Denzil Monk

Cornwall is a concealed Celtic nation, misrepresented in the media by outsider views of a constructed place-myth conjured by a hundred unhindered years of romantic travelogue, period drama location and seasonal tourism journalism. Cornish is excluded from the BBC Royal Charter definition of regional and minority languages, in contravention of UK government obligations under Council of Europe treaties. This paper re-examines contemporary thinking about the future of Public Service Broadcasting (PSB) in a Cornish context, presenting a summary of the findings from a research study commissioned by Cornwall Council to explore models for the establishment of a Cornish PSB and the potential impacts such a service might have. Using a mixture of primary and secondary research, e.g. desk-based policy & literature review, stakeholder focus group and qualitative one-to-one semi-structured interviews, the study undertook a high-level analysis of platform alternatives and potential audience, asse...

Cinegi Arts&Film (CA&F) was an action research project supported by Arts Council England in partnership with the BFI and delivered by Cinegi. The aim was to test how a digital distribution service could bring arts and cultural content, alongside BFI programming, to new and wider audiences as a shared experience in non-traditional venues, such as village halls, and in areas offering limited arts infrastructure and engagement. The CA&F service launched four bookings in January 2017. Screenings of titles from a range of arts organisations - from the Royal Opera House to Graeae theatre company - took place until May 2018. Alongside the findings detailed in TAA/Nesta’s action research report the project also taught Cinegi a great deal about working with existing networks for film and rural touring and about developing new venues and promoters for filmed performance. It uncovered challenges and has provided insight into what works well and what doesn’t. And it provided fresh insights into...

Cornwall Council commissioned a scoping study in 2019 to investigate potential business and development models for Cornish Public Service Media; responding to the current status and future developments of minority language public service broadcasting in the context of significant changes in viewing trends and technology. This document is a summary of that study

In recent decades, minoritised languages in Europe have become increasingly visible and connected, leading to the formation and evolution of minority language Public Service Broadcasters. Cornwall is under represented by the existing public service broadcasters and despite Cornwall's national minority status and Cornish language being recognised by the EU and UK government, it is the only national minority and only indigenous language in the UK without its own media service. It is timely, then, to propose the formation of a Cornish Public Service Media (PSM) – an engaging new model, harnessing technological developments with regenerative, social and environmental principles at its core. Screen Cornwall is leading the development of a Case for Cornish Public Service Media, working with consultants Denzil Monk and Mandy Berry to drive forward recommendations of a scoping study commissioned by Cornwall Council in 2019 and a summary report published in March 2020. The Screen Cornwal...

16mm b/w narrative short film Written by Adrian Bailey Directed by Mark Jenkin Produced by Kate Byers, Denzil Monk & Linn Waite © Early Day Films 2019 Production of bi-lingual short film, Hard, Cracked the Wind with Early Day Films & director Mark Jenkin. Budgeted at £40K, the film was supported by SoFT and attracted completion funding from the BFI. Currently on international festival circuit. Part of the Mark Jenkin Collection on BFI Player https://player.bfi.org.uk/subscription/film/watch-hard-cracked-the-wind-2019-online SoFT support comprised financial contribution to production budget, significant staff and student involvement, equipment and facilities Financiers: Falmouth University, Early Day Films, FEAST, Cultivator Cornwall, BFI NETWORK, UK FTR, Kodak (in-kind

Over the last decade, Cornwall Council and other partners have grant funded around one Cornish language film project per year. In order to develop the impact and wider benefit of Cornish language film making, the Cornish Language Lead intends to commission a framework for Cornish language film making to identify: • potential partners who could provide match funding, • how to integrate Cornish language film commissioning into UK film-making strategies and funding opportunities, • how to contribute to develop film-making skills and expertise in Cornwall that are of value to the wider creative industries sector in Cornwall • how to maximise the impact of Cornish language films in terms of distribution and international festivals. FylmK is a short piece of work to encapsulate the above as the basis for future Cornish language commissions. This has been prepared by an expert with detailed knowledge of the film industry and with knowledge of the specific requirements and capacity of Corni...

Joining the dots between geographically isolated communities: how digital media can empower young and marginalized people to have an equal voice in local and global communities. This paper explores the upsurge of interest and investment in digital media in Cornwall over the last five years paying particular focus to the expansion of collaborative work between creative practitioners and young people: contextualised by the current framework of economic & community regeneration priorities at regional, national and European levels. It examines the role digital media can (does) play in the regeneration of rural economies, depleted by the degeneration of traditional industries, and in understanding and improving community cohesion (high on UK & EU agendas.) As the technology needed to create media content becomes ever more accessible, with young people at the cutting edge of democratising content generation and consumption – it looks beyond the current cycle of short term funded projects,...

Over the last decade, Cornwall Council and other partners have grant funded around one Cornish language film project per year. In order to develop the impact and wider benefit of Cornish language film making, the Cornish Language Lead intends to commission a framework for Cornish language film making to identify:
• potential partners who could provide match funding,
• how to integrate Cornish language film commissioning into UK film-making strategies and funding opportunities,
• how to contribute to develop film-making skills and expertise in Cornwall that are of value to the wider creative industries sector in Cornwall
• how to maximise the impact of Cornish language films in terms of distribution and international festivals.

FylmK is a short piece of work to encapsulate the above as the basis for future Cornish language commissions. This has been prepared by an expert with detailed knowledge of the film industry and with knowledge of the specific requirements and capacity of Cornish language.

The report sets out findings of potential funding and distribution partners, with guidance on criteria to maximise opportunities for future film commissions to secure partner match funding or distribution.

Cinegi Arts&Film (CA&F) was an action research project supported by Arts Council England in partnership with the BFI and delivered by Cinegi. The aim was to test how a digital distribution service could bring arts and cultural content, alongside BFI programming, to new and wider audiences as a shared experience in non-traditional venues, such as village halls, and in areas offering limited arts infrastructure and engagement. The CA&F service launched four bookings in January 2017. Screenings of titles from a range of arts organisations - from the Royal Opera House to Graeae theatre company - took place until May 2018.

Alongside the findings detailed in TAA/Nesta’s action research report the project also taught Cinegi a great deal about working with existing networks for film and rural touring and about developing new venues and promoters for filmed performance. It uncovered challenges and has provided insight into what works well and what doesn’t. And it provided fresh insights into technical considerations in screening film – including business models, rights issues and film certification and classification, as well as issues arising from the technology used.

Screening of filmed performance in non-cinema venues is a very new concept and CA&F is the first significant initiative in this area in the UK and indeed, as far as we are aware, in Europe. Although in the 17 months that the project was live it did not reach the number of audiences initially hoped for, the heartening response from the majority of venues and audiences that did use the service was ‘please can we have more‘.

Joining the dots between geographically isolated communities: how digital media can empower young and marginalized people to have an equal voice in local and global communities.

This paper explores the upsurge of interest and investment in digital media in Cornwall over the last five years paying particular focus to the expansion of collaborative work between creative practitioners and young people: contextualised by the current framework of economic & community regeneration priorities at regional, national and European levels.

It examines the role digital media can (does) play in the regeneration of rural economies, depleted by the degeneration of traditional industries, and in understanding and improving community cohesion (high on UK & EU agendas.)

As the technology needed to create media content becomes ever more accessible, with young people at the cutting edge of democratising content generation and consumption – it looks beyond the current cycle of short term funded projects, at how effective practices in developing more equal accessibility to the global media stage can be successfully and sustainably embedded in the delivery of community services in Cornwall, and how the best rural and urban models can be shared.