Graduation Year
2026
Document Type
Thesis
Degree
M.A.
Degree Name
Master of Arts (M.A.)
Degree Granting Department
Humanities and Cultural Studies
Major Professor
Todd Jurgess, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Scott Ferguson, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Sara Dykins Callahan, Ph.D.
Keywords
diversity, film, international content, Netflix, streaming services, television
Abstract
This thesis examines the development and involvement of the SVOD platform Netflix in Romania in the context of a global media corporation engaging with a local market. Romania’s status as a former communist country acts as a good case study highlighting the long-term consequences of diverse content deprivation. I argue that in a country such as Romania, a service like Netflix can provide a so-called indirect intercultural exchange through the production and distribution of easily accessible diverse content, whether that diversity stems from nationality, ethnicity, race, sexuality, or any unconventional form of expression that was restricted or censored in the country’s past communist history. In Romania, the service, which was introduced in the country in 2017, comes to satisfy a middle-class audience that has long been seeking diversified entertainment options and whose main options before were cable television and theater chains, which provided limited variety consisting of news, reality shows, or Hollywood movies. I draw from local as well as international scholars dealing with streaming to negotiate tensions between the streamer’s position of power and the opportunities it can confer to a small film industry like that of Romania. While collaborations exist, the extent to which both parties benefit equally is questionable, and one of this work’s aims is to expand on these services’ potential to better engage in local communities for more tangible as well as long-lasting impact. Lastly, I introduce the discussion of canon formation to argue that a democratization of what is deemed worthwhile content can be facilitated through these platforms.
Scholar Commons Citation
Calancea, Ana-Maria, "Netflix, Between Intercultural Exchange and Monopolizing Tendencies: Streaming Consumption, Production, and Distribution in Romania" (2026). USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/11255
