Personal profile
Overview
I am Reader in Film Heritage Practice, and Head of Post-Production for the Film and Television degrees in the School of Creative Arts, where I am also the Programme Leader for the Post-Graduate Film Production programme - comprising the MA Film Production, MA Screenwriting and MA Editing and Post-Production degrees.
My area of teaching specialism is in editing, archiving and workflow, colour correction and grading, motion graphics, encoding and finishing. For my teaching I won the 2011 Vice-Chancellor's Award for Tutor of the Year and came Highly Commended in the area of Excellence in Partnerships with Others in 2013.
My research interests are film and TV heritage, the production methodolgies and working practices of Elstree and Borehamwood's film studios, and the work of Stanley Kubrick in Hertfordshire. I am a consultant to the Kubrick Estate and Warner Bros, and official historian of Elstree Studios.
In 2024 I completed a new documentary film with acclaimed film editor Walter Murch, to document the use and craft of the Moviola film editing machine. Her Name Was Moviola was screened in festivals around the world, and received an ACE Eddie nomination and won an RTS Craft award for Editing.
Research interests
My main interests lie in local film history, specifically the history of the various studios in Elstree and Borehamwood. The first studio to be founded in the region was Neptune Studios in 1914, which is now BBC Elstree and continues to be used for the production of primetime television including EastEnders.
I am passionate about British television and film production, particularly during the period between the 1960s and the 1980s, with a keen passion for the broadcast output of ATV and ITC Entertainment - both headed by Lew Grade (later Lord Grade, Baron Grade of Elstree).
As a result of these interests I have formed a large oral history project to document, archive and share the stories behind the various studios of Elstree and Borehamwood. This is called The Elstree Project. To date over 70 interviews have been recorded and archived, and the work has been broadcast via BBC Radio and also through public events (The Elstree Project Launch, The Elstree Film Season).
Out of the interviews recorded, I have been able to publish extracts, but also cut a new 55-minute long documentary about the making of The Shining, entitled Staircases to Nowhere: Making Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining". The film has been seen in over 180 territories worldwide and has over 250,000 hits online. The BFI described it as "like being on set with Stanley Kubrick". Both the Kubrick estate and Warner Bros have endorsed it.
Education/Academic qualification
Learning and Teaching, PG Cert HE, University of Hertfordshire
Award Date: 15 Jul 2022
Avid Media Composer, Avid Certified Instructor
Award Date: 25 Sept 2015
Digital Practices, Master of Arts, University of Hertfordshire
1 Sept 2004 → 31 Aug 2005
Award Date: 1 Sept 2005
Design and Interactive Media, BA (Hons), HEI: The University of Gloucestershire
1 Sept 2001 → 30 Apr 2004
Award Date: 31 Jul 2004
External positions
Elstree Centenary Board Member, Hertsmere Borough Council
31 Jul 2025 → …
Official Historian, Elstree Studios
1 Jan 2023 → …
Validation Panel Member, HEI: London South Bank University
29 Mar 2017
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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Surviving The Shining: Or "This Guy Should Be Sued!" - How The Shining was filmed at Elstree
Berry, H., 12 May 2016.Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
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From Borehamwood to Hollywood: The Rise and Fall and Rise of Elstree: A centenary of filmmaking and television production in the studios of Elstree and Borehamwood
Berry, H. (Photographer), 4 Oct 2014Research output: Non-textual form › Digital or Visual Products
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Filmed Across the World, Made at Elstree: How television made at Elstree in the 1960s and 70s brought a global experience to the small screen
Berry, H., 19 Sept 2013, p. 1-6. 6 p.Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
Open AccessFile450 Downloads (Pure) -
Extended Staircases to Nowhere: Making Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining"
Berry, H. W. (Producer) & The Elstree Project, 10 May 2013Research output: Non-textual form › Digital or Visual Products
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From Splices to Shortcuts: What Digital Editors Can Learn from Mechanical Film Techniques
Berry, H., 2026, (Submitted) Teaching & Learning Audiovisual Editing in the 21st Century. Mourao, M. D., Zhou, D., Readman, M., Naik, P. & Ruszev, S. (eds.). 1 ed. CILECT Press, Vol. 1. 11 p. (The 21st Century Film School).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (peer-reviewed) › peer-review