Kathleen Dooley

Research Interests

Creative Arts Creative Arts, Media and Communication Curriculum and Pedagogy Film and Television Screen and digital media Virtual and mixed reality

APrf Kathleen Dooley

Associate Professor

School of Communication, Media and Journalism

College of Creative Arts, Design and Humanities

Kath Dooley is a filmmaker and academic at UniSA Creative. Her work as a writer-director has garnered international recognition, screening at events including the Busan International Short Film Festival and FIVARS Toronto. She currently serves on the Executive and Research Subcommittee of the Australian Screen Production, Education and Research Association (ASPERA).
A leading scholar in virtual reality and screen production, Dooley has authored several books and journal articles, including "Virtual Reality Narratives: Embodied Encounters in Space" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024) and "Cinematic Virtual Reality: A Critical Study of 21st Century Approaches and Practices" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2021). She has also co-edited "Screenwriting for Virtual Reality" (2024) and "The Palgrave Handbook of Screen Production" (2019).
In terms of her significant leadership experience in screen production education, Dooley has served as a Discipline Lead and Head of Department, while maintaining active roles as an educator and consultant. Her research focuses on screen production methodology for traditional and immersive media, screenwriting, women's screen practice, and advancing diversity in screen industries.

Recent Books, Book Chapters and Journal Articles

Dooley, K. 2021. Cinematic Virtual Reality: A Critical Study of 21st Century Approaches and Practices. Springer Nature.

Dooley, K. and Erhart, J., 2021. Narrating women workers’ perceptions of sexism and change in the Australian screen postproduction sector before and after# MeToo. Feminist Media Studies, pp.1-17.

Dooley, K., 2021. Crafting immersive experiences: A case study of the development of three short narrative cinematic virtual reality (CVR) projects. In Taylor, S. and C. Batty. eds. The Palgrave Handbook of Script Development (pp. 503-515). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.

Dooley, K., 2020. A question of proximity: Exploring a new screen grammar for 360-degree cinematic virtual reality. Media Practice and Education, 21(2), pp.81-96.

Batty, C., M. Berry, K. Dooley, B. Frankham, and S. Kerrigan. ed. 2019. The Palgrave Handbook of Screen Production. Springer Nature.

Recent Creative Works

Ely-Harper, K., and K. Dooley. 2021. "No Bus." Short film.

Dooley, K. 2020. "Impact: Beyond the Night Sky." VR experience.

Language Competency
English Can read, write, speak, understand spoken and peer review

Date Institution name Country Title
2010 - 2013 Flinders University Australia PhD
1998 - 2000 Flinders University Australia Bachelor of Arts (Hons)
1994 - 1997 The University of South Australia Australia Bachelor of Education

Year Citation
2025 Barnett, T., Erhart, J., & Dooley, K. (2025). Virtually inclusive: the promises and experiences of women and gender diverse people in virtual production workplaces. Journal of Sociology, online(3), 1-16.
DOI
2024 Dooley, K., Aquilia, P., Berry, M., Frankham, B., Hart, P., & Verdon, J. (2024). Exploring the continuing effects of COVID-19 on tertiary screen production education in Australia. Media Practice and Education, 26(2), 1-18.
DOI
2024 Dooley, K., Peng, F., Neville, S., & McKibbin, J. (2024). Mind the gap: a scoping review of skills gaps for graduates in the creative industries. Arts And Humanities In Higher Education, 23(4), 330-349.
DOI Scopus1
2023 Turina, R., & Dooley, K. (2023). Editorial - Journal of Screenwriting. Journal of Screenwriting, 14(3), 223-227.
DOI
2023 Dooley, K. (2023). Conceptualizing and developing narrative-based virtual reality experiences: A review of disciplinary frameworks and approaches to research. Journal of Screenwriting, 14(3), 229-249.
DOI
2023 Dooley, K., & Erhart, J. (2023). Narrating women workers' perceptions of sexism and change in the Australian screen postproduction sector before and after #MeToo. Feminist Media Studies, 23(2), 671-687.
DOI
2022 Erhart, J., & Dooley, K. (2022). 'Post goblins' and 'preditors': identities, experiences, and contributions of women in Australian screen postproduction and visual effects sectors 2020/2021. Studies in Australasian Cinema, 16(1), 17-34.
DOI
2022 Dooley, K., McHugh, M., Berry, M., Batty, C., & Verdon, J. (2022). Approaches to gender diversity behind the camera in Australian student screen productions. Alphaville: Journal of Film and Screen Media, (24), 118-131.
DOI
2022 Dooley, K., & Emery, S. (2022). Creating screen stories with game engines: challenges and opportunities for students and researchers working collaboratively across disciplines. Media Practice and Education, 24(1), 21-34.
DOI
2022 Dooley, K. (2022). Precious time: family life and togetherness in Sari Braithwaite's Because We Have Each Other. Metro, (214), 52-55.
2021 Dooley, K. (2021). One final bow: an actor reflects in Molly Reynold's My Name is Gulpilil. Metro, (209), 56-59.
2020 Dooley, K. (2020). A question of proximity: exploring a new screen grammar for 360-degree cinematic virtual reality. Media Practice and Education, 21(2), 81-96.
DOI
2020 Dooley, K., Bender, S., Ferris, G., Frankham, B., Munt, A., & Schleser, M. (2020). Immersive media practices in the classroom: models of the teaching research nexus in an Australian context. Media Practice and Education, 21(4), 241-260.
DOI
2019 Dooley, K. (2019). 'C'etait moi mais ce n'etait pas moi': portrayal of the disabled body in Catherine Breillat's Abus de faiblesse (2013). Studies in French Cinema, 19(2), 150-164.
DOI
2019 Dooley, K. (2019). Wide open road: freedom and facade in The Meaning of Vanlife. Screen Education, (96), 66-71.
2018 Dooley, K. (2018). Scripting the virtual: formats and development paths for recent Australian narrative 360-degree virtual reality projects. Journal of Screenwriting, 9(2), 175-189.
DOI
2018 Dooley, K. (2018). Virtual reality: moving beyond a cinema of attractions. Screen Education, (88), 96-103.
2017 Dooley, K. (2017). Nurtured by nature: reconnection and respite in all the time in the world. Screen Education, (85), 36-41.
2017 Dooley, K., & Sexton Finck, L. (2017). A focus on collaboration: fostering Australian screen production students' teamwork skills. Journal of Teaching and Learning for Graduate Employability, 8(1), 74-105.
DOI
2017 Dooley, K. (2017). Storytelling with virtual reality in 360-degrees: a new screen grammar. Studies in Australasian Cinema, 11(3), 161-171.
DOI
2017 Dooley, K. (2017). Digital 'underwriting': a script development technique in the age of media convergence. Journal of Screenwriting, 8(3), 287-302.
DOI
2016 Dooley, K. (2016). Screenwriting the body in Fireflies: an analysis of the devising and writing process. Journal of Writing in Creative Practice, 9(1-2), 127-147.
DOI
2015 Dooley, K. (2015). Haptic visions of unstable bodies in the work of Claire Denis. Continuum: journal of media & cultural studies, 29(3), 434-444.
DOI

Year Citation
2025 Erhart, J., Dooley, K., & Barnett, T. (2025). The role of educational environments in influencing the experience of women and gender diverse people in the virtual production sector. In T. Barnett (Ed.), Source details - Title: Beyond Virtual Production: Integrating Production Technologies (pp. 140-150). US: Routledge.
DOI
2025 Erhart, J., Dooley, K., & Barnett, T. (2025). Lost in the Virtual Abyss: Female Participation and Experience in Virtual Production Industry and Educational Contexts in Australia. In S. Mitchell (Ed.), Source details - Title: The screens of virtual production what is real? (pp. 255-268). UK: Routledge.
DOI
2024 Dooley, K., & Munt, A. (2024). Screenwriting for virtual reality: future directions. In K. Dooley, & A. Munt (Eds.), Source details - Title: Screenwriting for Virtual Reality: Story, Space and Experience (pp. 305-313). Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan.
DOI
2024 Dooley, K., & Munt, A. (2024). An introduction to screenwriting for virtual reality. In K. Dooley, & A. Munt (Eds.), Source details - Title: Screenwriting for Virtual Reality: Story, Space and Experience (pp. 1-26). Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan.
DOI
2024 Dooley, K. (2024). Writing as design: the future of houses, a transformative single-player VR experience. In K. Dooley, & A. Munt (Eds.), Source details - Title: Screenwriting for Virtual Reality: Story, Space and Experience (pp. 129-154). Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan.
DOI
2024 Dooley, K. (2024). A case study of VR story development: fire escape (2019). In K. Dooley, & A. Munt (Eds.), Source details - Title: Screenwriting for Virtual Reality: Story, Space and Experience (pp. 179-204). Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan.
DOI
2023 Erhart, J., & Dooley, K. (2023). Double trouble? Charting the experiences of Australian women picture editors over age 50. In S. Liddy (Ed.), Source details - Title: Women, Ageing and the Screen Industries: Falling off a Cliff? (pp. 19-39). Switzerland: Springer.
DOI
2023 Dooley, K. (2023). Exploring viewer positioning and attention cues in a cinematic virtual reality documentary: a creative research project. In C. Rogers, K. Munro, L. Burke, & C. Brady (Eds.), Source details - Title: Constructions of the Real: Intersections of Documentary-Based Film Practice and Theory (pp. 246-257). UK: Intellect.
DOI
2023 Dooley, K. (2023). Traversing space in The Under Presents (2019), a VR Game. In L. Holloway-Attaway, & J. Murray (Eds.), Event/exhibition information: 16th International Conference on Interactive Digital Storytelling, ICIDS 2023, Kobe, 11/11/2023-15/11/2023
Source details - Title: Interactive Storytelling (pp. 442-453). Switzerland: Springer.
DOI
2021 Dooley, K. (2021). Crafting immersive experiences: a case study of the development of three short narrative cinematic virtual reality (CVR) projects. In S. Taylor, & C. Batty (Eds.), Source details - Title: The Palgrave Handbook of Script Development (pp. 503-515). Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan.
DOI
2019 Dooley, K. (2019). Teaching screen arts in Australia: challenges, opportunities and current trends. In C. Batty (Ed.), Source details - Title: The Palgrave Handbook of Screen Production (pp. 427-441). Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan.
DOI
2019 Dooley, K. (2019). Navigating the mind/body divide: the female cannibal in French films Grave (Raw, 2016), Dans ma peau (In My Skin, 2002), and Trouble Every Day (2001). In S. Holland, R. Shail, & S. Gerrard (Eds.), Source details - Title: Gender and Contemporary Horror in Film (pp. 53-66). UK: Emerald Publishing.
DOI
2019 Dooley, K. (2019). Writing bodies: developing and scripting an embodied feature film screenplay. In Source details - Title: The Palgrave Handbook of Screen Production (Vol. 10, pp. 131-144). Germany: Palgrave Macmillan.
DOI
2017 Murray, V., & Dooley, K. (2017). 52 Tuesdays: community filmmaking in a global context. In S. Malik, C. Chapain, & R. Comunian (Eds.), Source details - Title: Community Filmmaking: Diversity, Practices and Places (pp. 83-97). US: Routledge.
DOI
2015 Dooley, K. (2015). Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923) [Henriette-Rosine Bernard] the first modern celebrity. In M. Abecassis, & M. Block (Eds.), Source details - Title: French Cinema in Close up: La Vie d’un acteur pour moi (pp. 52-54). UK: Phaeton Publishing.
2015 Conway, K., Dooley, K., Harrod, M., Hayward, S., Martin, F., Selbo, J., . . . Von Kassel Siambani, E. (2015). France. In J. Nelmes, & J. Selbo (Eds.), Source details - Title: Women Screenwriters: An International Guide (pp. 311-362). UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
DOI

  • The Lost Twin, History Trust of South Australia, 01/11/2025 - 30/11/2026

  • Skills SA: Building Capability Projects Skills Gaps in the Advertising and Design Sector, SA Minister for Education, Training and Skills, 28/07/2022 - 01/05/2023

Date Role Membership Country
2025 - ongoing President The Australian Screen Production, Education and Research Association -
2022 - ongoing Member The Mercury -
2012 - ongoing Member Screenwriting Research Network -

Date Office Name Institution Country
2024 - ongoing Senior Research Affiliate, Expanded Humanities lab University of Hong Kong China

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