Overview: Dr Murat Akser is a Senior Lecturer in Screen Production and a former Director of Partnerships and Development for the School of Communication and Media at Ulster University. He teaches and researches screen production, cinema and media studies, screenwriting, film education, creative industries, and global film cultures. His academic and creative work brings together film practice, media history, political communication, cultural memory, and the changing conditions of screen storytelling in contemporary media industries.

Life before Ulster: Before joining Ulster University, Dr Akser held senior academic and leadership roles in cinema and media studies in Turkey and Canada. He was Professor of Cinema and Media Studies, Chair of the New Media Department, and founding Director of the MA in Cinema and Television at Kadir Has University in Istanbul. He has also taught at a range of higher education institutions including Boğaziçi University, York University, Toronto Metropolitan University, the University of Toronto, Kadir Has University and Ulster University.

Dr Akser received his MA in Film and his PhD in Communication and Culture from York University, Canada. Alongside his academic career, he has worked as a filmmaker in Toronto and Northern Ireland, with experience as a cinematographer, editor, screenwriter and director. His award-winning short film The Gift won Best International Dramatic Short Film at the Dublin Silk Road International Film Festival and was presented at the Cannes Short Film Corner. He is a BAFTA Connect member and has professional links with screen industry organisations in Canada, Ireland, the UK and Europe.

Teaching: Dr Akser teaches across screen production, screenwriting, film and television, media practice, creative industries, and research-led production. His teaching connects critical analysis with professional practice, encouraging students to understand screen storytelling as both a creative craft and a cultural practice. He has taught and led modules in screenwriting, short film production, industrial placement, media production, film studies, and postgraduate film and television practice.

His pedagogical approach is grounded in active learning, reflective practice, constructive alignment and industry-facing education. He encourages students to develop their own creative voice while gaining practical experience in pitching, scripting, production planning, collaboration, festival strategy, employability and professional communication. He has developed teaching around sustainability in screen production, virtual production, AI and storytelling, and the use of professional screenwriting tools and workflows.

Dr Akser has held a range of educational leadership roles, including course directorships and programme development responsibilities, and continues to support students through supervision, placement coordination, enterprise activity and links with the screen industries.

Research: Dr Akser’s research focuses on cinema and media industries, screen storytelling, film genre, independent cinema, alternative media, political communication, cultural memory, and the relationship between technology and creative practice. His work has a particular emphasis on Turkish cinema and media, Global South screen cultures, film education, AI and creative labour, platformisation, and the politics of representation.

He is the author of New Cinema, New Media: Reinventing Turkish Cinema and co-editor of Alternative Media in Contemporary Turkey. His recent and ongoing research examines film and media education leadership, AI and storytelling in the creative industries, Turkish streaming cultures, vertical cinema, media policy, and the role of cinema in memory, trauma and democratic public culture.

Dr Akser is Editor-in-Chief of CINEJ Cinema Journal and has contributed to international scholarly networks through editorial, advisory and executive roles. He welcomes PhD applications in areas including screen production, screenwriting, Turkish and Middle Eastern cinemas, media industries, alternative media, AI and creative industries, film education, and practice-based film research.

Civic: Dr Akser’s civic and professional activity links the university with film, media, cultural and community networks locally and internationally. He has contributed to partnerships with film festivals, screen agencies, professional guilds, universities and community organisations, and he is active in developing opportunities for students to connect with industry-facing and socially engaged screen practice.

Within Ulster University, Dr Akser has contributed to school leadership, curriculum development, student placement activity, internationalisation, widening participation and equality initiatives. Externally, he has served in leadership and advisory roles in international communication and film studies networks, including the European Communication Research and Education Association, and continues to support academic publishing, film education and creative practice through editorial work, peer review, mentoring and collaboration.

Murat's research focuses on independent filmmaking practices, particularly new cinemas like Dogme, American independent cinema and New Turkish cinema. He also studies film genre writing and intertextuality.  His most recent work examines film parody, Turkish indie filmmaking practices and alternative media production. Dr. Akser is a member of these scholarly associations:

Society for Cinema and Media Studies (SCMS) / Network for European Cinema Studies (NECS) / European Communication Research Association (ECREA) / International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) / International Communication Association (ICA)

Recent PhD supervision (Completed):

• John Deery: Alternative Paradigm for Mental Health in Film
• Hamideh Javadi: Feminist Diasporic Video Art in the Middle East
• Kevin Gaffney: Queer Filmmaking: Search for a new homonormativity.

Murat currently supervises the following PhD projects:

• Lorna Allen: Shudder and Transnational Horror Audiences
• Lin Zhang: Post-2001 Women Directors in Chinese Cinema
• Cem Koc: Producing Archive and Cultural Memory: Kurdish Documentary Cinema

Murat currently teaches the following modules:

Screenwriting; The Short Film.

Murat previously taught the following modules:

Writing TV Drama; Web Series; Visual Storytelling; Independent Film, World Cinemas, Introduction to Film Art; Dramatic Short; Feature Screenwriting; Editing; Introduction to Filmmaking; Theories of Media and Communication; Film, Television and Society.