Check here the Annual Report (2025) as presented during the 17th SRN Conference, in Adelaide (Australia), in September 2025: AGM2025 for SRN205 Adelaide
Hope to see you at the 18th Annual International Conference in Oxford in September 2026! Check the call for papers: https://screenwritingresearch.com/category/conferences/
The 18th annual International Conference of the Screenwriting Research Network (SRN 2026) will be hosted by Oxford Brookes University in the UK, on Wednesday 9th through Saturday 12th September 2026. It will mark the 20th anniversary of the SRN.
The Conference is organized with the support of the School of Arts of Oxford Brookes University. The main location of the Conference will be at the Headington Campus. Oxford is well known for its history, culture, “dreaming spires” and… academic tradition.
Calendar (summary of deadlines)
Submission of abstracts/proposals
Proposals/Abstracts can be sent as either a Word or PDF file: please indicate “Yourname_PROPOSALTYPE” (i.e. PAPER, PANEL, ESSAY or POSTER; see details in Full CfP) clearly in the file title and in the subject heading of your submission email to [email protected]
Deadline for submission of all proposals: 20 February 2026.
Earlier submissions are very much welcome.
All presentations, regardless of format, must 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 for co-written papers are allowed.
We aim to notify acceptance/rejection of proposals by the end of March 2026.
Website and registration
The SRN 2026 website will go live in the coming months – likely by early Spring 2026.
It will include a wealth of useful information (e.g. registration, travel, accommodation options) as well as all the updates and, eventually, the programme leading up to the Conference.
We aim to keep registration fees in the region of £100-£120 (GBP) with a discounted rate for early career researchers (e.g. post-docs) and PhD students. We will have more precise details by around the abstract submission deadline.
Contacts
An official conference email address will be available when the website goes live.
Meanwhile, please address any query regarding abstracts, registration, programme, etc. to [email protected]
A valuable historical rescue work was carried out in relation to all keynote speakers of past SRN conferences at the request of the Executive Board under the leadership of Prof. Jan Cernik. Find out more here!
The University of South Australia is pleased to announce a combined Screenwriting Research Network conference (SRN 2025), and Sightlines: Filmmaking in the Academy festival, to be held 17-20 September 2025 in Adelaide, Australia. As an innovation, SRN2025 is being held together with:https://www.aspera.org.au/sightlines-conference
Since 2006 the Screenwriting Research Network has hosted an annual conference to explore innovative approaches and exciting research into the history, theory, practice and teaching of screenwriting. This conference has travelled the world. Meanwhile, since 2014, Sightlines: Filmmaking in the Academy, a symposium/festival, has provided a forum to showcase and discuss screen-based ‘non-traditional’ research outputs. In 2024 we bring these two important communities and events together to explore crossovers and connections between theory, practice and education.
The theme for the conference-festival is Hyphen. The between. The connected. The hybrid. What does the hyphen mean to you? What does it mean for practice? How does it appear in industry? What are the theoretical implications? From the practitioner-academic to the writer-director, to the creative-critical, to the teaching-research nexus, to documentary-drama, to the anti-hero, to the non-representational, we are interested in creative, critical and hybrid responses to the theme hyphen.
In this conference-festival we are keen to embrace a range of submissions that reflect the outputs of scholars, reflective practitioners, and creative-practice researchers interested in screenwriting and screen production research, and showcase the full range of screenwriting and screen production that occurs within and between the higher education sector and industry, and across a breadth of platforms and methodologies.
We welcome submissions for in-person presentations in the following formats:
Presentations can include exhibition of screen production research in-progress or discussion of screenplay works.
Panels can include exhibition of screen production research in-progress or discussion of screenplay works.
Screen production outputs to be accompanied by a short practitioner introduction and/or post-screening talk.
A screenplay or screenplay excerpt to be read/performed, accompanied by a short practitioner introduction.
Submission guidelines:
For Panels, please include a 100-word outline of the panel topic or theme under discussion.
For Panels and Papers please send a 300-word abstract outlining each paper, 4-6 keywords, and the name and affiliation of each presenter/panellist. References are optional (maximum five). If you are citing sources, please use APA style. Please also include a short biography (100 words maximum) for each presenter/panellist.
For Exhibition of Screen Production Works, please submit a preview/excerpt of your completed creative work via online link.
For Table Read/Performance of screenplays, please submit a PDF.
For all screen works and scripts, please attach the accompanying information:
Deadline:
Please send your proposals (and any queries) to [email protected] by Friday 14 February 2025. Please await confirmation that your proposal has been received.
Conference organisers: Craig Batty, Michael Bentham, Carina Boehm, Sandy Cameron, Kath Dooley and Kim Munro.
Please note that a separate call for creative works to be featured in a future issue of Sightlines: Filmmaking in the Academy journal will follow the conference-festival.
Thank you so much to our long-standing member Paolo Russo for continuing to prepare these for us. : )
The central theme for the 16th Annual SRN Conference in 2024 is
Through this theme we seek to encourage a broad exploration of dialogue and communication within the world of screenwriting and beyond. Although we emphasize the role of dialogue, monologues and polylogues in scripts, films and television, we also invite you to interpret this theme metaphorically, considering filmmakers’ discussions amongst cast and crew, amongst cultures, and other related topics.
Call for Papers – SRN Conference 2024
We accept the following:
Traditional 20-Minute Papers
(Proposal should include: Title, Author’s name, Affiliation, Contact details, 300 word abstract, 4-6 keywords, 150 word bio)
Pre-constituted Panels
(Proposal should include: Title of the panel, 100 word outline of the overall topic, Abstracts of 2-3 presentations following the abstract guidelines listed above).
Posters
(Proposal should include: Title, Author’s name, Affiliation, Contact details,300 word abstract, 4-6 keywords, 150 word bio)
Please send your proposals to [email protected]
Submission Deadline: January 12, 2024. Always wait for confirmation that your proposal is registered.
For further enquiries, contact the Conference organizers: Jan Černík, Anna Šimáková, Filip Faja
Details and further information about the conference will be available online as the conference draws nearer.
The Conference website has been active since November 2023. Access it here.
To be sent the Zoom link, please contact Clarissa Miranda on [email protected]
The 15th International Screenwriting Research Network Conference is to take place in Columbia, Missouri, from 20th – 23rd September 2023. More information can be accessed here:
Presented at the Vienna Conference on Friday 23rd September 2022
The SRN Awards apply to eligible publications between June 2021 and May 2022 in two categories: Best Published Monograph, and Best Published Article. This includes peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters. The Executive Council has worked throughout the year to consolidate the process by liaising with the expert jury, Professor Emeritus Tom Stempel, Associate Professor Eva Novrup Redvall, and Professor Carmen Sofia Brenes. The SRN 2022 Awards winners were announced at the Vienna Conference by jury chair, Eva Novrup Redvall.
The SRN award for Best Monograph went to s. Anthony Mullins for his book Beyond the Hero’s Journey
The SRN award for Best Published Article went to Alison Pierce for “The Hidden Work of Women in Commissioning and Development in British Television Drama.”.
The SRN Executive Council would like to thank our judges for their time and commitment in reading all the submissions to come to these conclusions. We also want to thank all SRN members who submitted their published works to the competition. It is always an achievement to complete and article or book and have it published.
And of course, we offer the warmest congratulations to our winners, Anthony Mullins and Alison Pierce, for their outstanding works. We know they will be valuable for years to come to scholars and practitioners alike.