STAFF PROFILE
Dr. Alexa Scarlata
Alexa Scarlata is a scholar of media and cultural industries. She has a special interest in internet distributed television, content production and national screen policy.
Alexa’s PhD thesis (University of Melbourne, 2022) was entitled ‘A Stream Come True? The Rise of Online TV in Australia and its Impact on Drama Production (2015-2020)’. This research found that while online TV has provided rather limited support for the development of original Australian television drama, it has proven advantageous for the distribution of existing local drama and the likely future production of content with an increasingly global focus.
In recent years, Alexa has worked on the Australian Research Council Discovery Project, ‘Internet-Distributed Television: Cultural, Industrial and Policy Dynamics’ (RMIT/QUT, 2019-2022, DP190100978), with Ramon Lobato, Amanda Lotz and Stuart Cunningham. This research investigated the impact of multi-territory services on national screen industries, explored how government, local industry and consumers responded to SVOD services, and impacted the subsequent development of SVOD policy in Australia.
Alexa is currently working with Ramon Lobato on the Australian Research Council Future Fellowship Project, ‘Television in the platform ecosystem’ (RMIT, 2020-2024, FT190100144), which is investigating smart TV software and its implications for television distribution and consumer access to content.
Alexa is the Reviews Editor of the Journal of Digital Media and Policy and a 2022 recipient of the CHOICE/ADM+S Consumer Advocacy Placement. She also works as a sessional tutor/guest lecturer in the TV and Screen Culture course at RMIT, and is a course convenor/sessional tutor at Swinburne University.
- Reviews Editor of the Journal of Digital Media and Policy
- ADM+S Affiliate member, RMIT node
- Technology, Communication & Policy Lab member, Digital Ethnography Research Centre, RMIT
- Global Internet TV Consortium member
- Sessional tutor and guest lecturer, RMIT University
- Course convenor and tutor, Swinburne University
- LLB/Arts (Media & Communication), University of Melbourne, 2010
- Master of Global Media and Communication, University of Melbourne, 2013
- Specialist Certificate in Teaching for Graduate Researchers, Melbourne Centre for the Study of Higher Education, University of Melbourne, 2015
- PhD (Cultural Studies), University of Melbourne, 2022
- CHOICE/ADM+S Consumer Advocacy Placement recipient, 2022
- Lobato, R.,Douglas, J.,Scarlata, A.,Cunningham, S. (2024). Cultural policy between television and digital platforms: the case of SVOD regulation in Australia In: International Journal of Cultural Policy, 30, 1 - 16
- Scarlata, A. (2023). ‘What are people watching in your area?’: Interrogating the role and reliability of the Netflix top 10 feature In: Critical Studies in Television, 18, 7 - 23
- Scarlata, A.,Lobato, R. (2023). Broadcaster video-on-demand in Australia: Platforms, policy and local content In: Media International Australia, , 1 - 16
- Lobato, R.,Scarlata, A.,Cunningham, S. (2023). Conceptualizing the National and the Global in SVOD Original Production In: Streaming Video, NYU Press, New York, United States
- Scarlata, A. (2023). To All the Romantic Comedies I’ve Loved Before: How Netflix Reinvigorated a Genre In: Streaming Video, NYU Press, New York, United States
- Scarlata, A. (2023). Opting out of the streaming wars: second and third tier SVODs In: Television by Stream, McFarland, North Carolina, United States
- Lynch, A.,Scarlata, A. (2023). SVOD: A Place for (Outer) Space? In: American Science Fiction Television and Space, Springer Nature, Cham, Switzerland
- Lobato, R.,Scarlata, A. (2022). Regulating Discoverability in Subscription Video-On-Demand Platforms In: Digital Platform Regulation, Springer Nature Switzerland AG, Cham, Switzerland
- Lynch, A.,Scarlata, A. (2022). Streaming Paracinema: Charles Band, Full Moon Features and auteurism on third tier SVOD services In: Senses of Cinema, , 1 - 19
- Scarlata, A.,Douglas, J.,Lobato, R. (2022). Subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) original production in Australia: Evolution or revolution? In: Media International Australia, , 1 - 16