For best experience please turn on javascript and use a modern browser!
You are using a browser that is no longer supported by Microsoft. Please upgrade your browser. The site may not present itself correctly if you continue browsing.
The European screen ecosystem, once exclusively populated by national public and commercial broadcasters, now includes streaming giants like Amazon Prime, Disney + Apple TV, and, especially, Netflix. These global TV services are having a profound impact on the screen industries of the continent, bringing in new styles of content production alongside weakened rights and monetisation arrangements. PhD candidate Daphne Rena Idiz examined this complex terrain from various angles, to see if she could pin down the effect Netflix and others have had on European screen production. She will defend her dissertation on 29 January at the University of Amsterdam.

As the streaming giants have expanded globally, they also began producing content on an unprecedented scale. Their business and distribution models have established new commercial strategies; their global reach has forever altered the way content flows around the world; and their data-driven approaches and algorithmically guided systems have altered how content is made and consumed.

‘I chose to examine the European context for a variety of reasons,’ says Idiz. ‘Europe is a market where significant investment has been made by streaming services, but it also has an extremely robust regulatory framework intended to protect and promote local cultures and ensure the representation of diverse cultural identities. And, importantly, its screen industries have historically been supported by public broadcasters, with mandates for diversity, equality, education, public value, and could therefore provide interesting points of comparison.’

Are quotas working?

Idiz first looked at the interplay between streaming services and European regulatory frameworks, such as the EU's Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD). Her findings reveal how existing policies - designed to promote cultural diversity through quotas and visibility for European works - have struggled to adapt to the nonlinear, algorithm-driven nature of video-on-demand (VOD) platforms. Although the AVMSD was recently updated to specifically target VOD services with a quota, prominence requirement, and potential investment obligation for European works, Idiz’s research demonstrates that many obstacles remain for these measures to be effective in a streaming context.

Copyright: d
Netflix is reshaping creative and production practices ... to create shows in their own “house style". Daphne Rena Idiz

Although streaming services are required by regulation and strategically incentivised to produce ‘local’ European content, Idiz highlights how producers in parts of Europe still reshape local productions to appeal to global audiences. While this approach does amplify European stories on the international stage, it also risks diluting their local specificity. Idiz: ‘Take the shows Lupin or Ares, for example. They are set, respectively, in Paris and Amsterdam and they certainly contain many shots of those cities. But there is no inherent reason that the stories need to be take place in those cities - they are relatively universal and could easily play out anywhere’

Over-reliance on data

‘Many of the producers and screenwriters I spoke to felt that Netflix executives are extremely hands-on in their approach and that an over-reliance on data often informed their decisions,’ says Idiz. ‘Executives would suggest changes because “That joke won’t work in other countries” or “Americans won’t understand that.”’ Idiz’s also found that Netflix were conscious of so-called ‘second-screen’ watching – i.e. the assumption that people might be using a phone or laptop, or be otherwise distracted, while watching the TV - and that makers should ensure their programmes could be understood with the minimum possible level of concentration. Idiz: ‘This type of editorial input shows how Netflix is reshaping the creative and production practices of media professionals in parts of Europe, to create shows in their own “house style.”’

As global streaming platforms continue to dominate the media landscape, Idiz’s research offers a vital roadmap for policymakers, cultural institutions and media professionals striving to preserve Europe’s rich cultural diversity while embracing innovation. She advocates for, among other things, greater transparency in performance data, protecting intellectual property rights for European creators, proportionate remuneration, and fostering a fairer relationship between local producers and the multinational platforms they are dependent on. Idiz: ‘To understand the nuances of these industrial transformations, the key is continued research that examines the interplay between regulation, production, distribution, and reception—rather than only focusing on one of these dimensions.’

Defence details

Daphne Rena Idiz: Streaming Giants and European Screen Production. Cultural Diversity, Creativity, and Dependence. Supervisor is Prof. J.J. Noordegraaf. The co-supervisor is Prof. T. Poell.

Time and location

Idiz’s PhD defence ceremony will take place on 29 January 2025, at 14:00, in the Aula of de UvA.