My Research
My work focuses on the intersection of algorithms, AI, and streaming culture. In particular, I’m interested in exploring questions related to the contentious relationship between algorithmic culture (Striphas, 2015) and the creative process, as well as the impacts of AI on production and distribution within the film and television industry.
For reference, my analysis of streaming platforms is informed by a relational materialist perspective of algorithmic technology, which was loosely developed by researchers such as Roberge and Seyfert (2016), Kitchin (2017), Seaver (2017), and Bucher (2018).
Moreover, the ideas presented by these researchers – and therefore that of my own – are indebted to the perspectives of relational philosophy (Deleuze & Guattari, 1987; Whitehead, 1978), actor-network theory (Latour, 2005), agential realism (Barad, 2003; 2007), and new materialism (Bennett et al., 2010; Braidotti, 2006).
Embracing this relational ontology, I define algorithms not as static technical objects but as “socio-technical processes that come into existence and operate in the world via a series of complex relations between human and non-human actors” (Pajkovic, 2020, p. 3).
Google Scholar
Research Gate
iNova Media Lab
Academic Publications
-
Abstract:
As the Streaming Wars continue to heat up, recommendation systems like the Netflix Recommender System (NRS) will become key competitive features for every major over-the-top video streamer. As a result, film and television production and consumption will increasingly be in the hands of semi-autonomous algorithmic technologies. But how do recommendation systems like the NRS work? What purposes do they serve? And what sorts of impacts are they having on film and television culture? To respond to these questions, this article will (1) examine how algorithms are impacting processes of taste-making and (2) re-evaluate some of the critical theoretical perspectives that have come to dominate the discourse surrounding algorithmic cultures. To do so, I join Bucher ((2016) Neither black nor box: Ways of knowing algorithms. In: S Kubitscko and A Kaun (eds) Innovative Methods in Media and Communication Research. Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 81–98; (2018) If…then: Algorithmic Power and Politics. London: Oxford University Press) in adopting a relational materialist perspective of algorithms and proceed to reverse engineer the NRS; an experiment that exposes the system’s circular and economic logics while highlighting the complex and networked nature of taste-making in the film and television industry.
-
Abstract:
Throughout its history film has served as an important form of entertainment, as well as a vital source of public information. Despite the public’s tendency to consume film passively, it is a powerful distributor of ideology, one that teaches audiences important lessons, suggests ways to look at the world, and aids us in the process of cultural meaning-making. As a result, film can be used as an effective propaganda weapon to infiltrate the hearts and minds of the masses, disseminating persuasive political messages in an attempt to control public opinion and support. When considering the history of propaganda filmmaking, there is a tendency to first look at the Red Scare films of the McCarthy era, as this was a time when the Cold War appeared most prominent. This paper however, will focus on the revival of Cold War filmmaking during the “Second Cold War” of the 1980s, which in many ways matched the tactics seen during the McCarthy era. Where the Cold War of the 1940s was measured and subtle, its resurgence in the 80s under the Reagan administration was abrupt and aggressive, launching the world into a state of fear and anxiety in regards to nuclear warfare and the potential for World War III. After decades of softening, US and Soviet tensions were revived in full force following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 and the election of President Ronald Reagan in 1980. Film, once again, became the US and Soviet Union’s primary means for disseminating propaganda. As the two superpowers fought a far more aggressive propaganda battle on the silver screen than before, filmmakers in more neutral countries
Thesis
Algorithms and the ‘Streaming Wars’: The Changing Meanings of Film and Television Culture
Abstract: The film and television industry has been transformed by a new wave of over-the-top (OTT) video streaming services. Disney+, Apple TV Plus, NBC Universal’s Peacock, WarnerMedia’s HBO Max, and Quibi have all been released between November 12th, 2019 and May 27th, 2020, ushering in what the media has called the “Streaming Wars”. Like Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu, these platforms are dependent on the use of algorithms and Big Data, meaning the presence of these technologies within the industry will become increasingly pervasive, important, and unavoidable for producers and consumers alike. The purpose of this MRP is twofold: 1) to explore the current role algorithms play in the production, distribution and consumption of film and television, and to assess how these technologies are impacting broader notions of creativity and taste within the industry; and 2) to challenge the dominant critical theoretical perspectives that have emerged in regards to algorithmic cultures, namely, those contending that algorithms are replacing the fundamentally human process of cultural meaning- and decision-making. To achieve this, I explore the role algorithms play in the production and creative development of film and television, focusing my analysis on the emergence of data-driven creativity. I examine several third-party AI and analytics firms whose services automate the creative practices of ideation, script development, and casting. In addition, I examine how algorithms are changing the distribution and consumption of film and television via recommendation systems, and contribute to the existing dialogue regarding their implications on taste and taste-making. For that purpose, I apply Bucher’s (2018) method of reverse engineering to the Netflix Recommender System (NRS), revealing its circular and economic logics.