CALL FOR PAPERS

      European Co-Production Symposium: a multi-disciplinary
       conference of scholars, practitioners and policy professionals

23-24 November 2016
University of Copenhagen, Centre for Modern European Studies
in collaboration with
Danish Film Institute, CinEcoSA (France)
and UCLA TFT Producers Program

Keynote Speakers
Roberto Olla, Executive Director, Eurimages
Ib Bondebjerg, Professor Emeritus, University of Copenhagen

Coproduction has been commonplace in the European screen industries since the early 20th century. More recently, trans-European policies, funding programs and workshops have been put in place to promote official coproduction as a key strategy for sustaining national film and television industries in the face of economic challenges and Hollywood domination of global markets. This year marks the 25th anniversary of one of the first projects to be supported by the Eurimages film fund, with the symbolic title Europa (von Trier, 1991), so it seems timely to take stock of how the European coproduction system has evolved over the past quarter-century and to consider challenges and trends for official coproduction going forward.

This Symposium will explore coproduction as the expression of a complex political and economic apparatus, and aims to bring to light the intricacies of producing a film or television program across national borders with different production cultures and policy environments. The major objective is to identify and discuss issues confronting the European coproduction system following a decade marked by three major challenges:  1) the global financial crisis; 2) the emergence of the Digital Single Market and new digital release windows; and 3) the trend towards the globalization of coproductions.

An associated aim of the Symposium is to establish a broader network of researchers working in the area of European coproduction, with a view to pursuing future collaborative projects and publications. Scholars from the world of screen studies, but also film and television history and economics, political science, as well as cultural studies and sociology are invited to participate. Scholarly papers will be complemented by industry roundtables, case studies and screenings, thus facilitating a dialogue between the academic and film industry spheres and creating a space in which the various facets of European coproduction are considered and debated.

Topics may include, but are not restricted to:

·                     Historical and contemporary perspectives on European identity and transnational production practices

·                     Coproductions in light of the financial crisis of 2007/2008

·                     Coproductions in the context of the Digital Single Market

·                     Financial joint ventures versus official coproduction

·                     Public support mechanisms and how these enable and/or inhibit coproduction

·                     The interface between financing and filmmaking

·                     Education and training in the practice of international coproduction

·                     Case-studies on regional cinematic collaboration, as well as coproduction from the perspective of individual European countries

·                     Challenges specific to European coproduction

·                     Collaboration with non-European countries


It is envisaged that selected conference proceedings will be published in an edited volume following the Symposium.


Submissions
Please send your proposals in English to the organising committee by the extended deadline of Friday 15 July 2016 (midnight CET). Proposals should include the title of your proposed paper, a 400-word abstract, 4 bibliographical references, and a brief biography. There is no registration fee for the Symposium.


Organising Committee
Petar Mitric (University of Copenhagen): [log in to unmask]
Julia Hammett-Jamart (CinEcoSA):  [log in to unmask]
Ben Harris (University of California Los Angeles): [log in to unmask]


Website of the Centre for Modern European Studies
http://cemes.ku.dk/cemes-news/european-co-production-symposium-call-for-papers/


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Ben Harris
Assistant Director, MFA Producers Program
UCLA Department of Film, Television and Digital Media


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Online resources for film/TV studies may be found at ScreenSite
http://www.ScreenSite.org