We interviewed media and communication academic and expert Roderik Smits, currently assistant professor at Erasmus University Rotterdam. With over ten years’ teaching and research experience at universities in the UK, Germany, Spain and the Netherlands, Smits has also shared his work with industry partners, including Creative Europe, Europa Distribution, the British Film Institute, the Thessaloniki International Film Festival and Alma Economics. He discusses his recent report titled “Circulating Films Online: Insights from Independent Distributors in Europe”, which is available in full here.

Cineuropa: Could you please describe your latest report?
Roderik Smits: After years of research into the online market, we are beginning to better understand what streaming services have to offer, to what extent films circulate across a range of streaming services, and what audiences watch. While circulation and consumption patterns are well-documented, their underlying causes are not. This report looks into the decision making about the availability and visibility of films so as to help explain why particular patterns emerge.

I have spoken about the distribution of films with ten independent distributors located in four European countries: Spain, the Netherlands, Norway and Romania. The goal was to understand the opportunities and challenges they face with their films in the streaming market. Such an understanding could help industry professionals and policymakers seeking to increase the diversity of films on streaming services.

One of the key findings, which you have described as something that was to be expected, is that US titles account for the majority of movies available on global SVoD services. What strategies could European distributors adopt to make sure European films gain more visibility?
Some distributors have developed close-knit relationships with streamers by delivering a large and consistent number of new film releases, leading to greater access. Some independent movies attract high levels of visibility because they performed well in cinemas, while others attract high levels of visibility because they are released exclusively online, and on one streaming service.

Then there are factors such as the profiles of streamers, marketing budgets for the streaming market, data intelligence and initiatives like themed promotions. Among the independent distributors in this study, some have also developed their own streaming services, or their individual “channels” on streamers like Amazon Prime. That is a way to take control over the availability and visibility of films.

Lastly, it is encouraging that active conversations about visibility (and prominence) have already been taking place for years. European member states implement measures as set out in the 2018 Audiovisual Media Services Directive, to various degrees. So, we can see that there are incentives for streamers to enhance the visibility of European content. For instance, streaming catalogues may feature specific categories for European or national films on their homepages, display promotional banners, create search tools for these films, and include them in their marketing campaigns.

Your report focuses on four countries: Spain, Romania, the Netherlands and Norway. How would you compare them with regard to this topic?
I selected markets of varying sizes to analyse the development of streaming and the players operating in each. What I found is that most of the global SVoD and TVoD streamers operate in the four countries. Furthermore, local streamers have entered the mainstream market in these countries. However, differences play out in the independent market for streamers. In the Netherlands, there are three local streamers with catalogues of primarily independent content. In contrast, countries such as Spain, Norway and Romania have a less developed independent streaming market, meaning there are typically fewer opportunities for independent distributors to circulate films.

In what ways do you think your research will help the industry, and what kinds of measures do you think are needed to negotiate the complex issue of contemporary film distribution?
I see this report as contributing new insights into the evolving industry practices within the streaming market. Online distribution and film circulation are complex processes to understand because there are so many routes to market. While discussions about release windows and the role of Netflix remain important, I’ve also aimed to provide a broader overview of arrangements to capture current developments in the streaming market. I’ve also tried to identify emerging themes, such as the growing role of data intelligence. Online viewership data have long remained a rather secretive and privileged source of intelligence, closely guarded by streamers to the detriment of other stakeholders in the film value chain, including distributors. Nevertheless, distributors can rely on various sources to inform their decisions about film acquisitions, release strategies and marketing strategies. There is progress to be made, as the study reveals that most independent distributors are only beginning to implement data analytics.

Are you working on anything new in terms of industry studies?
I’m working on two research projects. The first is on the use of AI in the film industry. Some of the biggest cinema chains in the Netherlands, such as Pathé and VUE Cinemas, are adopting algorithm technology for their weekly film schedules. That is a promising development that could play a greater role in shaping the future of cinema programming.

I am also working on a project about fair payment in the film and television industries. In particular, freelance creatives can face persistent fairness challenges owing to the inherently unstable, precarious and unpredictable nature of their work. […] Research is needed to assess the extent of such fairness issues.