I have been a university instructor in matters cinematic since 1998, and have taught at Emory University since 2002, serving as a Lecturer in the Film Studies department since 2008. In addition to writing on pop-culture and media for the popular press, I have recently published on police procedurals in popular literature and television (Cambridge Companion to American Crime Fiction, ed. Catherine Nickerson, 2010) and co-authored a piece with Emory Physics professor Sydney Perkowitz on science-fiction cinema as a pedagogical tool in the teaching of science (ed. Carolyn Johnson). Previous publications include articles on silent adaptations of Shakespeare and the samurai films of Akira Kurosawa.
My recent work on animation, technology, aesthetics and representations of reality has led to a number of forthcoming publications, including two articles on nature documentaries produced by the Walt Disney company (Beyond the Mouse, ed. A. Bowdain van Riper, 2011) and a book-length study of the relationship between animation and live-action filmmaking entitled Synthetic Cinema. I am also a working filmmaker, my last feature-length project, the all-puppet kid-noir The Lady From Sockholm, playing over thirty film festivals around the world.
A media practitioner as well as a scholar, my research frequently addresses the economic, political, and practical realities of production, and attempts to locate or create synergies between film studies and filmmaking. I serve as our department’s advisor within Emory University’s new Film and Media Management Concentration, a joint initiative between the Emory College and the undergraduate program within the Goizuetta Business School.
Education
- BA, University of Colorado-Denver, 1995.
- MA, Emory University, 1997.
- PhD, Emory University, 2006.
- Film Studies Certificate, Emory University, 2006.
Interests
- the cutting edge of contemporary filmmaking and theory