Recalcitrant audiencing: Between analytics and creative practice in the film industry

This article examines how audience analytics in filmmaking have evolved with digital platforms and AI, impacting creative decisions from concept to production. Through a case study of a Danish consultancy working at the intersection of data analytics and film production, we explore how audience insights are mobilized in creative processes. We propose the term recalcitrant audiencing to describe a mode of audience analytics that challenges filmmakers’ assumptions rather than offering definitive representations of the audience. Our findings show that such practices create a narrative space for renegotiation and disruption, highlighting the nuanced role of algorithms as tools that can elicit rather than dictate creative processes. Rethinking audiencing in this way demonstrates how AI can be integrated with qualitative methods to co-imagine multiple potential audiences for a cultural product still in the making.