The highlight of the ninth annual Brasil TV Forum, which ended June 5 in São Paulo’s Frei Caneca Convention Center, was the first ever “PortugueseSpeaking Broadcasters’ Meeting,” which was held at the nearby Novotel Jaragua hotel. Reportedly, this meeting represents a precedent, as there have never been any other similar gatherings among broadcasters of Portuguese-speaking nations, although Portuguese is the world’s sixth most spoken language. Broadcasters arrived at the Forum from all nine of the world’s Portuguese-speaking nations, including Angola, East Timor and Mozambique. They congregated at a series of five general meetings to discuss technological innovations and coproduction opportunities. From Brazil, most of the major TV networks were present, including Rede Globo, Bandeirantes, TV Record, TV Cultura and new cultural network, TV Brasil. Notably absent, however, were other major Brazilian TV groups, such as SBT and Rede TV. The message that the other former Portuguese colonies brought to Brazil is the importance of paying attention to their needs, especially in the form of content. Portugal’s television industry has been generous toward its former colonies. Brazil, on the other hand, tends to ignore former colonies, focusing instead just on Portugal, and the results are clearly visible. While a former British colony such as the U.S. has, for example, managed to spread American English worldwide, the Brazilians, despite their country’s might, do not exert any influence and even have a hard time understanding the Portuguese-language spoken in other former colonies. This year’s Brasil TV Forum occupied double the space of last year’s edition and brought together broadcasters and producers from more than 30 countries to network, share experiences and find content. Organizers moved the event to a different floor at the centrally located Frei Caneca Convention Center, hoping to make things more comfortable for attendees. The Latin-flavored Forum drew roughly 1,200 participants — mostly hailing from Brazil, but with international contingents from Canada, and for the first time this year, a delegation of eight producers from Italy, seven from Spain and 10 from Uruguay. At the opening cocktail reception, which officially kicked off the three-day event, prizes were awarded to Brazilian production house Flamma for its children’s cartoon series Princess do Mara; to HBO for a large number of original productions made in Latin America; to Brazilian TV network RBS (Rede Brasil Sul de Comunicacao) for encouraging local production; to author Janete Clair, in memoriam, for her contributions to Brazilian dramaturgy; and to Colombia’s Fernando Gaitan, creator of Ugly Betty, which has become a hit in many countries, including the U.S. A lifetime achievement award saluted program sales veteran Roberto Filippelli, credited with the introduction of Rede Globo’s telenovelas first to Italy in the late 1970s, and later to the rest of the world, including China, in 1983. Besides the opening ceremony, Brazil’s own TV Globo organized the only other cocktail reception at the event. Organizers of the Forum, including André Mermelstein, are hopeful that the number of Brazilian co-productions will soar due to new tax incentives that should soon be in place, which are designed to encourage TV channels to partner with independent producers in Brazil. Article 3 of the new Audiovisual Law allows foreign companies that sell or license programming to invest 70 percent of withholding tax due in the development or co-production of independent features, shorts, series or documentaries. The National Film Agency (ANCINE) still needs to implement the rule, however locals expect it to happen in the next few months. But even before the new incentives are available, there was big news of a co-partnership coming out of the Forum. Globo TV announced the renewal of its partnership with Portugal’s SIC for another four years. The deal gives SIC the exclusive rights to exhibit all new soap operas produced by Globo until 2012. It covers only the purchase and sale of soaps — not programming of any other kind. At the Frei Caneca Center, on the market side, there were 18 exhibitors. The conference was comprised of six panels, three pitch sessions, 20 meetings (including the much-anticipated “30 Minutes With…” sessions in which directors discussed their programming and acquisition policies, as well as offered tips for producers and distributors on how best to pitch projects to acquisition execs), and a record 83 screenings. Because São Paulo is not too attractive a city and is strangled by traffic (it is said that, in five years time, the city traffic will grind to a standstill), earlier this year, Forum Brasil organizers announced plans to move the event to Rio de Janeiro in 2009. But during the market, they said that the plan has, for now at least, been scrapped. This is mostly likely because, with its 10.8 million inhabitants, São Paulo is not only Brazil’s main TV market, but also the country’s financial and broadcasting center. Dates for next year’s event have not yet been set, but Forum Brasil 2009 will most likely take place in early June. V I D E O • A G E OC T O B E R 2 0 0 8 12 B r a z i l T V F o r u m Portuguese-language Nations Meet to Seek TV Understanding The Italian contingent withVideoAge’s Dom Serafini Portuguese-language broadcasters: Angola: TPA; Brazil: TV Globo, TV Record, TV Cultura, TV Brasil; Cape Verde: RCTV; GuineaBissau: TGB; Macao: TVM; Mozambique: TVM, STV; Portugal: SIC, RTP; São Tomé and Príncipe: TVS; East Timor: RTTL VideoAge was one of the sponsors of the Forum
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