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All Outputs (42)

Sean Connery: Beyond Bond (2022)
Exhibition / Performance
Spicer, A. Sean Connery: Beyond Bond. [Word document with embedded podcast]. Performed at Bristol. 25 August 2022 - 25 August 2022. (Unpublished)

This is the background text to my podcast for Watershed Cultural Cinema, September 2022, that accompanied the launch of my book - Sean Connery: Acting, Stardom and National Identity at Watershed on 4 September 2022. It also contains my brief introduc... Read More about Sean Connery: Beyond Bond.

The impresario in British cinema: Bernard Delfont at EMI (2021)
Journal Article
Spicer, A. (2021). The impresario in British cinema: Bernard Delfont at EMI. Journal of British Cinema and Television, 18(1), 7-33. https://doi.org/10.3366/jbctv.2021.0553

The article argues that Bernard Delfont played a significant role in the development of the British film industry in the 1970s as head of EMI’s entertainment division that included film. In contradistinction to existing accounts, it is contended that... Read More about The impresario in British cinema: Bernard Delfont at EMI.

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.

A regional company? RED Production and the cultural politics of place (2019)
Journal Article
Spicer, A. (2019). A regional company? RED Production and the cultural politics of place. Journal of British Cinema and Television, 16(3), 273-304. https://doi.org/10.3366/jbctv.2019.0478

This article explores the significance of RED Production’s location in the north-west of England, analysing the complexities of its positioning as a ‘regional’ company contextualised within the broader issues surrounding regional television productio... Read More about A regional company? RED Production and the cultural politics of place.

'Being European': UK production companies and Europe (2018)
Journal Article
Spicer, A. (2019). 'Being European': UK production companies and Europe. Studies in European Cinema, 16(1), 55-72. https://doi.org/10.1080/17411548.2018.1537107

This article discusses the relationship between UK film producers and Europe, offering a historical overview and an extended case study of an existing company, Number 9 Films. It argues that although UK film production and the attitude of policy make... Read More about 'Being European': UK production companies and Europe.

The European producer: Simon Perry (2018)
Journal Article
Spicer, A. (2018). The European producer: Simon Perry. Journal of British Cinema and Television, 15(4), 589-608. https://doi.org/10.3366/jbctv.2018.0444

This is the first detailed interview with Simon Perry, an important independent producer and who was CEO of British Screen from 1991-2000 during which he help to support a range of British films that would otherwise not have been produced. Perry was... Read More about The European producer: Simon Perry.

'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.

Building Successful and Sustainable Film and Television Businesses: A Cross-National Perspective (2017)
Book
Bakøy, E., Puijk, R., & Spicer, A. (Eds.). (2017). Building Successful and Sustainable Film and Television Businesses: A Cross-National Perspective. Bristol: Intellect

This edited collection focuses on the production cultures of successful small and medium-sized (SME) film and television companies in Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands and the UK, based on a three-year research project, ‘Success in the Film and Televi... Read More about Building Successful and Sustainable Film and Television Businesses: A Cross-National Perspective.

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.

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.

The Man Who Got Carter: Michael Klinger, Independent Production and the British Film Industry, 1960-1980 (2013)
Book
Spicer, A. H., & McKenna, A. (2013). The Man Who Got Carter: Michael Klinger, Independent Production and the British Film Industry, 1960-1980. London: I.B. Tauris

This is the first study to focus on the most successful British independent producer of the 1970s, though his career stretched from the early 1980s to the early 1980s. The research for this publication was funded by a two-year AHRC grant and is based... Read More about The Man Who Got Carter: Michael Klinger, Independent Production and the British Film Industry, 1960-1980.

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.

Creativity and commerce: Michael Klinger and new film history (2010)
Journal Article
Spicer, A. H. (2010). Creativity and commerce: Michael Klinger and new film history. New Review of Film and Television Studies, 8(3), 297-314. https://doi.org/10.1080/17400309.2010.499771

The crisis in film studies and history concerning their legitimacy and objectives has provoked a reinvigoration of scholarly energy in historical enquiry. 'New film history' attempts to address the concerns of historians and film scholars by working... Read More about Creativity and commerce: Michael Klinger and new film history.