No More Status Quo! Canadian Web-Series Creators’ Entrepreneurial Motives Through a Contextualized “Entrepreneuring As Emancipation” Framework

ABSTRACT

The increasing ubiquity of broadband Internet and the rapid rise and uptake of new online video capabilities and platforms are transforming the ecology of traditional television across the globe, and restructuring its economics, politics, culture, and norms. The Canadian television sector presents a particularly interesting case study given its highly regulated dimensions, acknowledged absence of widespread and consistent critical and economic success, and proximity to the world’s most formidable cultural producer, the United States. Through in-depth interviews with 41 creators and executives active in the production of scripted, Web-first content, this article explores the motives of individuals who choose to enter this turbulent space. Responding to the call by scholars for a more contextualized entrepreneurship studies, the article employs a “contextualized” version of Rindova, Barry, and Ketchen’s (2009) “entrepreneuring as emancipation” framework to better capture the “why” and “who” of production for the Web in Canada. The article demonstrates how Canadian Web creators’ motives to engage in Web-first production can be seen as change-making efforts that directly respond to the problematic structures entrenched in the Canadian television system, and to the dominant norms, paradigms, and patterns embedded in the form of television more generally. The article underlines the value of qualitative, contextualized approaches to entrepreneurship studies by demonstrating that such approaches can reveal often overlooked important details about not only the lived realities of entrepreneurial actors but also the origins of their motives—insights which can be used to more meaningfully inform and shape policy design.

Acknowledgments

The author would like to sincerely thank the many creators who shared their captivating and inspiring experiences, stories, and frustrations with such great humor, reflection, and candor.

Funding

The research was conducted with the support of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), as well as the Creating Digital Opportunities project, both of which are gratefully acknowledged.

Notes

^1. The CBC has its own Canadian content mandate, given its unique role in the Canadian cultural landscape as the country’s national public broadcaster.

^2. All of the names of the creators have been removed from this section to mitigate risk of reputational damage.

Additional information

Funding

The research was conducted with the support of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), as well as the Creating Digital Opportunities project, both of which are gratefully acknowledged.