Category Archives: Investigación

Albornoz, Luis A. & Krakowiak, Fernando (2024). Netflix’s First Decade of Presence in Latin America, en Bouquillion, P., Ithurbide, C., & Mattelart , T. (Eds). “Digital Platforms and The Global South. Reconfiguring power relations in the cultural industries”. Routledge, ISBN 9781003391746

Netflix began providing its video-on-demand (VoD) service in Latin America more than a decade ago, a strategic regional market in which it was deployed before its global expansion in Europe, Africa and Asia. Currently, the California-based company leads the market for over-the-top paid audiovisual services in the competitive Latin American market, ahead of giants such as Amazon, Warner Bros. Discovery, Disney, Telefónica, Globo and Televisa. Based on a documentary review of primary and secondary sources, this chapter addresses the localisation strategy developed by Netflix in its first decade of implementation in Latin American countries, which has included the opening of subsidiaries in the region’s main audiovisual markets (Brazil, Mexico, Colombia and Argentina) and the production of its own content in partnership with local companies in order to feed the segment of titles labelled ‘originals’. To this end, the different fronts of action (agreements with other companies, characteristics of the content offer, in-house production of content, etc.) in which the transnational company has played a leading role are addressed. This chapter pays special attention to the Mexican and Brazilian markets in terms of in-house content production and to the debates surrounding the regulation of the VoD services market.

Netflix comenzó a prestar su servicio de vídeo bajo demanda (VoD) en Latinoamérica hace más de una década, un mercado regional estratégico en el que se desplegó antes de su expansión global en Europa, África y Asia. Actualmente, la compañía californiana lidera el mercado de servicios audiovisuales de pago over-the-top en el competitivo mercado latinoamericano, por delante de gigantes como Amazon, Warner Bros. Discovery, Disney, Telefónica, Globo y Televisa. A partir de una revisión documental de fuentes primarias y secundarias, este capítulo aborda la estrategia de localización desarrollada por Netflix en su primera década de implantación en los países latinoamericanos, que ha incluido la apertura de filiales en los principales mercados audiovisuales de la región (Brasil, México, Colombia y Argentina) y la producción de contenidos propios en asociación con empresas locales para abastecer el segmento de títulos etiquetados como «originales». Para ello, se abordan los distintos frentes de actuación (acuerdos con otras empresas, características de la oferta de contenidos, producción propia de contenidos, etc.) en los que la empresa transnacional ha desempeñado un papel protagonista. En este capítulo se presta especial atención a los mercados mexicano y brasileño en materia de producción propia de contenidos y a los debates en torno a la regulación de los servicios de VoD

Acceso al capítulo aqui.

Pedro, Josep & Gutiérrez-Martínez, Begoña (2024). Jazz in Spanish Film Noir: Modernity and Youth Cultures During Late Francoism, en Ádám Havas, Bruce Johnson, David Horn (eds.) “The Routledge Companion to Diasporic Jazz Studies”. Routledge, ISBN 9781032080383

Following an ongoing research about jazz in Spain during Franco´s dictatorship, this article explores the presence and meanings of jazz in the late 1950s and 1960s Spanish film noir. Considering jazz a key genre within the spectrum of modern influences that impacted Spain, it provides a contextualization of the shifting political context and the cultural productions that disseminated it. The article focuses on the analysis of Juventud a la intemperie (The Unsatisfied, Iquino, 1961), a controversial transnational film that pioneered the production of alternate versions of films with more or less violent or erotic content, depending on varying censorship. Marked by a moral message that warns the audience about the growing corrupt youth in Western civilization, the film posits a clear confrontation between the stable and conservative adult world and the more materialistic and hedonistic youth, which appropriates jazz culture as part of their alternative practices and identities. Through the fictional Bongo Club, which attracts countercultural youngsters and rupturist discourses, Juventud a la intemperie represents the transformative power of glocal music scenes, and it features several musical performances that reveal its eclecticism and modernity. “Manhattan Blues”, by African-American singer and Barcelona jazz muse Gloria Stewart, is particularly significant, but there are also performances by composer Enrique Escobar, French artist Rita Cadillac, the Dutch pop-rock band Kroner¿s Duo, and flamenco singer Lorenza Flores Amaya. By analyzing the representation of jazz in Spanish film noir, we approach the multiple diasporic journeys of jazz within a closely-related film tradition that explored the dark side of modern urban life and the limits of expressive culture and social commentary within Francoism. These films had a realist orientation that dealt with existing urban transformations and sociocultural concerns. They tend to depict an occlusive environment that is provisionally subverted through everyday life practices and intercultural dialogues associated with alternative youth cultures, for whom jazz became a complex and disputed sign of dislocating modernity.

Acceso al libro aqui.

 

Chabrán, R. y Pedro, J. (2024). Dave Meder, el jazzy su homenaje a Miguel de Unamuno. Cuadernos de la Cátedra Miguel de Unamuno, 51. https://doi.org/10.14201/ccmu2023513550.

El propósito del presente ensayo es indagar sobre la obra de Dave Meder, el pianista de jazz y compositor norteamericano, y relacionar su reciente obra Unamuno songs and stories con el pensamiento de célebre pensador, poeta, novelista español Miguel de Unamuno (1864-1936). Situamos la obra de Meder dentro de las adaptaciones musicales de la obra y pensamiento de Una-muno, así como las ideas sobre la música y sus amigos músicos del vasco.

Enlace al artículo completo.

Chabrán, R. y Pedro, J (2024). Miguel de Unamuno, Langston Hughes y el Blues. Black USA y España. Revista de Estudios Hispánicos, XI. 2, pp. 93-124, ISSN 0378.7974. 

El objetivo de este ensayo es explorar las lecturas que hizo Miguel de Unamuno de la literatura afroamericana en el contexto del Renacimien-to de Harlem. Más concretamente, se centra en las obras Caroling Dusk (1927), de Countee Cullen, y Fine Clothes for the Jew (1927), de Langston Hughes en el contexto del Renacimiento de Harlem y del exilio del vasco en Hendaya (Francia). También contextualizamos estas lecturas en la recepción del jazz y el blues en España y en los recientes estudios sobre las relaciones entre la América afroamericana y España.

The purpose of this essay is to explore Miguel de Unamuno’s readings in African American Literature within the context of the Harlem Renaissan-ce. Specifically, we are looking at Countee Cullen’s Caroling Dusk (1927) and Langston Hughes’ Fine Clothes for the Jew (1927) within the context of the Harlem Renaissance and Unamuno’s exile in Hendaye. We also contextualize these readings within the arrival of jazz and the blues in Spain and recent studies on the connections between African Americans and Spain.

Acceso al artículo, aquí.

This report analyzes the Spanish audiovisual works available on six U.S. subscription video-on-demand services offered in Spain. In addition to the presence of Spanish works, the main mechanisms used to give prominence to them are examined. The study focuses on the analysis of the following services (in order of arrival in Spain): Netflix, Prime Video, HBO Max, Apple TV+, Disney+ and SkyShowtime.

As detailed, the offer of Spanish works in the catalogs of Netflix, Prime Video, HBO Max, Apple TV+, Disney+ and SkyShowtime has increased by 184 titles in January 2024 compared to January of the previous year. This growth is mainly on the fiction content side. These six U.S.-based services host 1,591 unique Spanish titles, including a total of 380 international co-productions with the participation of Spanish companies.

The increase in the number of Spanish works has occurred in parallel with the growth in the total size of the catalogs. This has kept the percentage of local works available somewhat stable – around 7% on average. In addition, most of the services include various mechanisms that serve to highlight the presence of local productions. There are no major variations with respect to the last two years. Netflix continues to be the service that uses the most numerous and complex set of mechanisms to highlight Spanish works in its offer.

The report is available from June 21 for consultation and download after the presentation at the 8th edition of Conecta FICTION & ENTERTAINMENT.

Access to Edition 2024.

Spanish version, here.

Edition 2023 in Spanish and English.