Audiovisual cluster and local dynamics of creativity on the North Parisian region – CLUSTER93

The methodology combines qualitative (interviews, content analysis) and quantitative (data analysis and social networks) analyzes. The analysis of the North Parisian creative territory consisted in analyzing how the actors contribute to structure and animate this territory and what they produce there in terms of creativity (film production). At the upperground level, the aim was to evaluate the clustering process: interviews were conducted with audiovisual companies and statistical analyzes were made of geographical and industrial data collected from various sources (INSEE, IMDb ...). At the level of the underground and middleground, interviews were conducted with local actors: artists, managers of places and collectives, local structures diversified ... and a network analysis of creative places was elaborated from 'mental maps' filled by a representative sample of artists from the territory. This last method allowed to lift an important obstacle associated with the lack of visibility of the actors of the underground. An aesthetic analysis of guerrilla films, a specific cultural production of the studied territory, made it possible to complete these different analyzes.

Major results of the project. The CLUSTER93 project has made it possible to characterize the creative North-Parisian territory through an original theoretical framework and multidisciplinary analysis methods. It appears that there is no process of clusterization of audiovisual activities specific to the north-Parisian territory. Only the Cité du Cinéma plays a notable role, more as a technical platform than a support for collaborations. However, this actor coexists with an underground scene (the guerrilla movies) without there being a middleground between them. The local middleground based upon spaces and places of very different nature is more oriented towards the ecosystemization of the underground layer as confirmed by the socio-economic analysis of the alternative places and the aesthetic study of the local artistic production. In this respect, alternative cultural spaces play an equally important role in local creative dynamics as more institutional ones. This project has resulted in a new ANR project and two international partnerships demonstrating all the relevancy and richness of methods and results obtained through such a multipartners and multidisciplinary cooperation (economics-management-aesthetics-communication-sociology).

Following the CLUSTER93 project:
- 1 new ANR project (SCENAE)
- 1 international partnership of the Paris 3 University, the Labex ICCA and the Queen Mary University of London (North-East Paris comparison with East London, role of alternative cultural places and inclusive effects on these territories)
- 1 partnership between the Paris 8 and Paris 3 universities and the University of Berkeley as part of a program to compare the Saint-Denis and Oakland, California territories.
- 1 Labex ICCA project on the creative territories of student fashion and comparing selected fashion places according to their centrality at the international level (Paris, Lisbone, Istanbul).

Scientific production and patents since the beginning of the project
The results of the CLUSTER93 project are divided into 3 complementary categories: academic results (publications in RCL, scientific events, high-potential working document submitted for publication); popularization of academic results (dissemination of knowledge into the professional world and civil society actors through a program of seminars and conferences); an art-science exhibition (cluster93.fr/artslieux) crossing the scientific results of the project with the artists' eyes (conception of the exhibition ; meetings in the places where the exhibition was held).

The Paris Nord area is characterized by the largest number of companies and jobs in the audiovisual industry in France (45% of schools and 65% of the workforce of the Motion Picture sector) (Pôle Média Grand Paris [2013]). This geographical area is also characterized by high cultural diversity of the local community and the presence of creative-cultural communities (artistic communities, training, places, associations ...). Despite this geographical proximity, the interactions between these two worlds are relatively limited in Seine-Saint-Denis. However, many studies and cases in other countries suggested that such links are essential and can be mutually beneficial for all stakeholders of a creative territory. The cooperation among the local community with the audiovisual firms can increase their creativity and strengthen their capacity to differentiate their supply in a strong international competition. Symmetrically, major audiovisual players can highlight practices and actors who remain marginal. Thus, at the level of the territory, the multiplication of interactions between different actors could generate positive externalities: Increased use of local artistic production, improved quality of life, higher attractiveness and social cohesion in neighborhoods, etc.

The objective of this collaborative and multidisciplinary research project (economics, management, geography, communication sciences, sociology, aesthetics) is precisely to highlight the structural and behavioral sustainable interactions among the different stakeholders. For this purpose, we aim to qualify and map the actors, infrastructure, places and establishing links (or likely to establish) within and between the different layers making up the creative area of the Paris Nord. We will conduct field experiments to analyze the conditions for the emergence of possible interactions (middleground) in order to stimulate the integration and training of audiovisual cluster.

The project is supported by six research institutions: New Paris Sorbonne University 3 (IRCAV), University Vincennes-Saint-Denis Paris-8 (ISCA), University of Rennes I (CREM), University Paris-Sud (RITM), Ecole Polytechnique (CRG) and Paris-Est University (LATTS) and two business partners established in Saint-Ouen [Common Image (third place) and Fide (documentary festival)]. The research partners are specialized in the economy of cinema and audiovisual (IRCAV, isca), the urban economy and creativity (CREM in association with researchers from HEC Montreal), the digital economy (RITM, CREM), sociology and development (LATTS, IRCAV) and the management of creativity (CRG).