Research Seminar – University of South Wales, Centre for the Study of Media and Culture in Small Nations

As part of their research seminar series, Caitriona was invited by the Centre for the Study of Media and Culture in Small Nations to give a paper ‘Screen Agencies in Small Nations: Shaping and Delivering Cultural Policy’.  She reported on the work to-date and gave an overview of how screen agencies in different countries are organised and work to new priorities, opportunities and challenges in the sector.

The research paper demonstrated that an emerging strategy for a number of screen agencies is a shift away from project-based modes of support to increasingly allocating funding to support cultural entrepreneurship among established and start-up companies. This is particularly through engagement with intellectual property assets beyond films or television series. This strategy further legitimises their value as public support agencies but brings with it associated risks for their cultural mission. The analysis provides insight to the meso-level interventions by cultural intermediaries and tastemakers in an era of disruption. Through its comparative work, it argues that entrepreneurship, sustainability and diversity have particular properties in the cultural policy landscape that screen agencies inhabit in small nations.

Our thanks to Professor Lisa Lewis, co-director of the centre, for the invite to present and to Dr Christina Papagiannouli for her support with the event.