We are thrilled to announce that the 2017 Centre for Media and Celebrity Studies (CMCS) conference program and guest registration are now available at: http://cmc-centre.com/conferences/losangeles/. Select Option D to register for the media and career workshop only. Contact [log in to unmask] for further inquires. *2017 Centre for Media and Celebrity Studies (CMCS) 4th International Conference Bridging Gaps: Where is the film scholar in Hollywood filmmaking? Performance Café, University of Southern California Los Angeles, USA * *March 17-19, 2017* *Keynote Speaker: * *Dr Nancy Wang Yuen* There have been significant debates on gaps between filmmakers and film scholars. Film scholars have been critical of dominant representations that tend to overlook classist, sexist, speciesist, and ethnocentric trends in the production of films and glamorous images in Hollywood. Yet, scholarly views in academic writing are not adequately addressed in film production and in journalism. Scholars can address the issues through journalism and moving image practices in which filmmakers are trained. CMCS sponsored *Celebrity Chat *is an example of this trend. Can a new form of film ‘critic’ be situated in journalistic and scholarly discussions and screenings? Can the critiques become a new form of ‘activism’ that is different yet supports ideals of celebrity activism in Hollywood and beyond? The Centre for Media and Celebrity Studies (CMCS) *Bridging Gaps* conference series, in association with sponsors Centre for Ecological, Social, and Informatics Cognitive Research (ESI.CORE) and WaterHill Publishing, invites papers and audiovisual material that explore the relationship among four key themes related to Hollywood – theory, production, criticism, and activism. We invite academics, filmmakers, journalists, publicists, and guests to present and connect cutting-edge research areas from a range of interdisciplinary fields and address social justice issues in moving image practices. Extended versions of selected papers will be invited for publication. *2017 CMCS Conference Media & Career Workshop * *What will you learn from the workshop?* - Identify media skills and career opportunities inside and outside academia - Resist bias and build a successful academic career in Hollywood film studies and media practice - Use basic public relations and become critics and experts in media - Learn what is ‘sustainable filmmaking’ and integrate films in your media career *Key Media Speakers*: *Dr Nancy Wang Yuen* is a scholar of race and ethnicity in film, television, and new media. She earned her bachelor’s degree in English (creative writing) and a doctorate in sociology from the University of California, Los Angeles. An associate professor of sociology at Biola University, Dr. Yuen enjoys helping her students view media through a critical lens. She teaches classes on research methods, race/gender in popular culture, Asian American studies, and visual sociology. Nancy Wang Yuen’s book, Reel Inequality: Hollywood Actors and Racism (Rutgers University Press), examines the barriers African American, Asian American and Latina/o actors face in Hollywood and how they creatively challenge stereotypes. Dr. Yuen pioneered the first policy report on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in primetime television, in collaboration with Asian Americans Advancing Justice. The Associated Press interviewed her for a feature on the report. She is currently conducting a 10-year follow up study evaluating not only the raw numbers but also the complexity of characters portrayed by Asian American and Pacific Islanders in network/cable television and digital streaming services. Dr. Yuen is also co-curating an exhibit on Hollywood’s Pioneering Asian American Actresses for the Japanese American National Museum. URL: www.nancywyuen.com *Dr Vanessa Díaz* is a journalist, filmmaker, and scholar. In 2015, she earned a PhD in Anthropology at the University of Michigan. Díaz is currently adapting her dissertation into a book manuscript tentatively titled *Manufacturing Celebrity: Race, Gender, and the Cultural Politics of Red Carpet and Paparazzi Work* (under contract with Duke University Press). Her research, which focuses on hierarchies of labor as well as ethnoracial and gender politics in the production of celebrity-focused media, was supported by the Ford Foundation and Smithsonian Institute. This project was inspired by Díaz’s many years working for *People *magazine. She has published chapters in such anthologies as *Contemporary Latina/o Media: Production, Circulation, Politics *(NYU Press 2014) and *First Comes Love: Power Couples, Celebrity Kinship, and Cultural Politics *(Bloomsbury Academic Press 2015)*. *Grounded in her experience as a reporter for *People* magazine, Díazs chapter in *First Comes Love,* “’Brad& Angelina: And Now…Brangelina!’: A Sociocultural Analysis of Blended Celebrity Couple Names,” examines the phenomenon of celebrity couple name-combining as a racialized marketing tactic aimed at furthering the cultural economy of the normative white heterosexual relationships that celebrity magazines promote. Díaz is called upon by publications ranging from *The Atlantic *to the *Los Angeles Times* to comment upon major events in celebrity culture, such as the divorce of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. She is able to provide necessary context to understand how and why these events capture the American popular imagination, while simultaneously revealing the hidden labor and racial struggles involved in the production of celebrity media. URL: http://communications.fullerton.edu/faculty/communications/diaz_vanessa.php *Kevin Del Principe* is a writer and director. He earned his MFA in Writing for Screen and Television at the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts. The son of a snowplow truck driver and a school nurse from Buffalo, New York, he currently lives in Los Angeles and teaches screenwriting at Loyola Marymount University and composition at Pasadena City College. Kevin’s creative work explores complex characters who earnestly strive to catch their angels while their demons chomp at their heels. He currently is an Artistic & Technical Mentor for the ShakeMeUp: International Online Student Shakespeare Film Festival, spearheaded by the Prague Shakespeare Company in the Czech Republic. Kevin recently published an article in Hollywood North Magazine on sustainable filmmaking. He will be speaking about the topic at the media panel of the conference. URL: www.kevindelprincipe.com *Registration includes*: Your printed conference package, coffee / tea breaks, access to evening receptions, evening drinks, professional development workshop, and consideration for the CMCS $100 best paper and $100 screen awards. *Chair*: Dr Samita Nandy *Committee Members*: Dr Jackie Raphael, Dr Nicole Bojko and Kiera Obbard *Workshop URL*: http://cmc-centre.com/workshops/losangeles-workshop/ *Conference URL*: http://cmc-centre.com/conferences/losangeles/ *Twitter* @ celeb_studies <http://www.twitter.com/celeb_studies> #BGCS17 *Dr Samita Nandy*Director, Centre for Media and Celebrity Studies (CMCS) Author, *Fame in Hollywood North*. Toronto: WaterHill Publishing PhD Curtin University, Australia (Media / Celebrity) MA and BA York University, Canada (Communication) URL <[log in to unmask]>: www.samitanandy.com | Twitter @famecritic <http://www.twitter.com/famecritic> ---- For past messages, visit the Screen-L Archives: https://listserv.ua.edu/archives/screen-l.html