The inaugural Hollywood Conference will be held July 17-20, 2025 at University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts in Los Angeles, California with a goal of bringing together scholars, archivists, historians, and practitioners interested in the study of Hollywood — past and present — aesthetically, historically, globally, culturally, economically, technologically, and ideologically.

As the first meeting in what we are hoping will be a recurring event, the conference theme is the conference focus—Hollywood, broadly conceived. As the studio system passes its centennial, Hollywood—now a hub of international cultural production from film and television to social media influencers and video games—is once again in crisis, offering an ideal moment for reflection and analysis of its past and present.

The organizing committee welcomes individual papers, pre-constituted panels, and roundtable discussion proposals broadly related to the study of Hollywood.

Submission Guidelines:

• The deadline for submissions is 11:59 PM (US Pacific Daylight Time) on January 17th, 2025.

• Announcements of acceptances will be sent by late-March.

• The conference will be held July 17-20th, 2025 at the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts in Los Angeles, California.

• Submit proposals HERE.

Proposal Guidelines:

• Participants may submit: one paper (individual) or be part of a pre-constituted panel or a roundtable.

• Individual Papers: Individuals submitting paper proposals should provide a title, an abstract of 250 words, and contact information. Co-authored papers are acceptable.

• Panels: Panel coordinators should submit a title and a 250-word abstract for the pre-constituted panel as a whole, as well as a title, a 250-word abstract, and contact information for each panel participant. Panels may include 4 papers or 3 papers and a respondent. Co-authored papers are acceptable. Panels that include a diversity of panelist affiliations and experience levels are strongly encouraged.

• Roundtables: Roundtables are discussion sessions with a chair and four or five speakers who speak for no more than 5 minutes each and then participate in a discussion led by the chair. Roundtable chairs should submit a title, 250-work abstract, and names, affiliations, and topic titles for each participant.

Questions can be directed to: hollywoodconference25@gmail.com