Talks by Mike Van Esler
Screen policies are necessarily conceived in line with the historical and political specificities... more Screen policies are necessarily conceived in line with the historical and political specificities of the country or region in which they are devised . Deciding what projects should be supported, how and why is always predicated on the political orientation of specific governments. This panel is part of the current research project of the French academic association CinEcoSA (cinecosa.com), which organized two conferences in Paris in 2013 and 2014 dedicated to film and television policies. In order to further explore the complex and fascinating issues that arose during these conferences, two CinEcoSA members are proposing panels for the 2016 SCMS conference. (The panel ‘‘Screen Policies: Confronting and Responding to International Challenges and Developments’’ is submitted by Julia Hammett-Jamart). The present panel is dedicated to the intermingling of politics and screen policies in the name of national interest. The idea of national interest can be understood severally in terms of culture (defending a country’s identity), politics (advancing a government’s foreign policy/national security agenda) and economy (developing a profitable economic sector). While the film and television industry can try and align the State’s interest with its own, it is also often used by the State to further different political and economic objectives. This panel explores the reasons behind certain policies, the diverse objectives pursued, as wellas the discursive battles fought. It proposes four papers, over different media and continents. Van Esler deconstructs the MPAA’s rhetorical imbrication of its intellectual property objectives within national security issues. Brassard explores the manner in which Russia’s state-run television programs are used to rebuild national pride. Kowalik & Meers analyze the evolution of South Africa’s film policies from nation-building objectives to economic ones. Leotta shows the recent development of film policies in the United Arab Emirates as part of a larger governmental plan to ensure economic growth and visibility. In proposing these two screen policy panels to SCMS, CinEcoSA hopes to advance the work of early- and late-career researchers from around the world and to enrich global academic debate about this important area of cinema and media studies.
Published Papers by Mike Van Esler
Television as a medium is in transition. From DVRs, to Netflix, to HBO Now, consumers have never ... more Television as a medium is in transition. From DVRs, to Netflix, to HBO Now, consumers have never before had such control over how they consume televisual content. The rapid changes to the medium have led to rhetoric heralding the impending " post-TV era. " Looking at the ways that legacy television companies have adapted to new technologies and cultural practices suggests that rather than traditional television going the way of radio, television as a medium is actually not terribly different, at least not enough to conclude that we have entered a new era. Press releases, discursive practices by the news media, corporate structures and investments, and audience research all point to the rhetoric of post-TV as being overblown. By thinking about contemporary television as being in transition, greater emphasis and attention can be placed on the role that major media conglomerates play in developing, funding, and legitimizing new forms of television distribution, in addition to co-opting disruptive technologies and business models while hindering others.
Papers by Mike Van Esler
Media industries, Oct 10, 2018
Media industries, Oct 10, 2018
Journal of Film and Video, Apr 1, 2023
Television & New Media, May 20, 2020
Industrial discourses surrounding subscription video on demand (SVOD) services are deeply embedde... more Industrial discourses surrounding subscription video on demand (SVOD) services are deeply embedded in the rhetoric of viewer choice and control. However, these discourses are often misleading, with viewers given only nominal amounts of agency in their viewing experience, most often circumscribed by the limited affordances of the service's interface. This article takes online TV interfaces as its object of study and interrogates to what ends SVODs use them. In particular, it examines how the interface can operate as a part of an SVOD's larger branding campaign. Using Netflix as a case study, the article argues that the interface is discursively positioned as empowering viewers to easily find what they want to watch, yet the actual operation and affordances of the interface significantly delimit viewer agency. Instead, the interface works to guide viewers to Netflix original content to strengthen the core brand values of abundance, personalization, and exclusivity.
Journal of Film & Video
Media and Communication, 2016
Television as a medium is in transition. From DVRs, to Netflix, to HBO Now, consumers have never ... more Television as a medium is in transition. From DVRs, to Netflix, to HBO Now, consumers have never before had such control over how they consume televisual content. The rapid changes to the medium have led to rhetoric heralding the impending “post-TV era.” Looking at the ways that legacy television companies have adapted to new technologies and cultural practices suggests that rather than traditional television going the way of radio, television as a medium is actually not terribly different, at least not enough to conclude that we have entered a new era. Press releases, discursive practices by the news media, corporate structures and investments, and audience research all point to the rhetoric of post-TV as being overblown. By thinking about contemporary television as being in transition, greater emphasis and attention can be placed on the role that major media conglomerates play in developing, funding, and legitimizing new forms of television distribution, in addition to co-opting d...
Television & New Media
Industrial discourses surrounding subscription video on demand (SVOD) services are deeply embedde... more Industrial discourses surrounding subscription video on demand (SVOD) services are deeply embedded in the rhetoric of viewer choice and control. However, these discourses are often misleading, with viewers given only nominal amounts of agency in their viewing experience, most often circumscribed by the limited affordances of the service’s interface. This article takes online TV interfaces as its object of study and interrogates to what ends SVODs use them. In particular, it examines how the interface can operate as a part of an SVOD’s larger branding campaign. Using Netflix as a case study, the article argues that the interface is discursively positioned as empowering viewers to easily find what they want to watch, yet the actual operation and affordances of the interface significantly delimit viewer agency. Instead, the interface works to guide viewers to Netflix original content to strengthen the core brand values of abundance, personalization, and exclusivity.
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Talks by Mike Van Esler
Published Papers by Mike Van Esler
Papers by Mike Van Esler