Placing International Media Production

Studies of contemporary media production have to grapple with the empirical, methodological, and theoretical challenges of internationalization. While cultural imperialism and the new international division of cultural labor theories have highlighted important power differentials internationally, they often lack empirical depth and focus on large traditional media companies and national, particularly Western, countries. In this short essay I consider how “spatialization” and the social production of space might provide a useful theoretical approach for studying international contemporary media production practices. I illustrate my argument by contrasting findings from empirical research on the factors shaping the spatialization of the digital games and broadcast animation industries: one an emerging industry struggling to legitimate its cultural standing and build international networks of production; the other a well-established cultural industry tied into national cultural policies and networks of production. An industry focus and relational approach to space allows us to capture the dynamic tension between international flows (of ideas, products, services, workers, and money) and the practices (policy, regulation, institutions, markets, technology, and content) that attempt to capture these flows in particular places