Writer and researcher based in the UK.
As an experienced academic and journalist, I love uncovering new and unusual perspectives on cinema, television, literature, art, and the technologies that we use to create them. I believe that the means of production matters, so my work is also concerned with issues of identity and power, and social and environmental justice.
As an experienced academic and journalist, I love uncovering new and unusual perspectives on cinema, television, literature, art, and the technologies that we use to create them. I believe that the means of production matters, so my work is also concerned with issues of identity and power, and social and environmental justice.
BOOKS
I'm the author of three books about cinema. My most recent work, an academic-trade crossover project, is forthcoming with Bloomsbury in 2027. Across five chapters, A Star Wars World explores the labour conditions, materials, cultures, lands, and wild lives that studios depend on to build blockbuster media franchises. It also investigates how humans and non-humans (animals, plants, and fungi) are in turn affected by large-scale film and television production.
My previous books are From Steam to Screen (I B Tauris, 2018), on the interconnected nature of railways and film cultures in Britain 1895-1945, and a trade publication for the BFI Film Classics Series, on the Star Wars film The Empire Strikes Back (Bloomsbury, 2020).
I'm the author of three books about cinema. My most recent work, an academic-trade crossover project, is forthcoming with Bloomsbury in 2027. Across five chapters, A Star Wars World explores the labour conditions, materials, cultures, lands, and wild lives that studios depend on to build blockbuster media franchises. It also investigates how humans and non-humans (animals, plants, and fungi) are in turn affected by large-scale film and television production.
My previous books are From Steam to Screen (I B Tauris, 2018), on the interconnected nature of railways and film cultures in Britain 1895-1945, and a trade publication for the BFI Film Classics Series, on the Star Wars film The Empire Strikes Back (Bloomsbury, 2020).
JOURNALISM
My portfolio includes reporting on the impacts of the #MeToo movement from Cannes, interviewing former Star Wars crew about their work on location shoots, and sharing my thoughts about new releases in reviews. My writing has appeared in a wide range of publications that between them serve diverse readerships, including Sight & Sound, LA Review of Books, New Statesman, Prospect, The Mary Sue and Reel News. I'm a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic and a member of the London Film Critics' Circle. My portfolio is available under Journalism.
I've also appeared on TV and numerous radio shows (BBC World Service, Radios 4 and 5, etc.) to share my expertise, addressing topics such as film criticism, the Star Wars franchise, and gender and racial inequalities in the media industries. I was a regular critic on BBC Radio Scotland 2018-2020. I've also contributed to many podcasts, including the BBC Radio 4 'Princess' series, and an iPlayer short documentary called 'Why Going to the Cinema is Good For You.' All broadcast and podcast contributions are listed under Media appearances.
After a year-long review hiatus while I wrote A Star Wars World, I've started writing a new series of film essays and reviews, Aftergloam. You can find me on Letterboxd @beccaeharrison.
My portfolio includes reporting on the impacts of the #MeToo movement from Cannes, interviewing former Star Wars crew about their work on location shoots, and sharing my thoughts about new releases in reviews. My writing has appeared in a wide range of publications that between them serve diverse readerships, including Sight & Sound, LA Review of Books, New Statesman, Prospect, The Mary Sue and Reel News. I'm a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic and a member of the London Film Critics' Circle. My portfolio is available under Journalism.
I've also appeared on TV and numerous radio shows (BBC World Service, Radios 4 and 5, etc.) to share my expertise, addressing topics such as film criticism, the Star Wars franchise, and gender and racial inequalities in the media industries. I was a regular critic on BBC Radio Scotland 2018-2020. I've also contributed to many podcasts, including the BBC Radio 4 'Princess' series, and an iPlayer short documentary called 'Why Going to the Cinema is Good For You.' All broadcast and podcast contributions are listed under Media appearances.
After a year-long review hiatus while I wrote A Star Wars World, I've started writing a new series of film essays and reviews, Aftergloam. You can find me on Letterboxd @beccaeharrison.
RESEARCH
My research-intensive, long-form scholarly projects have concentrated on three main areas. These are: 1. the ecological footprints of film and television production, 2. the marginalisation of different groups in and by the screen industries, and 3. histories of cinema and technology.
Between 2022 and 2025, I led the Environmental Impact of Filmmaking project (funded by the Arts & Humanities Research Council), which focused on prop making, costume fabrication, and location shoots undertaken for the Star Wars franchise in Britain. A recent article traces the carbon footprints of two different Artoo-Detoo units: one made from aluminium, and the other digitally animated. It suggests that filmmakers have overestimated the possibilities for sustainably making digital and blockbuster-scale media. The article is free to read at https://doi.org/10.1525/001c.158695. All of my work on the franchise is listed under Star Wars.
Previously I've written about whiteness in First World War ambulance train films, women projectionists in the 1940s and 50s, telephones and LGBTQ+ culture in the Channel 4 series It's A Sin, biographies of early film star Mabel Normand, and much more besides. Some of my work, including the article 'Fuck the Canon', has been translated into German. You can find out more, along with a full list of my publications, under Research and Publications.
My research-intensive, long-form scholarly projects have concentrated on three main areas. These are: 1. the ecological footprints of film and television production, 2. the marginalisation of different groups in and by the screen industries, and 3. histories of cinema and technology.
Between 2022 and 2025, I led the Environmental Impact of Filmmaking project (funded by the Arts & Humanities Research Council), which focused on prop making, costume fabrication, and location shoots undertaken for the Star Wars franchise in Britain. A recent article traces the carbon footprints of two different Artoo-Detoo units: one made from aluminium, and the other digitally animated. It suggests that filmmakers have overestimated the possibilities for sustainably making digital and blockbuster-scale media. The article is free to read at https://doi.org/10.1525/001c.158695. All of my work on the franchise is listed under Star Wars.
Previously I've written about whiteness in First World War ambulance train films, women projectionists in the 1940s and 50s, telephones and LGBTQ+ culture in the Channel 4 series It's A Sin, biographies of early film star Mabel Normand, and much more besides. Some of my work, including the article 'Fuck the Canon', has been translated into German. You can find out more, along with a full list of my publications, under Research and Publications.
TALKS, TEACHING, AND MORE
With a background as an academic (I've taught film, television, and media studies at four universities in England and Scotland), I'm an experienced teacher and public speaker. I've presented in classrooms, at international conferences, and at film festivals. I've facilitated workshops, including on sensitive topics with safer-spaces policies, for various arts organisations and organising groups. More information is available under Teaching, Sharing research, and Better worlds.
Talks have included: universities in the UK (e.g., Southampton, Warwick, Wolverhampton) and internationally (Amsterdam, Gothenburg, McGill), cultural institutions (British Film Institute, Institute of Historical Research, National Railway Museum), and film events (Reclaim the Frame, Into Film, and the Scottish Queer International Film Festival).
I've also curated a collaborative three-day festival celebrating creative writing, film, music, and theatre by gender-marginalised artists (Glasgow Feminist Arts Festival, Centre for Contemporary Arts, 2018), and programmed various film series and festival events at the ICA and BAFTA in London as outreach coordinator for a large professional organisation.
For inquiries, commissions, questions, or anything else besides, please get in touch using the contact form.
With a background as an academic (I've taught film, television, and media studies at four universities in England and Scotland), I'm an experienced teacher and public speaker. I've presented in classrooms, at international conferences, and at film festivals. I've facilitated workshops, including on sensitive topics with safer-spaces policies, for various arts organisations and organising groups. More information is available under Teaching, Sharing research, and Better worlds.
Talks have included: universities in the UK (e.g., Southampton, Warwick, Wolverhampton) and internationally (Amsterdam, Gothenburg, McGill), cultural institutions (British Film Institute, Institute of Historical Research, National Railway Museum), and film events (Reclaim the Frame, Into Film, and the Scottish Queer International Film Festival).
I've also curated a collaborative three-day festival celebrating creative writing, film, music, and theatre by gender-marginalised artists (Glasgow Feminist Arts Festival, Centre for Contemporary Arts, 2018), and programmed various film series and festival events at the ICA and BAFTA in London as outreach coordinator for a large professional organisation.
For inquiries, commissions, questions, or anything else besides, please get in touch using the contact form.