Conference on ‘Methodologies for Screen Industries Research’.

In January Caitriona and Ruth will present a paper on ‘Embedded Methodologies: researching screen ecologies in small nations’ at the Methodologies for Screen Industries research symposium in Bristol.

In recent years there has been little focused discussion on the methodological processes that underpin screen industries research. This event will address that need, and aims to bring together leading scholars working in the field alongside those who are new to industry-focused research, including postgraduate research students. The event is funded by the British Association of Film, Television and Screen Studies (BAFTSS) and the Moving Image Research Group at the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol), and is organised by the BAFTSS Screen Industries Special Interest Group.

Abstract for ‘Embedded Methodologies: researching screen ecologies in small nations’

This paper reflects on a series of AHRC-funded projects and our methodological approach to doing a comparative study of the screen ecologies of small nations.

First, we argue that media scholars need to think innovatively about the range of formal research methods employed. Our methodological approach necessitated multinational, multi-sited and multi-method research (including policy research and interviews). It is based on an ongoing commitment to meaningful knowledge exchange beyond the academe as we try to counter ‘the menace of instrumentalism’ (Hesmondhalgh 2014). This requires continually establishing our legitimacy as researchers through careful negotiations and lengthy trust-building, but also exercising our autonomous expertise within the field. We reflect on the value (and risks) of this sustained expert engagement with industry, policy-makers and regulators (McElroy and Noonan 2019) and we lend our weight to calls for a more nuanced understanding of knowledge exchange between academia and other spheres (Munro 2016; Belfiore 2016).

This paper then turns to the role of policy in our methodological approach. Screen content has gained greater prominence within policy making as stakeholders acknowledge the multiple forms of value it can deliver. This raises issues for researchers as they actively engage in the policy process. Part of the challenge is the elastic nature of screen policy which is embedded in distinct yet overlapping domains including: media policy, creative industries policy, cultural support, economic development and regional planning, and labour market interventions. We reflect on this through our experiences on the Screen Agencies as Cultural Intermediaries project which sees screen agencies such as Northern Ireland Screen, the Danish Film Institute, Screen Scotland and Screen Ireland embedded in all of these domains as they exercise their public remit to invest in and provide support for the development, production and circulation of screen content.

Finally, we reflect on the value and challenge of comparative international research to the field of screen industries research. Our work routinely encompasses several small nations including: Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Ireland, Denmark, Belgium and Croatia. Several challenges have emerge including developing robust and analogous quantitative data and the considerable commitment needed for international fieldwork and cross-border dialogue. However, the value of comparative research is clear to us as a way providing a more nuanced understanding of the multi-layered geographies of cultural production and as a route to attending to urgent questions of power at a time of content abundance and industry disruption.

References

• Belfiore, Eleonora. ‘Cultural Policy Research in the Real World: Curating “Impact”, Facilitating “Enlightenment”’. Cultural Trends 25, 3 (2016): 205–216.
• Hesmondhalgh, David. ‘The Menace of Instrumentalism in Media Industries Research and Education’. Media Industries 1, 1 (2014). http://dx.doi.org/10.3998/mij.15031809.0001.105.
• McElroy, Ruth and Caitriona Noonan. Producing Television Drama: Local production in a global era. Palgrave Pivot: Hampshire (2019).
• Munro, Ealasaid. ‘Illuminating the Practice of Knowledge Exchange as a ‘Pathway to Impact’ Within an Arts and Humanities Research Council ‘Creative Economy Knowledge Exchange’ Project’. Geoforum 71, May (2016): 44–51. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2016.03.002.