Resh Somauroo

Resh Somauroo

  • 01202 965919
  • rsomauroo at bournemouth dot ac dot uk
  • Senior Lecturer in Scriptwriting
  • Weymouth House W207, Talbot Campus, Fern Barrow, Poole, BH12 5BB
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Biography

Resh Somauroo is a Lecturer in Screenwriting at Bournemouth University’s Faculty of Media and Communication. His practice-based doctoral research focuses on storytelling, industry practices and ethics in relation to storytelling to children. Other research includes examining application of industry story/script development practices within Higher Education via the highly successful annual ‘Deep Dive’ initiative. Career highlights: BBC (Education Dept.), Channel Four Television (Programme Commissioning, helping oversee the development and production of over 30 programmes a year, plus responsible for his department’s drama development slate), UK Film Council (freelance Script-Editor) and LEGO (International Head of Development for LEGO’s Character & Story division charged with the development and implementation of original stories and characters for use with LEGO play-materials, international marketing campaigns and multi-media activities, helping win numerous international awards). Resh is also an active and full-voting member of B.A.F.T.A.

Research

SCRIPT CAMP (long-term research): This research aims to look at whether it is possible to create a week-long ‘camping experience’ for 1st Year Screenwriting Undergraduates that helps them better understand the key themes and experiences of Life that will in turn enhance their writing and skills as a storyteller.

For many decades University’s around the world have sort to train the next generation of Screenwriters. However one of the key challenges nearly all institutions face is the average age of the undergraduate: 18 years old. Regardless of how much of an exemplary job the Universities do in teaching the core writing craft of thematic exploration, character, structure, dialogue et-al, what they cannot give them is life experience from which to write.

I propose to examine whether it is possible to develop a week-long experience in a controlled camping environment, and in collaboration with cross-faculty, interdisciplinary experts, and tapping into some of the pre-existing learnings from Immersive Theatre and corporate team-building, to try and develop fun, engaging (and safe!) exercises, tasks and experiences that take the student on a five-day journey through some of life’s key moments and experiences: birth, early home-life, pre-school, school, friendship, work, marriage, retirement, death - which will in turn enrich their writing work.

This will be a long-term phased research plan, beginning with a feasibility study and contacting key partners before mapping out a detailed process of how this could all be undertaken.

PhD RESEARCH: Reboot/Canon-Refresh – Longevity and Transmedia Children’s Storytelling This practice-based PhD concerns Storytelling and expanding our knowledge of its workings, with the focus being storytelling techniques used to create modern Transmedia Children’s Properties. The PhD output is to address the existing imbalance of ‘rebooting’ over ‘canon-freshment’ in the world of boys-targeted animated action-adventure television properties, and via research explore both the positive and negative aspects of both through an analysis of a selection properties to see if, a) whether it is possible to devise some kind of ‘development tool-kit’ of techniques to deliver enhanced story and property longevity to new properties in development that retain story-continuity (canon) throughout without the need to ‘reboot’, b) explore what might such a ‘development tool kit’ look like, c) test whether such a system could even work via the practice-based artefact (creating an original boys-targeted animated action-adventure television property) and its core components (television series bible, pilot/mid-season scripts, transmedia exploitation strategy) and finally d) reflect on the learnings of this research.

Profile of Teaching UG

  • BA (Hons) Scriptwriter for Film & TV • Programme Leader • Level-6 Co-ordinator • Unit Leader: Pitching & Development Documents (Level-6) • Unit Leader: Major Project (Level-6) • Major Project Supervisor • Unit Leader: Industry Perspectives (Level-6) • Co-Unit Leader: The Scriptwriting Project (Level-5) • Unit Leader: Scriptwriting Fundamentals (Level.4 - BA Hons Media Production) - Marking on all of the above. • Misc. Lectures for Level-4, 5 & 6 and across faculty • Graduate Show - management of 2016 show • Deep Dive – management of annual event • Script Clinic – management of editorial service that support the faculty

Invited Lectures

  • Creating Children’s Transmedia Properties, WARSAW INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, 12 Apr 2013 more

External Responsibilities

Public Engagement & Outreach Activities

  • LECTURE: Stories and Toys: How to Create a Transmedia Property (08 Jul 2017)
  • BASW Grad. Show - 2016/17 (22 Jun 2017)
  • BASW Grad. Show - 2015/16 (16 Jun 2016)
  • BASW Grad. Show - 2014/15 (18 Jun 2015)
  • China (Beijing) Marketing Trip (24 Mar 2015-27 Mar 2015)
  • A Career in Media (12 Mar 2015)

Conference Presentations

  • SRF: Screenwriting Research Network Conference, PAPER: DEEP DIVE Development Weekend - the application of Industry Development Practices within Higher Education, 28 Aug 2017, Dunedin, NZ
  • 9th Post Graduate Conference – 8th March 2017, POSTER: Reboot/Canon-Refresh – Longevity and Transmedia Children’s Storytelling, 08 Mar 2017, Bournemouth, UK
  • 9th Post Graduate Conference – 8th March 2017, PHOTO: Reboot/Canon-Refresh – Longevity and Transmedia Children’s Storytelling, 08 Mar 2017, Bournemouth, UK

Qualifications

  • BA (Hons) in Scriptwriting for Film & Television (1995)

Honours

  • ‘YOU’RE BRILLIANT’ SUBU AWARD 2016-17 (Student Union: Bournemouth University, 2017)
  • Commended Prize: PHOTO (Bournemouth University, 9th Post Graduate Conference – 8th March 2017) (Bournemouth University, 2017)
  • ‘YOU’RE BRILLIANT’ SUBU AWARD 2015-16 (Student Union: Bournemouth University, 2016)
  • Nominated - Vice-Chancellor Staff Awards 2014-15 (Collaborative Team Award: Level.4 Collab. Project) (Bournemouth University, 2015)
  • ‘YOU’RE BRILLIANT’ SUBU AWARD 2013-14 (Student Union: Bournemouth University, 2014)

Memberships

Networks

  • CFTV - Centre for Film and Television