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Dr Deb Verhoeven

Position	Associate Professor, Screen Studies
School / Work Unit	Applied Communication
Contact Details	+(61 3) 9925 2908 deb.verhoeven@rmit.edu.au
Location	Building: 21 Level: 3 Room: 2 City Campus
Portfolio	Design & Social Context

Qualifications

PhD, University of Melbourne

Bachelor of Arts, Combined Honours (Visual Arts and Politics), Monash University

Certificate IV in Workplace Training & Assessment

Teaching/Work responsibilities

Deb Verhoeven is Director of the AFI Research Collection, a strategic resarch resource located in the School of Applied Communication. In this role Associate Professor Verhoeven is responsible for liaising with professional and industry organisations to promote collaborative research projects; overseeing academic and industry client-based research as well as determining collection policy.

Professional Experience

Associate Professor Verhoeven has a prominent position in the Australian film industry having served on the boards and committees of various national screen culture organizations including the Australian Film Institute (AFI) and Women in Film and Television (WIFT). Verhoeven is currently Deputy Chair of the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA). She is a founding member of the Screen Economics Research Group (SERG) and an executive member of the International Cinema Audiences Research Group (ICARG). She has convened and managed conferences including, 'The Glow in their Eyes': Global perspectives on film cultures, film exhibition and cinemagoing held in Ghent (2007); the 4th International Documentary Conference (1995), the Passionate City Symposium (2004) and the XIIIth Biennial Conference of the Film and History Association of Australia and New Zealand (2006). Between 2000 and 2002 Verhoeven was CEO of the Australian Film Institute.

Deb Verhoeven's high profile as a film history and policy expert ensures that she is regularly consulted for opinion by media outlets including the ABC, The Age, The Australian, and The Financial Review. In the past 5 years she has made more than 100 media appearances as an expert commentator. In 2006 she was awarded the university's overall Media Star award for most media appearances. She is a practising film critic and for many years held a regular slot on 774 ABC Melbourne and Radio National, and was the film critic for the Melbourne Times (1994 to 2000). She is a current member of the Australian Film Critics Association (ACFA), the Federation Internationale de la Presse Cinematographe (FIPRESCI), an accredited member of the AFI and an Honorary Life Member of Women in Film and Television (WIFT).

Media and Publications

Associate Professor Verhoeven has recently completed her book Jane Campion, a study of the industrial significance and marketing of the contemporary auteur published by Routledge in late 2008. With Professor Richard Maltby, Dr. Kate Bowles and Dr. Mike Walsh she is preparing The New Cinema History Guide (Blackwell) an introduction to researching the history of film exhibition and distribution.

Associate Professor Verhoeven has an active role in film-related publishing. She is a Board Member of the widely read film journal Senses of Cinema. She is an Associate Editor for the London based journal Studies in Australasian Cinema, served as an Associate Editor for Framework (1996-2003) and was a long-time Member of the Editorial Board of Metro Magazine (1992-2002). She has been a Referee for Southern Review, Screening the Past, Metro Magazine, Senses of Cinema and a Reader for Melbourne University Press, UQP, and Allen & Unwin. She also sits on the Advisory Board of Meanjin. In 2007 she was guest editor of an issue of Studies in Australasian Cinema specifically devoted to exhibition and distribution histories.

Research Grants

ARC Discovery Grant (with Flinders University, Wollongong University, Australian National University) Mapping the Movies: the changing nature of Australia’s cinema circuitsand their audiences, 1956-1984 (2008-2011)

ARC Discovery Grant (with Flinders University and University of Wollongong), Regional Markets and Local Audiences: Case Studies in Australian Cinema Consumption, 1928–1980 (2005-2007)

ATN Research Challenge Grant Community Networks: Human Communication as a Source of Sustainability in Global Australia (2005)

CUTSD Grant (with Adrian Miles, RMIT), Developing Authentic Research and Writing Skills in Cinema Studies using a Hypermedia Database (1999-2000)

Current Research Projects

The Urban Rivalries Project (with Brian Morris, RMIT)

This project includes The Passionate City Symposium held in August 2004 at RMIT and a resulting publication. It also includes the presentation of a conference paper (with Morris) ‘Performing Urban Rivalry: The cultural politics of first and second cities’ at the Crossroads in Cultural Studies Conference 2004, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, June25-28 2004.

Greek and Italian Cinemas in Melbourne

This is her contribution to the inter-university ARC project on Australian cinema consumption. This study uses a combination of oral histories, archival documentation, demographic data and ethnic media reportage and personal papers, to examine the audience experiences and business practices of the independent Greek and Italian cinema chains that operated in Melbourne from the late 1950s until the late 1970s.

Recent Publications

Books and Edited Collections

Verhoeven, D. (2008) Jane Campion: Contemporary Auteur. London, Routledge

"Twin Peeks - book cover"

Verhoeven, D. (2006) Sheep and the Australian Cinema, Melbourne, MUP

Verhoeven D. and Brian Morris (2004) Proceedings of the Passionate Cities Symposium. Melbourne. RMIT Publishing.

Verhoeven, D. (1999) Editor. Twin Peeks: Australian and New Zealand Cinema. Melbourne, Damned Publishing (pictured, right).

Book Chapters

Verhoeven, D., K. Bowles and C. Arrowsmith (2008) ‘Mapping the movies: reflections on the use of geospatial technologies for historical cinema audience research’ Digital Tools in Film Studies. Bielefeld Transcript, Verlag.

Verhoeven, D. (2005 ) ‘Film and Video’. Media & Communications in Australia vol. 4. G. Turner and S. Cunningham. Sydney, Allen & Unwin.

Verhoeven, D. (2005) ‘A Notional or a National Cinema? The Australian sheep films and the problem of origins’. Credits Rolling! 12th Biennial Conference of the Film and History Association of Australia and New Zealand - Selected Papers, M. Dooley. NFSA, Canberra: 61-71

Verhoeven, D. (1999) ‘When Familiarity Breeds: Ken G. Hall, Disability and the Problem of Origins’. Twin Peeks: Australian and New Zealand Cinema. D. Verhoeven . Melbourne, Damned Publishing.

Verhoeven, D. (2001) ‘Film and Video’. Media & Communications in Australia vol. 3. G. Turner and S. Cunningham. Sydney, Allen & Unwin.

Verhoeven, D. (2000) ‘Telling Stories of the Australian Cinema’. Film in South East Asia: Views from the Region. D. Hanan. SEAPAVA in association with ScreenSound Australia: 216- 242.

Verhoeven, D. (1999) ‘A Scenography of Love’ with Trinh T. Minh-ha. Cinema Interval. New York and London, Routledge

Verhoeven, D. (1997) ‘Putting the Out:Back in the Ocker: The Sexual Terrain of Australian Cinema’. The Bent Lens. C. Jackson. Melbourne, Damned Publishing: 25-32.

Verhoeven, D. (1996) ‘Fragments: French Sheep and Early Melodrama’. Australian and French Connections: A Century of Cinema. C Nettelbeck etal. University of Melbourne, Melbourne: 93-104.

Verhoeven, D. (1995) ‘ “The Film I Would Like to Make”: In Search of a Cinema (1927-1980)’, A Century of Australian Cinema. J. Sabine. Reed Books, Melbourne: 130-153

Verhoeven, D. (1995) ‘Sheep’s Clothing: A Dress in Some Australian Films’, Screening the Past: Aspects of Early Australian Film. K. Berryman. NFSA. Canberra: 151-158

Verhoeven, D. (1994) ‘Untitled’, Boys and Balls. B. Nankervis. Allen & Unwin, Sydney: 119-123

Verhoeven, D. (1993) ‘Biting the Hand that Breeds: The trials of Tracey Wigginton’, Moving Targets: Women, Murder and Representation. H. Birch. Virago, London: 95-126

Refereed articles

Verhoeven D. and Brian Morris (2004) ‘Performing Urban Rivalry’, Proceedings of the Passionate Cities Symposium. Melbourne. RMIT Publishing.

Reports

Verhoeven, D. and R. Edmonson et al. (2004) Cinderella Betrayed: The Shoe Won't Fit. A Response by Archive Forum to the AFC's Stage Two Directions Paper concerning the AFC_ScreenSound Australia Integration. Canberra, Archive Forum.

Verhoeven, D. (2002) SiapaPeduliKebijakan per-FILM-an di Indonesia?: Report to the Indonesia Media Law and Policy Centre. Jakarta, IMLPC.

D. Verhoeven, (1997) Collection Strategies for the Access Library. Report on collection priorities. Melbourne. Commissioned by Cinemedia.

D. Verhoeven, (1996) Feasibility Report on an Asian Film Festival for Melbourne's West. Melbourne. Commissioned by the City of Maribyrnong and Victoria University.

D. Verhoeven, (1994) Biting the Billet: Report to Film Victoria on Revitalising the Victorian Film Industries. Melbourne. Commissioned by Film Victoria.

Refereed Conference Papers

Verhoeven D. and B. Bowery-Ireland (2005) ‘Return on Investment: A Paradigm Shift for Personal Coaching’, Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives: The Second Australian Conference on Evidence-Based Coaching, University of Sydney, October

Selected Conference Presentations and Addresses

D. Verhoeven, (2005) Keynote Address: ‘Thinking nothing of Australian film & television history: Re-evaluating the experience of cinema in the classroom’, Australian Teachers of Media conference, Melbourne, 1-2 December

D. Verhoeven, (2004) ‘A National or a Notional Cinema’ XIIth Biennial Conference of the Film & History Association of Australia and New Zealand, Canberra, 2-5 December

D. Verhoeven with B. Morris (2004) ‘Performing Urban Rivalry’, The Passionate City Symposium, RMIT University, 27 August

D. Verhoeven with B. Morris (2004) ‘Performing Urban Rivalry: the Cultural Politics of First and Second Cities’ Crossroads in Cultural Studies, 5th International Conference, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 25-8 June

D. Verhoeven, (2004) ‘Taking Australian Feature Film Comedies Seriously’ National Screenwriter’s Conference, 3 April

D. Verhoeven, (2004) Invited presentation: ‘Fine and Dandy’, Australian Centre of Contemporary Art, 30 January

D. Verhoeven, (2003) Invited presentation: ‘The Squatter’s Daughter’, ScreenSound and St Kilda Historical Society, Palais Theatre, 13 April,

D. Verhoeven, (2003) Invited presentation: ‘Sheep and Film in Australia’, Nepean Historical Society Annual Meeting, 4 July

D. Verhoeven, (2002) ‘Hollywood Comes to Australia: Lewis Milestone’s Kangaroo and the Marsupial Theory of Australian Cinema’, XIth Biennial Conference of the Film & History Association of Australia and New Zealand.

D. Verhoeven, (2002) ‘Man they Doin’ Em’, International Australian Studies Association: Sharing the Space Conference, Flinders University, July

D. Verhoeven, (2001) Invited presentation: ‘Online Cinema’, 2nd International Summit on Internet and Multimedia, Abu Dhabi

D. Verhoeven, (2000) ‘Continuity and Culture’, Style and Meaning Conference: Textual Analysis, Interpretation, Mise-en-scene. University of Reading, 17-19 March

D. Verhoeven, (2000) ‘Turning Research into Knowledge: Writing Multimedia as a Learning Outcome’ Flexible Learning at RMIT Symposium, RMIT University, February

D. Verhoeven with A. Miles (1999) ‘Digital Issues and Strategies for Screen Education: Project Report’, INFOG Conference, Melbourne, July

D. Verhoeven, (1998) ‘Old Films, New Technologies: Teaching Cinema Studies Research with ‘hyper’ Expectations’ IXth Biennial Conference of the Film & History Association of Australia and New Zealand, Brisbane, November

D. Verhoeven, (1998) ‘Aborigines Fleeced by Ealing Studios?’ IXth Biennial Conference of the Film & History Association of Australia and New Zealand, Brisbane, November

D. Verhoeven, (1998) ‘Melbourne Becomes a Dead City – Again’ Millennial Encounters: Time, Millennia and Futurity, LaTrobe University, 9 October

D. Verhoeven, (1998) ‘Australian Queer Cinema in Theory and Practice’ Mediating Community Conference, Sydney, February

D. Verhoeven, (1994) ‘Thinking like a sheep, acting like a ham: some thoughts on performance and the Australian cinema’

D. Verhoeven, (1994) Australian Film: Into the Next 100 Years: A pre-conference event for the International Association for Mass Communication Research, Faculty of Arts at Victoria University, August 15-16

D. Verhoeven, (1993) ‘Sheep's Clothing; A Dress in Some Australian Films’ Australian and New Zealand Film & History Conference