Producing local content in international waters: the case of Netflix's Tidelands. Issue 1 (2nd January 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Scarlata, Alexa; Lobato, Ramon; Cunningham, Stuart
• Is Part Of: Continuum. Volume 35:Issue 1(2021)
• Page Start: 137
• Page End: 150
• Publication Date: 2021-01-02
• Subjects: Tidelands -- Netflix -- Australian television -- television production -- subscription video-on-demand -- SVOD production -- SVOD originals; Motion pictures -- Australia -- Periodicals; Broadcasting -- Australia -- Periodicals; Mass media -- Periodicals; 306.05
• DOI: 10.1080/10304312.2021.1884654
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1030-4312

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Netflix's supernatural crime series Tidelands (2019) was the subscription video service's first commissioned original series to be produced in Australia. Shot in tropical Queensland with a diverse cast of local and international stars, Tidelands exemplifies the complex challenges involved in Netflix's attempts to be a global producer creating content for national markets. This article builds on a tradition of research into international television production to locate Tidelands within its industrial and cultural contexts. Combining textual and industry analysis, and drawing on an interview with executive producer Nathan Mayfield, we show how Tidelands negotiates a strategic dual orientationin its use of locations, casting and genre, addressing both Australian and international audiences simultaneously. We conclude that internationally oriented Australian subscription video-on-demand originals such as Tidelands rehearse but also reformulate longstanding tensions regarding the interaction between the national and the global in screen culture.