Roundtable: Pushing the boundaries of the Screenwriting Research Network

This is an abridged and partially elaborated version of a roundtable discussion that took place via Zoom on 17 September 2021 as part of the SRN2021 Research Seminar Series Online and of a follow-up session held via Zoom on 15 November 2021. In keeping with the theme of SRN2021, ‘Pushing Boundaries’, this discussion was an opportunity to raise a few questions about whether and how, as Screenwriting Research Network (SRN), over the years we have defined our own boundaries in terms of scholarship and as a field, as well as how we can keep challenging ourselves when looking at the future. Involving both veterans and younger members of the SRN, it sets forth by taking stock of some significant achievements of the past fifteen years or so to then focus on issues of global outreach as well as methodological openness and rigour. After acknowledging some of the most pressing obstacles and opportunities within and outside academia, the discussion wraps up by looking at the distinctiveness of the SRN as an arena for research and discussion.