Producer-led inquiry: researching your own media production

This article introduces producer-led inquiry as a methodological framework for research involving self-produced media. Defined by two intertwined dualities, in which the researcher is also the producer and the production functions simultaneously as a creative work and empirical material, the framework addresses a question of research design: how can research be organised, documented, and analysed when researchers study their own media production? Building on artistic research, practice as research, practice-based research, and related traditions, we distinguish between three ideal-typical designs defined by when research questions are formulated in relation to production: prospective, when questions precede production; retrospective, when they are formulated in relation to an existing production; and interspective, when they emerge or are substantially reformulated during production. Examples from audiovisual design, autoethnography, sound studies, and music production illustrate the methodological conditions associated with each design. Particular attention is given to autonomy, reflexivity, proximity and distance, delimitation, and documentation practices such as logbooks. The three designs are presented as a flexible methodological toolkit for students, supervisors, and researchers working with self-produced media as empirical material for scholarly analysis.