My research emphasizes historical, economic and cultural constructs in which media occurs. I focus primarily on audiovisual media, analyzing the convergence of film, television and online media to underscore the evolution of independent film and media. I also focus on gender and intersectionality, with additional emphasis on place and border culture.
Following one of my research trajectories of international media considerations, my co-edited book project, Independent Filmmaking Around the Globe, is a comparative exploration of film production on five continents, with chapters that examine film in Malaysia, Australia, China, Turkey, Arctic Canada, various regions of Africa and elsewhere. My own chapter in this book focuses on filmmaking in Iraq, which is just beginning to reemerge after a lengthy period of near-nonexistence.
An overarching theme in my research is regionalism, focusing on the Pacific Northwest as a site for media production. In my dissertation, Independent Film in the Pacific Northwest: A Critical Analysis of Regional Filmmaking, I discovered how independent filmmakers bridge themselves across industries (e.g., film, television, internet, and advertising) and technologies to create a rich and diverse landscape of audiovisual production in the filmmaking communities in Portland and Seattle. These dynamics are keys to understanding the lived experiences of media workers across the country.
In 2012, I was awarded the James W. Scott Research Fellowship from the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies at Western Washington University, which enabled me to conduct archival research on KVOS. This case study presents a unique view into the operations of a regional media producer that aimed its broadcasts to a cross-border audience (both northwest Washington and southwest British Columbia) and was subject to intense economic and cultural scrutiny precisely because of that targeting. I gave a public lecture on this subject at WWU in September 2013 entitled, “Bordering an Industry: KVOS-TV and Canawest Film Productions in the Pacific Northwest.” This theme of cross-border cultural and economic dynamics were previously explored in a co-edited book, Cross-border Cultural Production: Economic Runaway or Globalization?, which I published with Janet Wasko at Cambria Press (2008).
I have published a number of articles in both peer-reviewed and invited journals, including The Journal of Intercultural Communication Research, The International Journal of Cultural Policy, Film History and In Media Res.
Excerpt from a review of The YouTube Reader, published in Participations: Journal of Audience and Reception Studies, in which my chapter (co-authored with Janet Wasko) is specifically mentioned.
Mary Erickson 