On Monday 12 May, and as part of a formal event on what turned out to be the warmest day of the year, the School of the Arts had the pleasure of officially welcoming Yannis Tzioumakis as its newest Professor! As it is tradition, new Professors in the School are invited to give an inaugural lecture that tends to focus on their research and outlines their future plans and research priorities.
Professor Tzioumakis happily accepted the invitation, and in the beautifully decorated Library of the School he gave his inaugural lecture with the title ‘Indie or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying about Independence and Love the Mainstream’.
The talk gave Professor Tzioumakis an opportunity to revisit, reassess and reflect on a body of work on American independent cinema he produced during a two-decade period, which was featured in several of his books, including: American Independent Cinema: An Introduction (2006; second edition 2017); Hollywood’s Indies: Specialty Film Labels and the American Film Market (2012); Acting Indie: Industry, Aesthetics Performance (2020); and Indie TV: Industry, Aesthetics and Medium Specificity (2023).
The event attracted a large crowd that filled the room to capacity. It included Professor Tzioumakis’ current and former colleagues, former teachers, mentors, friends and family members as well as many of his current and former students. The Dean of the School of the Arts, Professor Peter Buse introduced Professor Tzioumakis and his achievements before the lecture while the event closed with a drink’s reception.
The School wishes to congratulate its newest Professor and wish him best of luck in the next chapter of his career at the University of Liverpool.
Yannis Tzioumakis, Professor of Film and Media Industries, is a member of the Department of Communication and Media, one of the five departments in the School of the Arts.
Slideshow of Yannis with guests in the SotA library