John Mateer

ACADEMIC WORK

I am one of the four founding members of the department of Theatre, Film and Television and was tasked with the specific responsibility of developing all aspects of our film and television production provision. This included the development of our film and television production and postproduction academic programmes from the ground up. I also oversaw the design, construction and fit-out of production and postproduction areas for our award-winning £25M building, working closely with then Head of Department Prof. Andy Tudor.

RESEARCH

My research has two primary strands:

The first looks at the impact of new technologies on different aspects of the film and television industry including new methods of marketing and distribution, changes in production roles and workflows as a result of new technological developments, and emerging media such as cinematic virtual reality.

The second involves the examination of the relationship between academia and the film and television industries in different commercial contexts. This includes looking at formal academic-industry collaborations for the creation of commercial feature films and broadcast television programmes, their impact on student/recent graduate participants and the industry, and an exploration of the cultural issues surrounding the mixing of practice and academia including perceptions of media practitioners working in higher education.

I presently teach on numerous film and television production modules at all levels. In my teaching I draw on my industry experience and links to ensure the material covered is current and techniques are up to date, often bringing in industry guests. I also look to arrange opportunities for students to work on commercial projects wherever possible. I was awarded a University Forum Teaching Fellowship for excellence and innovation in teaching, one of only three recipients University-wide, in 2005. I joined the University of York in 2001.

FILM AND TELEVISION INDUSTRY CAREER

I am also an active practitioner working on commercial feature film and broadcast television projects as well as consulting on both script development and technical production/postproduction issues. My IMDB entry can be found here: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0558207

I received a BFA in Film and Television Production from New York University and a postgraduate degree from the American Film Institute Conservatory, where I was a Directing Fellow. I started my career working with Emmy award-winning Robert Greenwald Productions (MGM Studios) doing lighting for made-for-television movies for the ABC and NBC networks in the US.

After completing my degree at AFI, I worked as a producer and director with numerous companies including Jonathan Goodson Productions (in association with Paramount Studios), Gabriel Films Ltd., Ogilvy & Mather and LucasArts (as part of the First Cities project) and several others. My expertise lies in the development and supervision of projects involving computer-generated imagery as well as format and script development for television series and feature films. My work has won a number of national and international awards including a Gold Medal at the New York Festival.

I continue to be active professionally, recently working as Executive Producer and Visual Effects Producer for the feature film The Knife That Killed Me, backed by Universal Pictures UK and released in 2014, and as Visual Effects Producer for the feature film Macbeth, produced by GSP Studios and released in 2018.