Research output per year
Research output per year
TW20 0EX
Media Theorist
Television Producer
Historian of Moving Image and Sound
I studied English Literature at Cambridge followed by a spell at the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies at Birmingham University. My MA thesis on Ealing Studios was published in Screen (1975) and I subsequently became a member of the editorial board from 1975 to 1984. Between 1978 and 1982, I taught at one of the UK's first Film Studies departments at the University of Kent.
Involved in the Independent Film-Makers' Association's campaigns around the setting up of Channel 4, I became involved in the successful bid to create a series on world cinema for the new channel. this became Visions, which ran for 32 editions between November 1982 and December 1985. The company we founded, Large Door, remained active until 1999, producing around 100 programmes including Brazil: Beyond Citizen Kane (1993), The Holy Family Album (1991) and French Cooking in Ten Minutes (1995). During this period I was a council member of the successive independent producers' trade associations IPPA and PACT, being elected vice-chair 1989-93.
I was a visiting professor at the Media Studies Institute at the University of Bergen, Norway (1991-2002) and joined the Bournemouth Media School in 1995, initially in a 50% post. I became a full-time professor in 1999. In 2002 I joined Royal Holloway as the head of the Media Arts department, serving for four years. In the spring of 2011 I was invited for a semester as visiting scholar at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania.
I am or have been a member of the following committees:
Television Productions
Riding the Tiger
4 x 50 mins for Channel 4, T/x June 1997 (Executive Producer)
The effect on Hong Kong's population of the handover to Chinese rule.
The Architecture of Carlo Scarpa
51 mins for Channel 4 and Arts Council, T/x 21 Sept 1996 (Producer)
The Italian architect who revolutionised our view of old buildings and how to re-use them.
The Reel Truth
4 x 25 mins, Tx Channel 4/S4C, Nov/Sept 1995 (Executive Producer)
The story of factual film 1895-1929. Directed by Colin Thomas
Dream Town
40 mins, Tx BBC2, August 1994 (Producer)
A celebration of Blackpool's continuing success, 100 years after the Tower was opened. Director: Mark Kidel.
Those British Faces
1993/4 (Producer, researcher, director)
12 part series of profiles of British character actors for Lumiere Group and Channel 4 TV
Distilling ‘Whisky Galore’
52 minutes, Tx. Channel 4, January 1991 (Producer)
On the making of myths, and of the classic Ealing comedy. Director: Murray Grigor Presenter: Derek Cooper
This Food Business
4 parts, Tx. Channel 4, August 1989 (Series Editor)
A Channel 4 current affairs series on the food industry, produced with the London Food Commission. Presenter: Derek Cooper
Winner of the 1990 Glenfiddich Award, Best Television Programme
Opening Up the Family Album
4x28 min parts, Channel 4, August 1988 (Producer)
A series on the uses of amateur photography. Director: Nina Kellgren. Presenter: Jo Spence
Visions
32x53 min parts, Channel 4 Nov 1982 - December 1985 (Series Editor)
Channel 4's cinema programme in various innovative formats. Programmes include a History of Cinema in China; two reports from the Cannes festival; profiles of filmmakers from Godard and Svankmajer to Wendy Toye and Sally Potter; the state of cinema in Africa; and times from Neil Jordan, Chantal Akerman, Peter Wollen, Chris Petit etc
Television, moving image and sound are my principal research areas, having been a producer and a 'medium theorist' for many years. Read my regular blogs at http://cstonline.tv/john-ellis
I am particularly interested in:
My current work involves initiatives to make archival TV material more available:
Research output: Book/Report › Book
Research output: Book/Report › Book
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
Bennett, J. (PI), Parker-Starbuck, J. (CoI), Lycett, M. (CoI), Ellis, J. (CoI), Dalton, P. (CoI), Goriunova, O. (CoI), Howard, D. (CoI), Strange, N. (CoI), Preece, C. (CoI), Tsakiris, M. (CoI), Mould, O. (Researcher) & Quaglia, E. (Researcher)
Arts & Humanities Res Coun AHRC
1/09/18 → 31/08/21
Project: Research
Bennett, J. (PI), Lycett, M. (CoI), Rolbina, M. (Fellow), Parker-Starbuck, J. (CoI), Dalton, P. (CoI), Woods, A. (Fellow), Whittaker, L. (Fellow), Ellis, J. (CoI), Howard, D. (CoI), Goriunova, O. (CoI) & Heath, C. (Fellow)
1/09/18 → 1/04/22
Project: Research
Ellis, J. (PI), Hall, N. (CoI), Bennett, J. (CoI), Murphy, A. (CoI), Aust, R. (Student) & Heath, T. (Student)
1/08/13 → 31/07/18
Project: Research
Ellis, J. (PI) & Turnock, R. (PI)
1/03/13 → 28/02/16
Project: Research
Ellis, J. & Barber, S.
Arts & Humanities Res Coun AHRC
1/03/10 → 28/02/11
Project: Research
John Ellis (Invited speaker)
Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Participation in conference
John Ellis (Keynote/plenary speaker)
Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Participation in conference
John Ellis (Keynote/plenary speaker)
Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Participation in conference
John Ellis (Invited speaker)
Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Participation in conference
John Ellis (Editor)
Activity: Publication peer-review and editorial work › Editor of research journal