ABSTRACT
This chapter offers some reflections on how to write about distribution, using Netflix as an example. Streaming portals such as Netflix, Hulu, iPlayer and iQiyi are integral to film and television distribution in many nations. For screen scholars, these portals represent an interesting challenge because they are simultaneously cultural, technical, and logistical in nature. The chapter aims to suggest that streaming portals, as technologies of distribution, present rich possibilities for interpretation and critique: they invite us to tell interesting stories about how movies and TV shows reach their audiences. Streaming services are highly technical, and it is easy to get lost in the minutiae of codecs, bit rates, and file sizes. Binge-watching a Netflix original is obviously different from watching a series on broadcast television, one weekly episode at a time; and as many commentators have noted, the shift to streaming is also reconfiguring production practices.
