Mark McKenna

Dr Mark McKenna joined Staffordshire University as a lecturer in Film, Television and Radio studies in 2019 to contribute to the Film Media Production, and Film, Television and Radio degrees having previously worked at the University of Liverpool, Glyndwr University and the University of Sunderland. His teaching draws upon his research which employs an interdisciplinary approach to the analysis of the film and media industries, considering the aesthetic, economic, social and technological factors that influence our understanding of the sector. Broadly, his work is interested in the branding and promotional strategies employed by the film and media industries and, as such, encompasses a wide range of research areas. Recent work has examined the distribution of film, the celebration of controversial media and media that has been demarcated as ‘extreme’, the promotional function of stardom and celebrity and the performance of ‘self’ on social media. His book, Nasty Business: The Marketing and Distribution of the Video Nasties was released in July 2020, and a second book drawn from the same body of research, Snuff, is forthcoming in July 2021 from Liverpool University Press. Mark is currently writing Big Wednesday: Genre, Myth and Trauma for the Routledge Cinema and Youth Culture book series. Prior to joining academia, Mark was the director of two nationally award-winning companies, the latter of which was concerned with furthering the widening participation agenda, something that remains important to Mark.