Oliver Carter
Oliver Carter is a Professor in Creative Economies at the Birmingham Centre for Media and Cultural Research, Birmingham City University. His research focuses on alternative economies of cultural production; informal forms of industry that are often removed from a formal cultural industries discourse.
His research into Britain’s pornography business has informed the award-winning documentary series as well as the second episode of the 2021 BBC’s. His latest monograph was published in 2023 and he has recently published the collection , co-edited with Iain Taylor.
Areas of Expertise
- Amateur/informal cultural production
- Pornography studies
- Entrepreneurship
- Home video distribution
- Media regulation and censorship
- Media piracy
- Documentary production
- New technologies
- Screen audiences
- Researcher development
- Doctoral education
Qualifications
- 2005 - 2013: PhD, Making European Cult Cinema: Fan Production in an Alternative Economy, Birmingham School of Media, Birmingham City University.
- 2009 - 2010: PGCert, Teaching in Higher Education, Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching, Birmingham City University.
- 2006 - 2007: PGCert, Research Practice, Birmingham Institute of Art and Design, University of Central England.
Memberships
2018 - Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
2018 - The Erotic Film Society
2017 - The Campaign Against Censorship
2017 - Society for Cinema and Media Studies
2016 - Vitae
2016 - European Communication Research and Education Association
2007 - Media, Communication and Cultural Studies Association
Teaching
- During his time at Birmingham City University, Oliver has developed and convened a number of modules across all levels of HE study, such as Popular Culture, Creativity in the Media, Documentary Theory and Practice, Media Culture, and Fandom, Subcultures and Cult Media. He convened the MA module Online Enterprise and Innovation and is currently the Site Director for the Midlands4Cities AHRC Doctoral Training Partnership. He supervises a range of PhD students, studying areas such as music piracy, independent film distribution, the informal Ukranian screen media economy, fan vidding and the economics of hyperlocal journalism.
Research
The unifying focus of Oliver's research has become an interrogation of the cultural and economic practices that relate to marginal media texts, and how they result in the creation of alternative economies. Through innovative research methods, he investigates how such economies operate, considering how people empower themselves through the use of technologies, disrupting markets, and economically benefiting from their practices. His research is especially concerned with the ways in which these economies develop over a period of time, and the ways in which they bridge the borders of legality and illegality.
Oliver's current research focuses on the cultural and economic history of the British adult entertainment business, specifically focusing on those who were involved in producing and distributing films between the period of 1960 and 2000, when the distribution of hardcore pornography in the UK was prohibited. He has become increasingly interested in how pornography, as a popular commodity, has been traded transnationally.
Postgraduate Supervision
- 2016 - 2024: Defining the semi-professional: An investigation into the practices and experiences of independent local news journalists, Ross Hawkes, PT.
- 2017 - 2023: The Role of New Interactive Technologies in Independent Film Distribution, Frank Mannion, PT.
- 2019 - 2023: Regulatory Annexation and the Matrix of Dependence: The Regulation of Social Media in Nigeria, Vincent Obia, FT (Commonwealth Scholar)
- 2019 - 2023: Media Law, Freedom of Expression and of the Press: The Case of The Gambia, Sulayman Bah, FT.
- 2020 - 2023 : The Informal Screen Media Economy of Ukraine, Kate Sivak, FT.
- 2016 - 2022: The Cultural Value of the Book in the Digital Age, Christian Moerken, PT
- 2016 - 2022: “All The Feels!”: Music, Affect and Critique in Fanmade Music Videos, Sebastian F. K. Svegaard, PT.
- 2019 - 2020: The Creation of Creativity in Radio: How Does Radio as an Industry Define, Practice and Negotiate Creativity?, Emily Bettison, FT (AHRC M4C award).
- 2015 - 2018: Anatomy of a Documentary: Music Documentary Production Practices for Commercial Radio, Samuel Coley, PT.
- 2015 - 2018: Formalizing Nollywood: Gentrification in the Contemporary Nigerian Film Industry, Ezinne Igwe, FT.
- 2014 - 2016: Reporting Violence or Mediating Peace: The Nigerian Press and the Dilemma of Peace Building in a Democracy, Jacob Tsado, FT.
- 2018 - : The Cultural Translation of Yoga Practices in the UK During the 20th Century, Simon Crisp, PT.
- 2022 - : Tails to Tell: The furry fandom, safe online spaces, and identity, Reuben Mount, FT.
- 2023 - : Co-creating Regenerative Futures, The role of architectural and social lab processes in communities shaping their civic and social infrastructures, Holly Doron, FT (M4C CDA).
- 2023 - : Six-second cinema: Tracing film language in post-cinema social media, Joel Blackledge, FT (AHRC M4C award).
Publications
Selected publications
2024
- Book chapter, ’If You’re Feeling Blue: The Screening of Hardcore Pornography in Britain’ in Kerr, D. and Peberdy, D. (Eds) Screening Sex: The Sex Scene - Space, Place and Industry, Edinburgh University Press (forthcoming).
- Book chapter, ‘Truth or Dare’ in Alilunas, P., Embree, D. And Freibert, F. (Eds) Screening Adult Cinema, Routledge (forthcoming).
- Book chapter, ’The Porn-Brokers - Transnational Entrepreneurship in Western Europe’s Pornography Trade’ in Alilunas, P., Keilty, P., Mini, D. (Eds), Handbook of Adult Film and Media, Intellect/University of Chicago Press (forthcoming).
2023
- Journal article, ‘Pure Cheek: The Ben Dover Story’, Porn Studies, https://doi.org/10.1080/23268743.2023.2226152 (open access).
- Book chapter, ‘Investigating the Illicit: The material traces of Britain’s early trade in obscene 8mm films’ in Carter, O and Taylor, I (Eds) Media Materialities – Form, Format & Ephemeral Meaning, Intellect/University of Chicago Press.
- Edited collection, Media Materialities – Form, Format & Ephemeral Meaning (co-edited with Iain Taylor), Intellect/University of Chicago Press.
- Research article, ‘Pornophobia’: Lord Porn and the fall of Britain’s domestic pornography trade, Porn Studies, https://doi.org/10.1080/23268743.2023.2189926 (open access).
- Monograph, Under the Counter: Britain’s Trade in Hardcore Pornographic 8mm Films, Intellect/University of Chicago Press.
2022
- Journal article, ‘Satisfaction Guaranteed: Your Choice and the Transnational Distribution of Hardcore Pornography Between the Netherlands and Britain', Enterprise and Society (open access), https://doi.org/10.1017/eso.2022.13.
- Journal special edition, ‘Golden Ages? Media, Space and Transnationality’ (co-edited with Professor Mariah Larsson and Professor Tommy Gustafsson), Porn Studies, https://doi.org/10.1080/23268743.2021.1994451.
2021
- Journal article, ‘The Watford Blue Movie Trial: Regulating ‘Rollers’ in 1970s Britain', Porn Studies, https://doi.org/10.1080/23268743.2021.1947881
2018
- Journal article, Original Climax Films: Historicising the British Hardcore Pornography Film Business, Porn Studies, https://doi.org/10.1080/23268743.2018.1489301.
- Monograph, Making European Cult Cinema: Fan Enterprise in an Alternative Economy, Amsterdam University Press.
2017
- Book chapter, ‘The Dragon Lives Again: Distributing ‘Bruceploitation’ via Home Entertainment’ (co-authored with Simon Barber) in Wroot, J and Willis, A (Eds.) Cult Media: Re-packaged, Re-released and Restored, Palgrave Macmillan.
- Book chapter, ‘A Labour of Love: Fantrepreneurship in Home Video Media Distribution’, in Wroot, J and Willis, A (Eds) Watching Films at Home: Formats, Challenges and Practices in Distributing Domestic Media, Palgrave Macmillan.
2015
- Book chapter, ‘“They’re not pirates, they’re archivists”: The role of fans as curators and archivists of popular culture heritage’ (co-authored with Jez Collins) in Baker, S (Ed.) Preserving Popular Music Heritage: Do-It-Yourself, Do-It-Together, Routledge.
2013
- Book chapter, ‘Sound and Vision: Radio Documentary, Fandom and New Participatory Cultures’, (co-authored with Sam Coley) in Edgar, Fairclough-Isaacs, K. and Halligan, B. (Eds.) The Music Documentary, Routledge.
- Book chapter, ‘Sharing All’Italiana. Riproduzione e distribuzione del genere I sui siti Torrent’ (English Title: Sharing All’Italiana - The Reproduction and Distribution of the giallo on Torrent File-Sharing Websites) in Braga, R. and Caruso, G. (Eds.) The Piracy Effect, Mimesis Cinergie.
- Book chapter, ‘Slash Production’: Objectifying the Serial ‘Kiler’ in Euro-Cult Cinema Fan Production’ in MacDonald, A. (Ed) Murders and Acquisitions: Representations of the Serial Killer in Popular Culture, Bloomsbury.
Media Work
2023
- Interviewee, How Britain Became One of the World's Biggest Distributors of Illegal Porn, Huck, 26 May.
- Interviewee, The Soho Society Hour, Soho Radio, 11 May.
- Interviewee, Adult Site Broker, Podcast, 27 June.
- Interviewee, Rock and rollers: Britain’s other, seedier film history, Prospect, 1 March.
2022
- Author, Why age verification is another flawed attempt to regulate online pornography in the UK, The Conversation, 10 February.
2020
- Interviewee, Meet the king of homemade porn — a banker’s son making millions, The Sunday Times, 26 July.
- Interviewee, Coronavirus is bad news for Big Porn but great news for OnlyFans, Wired Magazine, May 4.
2019
- TV interviewee, Neues von der Brexit insel, Arte TV, 8 July, Germany.
- Interviewee, Da pornoen blev smuglet i bacon-containere [When porn was smuggled in bacon containers], Ekstra Bladet, 7 June, Denmark.
2017
- Interviewee, How London beat The Deuce: meet the blue movie pioneers who sexed up Seventies Britain, Daily Telegraph, 26 September.