News

A weekend academic program focused on the art, craft, and history of the films of the Great Detective, Sherlock Holmes, will be held at the James Bridges Theatre Friday, Aug. 31 through Monday, Sept. 3, 2012. The symposium, "Behind the Canonical Screen," is co-sponsored by TFT and The Baker Street Irregulars, the world's foremost organization of Holmes scholars and enthusiasts.

Michael Whelan, head of The Baker Street Irregulars, noted that this is the first program sponsored on the West Coast by the organization in its 68-year history.

"Anyone who is an enthusiast, expert, or just plain curious about the legendary Sherlock Holmes will want to attend this event,” said Barbara Boyle, TFT Associate Dean, Entrepreneurship and Special Initiatives. "The weekend is designed to engage and satisfy even the most avid students of Holmes lore."

The event features Philip Carli, Mario Faraone, Lyndsay Faye, Jeffory Hart, Jan-Christopher Horak, Director of the UCLA Film & Television Archive, Kevin L. Jones, Jerry Kegley, Jonathan Kirsch, film directors John Landis and Nicholas Meyer ("The Seven-Percent Solution"), Michael Mallory, Kristopher Mecholsky, Russell Merritt, animators John Musker and Ron Clements ("The Great Mouse Detective"), costume designer Deborah Nadoolman Landis, Director of the David C. Copley Center for the Study of Costume Design, Ashley D. Polasek, Betsy Rosenblatt, and other notable participants.

The symposium will consist of daytime sessions and evening events that include an opening night reception; an al fresco dinner followed by "Saturday Night at the Movies," including several rare Holmes-related films; and a gala Awards Banquet. A full symposium registration package is available, including an option for those wishing to take advantage of pre-paid lodging at the UCLA Guest House.

As an iconic fictional hero, Conan Doyle's Victorian eccentric has never been more popular. Running concurrently are the successful "Sherlock Holmes" film franchise starring Robert Downey, Jr., with Jude Law as the master of deduction's stalwart partner Dr. John Watson, and two television versions: the BBC's award-winning "Sherlock," with Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, set in modern London, and an Americanized contemporary variation upcoming on CBS, "Elementary," with Johnny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu.

Tickets for the program can be purchased individually starting at $65 for the film evening, $75 for the banquet, $125 for the daily symposia, or a full symposium registration is available for $350 with a reservation.

For tickets and more information on the symposium and its participants go to www.bakerstreetjournal.com/losangeles2012.html.

The Baker Street Irregulars is a nonprofit educational literary society founded in 1934 and dedicated to the study of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, and the Victorian world. It publishes the Baker Street Journal, the leading Sherlockian publication since its inception in 1946. For more information, visit the Journal’s website at www.bakerstreetjournal.com.