Staff Profile
Michael Morgan
- Lecturer
Michael Morgan
- Lecturer
-
Before joining Buckinghamshire New University in 2025, I was working in the USA as an instructor of acting at film and drama schools, including the New York Film Academy and the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts, as well as a lecturer at liberal arts and research universities, while working as a director of independent film projects. I have worked as an instructor of acting at various international film schools, including the European Film College in Denmark, where I was nominated for the CILECT International Association of Film and Television Schools Teaching Award. Additionally, I have also worked as an acting coach and script consultant on films that were screened and/or awarded at international film festivals. Previously, I worked in Japan and Hong Kong as a teacher and director for applied theatre and drama education companies. This international experience has contributed to my intercultural and interdisciplinary approach to my work across teaching, research, and production. Beyond my own professional practice, the most rewarding aspect of my career is watching current and former students perform on stages and screens screens—big and small—around the world.
-
I studied for my BA (Hons) in Film and Television Production at the University of Westminster and my MA in Actor Training and Coaching at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, University of London. I am currently completing my PhD in Film/Drama Practice as Research at the University of Kent.
-
My specialist area of interest in screen performance focuses on embodied acting and collaborative filmmaking. These inform both my pedagogical research in actor training and my artistic practice in film directing. I am particularly fascinated by the collaborative relationship between the actor, the camera, and the filmmaker in production, which I believe is fundamental for the creation of any screen performance.
-
I am a member of the Theatre and Performance Research Association (TAPRA) and British Association of Film, Television and Screen Studies (BAFTSS). I regularly present papers, facilitate workshops and screen films at international festivals and conferences, most recently at the International Network for Experimental Fiction Filmmaking (INEFF) Festival and Conference.
-
I am currently working on an ongoing practice-based research project titled Intimate Cinema, which involves developing a method of collaboration between directors and actors for training and filmmaking. This project is being undertaken with the participation of actors associated with experimental theatre companies such as Mabou Mines, in laboratory performance workshops supported by arts organisations including the Center for Performance Research (CPRNYC). The resulting experimental film productions are screened at festivals and conferences.