Key details
Dr Rosamund Davies
Senior Lecturer
Rosamund Davies has a background in professional practice in the film and television industries, in which she worked with both independent production companies and public funding bodies. As script editor and story consultant for Film London, she oversaw the development of around 100 projects.
Rosamund has been a lecturer in screenwriting at the University of Greenwich since 2001, founding and expanding the university's screenwriting provision. She also developed the Working in Creative Industries module, which became the basis for the book Introducing the Creative Industries: theory into practice (SAGE 2012), which she co-authored with colleague Gauti Sigthorsson.
Rosamund’s research encompasses theory and practice across writing and audiovisual media and she has a particular interest in writing as a collaborative practice As an original member of the International Screenwriting Research Group, she has been active in the development of screenwriting as a distinctive area of research. Her article ‘Screenwriting Strategies in Marguerite Duras's script for Hiroshima, Mon Amour (1960)’, was selected for inclusion in the first volume of the Journal of Screenwriting (2010) and she is currently co-editing the Palgrave Handbook of Screenwriting Studies, to be published in 2022.
Rosamund is co-editor and contributor to the flash fiction anthology Story Cities (Arachne Press, 2019), part of a project to explore reading as a narrative spatial practice. Both the stories and the book itself were designed and edited to encourage readers to take the book into the city and read the stories in situ,facilitating a shared conversation between the reader, the printed page and the environment...
Other recent publications include:
‘The Screenplay as Boundary Object’ (2019) in Journal of Screenwriting, 10: 2 pp. 149-164
‘Trapped – a case study of international co-production’ (2019) in (Eds. Batty et al) The Palgrave Handbook of Screen Production. London: Palgrave
‘Small Presses and their Reader Communities’ (2021) in (Eds. Colby et al) The Contemporary Small Press – making publishing visible. London: Palgrave
Responsibilities within the university
- Senior Lecturer in Media and Creative Writing
Awards
- 2008: International Award for Excellence for the top ranked article, The International Journal of the Book
Recognition
- Member of International Screenwriting Research Network
- Member of Programme Committee, Adaptive Hypertext and Narrative Connections, ACM Hypertext 2013
- Reviewer, Journal of Screenwriting, Convergence, Media International Australia
- External examiner, Newman University College: Foundation Degree in Business and Media Production 2010–12
Research / Scholarly interests
Rosamund's research interests are in the theory and practice of narrative (through text and audiovisual media). She also carries out research into new media platforms and business models in the screen and publishing industries. Between 2015 and 2019, as part of the Creative Conversations initiative at the University of Greenwich, she ran a series of talks and panels bringing together creative practitioners and academics to investigate different aspects of the relationship between creativity and commerce in the creative industries.
Rosamund’s research is broadly practice-led, in the sense that its primary aim is to produce insights that relate to the practice of writing and to its conditions of production. The methods she employs to carry out her research and to disseminate it include both theory and practice. For example, Rosamund has explored the relationship between archive and narrative as structuring forms and the performance of intimacy through online video in her digital media practice (2008) and in journal and book form (2008, 2010). Research outputs related to her current exploration of narrative as a spatial practice have to date included both an edited collection of flash fiction (2019) and a journal article (forthcoming 2021).
Rosamund also engages extensively in interdisciplinary research. As an original member of the International Screenwriting Research Group, she has been active in the development of this new research discipline, which brings together scholars from diverse disciplines, including film studies, literary studies, creative writing, media practice, business, creative industries and cultural studies. As co-investigator on the interdisciplinary research project PATINA (2010-2013), she worked with and co-authored several conference papers and publications with colleagues from computer science, human computer interaction, archaeology and architecture. She has also co-written papers on hypertext and transmedia narrative with colleagues in computer science from the University of Southampton.
Key funded projects
Co-investigator on PATINA (Personal Architectonics Through INteractions with Artefacts), 2010–13
An interdisciplinary project funded by EPSRC/AHRC through the RCUK Digital Economy programme
The research was commissioned as part of the Designing Effective Research Spaces strand of the RCUK Digital Economy Programme, in recognition of the need to rethink and reconfigure research spaces in the context of digital technologies.
The project is based on the premise that the space of research is the space of the researcher, who moves across and between physical, virtual and imaginary spaces. The aim of the project was to investigate and develop technologies to provide the means to capture, record and replay the researcher's activities across these spaces and to support intuitive archiving, sharing and publication of interactions with research objects. The design of the technologies draws on theoretical frameworks of space and time developed from studies of research spaces as diverse as libraries, museums, homes and archaeological fieldwork sites. It aims to provide new knowledge and understanding of the time-space of research, relevant to the arts, humanities and the physical sciences. The project is led by the University of Bristol in collaboration with the universities of Brighton, Greenwich, Newcastle, Southampton and Swansea.
Ongoing findings from this project have been reported at conferences including DIS 2012, Digital Futures 2012, CHI 2013, DRHA 2013. Final publications will include two books and an exhibition.
Historical Drama and Transmedia Storytelling, 2012–13
Principal Investigator. This project was funded by the University of Greenwich.
The aim of the project is to explore the opportunities for and implications of transmedia storytelling in relation to historical drama, a significant element within television schedules, but less associated with transmedia approaches than other genres, such as science fiction. Evidence from search traffic and enquiries to museum and archive collections, following television broadcast of historical programming, suggests that there is clear benefit to be obtained in finding ways for future programming to integrate historical drama with relevant historical sources, archives and personal and community experience, by employing a transmedia approach. This project aims to interrogate both the potential for enriching historical television drama through transmedia storytelling approaches and the methods and techniques that might be appropriate to achieve them.
Taking as a starting point a story treatment for a TV drama, 100 Sidney Street, developed by Rosamund Davies with TV producer Angie Daniell (co-producer of BBC dramas The Fades and The Ark [working title, forthcoming]) and working with colleagues in computer science and an information architect from the BBC, intermediate findings have been/will be presented at ACM Hypertext 2013 and International Screenwriting Research Network Conference 2013.
A workshop, bringing together academics with museum and broadcasting professionals, will produce further insights into how transmedia storytelling might transform historical television drama and a prototype for how it might be scripted. These findings will be disseminated through digital media and academic papers. The project findings will be used as a basis for future collaborations by Rosamund's research group with media producers, museums, drama and community organisations and to make a bid to the AHRC.
Recent publications
Article
Brown, Lucy , Davies, Rosamund, Oyebanjo, Anuoluwapo Olufunke (2022), Recognising and addressing unconscious bias and structural inequalities: a case study within television idea development. University College York. In: , , , . University College York, Alphaville Journal of Film and Screen Media, 8: 6 (24) . pp. 97-117 ISSN: 2009-4078 (Print), (doi: https://doi.org/10.33178/alpha.24.06).
Davies, Rosamund , Rehal, Kam, Potts, Cherry (2022), Locative narratives and storied cities. National Association of Writers in Education (NAWE). In: , , , . National Association of Writers in Education (NAWE), Writing in Practice: the journal of creative writing research, 7: 6 . pp. 56-72 2058-5535 (Online) (doi: https://www.nawe.co.uk/writing-in-education/writing-at-university/writing-in-practice/current-issue.html).
Oyebanjo, Anuoluwapo Olufunke , Brown, Lucy, Davies, Rosamund (2021), Teaching media production: understanding unconscious bias in creative idea development. Bournemouth University. In: , , , . Bournemouth University, Media Education Research Journal, 10 (1&2) . pp. 1-11 2754-0073 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5763747).
Davies, Rosamund and , (2019), The screenplay as boundary object. Intellec. In: , , , . Intellec, Journal of Screenwriting, 10 (2) . pp. 149-164 ISSN: 1759-7137 (Print), 1759-7145 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.1386/josc.10.2.149_1).
Davies, Rosamund , Chrysanthi, Angeliki, Berggren, Asa, Earl, Graeme P. , Knibbe, Jarrod (2016), The camera "at the Trowel's Edge": Personal video recording in archaeological research. Springer US. In: , , , . Springer US, Journal of Archeological Method and Theory, 23 (1) . pp. 238-270 ISSN: 1072-5369 (Print), 1573-7764 (Online) (doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10816-015-9239-x).
Book
Davies, Rosamund and , Sorrentino, Miriam (2019), Publishing and Digital Culture: Agility, Community, Collaboration. The Stephen Lawrence Gallery. In: , , , . The Stephen Lawrence Gallery, University of Greenwich , 1 (1st) . ISBN: 9780957343023 (doi: https://blogs.gre.ac.uk/creativeconversations/).
Book section
Davies, Rosamund and , (2023), Collaboration, cooperation and authorship in screenwriting aka how many people does it take to create an author?. Palgrave. In: , , In: Rosamund Davies, Paolo Russo, Claus Tieber (eds.), The Palgrave Handbook of Screenwriting Studies. Palgrave, Cham (1st) . pp. 73-92 . ISBN: 9783031207693; 9783031207686; 9783031207716 (doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-20769-3_4) NB Item availability restricted.
Davies, Rosamund and , (2020), Nordic noir with an Icelandic twist: Establishing a shared space for collaboration within European co-production. Palgrave Macmillan. In: , , In: Craig Batty, Stayci Taylor (eds.), Script Development: Critical Approaches, Creative Practices, International Perspectives. Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, UK (1st) . ISBN: 9783030487126 (doi: ) NB Item availability restricted.
Davies, Rosamund and , (2020), Small presses and their reader communities. Palgrave Macmillan. In: , , In: Georgina Colby, Kaja Marczewska, Leigh Wilson (eds.), The Contemporary Small Press: Making Publishing Visible. Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, UK (1st) . ISBN: 9783030487836 (doi: https://www.palgrave.com/gb/book/9783030487836) NB Item availability restricted.
Davies, Rosamund and , (2019), Trapped: a case study in international co-production. Palgrave Macmillan. In: , , In: C. Batty, M. Berry, K. Dooley, B. Frankham, S. Kerrigan (eds.), The Palgrave Handbook of Screen Production. Palgrave Macmillan, (1st) . pp. 281-291 . ISBN: 9783030217433 (doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-21744-0_22) NB Item availability restricted.
Davies, Rosamund and , (2017), Collaborative production and the transformation of publishing: The case of Wattpad. University of Westminster Press. In: , , In: James Graham, Alessandro Gandini (eds.), Collaborative Production in the Creative Industries. University of Westminster Press, London, UK . pp. 51-67 . ISBN: 9781911534303 (doi: https://doi.org/10.16997/book4.d).
Edited book
Davies, Rosamund , Russo, Paolo, Tieber, Claus (2023), The Palgrave Handbook of Screenwriting Studies. The Palgrave Handbook of Screenwriting Studies. In: , , , . The Palgrave Handbook of Screenwriting Studies, Cham (1st) . ISBN: 9783031207693; 9783031207686; 9783031207716 (doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-20769-3).
Davies, Rosamund , Potts, Cherry, Rehal, Kam (2019), Story Cities: A City Guide for the Imagination. Arachne Press. In: , , , . Arachne Press, UK (1st) . ISBN: 9781909208780 (doi: https://storycities.com/).