London's unknown film heritage

Researchers lead pioneering study of how London became the first film capital of Europe

26 January 2004

How many Londoners know the history of film in their own city?
Where and when was the first London studio built?*
How many cinemas were there in London by 1912?**
Answers

Luke McKernan and Jonathan Davis have been appointed to launch the AHRB Centre for British Film and Television Studies' London Project from May 2004.

The project will reveal, in unprecedented detail, how the early 'moving picture' business spread throughout London from 1894 up to the outbreak of the First World War. It will document the growth of a new industry, from the first Kinetoscope parlour on Oxford Street and the earliest filmmaking on the capital's streets and rooftops, to the building of studios in the suburbs and the spread of cinemas large and small throughout the city, as well as revealing London's important early role as a worldwide sales and distribution centre.

Dr Luke McKernan has been appointed Senior Research Fellow to manage the project, while remaining Head of Information at the British Universities Film and Video Council, where he will continue to co-ordinate development of online access to the ITN Archive and another AHRB-funded project on 'Cinemagazines and the Projection of Britain'.

Jonathan Davis will serve as a Senior Research Advisor, combining this with his role as Strategy Advisor at the UK Film Council and as a widely respected consultant on audiovisual policy. Further research associates and advisors will be appointed as the project develops.

Director of the Centre, Professor Ian Christie from Birkbeck's School of History of Art, Film and Visual Media comments: “At a time when the funding of film in Britain is both crucial and controversial - and with Film London about to launch - the study of how London played what was probably the leading part in launching film as an entertainment industry worldwide could not be more timely. There may well be lessons for present-day planners and politicians to learn from understanding better what drove the pioneers and motivated the first audiences. Above all, there is the astonishingly rapid spread of a new medium to map, analyse and make more widely known. This is a major research project that has long needed to be tackled, and may well lay the foundations for a complete re-assessment of British, and European, media history.”

Birkbeck is noted for its commitment to London studies and to widening access for all to high-quality teaching and research. The College will open a major new Film and Media Research Centre in 2005, where the London Project and other research programmes will be based.

The Arts and Humanities Research Board funds postgraduate and advanced research throughout UK higher education, covering a wide subject domain that ranges from the traditional humanities to the creative and performing arts. The AHRB Centre for British Film and Television Studies was established in 2000 as a partnership between Birkbeck, Sheffield Hallam University, the University of Ulster, Central Saint Martins School of Art and Design, the Royal College of Art, the University of Exeter, the University of Brighton, the British Film Institute and, since 2003, the University of Lincoln.

Commenting on Luke McKernan's appointment, Murray Weston, Director of the British Universities Film and Video Council, said: “The BUFVC has become a leading player in the provision of high-quality information and services for higher/further education and research. It is therefore a natural development for our organisation to collaborate directly with the AHRB Centre representing leading scholars and researchers engaging with film in the UK, and we look forward to more and closer collaboration in the future.”

Answers:

* The first fully-equipped studio with laboratory, was probably Robert Paul's, established in 1899 at Muswell Hill.
** No-one really knows, but one estimate is around 600 - six times as many actual cinemas as in London today - with a number seating over 1000, and the Kilburn Grange accommodating 2000 by 1914.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

AHRB Centre for British Film and Television Studies:

Hosted by Birkbeck, the AHRB Centre for British Film and Television Studies was established in 2000 and is funded for a period of five years under the AHRB Research Centres Scheme and is a partnership of eight institutions: Birkbeck, Sheffield Hallam University, the University of Ulster, Central Saint Martins School of Art and Design, the Royal College of Art, the University of Exeter, the University of Brighton, the British Film Institute and, since 2003, the University of Lincoln.

Arts and Humanities Research Board:

The Arts and Humanities Research Board (AHRB) funds postgraduate and advanced research within the UK's higher education institutions and provides funding for museums, galleries and collections that are based in, or attached to, higher education institutions within England. The AHRB supports research within a huge subject domain - from 'traditional' humanities subjects, such as history, modern languages and English literature, to music and the creative and performing arts. The AHRB makes awards on the basis of academic excellence and is not responsible for the views or research outcomes expressed by its award holders.

Birkbeck, University of London:

As the country’s leading provider of face-to-face part-time higher education, Birkbeck combines international-quality research with its special teaching mission to meet the needs of part-time students. More than 80 per cent of research carried out at Birkbeck is rated as being of international importance. English, History and Spanish received the maximum ‘best 5*’ ranking in the Research Assessment Exercise, indicating research of international quality. Crystallography, Earth Sciences, Economics, German, History of Art, Film and Visual Media, Law, Philosophy, Politics and Psychology all received a rating of 5, denoting research of significant international importance.

Contact:
Catherine Doherty, Media and Publicity Officer
External Relations, Birkbeck, University of London, Malet Street, Bloomsbury, London WC1E 7HX
Tel 020 7631 6569
Fax 020 7631 6351
Email c.doherty@bbk.ac.uk

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