Colin Burnett
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colinburnett.bsky.social
Colin Burnett
@colinburnett.bsky.social
Program director & assoc. prof. of Film & Media Studies at WashU, assoc. editor of Journal of Cinema & Media Studies (JCMS), author of The Invention of Robert Bresson (2017), finishing up a new book, Serial Bonds: The Shape of 007 Stories.
Pinned
Here's what I've been working on lately--how Bond media tell stories and some current trends in historical poetics!
"A Poetics of the Popular Film Series: How the James Bond Films Tell Continuing Stories Differently." Journal of Narrative Theory 45.1 (Winter 2024): 1-36.
This article challenges the commonly held view that the James Bond film series is episodic in its plot structure, presenting it as an attenuated, "flexi-narrative" form of series constructio...
www.academia.edu
In just over a month I’ll be joining this exceptional group of scholars to discuss Bresson at Yale! If you’re in the vicinity, this is not to be missed. Bookended by L’ARGENT and the brand new DCP of QUATRE NUITS D’UN REVEUR!
October 1, 2025 at 2:19 PM
After the #DenisVilleneuve news—that he’s directing #Bond26 —the Québécois memers got to meming.
June 26, 2025 at 5:30 PM
June 26, 2025 at 12:44 AM
June 9, 2025 at 3:27 AM
WashU's Film & Media Studies Program is hiring! We’re looking for a visiting lecturer in digital media studies. Details and link below. Please share! The deadline for applications is May 30, 2025.

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May 6, 2025 at 4:18 PM
My latest blog! If you want some of the teaching materials I mention in the lecture, don't hesitate to message me!

colinatthemovies.wordpress.com/2025/04/27/v...
Video Lecture: Make Exposition an Experience–How I Teach Soap Opera Storytelling
At WashU, I teach several courses on the topic of storytelling. Just this past semester, I offered a graduate seminar on storytelling in James Bond media. Each fall, my lecture course Introduction …
colinatthemovies.wordpress.com
April 27, 2025 at 1:50 PM
The schedule's out for USC's Hollywood conference! What a great lineup overall. Here's where they've placed us:

Session 7: Friday, July 18th (4:15pm - 6:00pm)

#HWC25 #HWC2025
April 26, 2025 at 9:41 PM
#WashU FMS pride! I'm very proud to see two Film & Media Studies majors, Alex Waters ('14) and Esther Merczynski ('24), featured in the Alumni Activities corner of this month's WashU Magazine. Here's to your continued success, Alex and Esther! #WUSTL
April 13, 2025 at 2:56 PM
#TRON— most successful unsuccessful franchise ever? It just keeps getting a new lease on life. The premise of #TronAres is that life on “the grid" enters OUR world. This idea has long been in TRON graphic novels & theme park attractions—take a look. colinatthemovies.wordpress.com/2023/07/03/w...
World-Telling On (and Off) the Grid: DisneyWorld’s TRON Lightcycle/Run (2023)
“I don’t want the public to see the world they live in while they’re in the Park (Disneyland). I want to feel they’re in another world.”–Walt Disney How do theme parks place us in a fictional…
colinatthemovies.wordpress.com
April 6, 2025 at 2:43 AM
Folks in Chicago for SCMS--especially those with LOTS of stamina! Join us for the very last panel on the entire schedule, Sunday at 4:00pm. We'll make it worth your while! #SCMS #SCMS2025 #SCMS25
April 1, 2025 at 2:28 PM
March 31, 2025 at 2:01 PM
USC's Hollywood conference--here we come! #HWC25
March 26, 2025 at 10:44 PM
My 2nd piece on the current #JamesBond/ #AmazonMGM situation--this time, for @us.theconversation.com. In it, I clarify what has made the 007 franchise distinctive over the years, namely its threaded storytelling, which Amazon may now abandon. theconversation.com/what-amazon-...
us.theconversation.com
March 7, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Here's a short piece I've wrote about the recent #JamesBond news. I clarify what a lot of reporting gets wrong, namely that Amazon MGM does NOT run the entire Bond franchise. I also speculate—why did EON step away? #JamesBond007 #Amazon #AmazonMGM

www.davidbordwell.net/blog/2025/03...
Amazon Doesn’t Own James Bond—Yet: Making Sense of the 007 Franchise. A guest post by Colin Burnett
Kristin here: Students and faculty in the film-studies division of the Department of Communication Arts at the University of Wisconsin-Madison are known for aesthetic analysis of films and historical ...
www.davidbordwell.net
March 4, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Here’s to ya, Mr. Lynch.
January 17, 2025 at 4:04 AM
What explains the row between Amazon/MGM and Eon Productions, the company that owns the James Bond film rights? I've collected my thoughts in a blog post.

colinatthemovies.wordpress.com/2024/12/22/t...
The Amazon-007 Stalemate: Some Historical Context
Over the last few days, I’ve read a lot of commentary on the Amazon/Eon Productions “stalemate,” as the Wall Street Journal has called it. I thought I’d chime in to provide …
colinatthemovies.wordpress.com
December 22, 2024 at 4:32 PM
Gloom, followed by hope.
December 7, 2024 at 6:00 AM
Here's what I've been working on lately--how Bond media tell stories and some current trends in historical poetics!
"A Poetics of the Popular Film Series: How the James Bond Films Tell Continuing Stories Differently." Journal of Narrative Theory 45.1 (Winter 2024): 1-36.
This article challenges the commonly held view that the James Bond film series is episodic in its plot structure, presenting it as an attenuated, "flexi-narrative" form of series constructio...
www.academia.edu
November 12, 2024 at 4:05 PM