ÌÇÐÄÔ­´´

Contact

• workRoom B63 Trent
  University Park
  Nottingham
  NG7 2RD
  UK
• work0115 84 67466
• gianluca.sergi@nottingham.ac.uk

Biography

My interest in Film and TV and other screen industries stems from an early fascination with cinema while growing up in Italy, where I was born in Milan on 5 June 1964. I was one of the co-founders (at age 13) of a film club for young people in my home town that had over 300 members and later became the youngest member of the managerial team running the senior film society (with over 700 members).

I worked in a variety of media outlets (especially radio where I co-produced and presented a live show for two years. I also worked in a local TV stations and print magazine). After being awarded two scholarships (one from local government for sustenance, the other from the EU for my fees) I decided to move to the UK to study Film and Literature at University (Warwick). During that time I also worked part-time on several productions, including a professional show for children that aired on Channel 4.

Following an MA in Mass Communication (Leicester) I wrote a PhD in film (on film sound, and Dolby in particular) under the supervision of Prof. Richard Maltby and Prof. Steve Neale (Sheffield Hallam). The research I carried out as part of my thesis allowed me to build a network of contacts with leading industry professionals and executives in some of Hollywood's leading companies, including Lucasfilm, Pixar, Fox, Dolby amongst others. This in turn helped me develop a keen interest in filmmakers and filmmaking practices. This interest, later extended and developed into studios practices and labour practices, as well as filmmaking, now forms the cornerstone of my current and future research. I have published four books in this area as well as a major industry report on studios practices.

I was the founder of the at the ÌÇÐÄÔ­´´ in Sept. 2011 and its director until June 2024.

Expertise Summary

Teaching Summary

Over 25 years of leadership in developing programmes and delivering courses on the film and screen industries in Higher Education at all levels, from BA and MA programmes to Executive Education and… read more

Research Summary

I am currently working on a new project on the role of cinema in addressing the growing issue of social isolation and loneliness.

I have recently completed a project on the resilience of cinema through its history and published a book on this with award-winning filmmaker Gary Rytdstrom:

My work has also been featured in several media outlets (e.g. profile of my work in Vanity Fair: )

Selected Publications

• GIANLUCA SERGI and GARY RYDSTROM, 2023. Bloomsbury.
• LOVELL, A. and SERGI, G., 2009. Cinema Entertainment: essays on art, films and filmmakers McGraw-Hill/OUP.
• LOVELL, A. and SERGI, G., 2005. Making films in contemporary Hollywood London: Hodder Arnold.
• SERGI, G., 2011. EM Media/Welbeck/ÌÇÐÄÔ­´´.

• View all publications

I'm not available on any social media platform.

You can find a press profile (Vanity Fair) here:

For any other information, please contact me directly at gianluca.sergi@nottingham.ac.uk

Thank you.

Over 25 years of leadership in developing programmes and delivering courses on the film and screen industries in Higher Education at all levels, from BA and MA programmes to Executive Education and short course in the US, UK, and China.

• Launched first ever internship and mentoring partnership between a major Hollywood studio and a UK HEI in 2011 (ongoing, with Disney studios). It remains the only partnership of this kind in the UK.
• I am the Director of Work-Related Learning in the School of Cultures, Languages and Areas Studies at the ÌÇÐÄÔ­´´ overseeing the relationship between education and industry partnerships for 140 staff and over 1,600 students.
• Supervised to conclusion over 15 PhD students on topics ranging from film and TV industry practices in leading and emerging nations (US, UK, China, Nigeria, New Zealand, etc.) to marketing and distribution strategies for studios and production companies.
• Winner of a 'Student Oscar' as 'Best academic to prepare students for their future'. Selected by students as one of the '100 heroes' of the ÌÇÐÄÔ­´´ during the celebrations for the Student Union's 100 years ('100 heroes for 100 Years').

Past Research

My past work in terms of general research and publications has mostly focussed on issues concerning filmmaking and production practices, industrial relations in Hollywood cinema,and film sound. These interests continue to inform my present and planned future work, with particular focus of course on fostering better and more effective dialogue between industry and academia.

Most recently, I have completed a new book with Oscar-winning director and sound designer .

The book, titled The Endless End of Cinema: A History of Crisis and Survival in Hollywood (Bloomsbury, 2022) looks at the key crises that have marked the development of Hollywood cinema over the decades, identifying what lessons can be learned from them that may help address present and future challenges.

Gary and I share a belief that closer collaboration between film professionals and academics can potentially bring mutual benefits and enrich and improve the experience of making movies, both creatively and financially, and studying/researching them in all their aspects.

I have published 4 monographs, several industry reports and white papers (all on various aspects of the film industry, from production to studios operations) - and a number of articles and book chapters on sound, filmmaking practices and other related topics.

Highlights include:

• Founder and Director of one of the UK's leading HE centres for the study of the screen industries (The Institute for Screen Industries Research at the ÌÇÐÄÔ­´´ (2011-present).
• Author of four books - including my latest (The Endless End of Cinema, Bloomsbury) with seven-time Oscar winner Gary Rydstrom of Lucasfilm/Pixar/Disney, on the crises that have shaped Hollywood as an industry - as well as a several industry papers articles and book chapters.
• Led and delivered an impact case study for REF 2021 (rated by the ÌÇÐÄÔ­´´'s internal review panel as 4*) that demonstrated impact of my research on world leading film industry companies and organisations in Hollywood (Disney, the Academy/Oscars)
• Expert reviewer for EU funding bid applications in the creative industries sector.
• I have worked with several film studios and professional organisations in Hollywood on collaborative research projects, including Lucasfilm, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (Oscars), Sony Studios and several more.

Future Research

The focus of future research will continue to be on aspects of the film and television industry that are likely to assist:

i. the growth and well-being of the film industry and its workforce at all levels and in all capacities,

ii. the training and upskilling of future industry professionals as well as film scholars, and

iii. the appreciation and preservation of film as a key cultural, social and art form, particularly in the way in which it contributes to fields like social health and wellbeing

• GIANLUCA SERGI and GARY RYDSTROM, 2023. Bloomsbury.
• SERGI, G., 2017. Sound standings: a brief history of the impact of labor and professional representation on the place of early sound workers in the industry 
(1927-1937). In: MERA, SADOFF & WINTERS, ed., The Routledge Companion to Screen Music and Sound Routledge.
• SERGI, G., 2016. Organising Sound: labour organisations and power struggles that helped define music and sound in Hollywood. In: LIZ GREEN & DANIJELA KULEZIC-WILSON, ed., The Integrated Soundtrack: Sound Design and Music in Contemporary Film Palgrave.
• SERGI, G., 2013. The New Soundtrack. 3(2), 107-121
• SERGI, G. and STRINGER, J., 2013. Creativity across Borders: China, The United Kingdom and New Forms of Collaboration between Media Practitioners and Academics at the Institute for Screen Institute Research. In: LI BENQIAN, ed., Report on International Competitiveness of Chinese Media 2013 Pishu, China. 394-408
• SERGI, G., 2011. EM Media/Welbeck/ÌÇÐÄÔ­´´.
• LOVELL, A. and SERGI, G., 2009. Cinema Entertainment: essays on art, films and filmmakers McGraw-Hill/OUP.
• SERGI, G., 2006. ÌÇÐÄÔ­´´. Available at: <http://www.scope.nottingham.ac.uk/article.php?issue=5&id=129>
• SERGI, G., 2006. . In: GRAINGE, P., JANCOVICH, M. and MONTEITH, S., eds., Film Histories Edinburgh University Press.
• SERGI, G., 2006. A Cry in the Dark (reprint). In: BENNETT, P., HICKMAN, A. and WALL, P., eds., Film Studies: The Essential Resource Routledge.
• LOVELL, A. and SERGI, G., 2005. Making films in contemporary Hollywood London: Hodder Arnold.
• SERGI, G., 2004. The Dolby era : film sound in contemporary Hollywood Manchester: Manchester University Press.
• SERGI, G., 2003. Blockbusting sound: the case of <i>The Fugitive</i>. In: STRINGER, J.E., ed., Movie Blockbusters London: Routledge. 141-152
• SERGI, G., 2002. The Sonic Playground: Hollywood Cinema and its Listeners. In: STOKES, M. and MALTBY, R., eds., Hollywood spectatorship: changing perceptions of cinema audiences London: British Film Institute. 121-131
• SERGI, G., 2002. The Use of the Voice in Film. In: The Visible Man Forum, Udine.
• SERGI, G., 2002. A Cry in the Dark: the Role of Post-Classical Hollywood Film Sound (reprint). In: , ed., Film Cultures Reader London and New York, Routledge.
• SERGI, G., 1999. Mikes and the Sound Gang. In: KRAMER, P. and LOVELL, A., eds., Screen Acting as Art and Performance Routledge.
• SERGI, G., 1998. Journal of Popular Film & Television. 26(1), 12-22 (In Press.)