John Mateer
Emeritus Professor

Profile

Biography

John Mateer was one of the four founding members of the department of Theatre, Film, Television and Interactive Media (TFTI), which is now part of the School of Arts & Creative Technologies (ACT). He was responsible for developing all aspects of film and television production provision, including curriculum design of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes from the ground up, and taught on numerous modules at all levels.

Mateer was also heavily involved in the creation of TFTI/ACT’s award-winning building working closely with the original Head of Department Professor Andy Tudor. He had specific responsibility in overseeing the architectural design, construction and fit-out of all production and postproduction areas. Stipulations in the funding for the building required that its facilities be used to help develop the regional economy where possible. To enable this, Mateer brokered and supervised the support of over 20 commercially-released feature films and more than a dozen major broadcast television projects for the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and others, which also provided many work placement and internship opportunities for students.

Most recently, Mateer supported university-wide initiatives to expand external relationships serving as the Associate Dean for Partnerships, Engagement and International activities for the faculty of Arts & Humanities. Exploration of the relationship between academia, industry and government policy in different contexts has been a major part of his research.

Film and Television Industry Work

Mateer started his career working with Emmy award-winning Robert Greenwald Productions (MGM Studios) doing lighting for made-for-television movies for the ABC and NBC networks in the US. After completing his postgraduate degree at the American Film Institute, where he was a Directing Fellow, he worked as a producer and director with numerous companies including Jonathan Goodson Productions (in association with Paramount Studios), Gabriel Films Ltd., Ogilvy & Mather and LucasArts (as part of the First Cities project) and several others.

More recently Mateer worked as Executive Producer and Visual Effects Producer for the feature film The Knife That Killed Me (2014) backed by Universal Pictures UK, and as Visual Effects Producer for the feature film Macbeth (2018), produced by GSP Studios.

Mateer’s expertise lies in the development and supervision of projects involving computer-generated imagery as well as format and script development for television series and feature films. He continues to be active in the industry as both a consultant and practitioner on a freelance basis.

Research

Overview

John Mateer's research has two primary strands:

The first looks at the impact of new technologies on different aspects of the film and television industry including new methods of marketing and distribution, changes in production roles and workflows as a result of new technological developments, and emerging media such as cinematic virtual reality.

The second involves the examination of the relationship between academia, the film and television industries and government policy in different commercial contexts. This includes looking at formal academic-industry collaborations for the creation of commercial feature films and broadcast television programmes, their impact on student/recent graduate participants and the industry, and an exploration of the cultural issues surrounding the mixing of practice and academia including perceptions of media practitioners working in higher education.

Notable Projects

Higson, Mateer, Brereton, Swords, Murphy, 2020–23, SIGN – Screen Industries Growth Network, Research England, £4,989,357

Mateer, Schofield, Monkman and Morrow, 2019, ‘At Home’ Cinematic Virtual Reality Pilot, funded by the XR Stories project (awarded by AHRC), £63,850

Mateer and Schofield, 2017–19, Formal Collaboration with Wild Rover Productions Ltd., Knowledge Transfer Partnership awarded by AHRC, NI Invest and Innovate UK, £313,594

For full details of John Mateer’s research activities please visit his PURE profile.