Managed Frictions: Occupational Encounters and Risk Governance in China–Hollywood Coproduction

• In Event: Production of Culture Perspectives

Abstract

What happens when Western expert knowledge encounters local craft labor in global creative production? Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork on multiple film sets and in-depth interviews with industry insiders in Beijing and Los Angeles, this article examines how Chinese and Hollywood filmmakers resolved disparities around occupational conventions during collaboration. Across global productions spanning varying budget levels, I identify three key sites of occupational encounter: (1) temporal–procedural frictions (how production is sequenced and stabilized), (2) informational–interactional frictions (how meaning and information circulate), and (3) jurisdictional–authority frictions (what occupational titles bundle authority and accountability). Building on the production of culture and art worlds traditions, I conceptualize these recurring moments as managed frictions: situated practices of coordination and control through which transnational collaborators align mismatched occupational conventions under organizational pressure and unequal authority. Managed frictions generate temporary settlements while leaving deeper asymmetries intact, especially in how risk and uncertainty are redistributed across occupational hierarchies. Ultimately, this article provides a useful framework for analyzing global cultural production across creative domains.

Author

• Jun Fang, University of Toronto