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 was 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.