Let’s Talk Screenwriting! Showrunners and writers’ rooms in European television production

On 12 April, the Media Industries, Infrastructures and Institutions (MI3) research initiative organises a discussion with several media scholars and screenwriters on the topic of showrunners and writers’ rooms in European television production. The discussion is chaired by Dr Hanna Surma (Media and Culture Studies).

The event

In the last few years television producers across Europe started to implement writers’ rooms where stories are collectively developed and written. However, there are significant differences from country to country: not only did they emerge at different moments in time, their acceptance within the industry and their working practices also differ significantly.

During this event, Eva Novrup Redvall (University of Copenhagen) and Florian Krauß (University of Siegen) will present their research on writers’ rooms in Denmark and Germany and discuss their findings with Michael Leendertse (Winchester McFly) who set up one of the first writers’ room in the Netherlands. Why are writers’ rooms so productive? How much do practices in national production cultures vary? And where do these differences come from?

Let's Talk Screenwriting!

This event is organized by the Media Industries, Infrastructures and Institutions (MI3) research initiative of the Media and Culture Studies department. It is part of the Let’s Talk Screenwriting! online discussion series that focuses on 'Algorithms, Writers’ Rooms and Gender Stereotypes'. The series brings media scholars and screenwriters together to discuss the current role of algorithms and data analytics in European screen production, why writers’ rooms are revolutionizing screenwriting processes in Europe and what screenwriters can do to avoid gender stereotypes.