V I D E O • A G E MA Y 2 0 1 0 8 center. The Expo Center is situated in a more remote section of São Paulo, in what could be considered the city’s suburbs, in an area which houses Rede Globo’s headquarters. This year, organizers Converge Comunicaçoes are expecting a larger contingent from Latin America, the U.S., Canada and Europe than that of 2009, which numbered a low 600 from Back to Familiar Ground B r a s i l T V F o r u m Forum Brasil, the São Paulo TV conference and exhibition, now in its 11th year, is going back to its traditional convention center, Frei Caneca in the heart of the city. Last year’s experiment with the Transamerica Expo Center was not popular with many participants, mainly because of its distance from the city André Mermelstein, head of the event organization, summarized this year’s Forum activities for VideoAge: “We’re having two development pitchings. One for TheHistoryChannel, which is looking for original productions in Brazil. They’ll be looking at projects for six 42-minute series and two-hour specials. They’re giving away a U.S.$20,000 development prize to the winning project. The second pitching is sponsored by Rio de Janeiro-based distributor Synapse TV, which is looking for projects in postproduction and is willing to invest over U.S.$30,000 in suitable projects. In addition, we’re having the third annual Portuguese TV Meeting, with over 15 broadcasters from eight Portuguese-speaking countries (Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, East Timor, Macau, Mozambique, Portugal and St. Thomas and Prince [with only Guinea-Bissau this year missing]), all looking for new programming opportunities. There will also be a world class conference with executives from over 10 countries, discussing digital distribution, broadband TV, formats, production costs and co-productions. Finally, there will be a showcase of the many government opportunities offered by Brazil for international companies willing to co-produce, including public funds, private funding and government incentives.” A view of the Centro De Convenções Frei Caneca Forum Brasil’s Roberto Filippelli with TVTL’s Antonio Dias and Alberto Alves of Timor East, at Forum 2009 at the Transamerica Expo Center. A group of Portuguese-speaking broadcasters from nine countries attending the 2008 Forum at the Novotel Jaragua, which this year returns as the official hotel. 22 countries. This compared to over 1,200 participants from 30 countries when it was held at the Centro de Convenções Frei Caneca. The fact that this year the Forum is held later than usual — June 16-17, compared to June 3-5 in 2009 — could bring more TV executives who, in the past, were too busy with post-L.A. Screenings paperwork to travel.
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