How Channel 4 became the matchmaker for cinema and television and helped transform both industries is to be studied by researchers from the University of Portsmouth thanks to funding by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).

The first major assessment of the channel’s contribution to British cinema is being led by Dr Justin Smith and Professor Paul McDonald at the University’s School of Creative Arts, Film and Media. The four year project has been awarded a substantial grant from the AHRC.

The award will also enable two PhD students to trawl the archives at Channel 4 and the British Film Institute library and interview key broadcasting figures. A third researcher will study BBC Films’ copycat strategy, drawing on their archives at Caversham in Berkshire.

The Portsmouth team will work in partnership with the British Universities Film and Video Council to create a fully searchable database of Channel 4’s weekly Press Information Packs, which was another first for the fourth channel.    

A major conference will follow in 2012 to unite film and television scholars with industry professionals and policy-makers with representatives from television and the UK Film Council.

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Editor’s notes
AHRC Media contact: Jake Gilmore, 0117 9876 773 j.gilmore@ahrc.ac.uk

Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC): Each year the AHRC provides approximately £105 million from the Government to support research and postgraduate study in the arts and humanities, from languages and law, archaeology and English literature to design and creative and performing arts. In any one year, the AHRC makes approximately 700 research awards and around 1,300 postgraduate awards. Awards are made after a rigorous peer review process, to ensure that only applications of the highest quality are funded. The quality and range of research supported by this investment of public funds not only provides social and cultural benefits but also contributes to the economic success of the UK.