Dr. Roderik Smits
Assistant Professor in Media and Creative Industries
Media and Communication Department, Erasmus University Rotterdam
Profile
I have over 10 years of teaching and research experience across universities in the UK, Germany, Spain and the Netherlands. Most of my teaching and research focus on the media and creative industries. I am interested in the production, distribution, exhibition and consumption of media content, particularly films and television series.
Current Research Projects
My own research project Online Platforms and Film Circulation (January 2020 - February 2025) draws on in-depth analysis of online platforms, expert interviews and audience research. The project examines how VOD platforms engage with and support non-mainstream, specialised films to exploit their potential in the online market.
I am also a project member of the research project Diversity and Subscription Video-on-Demand Services (2020-2024). It is the first major project to study how five powerful US-owned platforms (Netflix, HBO, Amazon Prime, Apple TV+ and Disney+) impact on the production and circulation of audiovisual works in the Spanish market.
Biography
I have been a researcher for various major projects in the past ten years:
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Beyond the Multiplex: Audiences for Specialised Film in English Regions, funded by AHRC (UK).
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Screen Agencies as Cultural Intermediaries: Negotiating and Shaping Cultural Policy for the Film and TV Industries within Selected Small Nations, funded by AHRC (UK).
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Mediating Cultural Encounters Through European Screens (MeCETES), funded by HERA (Europe).
I completed my PhD in Film Studies at the University of York (2014-2018) and subsequently worked as post-doctoral researcher at Cardiff University (2019) and Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF (2020).
Industry Engagement
I am keen to make an impact beyond the academy. I am currently working together with Europa Distribution on an industry report about online film circulation. In 2021, I worked together with Thessaloniki International Film Festival (Greece) on an industry study to analyse how online developments and COVID-19 are impacting on European film festivals.
I participated as a speaker and moderator in several industry events organised by Creative Europe (EU), Thessaloniki International Film Festival (Greece), LIGHTS Frankfurt International Film Festival (Germany) and Film Expo South (UK). I also contributed as a consultant and researcher to film industry reports for Creative Europe and the British Film Institute.
Editorial Activities
I am a reviewer for publishers such as Routlegde, Bloomsbury and Palgrave, and for journals such as Poetics, Studies in European Cinema, Television & New Media, NECSUS and L’avventura. I am also a member of the Editorial Advisory Board for the journal Arts and the Market, published by Emerald Insight.
word cloud of research interests