Supervisors: Dr. Yannis Tzioumakis, Dr. Sarah Thomas, Dr. Cat Mahoney
Contact: m.bosica@liverpool.ac.uk
Research topic
My project seeks to examine a cycle of American films from the 1980s that I refer to as ‘sleeper hits.’ The term is appropriated here from entertainment industry discourse where it refers to a small category of films that find significant commercial success at the theatrical box office over an extended period of time as opposed to most films that tend to receive the lion’s share of their revenue during the first few weeks of their release. ‘Sleeper hits’ will be used to account for a similar phenomenon that marked the US cable television and home video industries of the 1980s.
During that time numerous small-scale films proved to be significant successes at these ‘ancillary’ markets, despite having an unremarkable commercial performance at the US theatres. In examining this phenomenon, the project will analyse the programming strategies of major cable broadcasters and distribution practices of home video companies that carried these films; will examine how the home viewing environment encouraged engagement with titles that often lacked the commercial elements of major Hollywood productions; and will investigate the nature of the relationship audiences built with these films.
Contrary to existing accounts that have labelled such films as ‘cult’, I will use the term ‘sleeper hits’ as a conceptual-critical tool that will describe a specific mode of film engagement in the home that was also often gender-determined, while also accounting for the significant success the films found through ancillary exhibition technologies in the context of 1980s American cinema. Finally, I will end the project by examining whether ‘sleeper hits’ have found their way in the programming of major streaming services in the 2020s, both by surveying how streaming services have been engaging with this particular canon of 1980s American cinema and by investigating more contemporary iterations of the sleeper hit phenomenon.
Research areas
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American Cinema in the 1980s |
Cinephilia |
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Sleeper Hits |
Cult Film |
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Cable Television |
Mid-Level/Mid-Budget Films |
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Home Video |
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Streaming |
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Academic achievements
Member of BAFTTS, SCMS, published in peer reviewed St Andrews Film Journal 2021 Frames https://framescinemajournal.com/, which is also available on ResearchGate
Teaching experience
Taught English as a second language to business personnel and students at Berlitz Language School, Berlin (Steglitz) from 2001-2004.