Researching Media Companies Producing Audio-visual Content
Researching Media Companies Producing Audio-visual Content
An international conference held at Lillehammer University College, Norway
20-21 April 2017
Sponsored by IAMCR's Media Production Analysis Working Group
Confirmed keynote speakers:
Professor Amanda Lotz, University of Michigan, USA
Associate Professor Olof Hedling, University of Lund, Sweden
Call for papers:
In our audiovisual industries where multiple screens need a constant supply of material, there is a growing number of private and public production companies producing a range of products from multi-million dollar feature films to simple YouTube videos. Research at the level of the company is still rather scarce apart from studies of Hollywood, the large U.S television networks and the European public broadcasters. However, research on individual companies is important because they are the actual creators of our media culture, and it is therefore of vital importance to understand and discuss the constraints and possibilities they face. Company level research is also important as a supplement to overarching studies of the media industries, which provides important overviews of the structural characteristics of the media market, while tending to overlook how individual companies react to common constraints, pursuing individual strategies that might push the media industry in new directions.
This 2-day conference will explore how media scholarship might engage with and conceptionalize, film and TV production companies. The conference aims to analyse questions of working routines, profiles and strategies of individual companies; business relationships and contexts (regional/national/global); and theoretical issues or methodological approaches related to studies of production companies. Papers on both historical and contemporary topics are welcome.
Topics may include, but are not restricted to:
- Company culture/profile/management
- Working routines/innovation/creativity
- Competition, innovation, and risk-reducing strategies
- Production industry/sector ecology
- Multiplatform production/new production modes/DIY companies
- Coping with the digital market
- Relationships with business partners (distributors, broadcasters, VOD services, etc.)
- Company views on quality, success, and the art/commerce dichotomy
The conference is free of charge, two lunches included. Conference dinner will cost 450 NOK. (app. € 45).
Submissions
Please send your proposal to konferanser [at] hil.no by Thursday 1. December 2016. Proposals should include title of the proposed paper, a 300 word abstract, and a short author biography. Click here to download the registration form or visit the website: SiFTI.no.
Accepted papers will be notified by January 15.
Full papers are expected April 3.
The organisers plan to publish an edited anthology with the best papers.