[Commlist] CFP - Transcultural Production Studies Seminar

CinEcoSA Digital Seminar Series
*Transcultural Production Studies*
*SEASON 3*
*2023-2024*

In /Production Studies/ (2009) and /Production Studies, The Sequel!/ 
(2016), Vicky Mayer, Miranda Banks, John Caldwell and Bridget Conor 
asked media scholars from different disciplines to discuss the concept 
of Production Culture. Media workers are seen as “cultural actors” 
(2009, 2) whose practices and discourses shape the film industry 
culture. This approach thus favours a focus on “the lived realities of 
people involved in the media production” (2009, 4) as well as specific 
case studies and “grounded data” (2016, x). The institutional context 
remains a key element to comprehend film realities since a production 
culture exists in the tension “between individuals’ agency and the 
social conditions within which agency is embedded.” (2016, x). 
Production Studies rest on two questions: “How do media producers 
represent themselves (…)? How do we, as researchers, then represent 
those varied and contested representations?” (2009, 4). Any production 
culture thus appears as a cultural construct, as an “imagined community” 
(Anderson, 1983) created by its agents in a context characterized by 
power issues. While Production Studies focused on North America, The 
Sequel! examined global issues, in line with the internationalisation of 
the film industry. The Transcultural Production Studies seminar series 
will explore the cultural phenomena at the heart of the 
internationalisation of film production.

Viewing Production Culture through an international lens raises new 
questions related to cultural diversity and cultural exchanges. Each 
film and television professional can be considered a pluricultural 
individual whose identity blends two production cultures: one linked to 
a specific profession within the film industry and one linked to the way 
cinema works in a specific nation. Globalization has led to more and 
more film professionals working in multicultural contexts, especially 
when collaborating on co-productions, runaway productions or globally 
dispersed productions, with the transnational production flows these 
entail. Within these multicultural work environments, film professionals 
face situations of intercultural communication, in which they must deal 
with cultural codes. Pluriculturalism, multiculturalism and 
interculturality provide tools to discuss phenomena at the levels of the 
individual, the context and communication situations. What happens when 
cultures meet shapes not only each individual’s identity and how they 
envision it, but also the different production cultures involved. 
Multicultural work situations thus create a contact zone, where cultures 
not only influence each other, but also lead to “the consequent creation 
of new cultural phenomena”, according to Fernando Ortiz, whose concept 
of “transculturation” was thus summarized by Bronisław Malinowski: 
“every transculturation (…) is a process in which something is always 
given in return for what one receives, a system of give and take. It is 
a process in which both parts of the equation are modified, a process 
from which a new reality emerges, transformed and complex, a reality 
that is not a mechanical agglomeration of traits, nor even a mosaic, but 
a new phenomenon, original and independent” (Ortiz, 1940). In order to 
comprehend the varied and complex phenomena of cultural exchanges at 
stake in the internationalised film and television industry, the 
Transcultural Production Studies seminar series invites scholars to 
discuss the following question:

*What transcultural processes are at play when film and television 
professionals work in multicultural contexts?*

Case studies of transcultural processes can cover a wide range of issues 
and situations. Four multicultural work environments will be 
particularly conducive to significant observations:

/Co-productions/

How does co-producing influence the practices of film and television 
workers? What power imbalances between production companies are brought 
to light during negotiations and how do these impact creative choices 
(script, casting, etc.) and organisational decisions (contracts, work 
organisation, etc.)? Can one draw a portrait of typical models of 
transcultural co-productions? How does geographical, cultural and/or 
linguistic proximity impact transcultural co-productions? How does the 
recent involvement of North America-based digital platforms in 
coproductions around the world impact work organisation and creative 
cultures?

/Globally-dispersed productions/

To what extent do host countries change their working practices in order 
to attract and retain foreign productions? What are the long-term 
impacts of location shootings on the host country’s professional 
practices (working hours, communication means, environmental 
regulations, etc.)? Does the globally-dispersed production model lead to 
a homogenisation or a fragmentation of practices (production, filming, 
post-production)? To what extent does it impact the way public policies 
are designed?

/Global circulation of film and television professionals/

What is the impact of the different types of circulation (expatriation, 
transmigration, nomadism) on film workers’ practices and cultures? What 
cultural, geographical, economic and/or political factors appear as 
significant in global circulation patterns? How important are networks 
in the decision to work abroad and in the constitution of expatriate 
professional communities? What is the link between professional 
competences and international circulation (education, training, 
linguistic skills, networking, etc.)? What adjustments, tensions and 
innovations are at play within multicultural film crews?

/Film festivals and markets/

What models of cultural cooperation are promoted through the initiatives 
organized during festivals, such as training workshops, co-production 
funds, films markets and forums? How is transculturation visible in the 
reflexive discourse of festival programmers, directors, producers and 
audiences? How do festivals and markets, as formal and informal exchange 
spaces, contribute to the creation of a transnational professional 
network? What transcultural communities are created through common 
practices over time?

The Transcultural Production Studies seminar aims to create a network of 
scholars, identify key issues and open up discussions on research 
practices. Scholars from all disciplines, specialised in contemporary 
and historical film industry issues, are welcome.

The seminar series will comprise six online sessions in 2023-2024.
The programme of Seasons 1 & 2 of the digital seminar is available at:
https://www.cinecosa.com/cycles/transcultural-production-studies/digital-seminar/ 
<https://www.cinecosa.com/cycles/transcultural-production-studies/digital-seminar/>

*Call for proposals – submission guidelines:*

Please include the following points in your proposal (500-800 words, in 
French or English):
- a brief presentation of your area of expertise and short biography
- the cultural interactions and phenomena you observe which are relevant 
to a discussion on
transculturation
- the epistemological, theoretical and methodological tools you use
- 3 to 5 bibliographical references

Proposals should be sent to *(transcultural /at/ cinecosa.com)* by *18 
September 2023*.

*Organising team*:
Joël Augros (IRCAV, Université Sorbonne Nouvelle-Paris 3)
Bérénice Bonhomme (LARA-SEPPIA, Université de Toulouse-Jean Jaurès/IUF)
Patricia Caillé (LINCS, Université de Strasbourg)
Nolwenn Mingant (3LAM, Université d’Angers)
Katalin Pór (ESTCA, Université Paris 8/IUF)
Christel Taillibert (LIRCES, Université Côte d’Azur)
Cecilia Tirtaine (CRINI, Nantes Université)
Ana Vinuela (IRCAV, Université Sorbonne Nouvelle-Paris 3)

*Partners*:
Création Collective au Cinéma
HESCALE


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