[ecrea] Distributors, Discs and Disciples: Exploring The Home Media Renaissance - symposium

*This one-day symposium will take place at the University of Worcester
on 23rd May 2015. A limited number of seats are still available.
**Please email (jlwroot /at/ googlemail.com) <mailto:(jlwroot /at/ googlemail.com)> if
you wish to book a place. Attendance is free of charge, but registration
is necessary to confirm seats and numbers. Drinks will be made
available, but not lunch. Please email if you have any queries.*

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*The event will be live-tweeted - please follow #dddhmr2015.*

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The rationale behind the event can be found below, as can details of the
event itself:


Distribution is often been seen as the “invisible link” in the media
industry, in terms of facilitating how films, television shows and other
texts reach audiences. The rise of digital platforms, such as online
rental services and bit torrents, recently changed this view and digital
distribution is the focus of several recent publications. However, there
has not been a mass shift towards purely digital media, and physical
media releases are still sought out by fans and consumers. Special
editions and box-sets for DVDs and Blu-Rays are frequently hyped up on
social media, and from many countries around the world. Past formats
also make for collectible items, such as VHS, Laserdisc, and HD-DVD.
Terminology related to physical media hugely affects perceptions of
exhibition and consumption, such as ‘box-sets’, ‘binge-watching’, and
‘marathon’.

Distributors have been recognised as the ones making all this possible.
Media distribution labels often promote their own actions; or their
actions are reported on by critics and journalists; or fans and
consumers directly respond to their releases and related activities.
Such activity takes place within a variety of contexts – from film
festivals to conventions and Q&A sessions; from social media, to
dedicated websites and themed public attractions. This also occurs in
relation to a variety of media texts – from newer releases to older
titles; from films previously unavailable, to those regularly watched
and celebrated by many.

The result of the raising of the profile of distributors has been a Home
Media Renaissance. This exists not only as an alternative to online
digital media exhibition options, but as one that occurs alongside them.
In addition to the recent academic study of legitimate and illegitimate
methods of online downloading and streaming, the simultaneous desire to
own physical media is prevalent.

The aim of this symposium is to discuss and debate how and why
distributors are becoming so prolific in an increasingly digital age. Is
this activity a reaction to shifts towards downloading and streaming?
Are consumers increasingly attracted to these forms of media, or are
distributors desperate to maintain their interest? Can it last?


Please use the following links to find further details and information
about the symposium, including the schedule and transport information:

https://jlwroot.wordpress.com/2015/03/08/distributors-discs-and-disciples-exploring-the-home-media-renaissance/

https://www.academia.edu/11327202/Distributors_Discs_and_Disciples_Exploring_The_Home_Media_Renaissance



Dr Jonathan Wroot
Sessional Lecturer, Film Studies,
Institute of Humanities and Creative Arts,
University of Worcester.
PhD awarded by UEA
Email: (jlwroot /at/ googlemail.com) <mailto:(jlwroot /at/ googlemail.com)>
http://worc.academia.edu/JonathanWroot

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