and/or workshops with colleagues, and/or more ad-hoc networking sessions to foster collaborations with SRN colleagues. Plus, last but not least by any means, in November we will have the ECR Symposium organized by Ann Igelström – you can find the details to submit your proposals on the website (as well as on the SRN website). The deadline is 10 August, so hurry up! And yes, if you are an Early Career Researcher you can submit to the Symposium even if you are already participating in SRN2021 (with a different paper, though).

Specific dates and events aside, the website (and all its content) will remain available to all registered delegates for the next two years, thus giving all of you plenty of time to check out research strands you might be interested in and get in touch with colleagues for potential future collaborations.

As you can see, there’s enough on the website to get you going for a long time so better get started straight away, right? I have done my best to redesign it and hopefully you will be able to navigate it as smoothly as possible: however, if you spot any errors, or bump into anything that doesn’t seem to be working properly, do give me a shout and I will try to fix it. For instance, I tried to optimize the website so it can be accessed from computers, tablets and phones, but it looks like older devices might have some issues displaying some content.

You will notice a few pages on the website still marked as “Coming soon”. These are still under construction and will become available within the next few days. One of these, for instance, will allow you to search for content in different ways based on your interests. If you are not familiar with Zoom (the videoconferencing platform we will be using for our live sessions) you will soon find guidance and tips on the website. Or, again, the specific pages for individual days of the live panels. I will send out weekly updates from now on, each one focusing on a few specific things in the lead-up to the live sessions.

One final reminder: on Day 4 (13 September) we will hold our AGM and the elections of three new members of the Executive Council of the SRN. Please consider standing for election: the call for nominations was issued last month, is available on the SRN website here, and you will soon find the relevant info on the SRN2021 website as well. The deadline to submit your nominations is 16 August and we will set up a secure online voting system in the forthcoming days.

This is it for today.

Do explore the website, register right away, get watching the presentations, mark the dates on your calendar and start enjoying SRN2021!

Call for Papers: Early Career Researchers Online Symposium

by

Looking towards the Future

ECR2021 Online Symposium for Screenwriting/Screenplay Early Career Researchers

Call for Papers for the 2021 ‘Looking towards the Future’ online symposium specifically aimed at SRN Early Career Researchers taking place the week commencing 15th of November. It follows the SRN2021 Research Seminar Series.

The symposium is a unique opportunity for early career researchers to present and discuss their on-going research with the wider research field.

Presentations should be pre-recorded and no longer than 10 minutes. The purpose of each presentation is to introduce on-going research and highlight a specific research question under examination that can be discussed during a live panel. Ending the presentation with queries to the listeners and fellow panelists are encouraged to make the live sessions as engaging as possible. This could, for example, be archive or reference related queries as well as broader questions of publication outlets and possible collaborations.

The presentations will be organised into panels depending on topics and time zones with no more than 4 presenters in each panel. The Early Career Representative, Ann Igelstrom, will chair the live panels together with a researcher from the specific field under discussion. The pre-recorded presentations will be uploaded and made available on the SRN2021 Research Seminar Series website. Questions by attendees can be submitted ahead of the live panel.
During the live panels, each presenter gives a brief summary of their presentation (2 min) followed by a discussion with fellow panelists and attendees led by the chair. The session ends with a general conversation. The aim is that the panels do not exceed one hour to maximise the ease to attend and minimise ‘screen fatigue’.

The number of panels and exact dates will be decided depending on received and accepted abstracts.

Please submit your abstract (max 300 words) together with a short bio before 10th of August. This allows enough time to organise the event and makes it possible to introduce the Symposium program and panelists during the SRN2021 Research Seminar Series.

Please send your submission and any queries to ann.igelstrom@gmail.com