Steve is a graduate of YSJU, having received a BA in Drama, Film and Television in 1997. He subsequently completed a research MLitt in 2000 and received his PhD, on performance in the films of Hal Hartley, from The University of Aberdeen in 2007. His principal teaching interest is film form and the relationship between history, cultural theory and the aesthetics and structure of film. Prior to his arrival at YSJ in 2007, he was a teaching assistant at The University of Aberdeen, where he taught widely on the subject of film. He is a former student filmmaker and has practical experience working with the BBC and MTV. He is also a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. He has published widely on a range of topics, relating in particular to American independent cinema and cult Japanese cinema. He is the author of Performance in the Cinema of Hal Hartley, and has also published a number of journal articles and book chapters on Hartley’s films and actors associated with his work. Other published work covers issues relating to the reception and promotion of Japanese cinemas in the UK, especially the films of Takashi Miike. Steve is currently an external examiner at Bangor University for BAs in film and media and MA film-making, and has also served as a member on the Society for Cinema and Media Studies’ Teaching Committee, who promote the development of pedagogy in film and media studies programmes internationally. He has also worked as peer reviewer for Intellect and Palgrave MacMillan, and in 2011 was the academic co-ordinator of an international conference exploring the partnership between Alfred Hitchcock and Bernard Herrmann. In addition, He has also presented panels at the Aesthetica Short Film Festival on various topics. His research supervision has included PhDs on digital cellphone cinema, film’s encounters with history, documentary and comedy, while he has also supervised MAs by research on contemporary genre television and gender, and on the films of Alfred Hitchcock. His other research interests include: digital modes of authorship and crowdfunding; Independent American Cinema; the relationship between Japanese, Korean and Hong Kong Cinemas and Contemporary Hollywood; performance and gender in Martial Arts Cinema; film acting; quality TV, technology and post-broadcast environments.