[ecrea] Call for papers: Women at Work in the British Film & Television Industries

*CALL FOR PAPERS*

*/Journal of British Cinema and Television/*

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*July 2013: ‘Women at Work in the British Film & Television Industries’*

Women’s participation in film-making and television production has 
received relatively little attention in academic film/television 
histories. Women’s under-representation in key roles like direction has 
positioned women directors as ‘exceptional’ whilst their 
over-representation in areas such as costume and make-up has created a 
gendered sphere which has been marginalised by criticism driven by 
models of ‘authorship’.

A forthcoming special issue will address the theme of women’s creative 
involvement in the British film and television industries. The editors 
welcome papers and case studies which engage with the following themes 
and questions:

• What input have women made to film-making and television production in 
Britain and what production cultures impact on women as workers?

• How have broader social, economic and industrial conditions (including 
industryregulation) impacted on women’s roles and creative practices?

• What is the relationship between women’s work and media trade 
unions/professional guilds?

• What is the connection between women’s access to production and screen 
representations of women/textual femininities?

• What is the relationship between film and television genres, their 
genderedaffiliations and women’s involvement in their production?

• How have women practitioners negotiated femininity and feminism in 
their working lives?

• What materials and research methods are appropriate for a study of 
women’s input to film-making and television production?

The editors are interested in proposals that cover the broad range of 
roles that women have performed in the television and film industries 
(through their entire historical periods), including writers, producers, 
directors, editors, sound engineers, costume designers, art directors, 
commissioning editors and continuity ‘girls’. We are also interested in 
women’s work in the independent and avant-garde sectors, and across a 
range of genres including documentary, short-film, educational films, 
public information films and amateur film-making. Proposals are also 
welcomed that address women’s work in distribution and exhibition.

This special edition arises from the conference ‘Women Make Film: 
Reframing Cinema History’ organised by the Women’s Film History Network 
– UK/Ireland and hosted at the University of Sunderland.

Proposals for articles should be sent to Dr Vicky Ball, University of 
Sunderland ((vicky.ball /at/ sunderland.ac.uk) 
<mailto:(vicky.ball /at/ sunderland.ac.uk)>) and Dr Melanie Bell, Newcastle 
University ((melanie.bell /at/ ncl.ac.uk) <mailto:(melanie.bell /at/ ncl.ac.uk)>) by 
*1^st September 2011*.* *