Master of Photography: Investigating Transnational Creative Exchanges in the Production of a Ready-Made Talent Show

Italy plays a peripheral role in the global market of ready-made shows, for historical reasons that pertain both to the marginality of the Italian language and to the scarcity of cultural and economic investments in the globalization of the products. This essay focuses on the analysis of Master of Photography, a docu-talent show produced since 2015 by the Italian indie B/Arts for the pan-European production hub that Sky Limited conceived to produce suitable content for the group’s national art channels (UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria and Italy). Going beyond the analyses concerning the global TV market, this research brings together the perspective of critical political economy and the studies on television’s production routines, with the aim of unveiling both the elaborate adjustments and the necessary compromises required by a cross-cultural creative process that has to meet the expectations and satisfy the tastes of different national audiences. Although the format offers the Italian prodco the opportunity to develop a new production model, with positive effects on the company’s international reputation, its potential influence on the globalization of Italian products and on the growth of ready-made show is still to be demonstrated.