Sustaining Film and TV Industries

A new international research project at the School of Journalism, Media and Culture, to study the impact of screen agencies, will be the first large-scale comparative study of its kind.

The project, which will review screen agencies within seven European nations, will document and assesses the effectiveness of agencies to positively impact the outputs of film and television industries.

Leading the research will be Dr Caitriona Noonan an expert in the fields of television production, public service broadcasting and cultural policy.

Screen agencies such as Creative Scotland and Northern Ireland Screen intervene directly in the film and television sector through their funding, training, lobbying and heritage work, and represent one of the most prominent pillars of publicly funded interventions in the screen industries.

Dr Noonan said, "This project will extend and deepen our understanding of the complex ways in which film and television is produced and distributed.  It will also examine how cultural policy is realised in practice.

"Through their decision-making, allocation of resources and programmes of support, they potentially exercise significant influence over their nation's cultural assets and outputs.

"We are ultimately concerned with how their activities contribute to the economic and cultural sustainability of the screen sector."

Funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), the two-year project will publish its findings via through a series of publications including an edited book, policy briefings, case studies and teaching resources.

To find out more contact the Principal Investigator Dr Caitriona Noonan.