Aynne Kokas is an assistant professor of media studies at the University of Virginia. Kokas’ work focuses on the intersections between Chinese and U.S. media and technology industries. Her book, Hollywood Made in China (University of California Press 2017), examines the cultural, political, and economic implications of U.S. media investment in China as it becomes the world’s largest film market. Hollywood Made in China has been profiled or cited in publications in seven languages and 42 countries. Kokas’ research on China’s media industry has also appeared or is forthcoming in publications including PLOS One, Global Media and Communication, The Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Communication, and In Media Res. 

Kokas’ current project Border Control on the Digital Frontier: China, the United States, and the Global Battle for Data Security examines how Chinese cybersecurity policies are establishing new global standards for the movement of data, aided by the support of U.S. capital markets, the buy-in of U.S. companies, and the neglect of U.S. policymakers. Border Control on the Digital Frontier has received support from the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars.

Kokas’ work draws on her international and industrial experience. She was a consultant for Warner Bros. Digital, in addition to a range of other Fortune 500 technology, financial services, and manufacturing companies. She has been a visiting fellow at the Shanghai Institute of International Studies and a visiting professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and a Fulbright Scholar at East China Normal University. Kokas is currently a non-resident scholar in Chinese media at the Baker Institute of Public Policy at Rice University, a term member in the Council on Foreign Relations, and a fellow in the Public Intellectuals Program of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations. She is fluent in Mandarin and began her career in Chinese media by studying directing at Beijing Film Academy.