Mark Thomas

Mark Thomas is a Senior Lecturer in Filmmaking at the School of Digital Arts (SODA), Manchester Metropolitan University. He co-founded Soup Collective in 1999, balancing roles as an independent filmmaker and creative director. His work spans music videos for artists like Elbow, documentaries, and large-scale AV installations for institutions such as the Science Museum and Imperial War Museum North. His research explores film as a medium for cultural narratives, heritage engagement, and emerging technologies like Web3.

Key projects include Personal Museums (2014), an interactive installation at the National Football Museum, and the 2025 films Cooling Down (exploring post-industrial landscapes) and Permissible Beauty (centering Black Queer identity). He contributed to The Everyday in Visual Culture (Routledge, 2022), analyzing heritage villages through film. Collaborations with Soup Collective emphasize experimental formats, including mixed-reality and immersive installations.

Thomas’s work has screened at venues like the NFT and SFMOMA. His current projects bridge art, technology, and societal issues, reflecting his commitment to expanding film’s role in cultural discourse.