Dear colleagues

It might seem strange to be thinking about our conference, two or even three conferences ahead, but as those who have already hosted these will tell you, there's a lot of planning to do!  And before we decide where to meet, I'd like to give everyone in the Network the chance to respond with their ideas and preferences.

The decision(s) will be made by the SRN steering group, who are those who met at the Copenhagen conference, and previous SG members who could not make it there.  If you want to join us, let me know. I expect us to make a decision by Easter 2011.

Let's not forget Brussels 2011 - get your proposal for your presentation or paper in as soon as possible! - and of course Sydney Australia in 2012.  Below there are 2 x proposals for 2013 and one for 2014. I have cut and pasted them from information sent by the proposers (if there are any errors, I'm sure the proposers will let us know!).

So, please let me have you views over the next few weeks, and I will be contacting the steering group in late February.

With best wishes

Ian
Co-ordinator, SRN



1.  University of Delhi and others

Screenwriting Research Network Conference 2013
Anubha Yadav

Screenwriters, academics, various professionals involved in film making and students of film have been actively involved in discussing the Indian script and its writing for more than half a decade now. This initiative began as a collaboration between the film industry (Film Writer's Association) and film academics( National Film and Television Institute) who were interested in studying the writing of the various cinemas of India. Other developments in this decade like -screenwriting being offered as a separate discipline in National Film Institute; changes in the production and distribution model of film making and the Indie-film-movement have also played the crucial role of connecting the idea of making 'Good' /Different' cinema to the idea of writing 'good' scripts. Today, this is often described as a movement called the New 'New' Wave in Indian Cinema. This movement definitely sees the Screenwriter in a privileged position, unlike its existence in the past. And thus perhaps its time to expand this discourse and enrich it with varied research perspectives and experiences from the world. 
 think the Indian Screenwriting Network can creatively utilize an exhaustive interaction with -script oriented research and various developing theoretical frameworks used around the world. Alternately, the coming of the International Screenwriting Conference to India will help the visiting academics in getting a more detailed understanding of the screenwriting traditions and initiatives in South and Central Asia in general and of India in particular. Seeing the vast and expansive reach of Indian cinema the Screenwriting Conference can work as a meeting point to provide an opportunity to discuss cross-cultural research projects/efforts in the area of screenwriting. As mentioned above the movement of the conference to the 'East' will also enable and encourage more participation from academics and filmmakers from countries like China, Hong Kong, Bangladesh and Iran which have their own flourishing styles of screenwriting.

I really do hope that the Conference can make it to India for first time 2013, as it is Indian cinema's centenary year.  

Relevant Information - Conference will be held at Whistling Woods International Institute for Films, Media, Animation and Media Arts, Mumbai (Bombay). See: www.whistlingwoods.net/about/wwi-the-institute 
It is supported by the Film Writer's Association of India, and Whistling Woods International Institute. All arrangements and coordination will be handled by Whistling Woods.

A link one can look at for an idea on the nature and history of screenwriting debate/s in Indian cinema ---

http://passionforcinema.com/has-the-indian-script-arrived-the-indian-screenwriters-conference-2008/
http://www.ftiindia.com/seminar_the_uniqueness_of_the_indian_film_script.html


Anubha Yadav
Assistant Professor
Department of Journalism
Kamala Nehru College
University of Delhi
Delhi
India
09811906052
[log in to unmask]





2.  University of Wisconsin-Madison
Screenwriting Research Network Conference 2013

J. J. Murphy and Kelley Conway
					
This is intended as an expression of interest in the possibility of the Department of Communication Arts at the University of Wisconsin-Madison hosting the Screenwriting Research Conference in Fall 2013. UW-Madison, which is a campus of over 40,000 students, is considered one of the major research institutions in the US, as well as a member of the World University Network (WUN). The Department of Communication Arts offers PhDs in the areas of Film, Media and Cultural Studies, Rhetoric, and Communication Science. The Department has over 800 undergraduate majors, with nearly 50 PhD students studying in the areas of Film and Media and Cultural Studies, both of which are considered to be among the top-rated programs in the field.

On the graduate level, the study of Film is primarily concerned with motion picture history, theory and criticism. These areas are approached through intensive critical analysis of individual films, through research into the primary documents of filmmakers and the film industry, and through the construction of theoretical models of film forms and styles, national cinemas, film genres, and the economics of the film industry. The Media and Cultural Studies (MCS) program emphasizes the study of media in their historical, economic, social, and political context. It examines the cultural forms created and disseminated by media industries and the ways in which they resonate in everyday life, on the individual, national, and global level. Focusing primarily on sound and screen media – radio, television, film, popular music, internet – but reaching out across boundaries, MCS encourages interdisciplinary and transmedia research. MCS courses draw on a broad range of cultural theories spanning a spectrum of concerns all centrally relevant to the functioning of sound and screen media in a diverse and globalizing cultural environment. The Department also has an undergraduate media production program that teaches courses in film and video, screenwriting, and new media (computer animation, and interactivity). Over 250 students take production and screenwriting courses each semester.

Among its many assets, the Department has its own Media Center and state-of-the art Digital Media Lab with its own servers and extensive technical support staff: computer specialists and engineers, and its own projectionist. Communication Arts houses the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theatre Research (WCFTR), one of the three major film archives in the USA, which attracts scholars from around the world to do research on its extensive holdings. The Department also houses The Cinematheque, which is a coalition of UW-Madison academic departments and student film groups dedicated to showcasing films which would otherwise never reach Madison screens. As the screening facility of the WCFTR and a member of the International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF), the Cinematheque regularly showcases archival and other rare prints from around the world. The Cinematheque has one of the finest projection facilities in Wisconsin and screens a variety of formats, including 35mm and 16mm (both on reel-to-reel projection systems), BetaSP, DVD, DVCam, and VHS. It is the Cinematheque's policy to screen films only in the best available versions, and in particular at the original gauge, in the correct aspect ratio, and, if silent, at the appropriate speed and with musical accompaniment. The UW Arts Institute sponsors The Wisconsin Film Festival every April, with assistance from Communication Arts. Last year’s attendance topped 34,500 over five days.

The study of media is pervasive on campus, with film being taught in several other Departments, including French and Italian, German, Scandinavian Studies, the Nelson Institute, and the Center for East Asian Studies. The Center for East Asian Studies (CEAS) is the focal point connecting East Asia to the University of Wisconsin-Madison. One of the UW-Madison’s eight federally funded National Resource Centers, CEAS is dedicated to all aspects of research, education and outreach related to China, Japan, and Korea, and Taiwan.

Madison, the state capital of Wisconsin, has a population of roughly 235,000 in a metropolitan area of over 500,000. Built on four lakes, Madison is a scenic city with many biking trails and a major Arboretum, much larger than New York City’s Central Park. In terms of quality of life, Madison frequently ranks as one of the best cities to live in the USA. The city is centrally located – approximately two hours from the airport in Chicago, four hours from Minneapolis, and 75 minutes from Milwaukee. Many conferences are held on the UW-Madison campus, which has several facilities available for such events. Madison has many fine restaurants and hotels, and the weather is still summer-like in early September. 

J. J. Murphy, Professor of Film, and Kelley Conway, Associate Professor of Film, would serve as organizers of the conference.
 


3.  Universidad de los Andes, Santiago, Chile

Screenwriting Research Conference 2014 


The School of Communication at the Universidad de los Andes (Santiago de Chile) (www.uandes.cl) is interested in hosting the Screenwriting Research Conference in 2014 (suggested date: 8 to October 12, 2014). 

Since 2007, the School of Communication has a Masters Program in Screenwriting and Audiovisual Development (MGDA). MGDA is the first and only graduate program in script in Latin America. Has an international character, both by students and teachers: in the two versions have attended classes 39 students from 9 different countries and teachers from 12 Latin American countries, the United States and Europe. In addition to teaching, MGDA aspires to be a meeting place between professionals and academics from Latin American, the U.S. and Europe.

In its short life, MGDA has established contacts with national and international industry and academics interested in interdisciplinary thinking about fiction.

We think that we would be a good place to have the Screenwriting Research Conference for the following reasons: 1) point of contact between European and U.S. academics with Latin Americans, 2) point of contact between academics and practitioners, mostly from Latin America, 3) excellent facilities, and 4) last but not least, geographical and cultural interest of the country and its capital, at the foot of the Cordillera de los Andes (6723 meters).

We would like to organize the Conference in 2014, because it is the year that we do not run the Masters Program. The alternative dates would be 2012 or 2016. 

The government of Chile is interested in promoting the film industry in contact with the U.S. industry, and that opens up us the possibility of asking for potential collaboration in organizing the event. (http://informa.gob.cl/comunicados-archivo/consejo-de-la-cultura-promueve-acuerdo-que-potenciara-la-industria-cinematografica-en-chile/)

Santiago is one of the safest and most modern cities in Latin America. 


Prof. Dra. Carmen Sofia Brenes
Directora Académica - Master en Guión y Desarrollo Audiovisual Facultad de Comunicación, Universidad de los Andes, Santiago-Chile
Tel: (56 2) 4129852 - @csbrenes
www.mgda.cl