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      • Consulting
      • Popular writing
      • Current Positions
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      • Reviews of Hollywood Made in China
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      • Scholarly Articles
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      • Awards & Recognition - Hidden bc combined with Reviews -AZ
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      • News and Updates
      • About Me
      • Bio
      • Hollywood Made in China
      • Consulting
      • Popular writing
      • Current Positions
      • Sign Up
      • Reviews of Hollywood Made in China
      • Selected TV Appearances
      • Scholarly Articles
      • Upcoming Appearances
      • Grants and Fellowships
      • Select Radio and Podcast Appearances
      • Select Print Coverage
      • Features
      • Book Events
      • Connect on Social Media
      • Twitter Updates
      • Awards & Recognition - Hidden bc combined with Reviews -AZ
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        • Recent News and Updates

          US Defenders of Democracy Have Much Work to Do at Home

          Op-Ed in the SCMP

          How Joe Biden can help Hollywood compete with China

          Op-Ed in Nikkei Asia

          How does Hollywood Change for China?

          New Article in Journal of Chinese Cinemas

          China already has your data. Trump’s TikTok and WeChat bans can’t stop that.

          Op-Ed in The Washington Post

          ‘Mulan’ is a movie about how much Hollywood needs China

          Op-Ed in The Washington Post

        • About Me

          I research and write about US-China Media and Tech Relations

          Aynne Kokas is an associate professor of media studies at the University of Virginia and a senior faculty fellow at the Miller Center for Public Affairs. Her multiple-award-winning first book, Hollywood Made in China (University of California Press, 2017) argues that Chinese investment and regulations have transformed the US commercial media industry. Her next book project Data Trafficking: The United States, China, and the Global Battle for Data Security examine the policy implications of the transfer of consumer data between the United States and China. Kokas' research has also appeared in Information, Communication, and Society, Journal of Asian Studies, PLOS One, and others. Kokas is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Funding agencies including Fulbright, the Library of Congress, the Social Science Research Council, the Mellon Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Abe Fellowship Program and others have supported her research. Kokas’ writing and commentary have appeared in forty-eight countries and eleven languages.

        • Hollywood Made in China examines how the Chinese market has transformed US commercial media.

           

          *Reviewed and/or featured in media in 48 countries and eleven languages

           

          * Best Non-fiction Title, 2018 Next Generation Indie Book Awards

           

          * Best Academic Title, 2018 Chinese American Librarian Association

           

          * Chinese translation forthcoming with Gingko Press, Beijing

           

          Click here for a video intro to the book courtesy of Chinafile

        • Commercial and Non-profit Advising

          I love sharing my research with students, scholars, journalists, and corporate partners. I am happy to speak over the phone, via Zoom, or in person. Below please find the best ways to reach out.

          Commercial Advising

          Drawing from over twenty years of experience in corporate, policy, and academic contexts in the United States and China, I have a consulting practice that serves corporate and commercial clients. If you would like to set up a fee-based Zoom consultation, please sign up here. If you would like to discuss a longer-term project, please email me at ak3ff@virginia.edu.

          Expert commentary

          If you are a journalist who would like me to provide expert commentary for a story, please click here to make an appointment. If you are on deadline and need to speak quickly, I can be reached on Twitter @AynneKokas. For background on the Sino-US media collaborations, I can highly recommend my book, this video synopsis of my work, or this short interview about the current state of Sino-US media relations.

          Research meetings

          If you are a student or colleague who would like to set up a time to discuss our shared research interests, please email me at ak3ff@virginia.edu or ping me on Twitter @AynneKokas.

        • Popular Writing

          “How Joe Biden Can Help Hollywood Compete with China.” Nikkei Asia, January 9, 2021.

          "US Defenders of Democracy Have Much Work to Do at Home.” South China Morning Post, January 8, 2021.

          “TikTok Deal Puts Japan between a Rock and a Hard Place.” Nikkei Asia, October 31, 2020.

          ‘Mulan’ is a movie about how much Hollywood needs China, Washington Post, September 9, 2020

          China already has your data. Trump’s TikTok and WeChat bans can’t stop that, Washington Post, August 11, 2020

          ‘Parasite’ was a triumph for a film industry trapped between the U.S. and China, Washington Post, February 11, 2020

           

          China's filmmakers will never please Beijing enough, Nikkei Asian Review, April 26, 2019

          How China is using science fiction to sell Beijing’s vision of the future, Washington Post, March 13, 2019

          U.S. Responses to Chinese Influence Operations in the United States: Hearing before the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, House of Representatives, 115th Cong. (2018) (Testimony of Aynne Kokas).

        • CURRENT AND FORMER POSITIONS

           

          Abe Fellow

          Aug 2019 - July 2021

          Examining the cybersecurity policy implications of the Sino-US data trade on Japan

           

          National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow

          September 2019 - August 2020

          Examining the cybersecurity policy implications of the Sino-US data trade

           

          Kluge Center, Library of Congress

          Fellow

          October 2019 – August 2020

          Examining the cybersecurity policy implications of the Sino-US data trade

          Council on Foreign Relations

          Term Member 

          Jun 2016 – Present

          Advisory Committee Member, 2019-Present

          Member of a program designed to cultivate the next generation of foreign policy leaders

           

          University of Virginia

          Assistant Professor of Media Studies 

          Aug 2014 – Present

          Research, write and teach about collaborations between Chinese and American media and technology corporations

           

          James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy -- Rice University

          Non-resident Scholar in Chinese Media 

          Aug 2014 – Present

          Conduct policy research on Sino-US media and technology collaborations for Baker Institute China Studies Program

        • Sign up for My Email List

          For periodic updates on my research, writing and speaking sign up below.

          Submit
        • Awards and Recognition

          Hollywood Made in China was selected as a finalist for the Montaigne Medal, Eric Hoffer Awards. Less than 3% of 1600 books were selected for the honor.

           

          Hollywood Made in China was reviewed and/or featured in media in 45 countries and ten languages from its publication to the present.

           

          Hollywood Made in China was named Best General Non-Fiction Book at the 2018 Next Generation Indie Book Awards.

           

          Hollywood Made in China was chosen as Best Scholarly Monograph at the Chinese American Librarian Association.

           

          Hollywood in China was a finalist for the Frank Luther Mott-Kappa Tau Alpha Journalism & Mass Communication Award.

           

          Reviews of Hollywood Made in China

          • China Review (Hong Kong University Press)
          • Modern Chinese Literature and Culture (Ohio State)
          • China Review International (University of Hawaii Press)
          • China Film Insider
          • Pacific Standard
          • Council on Foreign Relations Asia Unbound podcast
        • Selected Television Appearances

          Bloomberg Technology

          Discussing TikTok and Microsoft

          CNBC Squawk Box

          Discussing US-China Film Treaty

          PBS' Great Decisions

          Episode: "Made in China"

          PBS' Coy Barefoot Show

        • Articles

          Contact me for copies

          Producing Global China: The Great Wall and How China’s
          Visibility is Changing Representation

           

          Here I examine how the expanded role of the Chinese market, both in terms of audience size and financing, has both reasserted hegemonic Hollywood genre and talent selection and asserted hegemonic Chinese standards.

           

          Kokas, Aynne. (2019). Producing Global China: The Great Wall and How China’s
          Visibility is Changing Representation. Journal of Chinese Cinemas, Volume
          13, Issue 3. pp. 215-229. https://doi.org/10.1080/17508061.2019.1678485

          Serious Chemistry on Set: The Molecular Geography of the Chinese Film Industry

           

          Here I argue that the competing features that attract commercial capital investment and drive state centralization create a molecular structure of national film investment, or the division of investment in the film industry into several interdependent centers.

           

          Kokas, Aynne. (2019). Serious Chemistry on Set: The Molecular Geography of the Chinese Film Industry. International Journal of Cultural Policy,
          https://doi.org/10.1080/10286632.2019.1614568

          Chilling Netflix: financialization, and the influence of the Chinese market on the American entertainment industry

           

          Here I argue that the financial interests of US-based online entertainment platforms are magnifying the financial growth of Chinese competitors due to focus by US firms on short-term shareholder value.

           

          Kokas, Aynne. 2018. "Chilling Netflix: financialization, and the influence of the Chinese market on the American entertainment industry." Information, Communication & Society. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2018.1510534

           

          Popular feature on article: https://investorplace.com/2019/10/china-influence-help-iqiyi-iq-stock/

          Platform Patrol: China, the United States, and the Global Battle for Data Security

           

          Here I argue that the financial interests of US-based platforms are amplifying the global impact of Chinese domestic cybersecurity regulations.

           

          Kokas, Aynne. 2018. "Platform Patrol: China, the United States, and the Global Battle for Data Security." Journal of Asian Studies 77 (4):923-933.

          Predicting Volatility Between China and Hollywood

           

          Here I argue that the comparative fragmentation of media regulatory power in the US, despite long benefiting Hollywood studios, makes them susceptible to Chinese government efforts to expand media soft power.

           

          Aynne Kokas, “Predicting Volatility Between China and Hollywood: Using Network Management to Understand Sino-US Film Collaboration, Global Media and Communication, Advance Online Publication, https://doi.org/10.1177/1742766518759797

          Inferring Atmospheric Particulate Matter Concentrations from Chinese Social Media Data

          We constructed an "Air Discussion Index" to estimate daily particulate matter counts based upon Sina Weibo (Chinese Twitter) content.

           

          Tao Zhu, Aynne Kokas, Rui Zhang, Dan Cohan, and Dan Wallach PLOS ONE 11(9) 2016

          “Freedom Edition”: Considering Sony Pictures and The Interview

          Led by Joshua Braun, we convened a dialogue in response to the recent public and media discourse surrounding the security breach at Sony Pictures Entertainment and its film, The Interview focusing on North Korea, cybersecurity, and digital distribution.

           

          Aynne Kokas, Chuck Tryon, Hugh Gusterson, and Joshua Braun  Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media 60 (4) 2016

        • 2020 Appearances

          November 12: "'Wolf Warriors' and Hollywood: Public Diplomacy and Soft Power in a Time of Deteriorating U.S.-Chinese Relations," Baker Institute: 2020 Election Series

          October 21: "A digital cold war? China and the US Post-COVID." TPI Aspen Forum 2020,

          August 5: "Made In Hollywood, Censored By Beijing" Panel, USC US-China Institute

          July 15: “Is Seeing Still Believing? Synthetic Media and Illiberal Uses of Technology,” CNAS 2020 National Security Conference: The America Competes Summer Series

          July 9: “Term Member Council Chat: A Summer of Protests: U.S.-China Relations Viewed Through Hong Kong,” Council on Foreign Relations

          July 8: “Hollywood Made in China” Department of State Conflict Stabilization
          Operations PRC Working Group

          May 4: Miller Center for Public Affairs China Conference, Charlottesville, VA

          April 25-26: National Committee on US-China Relations Silicon Valley Conference, Palo Alto, CA

          April 16-18: Media Industries Conference, London, UK

          March 26: Live Testimony in United States Senate Commerce Committee, Security Subcommittee

          March 19: United States Department of State Ralph J. Bunche Library Speakers Series, 12-1 pm.

          February 11: George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs

        • Grants and Fellowships

          • 2019-2020 National Endowment of Humanities Fellow
          • 2019-2020 Kluge Fellow at the Library of Congress
          • 2019-2021 Abe Fellow
          • 2018-2019 Institute for Humanities and Global Cultures Mellon Fellowship
          • Miller Center of Public Affairs Faculty Senior Fellow
          • National Committee on US-China Relations Congressional Liaison in Media and Technology (to lead a group of Congressional staffers on a delegation to China to examine the Chinese media and technology industries in August 2018)
          • National Endowment of Humanities Object Lessons Fellowship
          • Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars 
        • Selected Radio Coverage

          Radio

          • CBC Radio brought a northern perspective to the China-Hollywood debate. We discuss why Canadian Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool failed to enter China's film market.
          • KABC-LA's Peter Tilden and I discussed what people in Hollywood need to know about Chinese investment (March 8, from 18:00).
          • "Background Briefing with Ian Masters" on KPFK 90.7 LA.
          • Interview with the Australian Broadcasting Company.
          • I spoke to Marco Werman of PRI's The World on "What happened to Fan Bingbing?"

          • I discussed Hollywood's inroads into China as a part of "Lights, Camera, Action: China Embraces Hollywood" on SiriusXM's Knowledge@Wharton

        • Select Print Media Coverage

          United States

          Pacific Standard lauds Hollywood Made in China for jointly mapping "the business of culture, and the culture of business."

           

          I spoke with NBC News about some of the challenges being posed by China's growing media influence.

           

          In conjunction with other Chinese media scholars, I discuss the long-term prospects for Chinese investment in Hollywood on ChinaFile.

           

          As part of an article by Public Radio International, I explain how China is using its economic leverage to shape Hollywood filmmaking.

          Asia-Pacific Region

          I was able to share my work with Japanese readers when Business Insider Japan published an excerpt of Hollywood Made in China translated from the US edition.

           

          Indonesian paper Tirto also quoted me the relationship between China and Hollywood in an article examining its implications for Southeast Asia.

           

          Apple Daily in Hong Kong and Taiwan covered my talk at the National Committee on US-China Relations, writing about the ways in which Hollywood changes for China.

          Europe and Latin America

          The Financial Times drew on arguments from Hollywood Made in China when analyzing Dalian Wanda's growth in the newspaper's English and Chinese versions.

           

          Medium Italia translated and published my comments on the significance of China's first USD 150 million budget film.

        • Selected Features

           

          South China Morning Post. “Hollywood Losing China Market to Chinese Films. World Next?,” January 1, 2020.

           

          Yuhas, Alan. “Why ‘Star Wars’ Keeps Bombing in China” New York Times, January 14, 2020.

           

          Pallotta, Frank. “Disney’s ‘Mulan’ Was Supposed to Be a Big Hit in China. The Coronavirus Could Threaten That.” CNN Business, February 13, 2020.

           

          Chen, Phoebe. “What Does Hollywood Lose When It Works With China?” The Nation, March 3, 2020.

           

          Marketplace. “The New Coronavirus Shut down the Chinese Movie Industry,” March 6, 2020.

           

          Zhou, Marrian. “Disney’s China Push Derailed with Delay of ‘Mulan’ Release.” Nikkei Asian Review, March 14, 2020.

           

          Jones, Claire. “OPEC Virtual Summit.” BBC World Service. March 25, 2020

           

          Lee, Elizabeth. “Coronavirus Pandemic Deals Blow to US, China Film Industries.” Voice of America, March 25, 2020.

           

          USA Today. “Foreign Policy Experts Call for End to Hate Crimes against Asian American Community: Readers.” USA TODAY, April 15, 2020.

           

          Zhou, Marrian. Nikkei Asian Review. “When China’s Massive Fan-Economy Goes Wrong.” Accessed May 11, 2020. .

           

          Tang, Jane. “受疫情重创 中国影视业如何自救?.” Radio Free Asia, May 8, 2020.

           

          Ruwitch, John. “Chinese Communist Party Uses Scenes Of Violent Protests In The U.S. For Propaganda.” NPR. June 2, 2020.

           

          The Wilson Center. 50th Episode! Need to Know Podcast, 2020.

           

          Feng, Zhaoyin. “China Takes a Victory Lap over US Protests.” BBC News, June 5, 2020, sec. US & Canada.

           

          Li, Jane. “Academics Fear Using Zoom to Study China—Even in the US.” Quartz.

           

          Lang, Brent, and Elaine Low. “Will Coronavirus Create a Debt Crisis for Movie Theaters?” Variety (blog), July 7, 2020.

           

          Garsd, Jasmine. “Hollywood Gets a Little Boost from China … but It Might Come at a Price.” Marketplace (blog), July 27, 2020.

           

          Keating, Joshua. “TikTok Could Have Been China’s Nintendo.” Slate Magazine, August 1, 2020.

           

          Tager, James. “Made in Hollywood, Censored by Beijing.” PEN America (blog), August 5, 2020.

           

          Zhou, Marriah. “Hollywood Panned in US for Caving to Chinese Censors.” Nikkei Asian Review, August 8, 2020.

           

          Reid, Whitelaw. “Q&A: TikTok Ban Underscores the Need for Better Data Legislation, Home and Abroad | UVA Today.” UVA Today, August 11, 2020.

           

          TikTok Would Be Significant Liability for Microsoft, Says Media Expert. Bloomberg Technology, 2020.

           

          Zhou, Marriah, and CK Tan. “China Film Industry’s Recovery from Coronavirus off to Slow Start.” Nikkei Asian Review, August 18, 2020.

           

          Kokas, Aynne, and Michael Xiao. “How Distance Learning Could Put Chinese Students at US Universities at Risk.” Webpage. Insights: Scholarly Work at the John W. Kluge Center, August 21, 2020.

           

          Allen-Ebrahimian, Bethany. “China Is Censoring Hollywood’s Imagination.” Axios, September 1, 2020.

           

          Kokas, Aynne, and Jeffrey Wasserstrom. “Disney’s Magical Thinking Won’t Keep Politics Away from ‘Mulan.’” Nikkei Asian Review, September 5, 2020.

           

          Kokas, Aynne. “Perspective | ‘Mulan’ Is a Movie about How Much Hollywood Needs China.” Washington Post, September 9, 2020.

           

          Reid, Whitelaw. “The Release of ‘Mulan’ May Be a Transformative Moment in Hollywood History.” UVA Today, September 9, 2020.

           

          Wertime, David. “Death of Trade Deal with China Could Be ‘October Surprise.’” POLITICO, September 10, 2020.





           

        • Book Events

          Meet the author and learn more about Hollywood Made in China

          July 29, 2018

          San Diego, CA

          TBA

          Pacific Arts Movement ​

          (Non-profit arm of San Diego Asian American Film Festival)

          May 7 , 2018

          Tokyo, Japan

          TBA

          Waseda University

          1 Chome-104 Totsukamachi

          Shinjuku, Tokyo 169-8050

          May 2 , 2018

          Hong Kong, China

          4:00 - 5:30 pm

          Chinese University of Hong Kong

          Shatin, NT, Hong Kong SAR

          The People's Republic of China

          April 24, 2018

          Washington, DC

          7:00 - 9:00 pm

          Hill Center

          921 Pennsylvania Ave SE

          Washington, DC 20003

          March 18, 2018

          Philadelphia, PA

          12:00 - 1:00 pm

          University of Pennsylvania

          Center for Advanced Research in Global Communication

          Center for the Study of Contemporary China

          3620 Walnut Street

          Philadelphia, PA 19104

          February 26, 2018

          Ithaca, NY

          4:30 pm

          Cornell University

          Cornell Contemporary China Initiative

          Kaufman Auditorium

          Ithaca, NY 14853

          Video here.

          February 6, 2018

          Chicago, IL

          Paulson Institute

          University of Chicago

          November 17, 2017

          Minneapolis, MN

          Hollywood Made in China

          University of Minnesota

          October 26, 2017

          Oxford, UK

          Hollywood Made in China

          Oxford Center for Chinese Studies Colloquium

          17:00-18:30

          China Centre Lecture Theatre

          University of Oxford

          October 25, 2017

          London, UK

          Hollywood Made in China

          Culture, Media and Creative Industries Seminar

          16.00-18.00 hrs

          S-2.23 Strand Building

          King's College, London

          October 24, 2017

          Nottingham, UK

          Hollywood Made in China

          Institute for Screen Industries Research and China Policy Institute

          University of Nottingham

          October 12, 2017

          Washington, DC

          Georgetown Institute for Global History

          Georgetown University

          37th and O Streets, N.W.

          Washington D.C. 20057

           

          August 23, 2017

          Singapore

          4:15 - 5:15 pm

          School of Communication
          National University of Singapore
          Blk AS6, #03-41
          CNM Meeting Room

           

          June 7, 2017

          Washington, DC

          U.S. Department of Commerce

          1401 Constitution Ave NW, Washington, DC 20230

           

          May 2017

          San Diego, CA

          International Communication Association Annual Meeting

           

          May 17, 2017

          Washington, DC

          DACOR Bacon House Foundation Newberry Lecture

           

          April 22, 2017

          Providence, RI

          Brown University China Summit

          Providence, Rhode Island

          Register here.

          April 20, 2017

          Williamsburg, VA

          2-3:20 pm/5-6:20 pm

          Chinese Studies Lectures

          College of William and Mary

          Wilson Hall 201 More information available here.

           

          April 18, 2017

          Carlisle, PA

          7:00 pm

          Clarke Forum Keynote Speech

          Dickinson College

          Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium

          Learn more here!

           

          April 12, 2017

          Durham, NC

          7:00 pm

          Duke University

          Fuqua School of Business

           

          April 7, 2017

          Minneapolis, MN

          1-2:30 pm

          Department of Asian Languages and Cultures and

          Moving Image Colloquium

          University of Minnesota

          More information available here.

          March 27, 2017

          Washington, DC

          2-3:15 pm

          China in the Era of Xi Jinping: Precedents and Comparisons

          Stimson Center

          Washington, DC

          RSVP here

          March 25, 2017

          Chicago, IL

          11:00-12:45 am

          Envisioning Global Media Industries in the Era of China's Rise

          Society of Cinema and Media Studies Annual Meeting

          Fairmont Chicago, Millennium Park

          March 18, 2017

          Toronto, ON

          3:00-5:00 pm

          Media in Motion: Chinese Creative Content in Global Context

          Association for Asian Studies Annual Meeting

          Willow West, Mezzanine

          Sheraton Centre

          March 17, 2017

          Toronto, ON

          4:00-6:00 pm

          Toronto Film and Media Seminar

          TIFF Bell Lightbox

          350 King St W, Toronto, ON M5V 3X5, Canada

          March 9, 2017

          Los Angeles, CA

          4:00pm to 5:30 pm

          US-China Institute

          Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism

          University of Southern California

          Books will be available for sale

          Video here

          March 8, 2017

          Los Angeles, CA

          5:00-7:00 PM

          Cinema and Media Studies Colloquium

          School of Theater, Film and Television

          University of California, Los Angeles

          Darren Star Theater

          Melnitz Hall 1422

          March 7, 2017

          Los Angeles, CA

          8-9:30 pm

          University of Virginia Alumni Entertainment Club of Los Angeles

          Creative Artists Agency (CAA)

          Conference Room 4A

          2000 Avenue of the Stars

          Los Angeles, CA 90067

          March 6, 2017

          Washington, DC

          10:00-11:15 am

          Kissinger Institute on China and the United States

          Woodrow Wilson Center, 6th Floor

          Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center
          One Woodrow Wilson Plaza
          1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
          Washington, DC 20004-3027

          Video here.

          February 27, 2017

          New York, NY

          5:30-7:00pm

          National Committee on US-China Relations

          6 E. 43rd St., 24th Floor

          New York, NY 10017

          Video here.

          February 7, 2017

          Denver, CO

          12:00 - 1:30 pm

          Center for US-China Cooperation

          University of Denver

          Josef Korbel

          School of International Relations

          SIE Complex - 5th Floor - Maglione Hall
          2201 S. Gaylord St., Denver, CO 80208

           


        • Stay in Touch

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          Academia.edu

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        • Twitter updates

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