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All Outputs (20)

Bristol’s film and television industries: An incremental ecosystem (2023)
Book Chapter
Spicer, A. (2023). Bristol’s film and television industries: An incremental ecosystem. In T. E. Virani (Ed.), Global creative ecosystems: A critical understanding of sustainable creative and cultural production (115-133). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33961-5

This chapter explores the growth and characteristics of Bristol’s screen industries, which consist principally of television production companies and a much smaller group engaged in feature film production. In contrast to what one could call ‘enginee... Read More about Bristol’s film and television industries: An incremental ecosystem.

Writing film industry history (2021)
Book Chapter
Spicer, A. (2021). Writing film industry history. In P. McDonald (Ed.), The Routledge Companion to Media Industries (429-438). London and New York: Routledge

This chapter provides a critical overview of the main ways in which film industry history has been formulated and described. It argues that any account must address three basic questions: (i) how film industry history has been defined and delimited (... Read More about Writing film industry history.

Parting the iron curtain: Michael Klinger’s attempt to make 'A Man and a Half' (2020)
Book Chapter
Spicer, A. (2020). Parting the iron curtain: Michael Klinger’s attempt to make 'A Man and a Half'. In J. Fenwick, K. Foster, & D. Eldridge (Eds.), Shadow Cinema: The Historical and Production Context of Unmade Films (57-70). (1). Bloomsbury Publishing

Between 1967 and 1984, British independent producer Michael Klinger attempted to make a war film initially called Parachute that was renamed A Man and a Half. It was an international production through which as Klinger hoped to establish himself as a... Read More about Parting the iron curtain: Michael Klinger’s attempt to make 'A Man and a Half'.

Male stardom in 1960s British cinema (2020)
Book Chapter
Spicer, A. (2020). Male stardom in 1960s British cinema. In Sixties British Cinema Reconsidered (11-28). Edinburgh University

The chapter analyses eight stars – Alan Bates, Michael Caine, Sean Connery, Tom Courtenay, Albert Finney, Richard Harris, Peter O’Toole and Terence Stamp – all of whom were the product of the post-war changes (including the 1944 Education Act) that o... Read More about Male stardom in 1960s British cinema.

'It’s our property and our passion’: Managing creativity in a successful company – Aardman Animations (2017)
Book Chapter
Spicer, A. (2017). 'It’s our property and our passion’: Managing creativity in a successful company – Aardman Animations. In E. Bakoy, R. Puijk, & A. H. Spicer (Eds.), Building Successful and Sustainable Film and Television Businesses. Bristol: Intellect

This chapter explores how creativity is managed by Aardman Animations, one of the most successful independent UK film and television companies, whose vision is to forge an artists’ ‘studio’ rather than simply a business. This chapter argues that this... Read More about 'It’s our property and our passion’: Managing creativity in a successful company – Aardman Animations.

The finance and production of independent film and television in the United Kingdom: A critical introduction (2017)
Book Chapter
Presence, S. (2017). The finance and production of independent film and television in the United Kingdom: A critical introduction. In E. Bakoy, R. Puijk, & A. H. Spicer (Eds.), Building Successful and Sustainable Film and Television Businesses: A Cross-National Perspective (247-269). Bristol: Intellect

This chapter provides a critical introduction to the finance and production of independent film and television production in the UK. Film, long considered entertainment rather than art, continues to suffer from low levels of public funding, and the m... Read More about The finance and production of independent film and television in the United Kingdom: A critical introduction.

Producers and Moguls, 1930-1980 (2017)
Book Chapter
Spicer, A. H. (2017). Producers and Moguls, 1930-1980. In I. Hunter, L. Porter, & J. Smith (Eds.), The Routledge Companion to British Cinema History. London: Taylor & Francis (Routledge)

This chapter provides an overview of production practices in the British film industry over a fifty year period. It does this through an analysis of the role of the producer, dividing producers into three broad types: moguls (who owned a studio); A f... Read More about Producers and Moguls, 1930-1980.

Producing Noir: Wald, Scott, Hellinger (2014)
Book Chapter
Spicer, A. H. (2014). Producing Noir: Wald, Scott, Hellinger. In R. Miklitsch (Ed.), Kiss the Blood Off My Hands: On Classic Film Noir (130-151). Detroit: University of Illinois Press

This chapter is the first to be written about the role the producer played in creating 'classic' film noir (1940-1959). It explores the work of three contrasting producers, Jerry Wald (studio-based); Adrian Scott (studio, then blacklisted; and Mark H... Read More about Producing Noir: Wald, Scott, Hellinger.

The independent producer and the state: Simon Relph, government policy and the British film industry, 1980-2005 (2014)
Book Chapter
Spicer, A. H. (2014). The independent producer and the state: Simon Relph, government policy and the British film industry, 1980-2005. In A. H. Spicer, A. McKenna, & C. Meir (Eds.), Beyond the Bottom Line: The Producer in Film and Television Studies (65-93). New York and London: Bloomsbury Academic. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781501300202.ch-004

This chapter is the first comprehensive assessment of the career and importance of Simon Relph, who was an independent film producer, the Managing Director of British Screen (1985-90) which was one of the two main funders and commissioners (alongside... Read More about The independent producer and the state: Simon Relph, government policy and the British film industry, 1980-2005.

Film and visual culture (2012)
Book Chapter
Spicer, A. H. (2012). Film and visual culture. In I. Heywood, B. Sandywell, M. Gardiner, N. Gunalan, & C. M. Soussloff (Eds.), The Handbook of Visual Culture. Berg

Film noir and Los Angeles (2011)
Book Chapter
Spicer, A. H. (2011). Film noir and Los Angeles. In G. Solomons (Ed.), World Film Locations: Los Angeles. Bristol: Intellect

An overview of the different ways in which Los Angeles has been represented in film noir and neo-noir, so films from the 1940s to the present, from Double Indemnity (1944) to Collateral (2004). The essay explores the particular relationship between L... Read More about Film noir and Los Angeles.

The angel of death: Targetting the hitman (2011)
Book Chapter
Spicer, A. H. (2011). The angel of death: Targetting the hitman. In B. Nicol, P. Pulman, & E. McNulty (Eds.), Crime Cultures: Figuring Criminality in Fiction and Film (155-174). London: Continuum

Although there are hundreds of films that feature hitmen, this is the first critical account of the origins, development and possible cultural and historical significance of this figure and thus an original contribution to scholarship. It charts the... Read More about The angel of death: Targetting the hitman.

On the margins: Anthony Simmons, 'The Optimists of Nine Elms' and 'Black Joy' (2010)
Book Chapter
Dolan, J., & Spicer, A. H. (2010). On the margins: Anthony Simmons, 'The Optimists of Nine Elms' and 'Black Joy'. In P. Newland (Ed.), Don't Look Now: British Cinema in the 1970s (79-91). Bristol: Intellect

This co-authored chapter in an edited collection on British Cinema in the 1970s recuperates from critical oblivion the BAFTA award winning film and TV director, Anthony Simmons. The article locates Simmons in the decline of the British industry that... Read More about On the margins: Anthony Simmons, 'The Optimists of Nine Elms' and 'Black Joy'.

The Mark of Cain: Eric Portman and British stardom (2009)
Book Chapter
Spicer, A. H. (2009). The Mark of Cain: Eric Portman and British stardom. In T. Soila (Ed.), Stellar Encounters: Stardom in Popular European Cinema (108-117). New Barnet, Herts.: John Libbey

Studies of film stardom have concentrated almost entirely on Hollywood stars. This collection breaks new ground by focusing on stardom in various European cinemas. My contribution explores an important post-war British male star, his persona, acting... Read More about The Mark of Cain: Eric Portman and British stardom.

Missing boxes: The unmade films of Sydney Box, 1940-1967 (2008)
Book Chapter
Spicer, A. H. (2008). Missing boxes: The unmade films of Sydney Box, 1940-1967. In D. North (Ed.), Sights Unseen: Unfinished British films (87-104). Cambridge Scholar Publishing

The essay is a continuation of my AHRC-funded work on Sydney Box that was published by Manchester UP in 2006. Here the focus is on the reasons why films do not get produced (lack of funds, censorship, changes in personnel, clash of personalities etc)... Read More about Missing boxes: The unmade films of Sydney Box, 1940-1967.

The "Other War": Images of the second world war in service comedies (2004)
Book Chapter
Spicer, A. H. (2004). The "Other War": Images of the second world war in service comedies. In S. Bennett, S. Caunce, E. Mazierska, S. Sydeny-Smith, & J. Walton (Eds.), Relocating Britishness (167-182). Manchester: Manchester University Press

This chapter argues, following Angus Calder, that there was an official line of commemoration of the Second World War: a mythic construction that celebrated heroism, courage, resourcefulness, loyalty and patriotism. It valorised the virtues of the re... Read More about The "Other War": Images of the second world war in service comedies.

Introduction to SiFTI collection
Book Chapter
Bakoy, E., Puijk, R., & Spicer, A. (2017). Introduction to SiFTI collection. In E. Bakoy, & R. Puijk (Eds.), Building Successful and Sustainable Film and Television Businesses (1-20). Bristol: Intellect

The introduction to this collection of 15 chapters reviews the current nature and concerns of what is generally called Media Industry Studies or Production Studies. It undertakes a critical survey of the literature and explains how the volume is posi... Read More about Introduction to SiFTI collection.

Conclusion to SiFTI collection
Book Chapter
Bakoy, E., Pujik, R., & Spicer, A. (2017). Conclusion to SiFTI collection. In E. Bakoy, R. Pujik, & A. H. Spicer (Eds.), Building Successful and Sustainable Film and Television Businesses (321-334). Bristol: Intellect

The conclusion, whilst recognising the specificity of the range of different film and television companies analysed in the collection and the varied criteria behind what 'success' might mean, tries to draw together the common elements that have emerg... Read More about Conclusion to SiFTI collection.