Since the inception of cinema, audiences have wanted to be scared by their movies.  Why?  Is it for a quick thrill, or a deeper primal need to confront our fears?  Sarah Ward and her panellists examine our fascination with cinematic danger.

I will be part of a panel for the State Library of Queensland that will dicuss the age old question of why people what horror movies. The details to the event are below.

Part of the SLiQ Flicks: Behind the Screen series

When        6pm, Thurs 19th April
Where        slq Auditorium 1, level 2
Tickets        Free, bookings required
Bookings     slq.eventbrite.com or 3840 7768

For more details on the event: http://behindthescreenapril-eorg.eventbrite.com/

Writing Science Fiction

Science Fiction is one of the most popular and successful cinematic genres yet its presence in the Australian filmic landscape is often a black hole when it comes to producing sci-fi.

That’s why AWG Queensland is proud to present an evening in conversation and Q & A with two Queenslanders who have shone brightly in the cold, black firmament – screenwriter and current Screen Queensland Writers Room participant Duncan Kennedy (Deep Blue Sea, The Outer Limits and the upcoming Bait 3D) and producer Cathy Overett (the upcoming Nazis-on-the-moon comedy actioner Iron Sky).

Discover the challenges and triumphs of writing for the sci-fi genre for Australian writers then join Queensland writers, producers and directors for networking and social drinks after. A unique and unmissable AWG Queensland event.

When: Thursday 29 March 6:30PM (come early, speaker begins at 6:30 sharp)

Where: In the VIP Room at the R.G (Royal George Hotel) – cnr Ann and Brunswick Street, Fortitude Valley http://www.royalgeorgehotel.com.au/parties.asp

Cost: Free for AWG members, $5 non- members

RSVP: admin@awg.com.au

Calling all Australian Screen Content Producers (TV, Film, Corporate and Digital Media) to participate in the most important survey of the year. By contributing 20 minutes of your time, you’ll be helping to shape the direction of the industry and will get a chance to win AUD $2,000. Survey ends 31 December 2011.

The screen producer plays a vital role in shaping the creative, commercial and entrepreneurial dimensions of a production. Understanding the role of producer has become even more important in recent years in a convergent mediascape where business models are uncertain and traditional ‘analogue’ distribution models are being challenged by new modes of cross-media distribution and consumption practices.

The 2011 Australian Screen Producer Survey is a national study of the activities and motivations of Australian screen producers conducted by the ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation (CCI), Queensland University of Technology with support from the Centre for Screen Business (CSB)/Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS) and the AFI Research Collection. The study constitutes the second stage of the nation-wide Australian Screen Producers survey conducted in 2009 by CSB and AFTRS, RMIT University, and the AFI Research Collection.

Building upon this previous survey, the 2011 survey examines key issues around the practices, attitudes, strategies, and aspirations of screen producers for film, television, corporate, and digital/new media.

Click here to complete the survey http://www.ys.net.au/producersurvey2011/

If you have any questions or require any further information about the project, please contact:

Dr. Mark Ryan
ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation
Queensland University of Technology
Creative Industries Faculty

Email: m3.ryan@qut.edu.au

For survey results from the last time this was run, take a look at csb.aftrs.edu.au/survey

*An interview I gave for the ABC on horror movies for Halloween 2011.

By Jodie van de Wetering

27 October, 2011 1:17PM AEST

The American version of Halloween, complete with carved pumpkins and plastic skeletons, might be a relatively new addition to Australian culture, but our country has its own culture of spooks and scares. Henry Lawson turned his pen to ghost stories, and since then Aussie authors and filmmakers have followed in those echoing footsteps.

Dr Mark Ryan from the Queensland University of Technology studied Australia’s horror film industry for his PhD. He says every culture has its own unique take on the horror genre, and ours is rooted in the same wild, vast outback inhabited by Lawson’s characters.

“In Australia, most of the most recognisable horror movies revolve around a fear of the landscape, a fear of nature, a kind of nature’s revenge,” Mark explains. “A lot of them are set in the outback, and it’s all about the ruggedness of the landscape, the isolation, the dangerous animals. The landscape itself acts as a character in the film.

“The horror of being stuck in the emptiness is a key theme that that happens in Australian horror movies, and that idea has been repeated over and over again since the 1970s.

“Horror movies embody specific social and cultural fears of certain times. In the ’50s and ’60s, particularly in America, a lot of horror movies revolved around alien invasions and aliens popping out of bodies. It was a fear of technological advances, of invasion during the Cold War, and fears around nuclear disasters. Those fears were embodied into certain types of monsters, The Thing, Alien, and a whole range of other narratives.

“As society evolves, different types of fears become more prominent and they turn into different types of monsters. A lot of people say the contemporary popularity of zombies relates to post-September 11 fears and anxieties around terrorism, around viral infection possibly through terrorism.”

Why are filmgoers willing to hand over perfectly good money to be subjected to two hours of material carefully crafted to tap into whatever unconscious dread will make our blood run coldest?

“There are lots of theories around why people watch their worst nightmares on screen, because it just doesn’t rationally make sense.

“A lot of people suggest that it is a way of coping with and dealing with horrors of life. There is a thing around the cinema being a safe place to watch our worst fears on screen.

“Some people refer to it as a cinematic thrill ride, people receive adrenalin rushes by being scared.

“There is a lot of a group behaviour which happens with watching horror movies. People who watch horror movies tend to be a younger audience, it tends to be teens up to about mid-30s. People like to go in groups because you can talk to each other, scare each other, some people try to tough it out and not jump, and when people do jump they laugh at each other.

“So there is actually a lot of group dynamics that go on during horror movie viewing.”

Mark Ryan doesn’t just study the horror genre – his academic interest grew out of his creative endeavors.

“I was a writing a horror movie, of all things, so I decided to have a look at what was going on in terms of the Australian context, and it turns out that there was a lot more going on than people actually realised.

“I discovered there was a little hidden industry going on. It was before the release of Wolf Creek, and then there was a big boom in Australian horror movies and it just continued on from there.”

Original article: http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2011/10/27/3349553.htm

I was interviewed for the ABC’s Radio National Program which aired a story about the new QUT Ozploitation Video Collection on the Breakfast Programme, 8 August 2011. They also interviewed Trash Video owner Andrew Leavold andthe story gives a great little history of the video story and the importance of Ozploitation for Australian cinema.

Radio National catch-line:

The Queensland University of Technology has just bought one of the nation’s largest collections of ozploitation and art house films — the titles were amongst 20,000 videos and DVDs put on the market after the closure of a cult film rental shop in Brisbane.

Interview avilable here: http://www.abc.net.au/rn/breakfast/stories/2011/3287671.htm

Let me know what you think?

By Katherine Feeney

July 30, 2011

Mark Ryan and Andrew Leavold show off some of the rare cult titles that now feature as part of the research library at QUT Kelvin Grove. Photo: QUT Marketing and Communication/

Good news local film fans, West End’s much loved alternative movie store Trash Video is back.

Sort of.

The Queensland University of Technology has acquired a hefty range of classic cult films from Andrew Leavold, the colourful cinema guru and filmmaker behind the now-closed movie library.

Advertisement: Story continues below

Over 500 zombie flicks and Ozploitation reels like Alvin Purple, The Adventures of Barry McKenzie and Mad Dog Morgan are now firmly ensconced in the university’s archives at Kelvin Grove.

Mark Ryan, QUTs horror movie expert, said that the swag was a boon for students and the public who will be able to rent titles or watch for free on campus at the library’s new media rooms.

Dr Ryan said many of the movies collected by Mr Leavold over his shop’s 15 year history were no longer in general circulation.

“The National Archive doesn’t necessarily keep a lot of the obscure titles and main chain stores certainly don’t stock them either,” he said.

“From a researcher’s point of view it’s awesome to be able to have a collection like this.”

Mr Leavold, director of the Filipino B-film industry documentary The Search for Weng-Weng, said the acquisition was a sign academia had come to appreciate the merit of genre cinema.

“Ten years ago ‘genre’ was a dirty word at the university level,” he said.

“Now we’re at a stage where we are pioneering into forgotten film territories.

“The kick for me is keeping the old, obscure, neglected, classic and forgotten titles in circulation.”

Dr Ryan said film historians had a tendency to write off genre and B-grade films from Australian film history.

He said university level teachings often focused more on the likes of Picnic at Hanging Rock and Crocodile Dundee, though recent years witnessed a renaissance in genre movies such as Tomorrow When the War Began, Wolf Creek and Daybreakers.

“As a result, film courses are increasingly teaching Aussie genre and cult-titles,” Dr Ryan said.

“When I did my research I almost primarily used the Trash Video collection, so it’s important not to lose that.”

Read more: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/entertainment/movies/cult-treasures-rescued-from-trash-20110729-1i3o6.html#ixzz1U7TRJy58

Photo: Dr. MarkD. Ryan and Trash Video’s Andrew Leavold

When the home of Brisbane’s biggest cult film collection shut down last year, many were left wondering “how do I get my hands on the latest underground zombie offerings now?”

This is a question QUT film and television lecturer and resident horror expert Dr Mark Ryan also pondered but thanks to the formation of a partnership between himself and Trash Video’s owner, Andrew Leavold, and Alice Steiner, a QUT Creative Industries librarian, B-grade film lovers and movie boffins need go no further than the University’s library.
The QUT Library’s collection of Trash Videos will give access not only to students, but the community at large, to one of the country’s biggest collections of Ozploitation and art house films that had been lovingly acquired by Trash Video during its 15-year lifespan.
Dr Ryan said though the collection was not usual fodder for a university library, the QUT Trash Video collection was priceless in terms of education for his film students.

“From a researcher’s point of view it’s awesome to be able to have a collection like this – when I did my research I almost primarily used the Trash Video collection, so it’s important not to lose that,” he said. “The National Archive didn’t necessarily keep a lot of the obscure titles and main chain stores certainly didn’t stock
them either.
“In the past there was definitely a tendency to write out genre and B-grade films from Australian film history and university level teachings often focused more on the likes of Picnic at Hanging Rock and Crocodile Dundee. But in recent years there has been a rediscovery of our genre heritage and a renaissance in genre movies such as
Tomorrow When the War Began, Wolf Creek and Daybreakers. As a result, film courses are increasingly teaching Aussie genre and cult-titles.”

Creative Industies librarian Alice Steiner said the QUT Trash Video Collection, which includes titles such as 1906 silent movie The Story Of The Kelly Gang, The Last Of The Knucklemen (1979), The Peter Weir Short Film Collection, released in 2005, and Ozploitation classics such as The Adventures Of Barry McKenzie (1972), Mad
Dog Morgan (1976), The Naked Bunyip (1970) and Dead End Drive-In (1986), would “hand a life-line” to obscure titles. “It’s definitely a niche market. We aren’t aware of any other university to have a collection as extensive as this one,” she said.

“It’s all about having the cutting edge resources and being able to break the divide between high and low culture. We don’t turn our nose up at any material because at the end of the day our students are learning about the entertainment industry and this is certainly entertainment.”

Mr Leavold said genre films were slowly being recognised as a genuine art form in their own right. “Ten years ago ‘genre’ was a dirty word at the university level. Now we’re at a stage where we are pioneering into forgotten film territories,” he said.
“The kick for me is keeping the old, obscure, neglected, classic and forgotten titles in circulation.”
QUT Staff and students can borrow the titles from the QUT Kelvin Grove Library and community members can watch them for free in the library’s new media rooms or borrow them by becoming associate library members for an
annual fee.
29 July 2011

QUT Media Release
Media contact:
Alita Pashley, QUT media officer, 07 3138 1841 or alita.pashley@qut.edu.au

News articles

http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/movies/cult-treasures-rescued-from-trash-20110729-1i3o6.html

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/entertainment/movies/cult-treasures-rescued-from-trash-20110729-1i3o6.html

I appeared on Channel 7′s Sunrise with Snowtown Producer Anna McLeish on 8th April 2011, to talk about the controversial Australian crime movie Snowtown.Based on Australia’s worst serial killings, in the weeks leading up to the movie’s release, there was concern about why such a movie should be made, and whether the film glamorises crimes. Once the movie began receiving reviews media coverage turned towards the psychological impact of the movie. Many reviewers labelled the film a psychological horror for the hard hitting impact of the subject matter.

“Cinema Controversy: the movie accused of glamorising crime” is avilable here: http://au.tv.yahoo.com/sunrise/video/-/watch/24828398/cinema-controversy/

Following the television interview I was invited to host Snowtown preview screenings and Q&A sessions in brisbane on:

• Thursday 28^th April at Palace Barracks Cinemas at 6.30pm
• Wednesday 4^th May at Dendy Portside Cinemas at  6.30pm.

A news story titled Snowtown promotion takes controversy route about the television segment is avilable here:

http://www.imdb.com/news/ni9384129/

Snowtown: A fine Line

20 May, 2011 – 11:48 AM

4BC Mornings: Reviewed by Alex Bernard earlier this week, the new Australian film ‘Snowtown’ is causing waves at the box office, with some reviewers calling for a more mature rating. Greg Cary finds out from Dr Mark Ryan, Film and TV lecturer at QUT, that the film treads a fine line. Have your say.

Link to interview: http://www.4bc.com.au/blogs/4bc-blog/a-fine-line/20110520-1evr8.html

Special Issue Abstract

This Australasian horror special issue is an important step forward in putting Australian and New Zealand horror movies on the map of film and cinema studies as a subject worthy of intellectual debate. The journal issue is the first devoted solely to the academic discussion of Australasian horror movies. While an Australian horror movie tradition has produced numerous titles since the 1970s achieving commercial success and cult popularity worldwide, the horror genre is largely missing from Australian film history. While there have been occasional essays on standout titles such as Wolf Creek (Mclean, 2005), an increasing number of articles on ‘Ozploitation’ movies, and irregular discussion about Australian Gothic, overall the nature of Australian horror as a genre remains poorly understood. In terms of New Zealand, debate has tended to revolve around ‘Kiwi Gothic’ and of course Peter Jackon’s early splatter films, rather than Kiwi horror as a specific filmmaking tradition. This issue contributes to the growing body of scholarship on Australasian horror and the internationalisation of the horror genre.

Adrian Martin’s article critically examines Ozploitation’s meteorite rise as a critical term synonymous with Australian genre cinema. The essay argues that the collection of titles labelled as ‘Ozploitation’ is subjective and excludes a number of prominent local trash and genre movies – a narrowness which poses a challenge to film studies. My own article attempts to measure the extent of the recent Australian horror movie boom, and delineates the finance, production and distribution models of the high and low ends of Australian horror. Catherine Simpson examines how representation of monstrous animals relates to nationhood and the Australian Psyche. She argues that this relationship reveals a post-colonial anxiety towards landscape and belonging.

Alan Cameron explores contemporary New Zealand horror movies and questions arising in relation to national identity. The article highlights difficulties local horror films experience within New Zealand cinema – not too dissimilar to the problems Australian horror movies experience within a publicly funded national cinema – and investigates issues around their local and international cultural identities. Deb Verhoeven’s short piece frames the many controversies surrounding the production of the 1980s schlock horror movie Turkey Shoot (Trenchard Smith, 1982) – regarded as one of Australia’s most disreputable movies of all time. This article sets up the context for an interview by Mark Harley with the film’s star Steve Railsback who reflects on the movie’s production, his role, the controversy and the film’s reception.

Link to special issue: http://www.intellectbooks.co.uk/journals/view-issue,id=1906/

Table of Content

Editorial: putting Australasian horror on the map of cinema studies – Mark David Ryan

Ozploitation compared to what? A challenge to Australian film studies – Adrian Martin

http://www.atypon-link.com/INT/doi/pdf/10.1386/sac.4.1.9_1

Australian cinema’s dark sun: the boom in Australian horror film production – Mark David Ryan

Australian eco-horror and Gaia’s revenge: animals, eco-nationalism & the ‘New Nature’ – Catherine Simpson

http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/intellect/sac/2010/00000004/00000001/art00004

The Locals and the global: transnational currents in contemporary New Zealand horror – Allan Cameron

http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/intellect/sac/2010/00000004/00000001/art00005

‘It was an experience that totally blew up in my face’: Steve Railsback and Turkey Shoot – Deb Verhoeven

Steve Railsback interviewed – Mark Hartley

My latest research article, Rethinking genre studies through distribution analysis: issues in international horror movie circuits co-written with Ramon Lobato from Swinburne University, has been published in the U.S. journal New Review of Film & Television Studies.

Abstract: The existence of any film genre depends on the effective operation of distribution networks. Contingencies of distribution play an important role in determining the content of individual texts and the characteristics of film genres; they enable new genres to emerge at the same time as they impose limits on generic change. This paper sets out an alternative way of doing genre studies, based on an analysis of distributive circuits rather than film texts or generic categories. Our objective is to provide a conceptual framework that can account for the multiple ways in which distribution networks leave their traces on film texts and audience expectations, with specific reference to international horror networks, and to offer some preliminary suggestions as to how distribution analysis can be integrated into existing genre studies methodologies.

The article is avilable from: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a936889633~db=all~jumptype=rss

Lobato, Ramon & Ryan, Mark David (2011) Rethinking genre studies through distribution analysis : issues in international horror movie circuits. New Review of Film and Television Studies, 9(2), pp. 188-203.