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The representation of the LGBTIQ+ community in TV series has received major attention from academia, mostly from textual and reception perspectives. However, the creative and industrial processes behind the production of media content, including the writers' views and experiences, remain under-explored, especially outside of the United States and Northern Europe. Drawing on Queer Production Studies, this research seeks to fill this gap in Queer Media Studies by examining Spanish screenwriters' experiences and conceptions regarding the creation of fictional LGBTIQ+ characters for TV shows, and observes how the broadcasting industry influences this process. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 19 Spanish screenwriters. Following thematic analysis informed by grounded theory, the main results show that normalization guides the creation of LGBTIQ+ characters, although there are differences in the way screenwriters define this concept. Moreover, the narrative exposition of the intimate lives of LGBTIQ+ characters emerges as the main dilemma in that normalization. Likewise, scriptwriters perceive ambivalent attitudes from the TV industry: Whereas the inclusion of LGBTIQ+ characters seems mandatory these days, there are fears that this might lead to low viewing figures or of reputations being tarnished by negative criticism. The results of this investigation further our understanding of how the concept of normalization shapes the creation of LGBTIQ+ media representations as perceived by professionals who play significant roles in their production. These findings contribute to the advancement of knowledge within LGBTIQ+ media studies and the construction of queer media representations. They also expand the scope of the under-explored field of Production Studies and diversify its geographical area of study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are currently more trans characters than ever in television series, while at the same time scrutiny of trans people is intensifying in social and public debate, and the correspondence between this increased presence in the media and improvements in the trans community's rights is in dispute. This research aims to find out how trans audiences relate to their portrayal in TV series, to learn about their perceptions and opinions, and to understand how these depictions affect their everyday lives. A qualitative analysis was conducted of 19 trans people in two focus groups and nine semi-structured interviews. The findings show that the participants perceive a clear distance between their realities and the most popular narratives about trans lives. They identify cispassing as a transversal element that drives the production, creation, and distribution of media narratives, leading to a transnormative representation. Consequently, the trans audience demands the inclusion of trans people in the (audiovisual) cultural circuit in order to combat the 'cis gaze' and to create more diverse narratives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current rise in the circulation of audiovisual products has led to the transnational convergence of industry practices, quality standards and language conventions, which may affect the diversity of television discourses and representations worldwide. The present research identifies the similarities in Scripted Television Formats (STF) produced in different cultural contexts by undertaking a case study of the Spanish fictional STF, Los Misterios de Laura, and its US and Italian adaptations. Using a qualitative analysis model that was designed for this study, the context and script of the three adaptations are observed. The results show that the similarities between the versions are related to three aspects: the specific traits that characterize the series as a television format, the process of searching for equivalences among cultural contexts, and the use of audiovisual language with a certain universal value. The study concludes that it is the similarities between STF contents that best describe the tension between local and global aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]