|
Abstract:
|
The local language production strategy (LLP ) emerged in the early 1990s and developed into a key practice for major media corporations operating in Latin America , Europe , and Asia . This dissertation analyzes where Sony’s international production strategies intersect transformations in the Brazilian and Spanish film industries during the mid -1990s to 2010 . The LLP strategy , widely perceived as a corporate product of globalization and market power of Sony , is simultaneously viewed as a culturally specific media product intended for local Portuguese or Spanish -language audiences using national tax incentive policies and talent . This project provides a multi -layered history of Sony’s trans /national practices , Latin American and European regional industries , Brazilian and Spanish national policies and conditions , and the creative agency and power of local film production companies . Adapted from Timothy Havens , Amanda D . Lotz , and Serra Tinic’s critical media industry studies approach and Paul du Gay’s “circuit of culture ,” I conducted archival research and on -site field interviews in Rio de Janeiro , São Paulo , Madrid , and Brussels with local producers , distributors , policymakers , lobbyists , and Sony executives . The study is grounded equally in box office data , co -production financing specifics , and cultural policy as well as first -hand accounts and industry discourse . Instead of labeling the LLP another all -powerful strategy of Global Hollywood , I explore the everyday practices , power relations , and complex negotiations involved in local and national agents working alongside large transnational media company to produce commercial films like Chico Xavier (2010 ) or Salir Pitando (2007 ) . Sony’s local operations have to balance the global corporate strategy and logic with changing local conditions , policies , practices , technologies , and partnerships . Each location study illustrates a unique strategy and situation ranging from the quasi -autonomous operation in São Paulo to the short -lived , highly micro -managed Sony European operation in based in Madrid . I challenge traditional theoretical and industrial understandings of national cinema , media imperialism , media convergence , and the classification of Sony Pictures Entertainment as solely an American or Japanese company . What results is a close institutional analysis exploring issues such as what defines “local” media industries , the flexibility of the nation , and the position of transnational media companies outside the U .S . |