PRODUCERS AND PRODUCTION PRACTICES IN THE HISTORY OF ITALIAN CINEMA, 1949-1975

Principal investigator: Stephen Gundle (Warwick)

Co-Investigators: Karl Schoonover (Warwick), Stefano Baschiera (Queens, Belfast), Christopher Wagstaff (formerly Reading)

AHRC Major Research Project. Grant received £718,500

To run March 2016 - February 2019

The project will bring together a core group of researchers with established expertise in different aspects of the film industry to examine the way Italian producers shaped global film production and distribution between the late 1940s and the mid 1970s. It will do this by exploring a wide range of business practices and the domestic and international contexts in which these developed. The practices in question played a crucial role in building international markets for Italian films and creating production and distribution strategies which turned Italian cinema into a global force. They set a vital precedent for other emerging national cinemas in Europe and the world. The importance of producers has not been recognised in conventional scholarship and therefore the activities of these key players have been inadequately investigated and analysed. Project research will establish what their goals were, how they operated to achieve those goals, and what conditioning factors framed their activities. The papers of several major producers from the most successful period of the Italian cinema and of the main industry association have recently become available for study, providing a unique opportunity to investigate hitherto obscure practices and to research a particular production culture in unprecedented depth. The project will produce a range of outputs that will reinterpret the history of postwar Italian cinema and benefit both present and future scholars and those interested in Italian and international film culture more generally, as well as sectors of the cinema industry itself.

The Department of Film and Television is delighted to announce that we have two MA Scholarships to award for the academic year 2016-17. Both scholarships are fee waivers only. The scholarships will be awarded to outstanding students proposing topics for further research which will enhance the research profile of the Department.

For more information click here

The University of Warwick’s Department of Film and Television Studies, in collaboration with the Centre for Cultural Policy studies, is opening a new Centre for Television History, Heritage and Memory Research on Wednesday 28th October 2015.

This newly formed centre will focus on television history, heritage and memory and the development of research, learning and training in collaboration with industry.

The establishment of the centre will enable the department to build upon its longstanding reputation for excellence in the field of historical television studies, and, over the coming years, the Centre plans to develop existing connections with television production companies and archives in order to deliver innovative, world-class postgraduate education and training.

The new Centre for Television History, Heritage and Memory Research will develop bids for external funding for large scale and individual research projects, postdoctoral fellowships and collaborative doctoral training awards. There will be a regular programme of events which will include Visiting Scholars and other guest speakers, conferences, symposia and knowledge transfer events which will be public and industry-facing in addition to their more traditional address to an academic audience.

Dr Rachel Moseley, Director of the Centre for Television History, Heritage and Memory Research said, “I’m delighted to announce the opening of the new Centre for Television History, Heritage and Memory Research. The centre will provide fantastic opportunities to further our work on the history of television and the development of our research, learning and training in collaboration with industry.”

The team are keen to develop cross-disciplinary work on questions of television history, heritage and memory and to work with other organisations with a stake in our television heritage. So, whether you are scholar working in Television Studies or an adjacent field, or work for organisation that might wish to collaborate with the Centre and want to hear more about the plans for the Centre, please contact the Director, Dr Rachel Moseley:

Rachel.Moseley@warwick.ac.uk

The Department of Film and Television Studies is inviting expressions of interest in the above scheme, the deadline for which is still TBC but likely to be the first week of October, 2015.

The aim of the British Academy in making these awards is to offer opportunities for outstanding early career researchers to strengthen their experience of research and teaching in a university environment which will develop their curriculum vitae and improve their prospects of obtaining permanent lecturing posts by the end of the Fellowship. The primary emphasis is on completion of a significant piece of publishable research, which will be assisted by full membership of an academic community of established scholars working in similar fields

Eligibility

1. Applicants must be supported by the UK host institution in which they wish to hold the Fellowship
2. Applicants must be within three years of the award of a doctorate or having a reasonable expectation that they will have submitted and had their thesis examined by 1 April 2015)
3. Applicants will have been awarded a PhD following a viva voce examination held prior to 1 April 2013 who are unable to offer extenuating circumstances, such as interruption to their academic career for maternity leave or illness, will not be considered
4. Applicants must be a UK or EEA national, or have completed a doctorate at a UK university. Any applicant who does not fall into one of these categories must demonstrate a strong prior association with the UK academic community, for example through already having been employed in a temporary capacity (longer than twelve months) at a UK university

Duration of Award: Awards are for 3 years

Funding: Awards are offered on a Full Economic Costing basis. There is no fixed amount awarded for the Fellowships and the value of award will vary depending on the host institution. Awards cover the salary of the Postdoctoral Fellow to work full-time on the Fellowship, small-scale research expenses (up to a maximum of £6,000), costs towards the time of a mentor (equivalent to one hour per month for the 36 months of the Fellowship) and the host institution's estates and indirect costs. 

For further information on the scheme and a link to the egap application system please see: http://www.britac.ac.uk/funding/guide/pdfells.cfm.