Abstract

Since the 1990s, Sony Pictures Entertainment’s local-language production unit has coproduced films with local partners outside of the English-language market. This strategy serves as a turning point toward industrywide local specialization and global expansion for conglomerate Hollywood. Based on trade publications, field research, and industry interviews, this article explores the multifaceted nature of Sony’s attempt to operate what I call a "flexible localization strategy" in the Brazilian and Spanish film markets. To adapt to a vastly changing industrial climate, contemporary media conglomerates are reimagining media geographies and localization efforts. These strategies challenge earlier understandings of an all-powerful global Hollywood by revealing internal friction across conflicting institutional priorities, industrial practices, and local cultures of production and management.

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