Passion for great content drives Globo’s international success
Globo’s original productions continue to expand their geographical reach with recent deals in the U.S., Latin America and Central and Eastern Europe. The diverse content of the Brazilian giant finds its way not only on linear channels but more and more often on the newly-launched digital platforms of the leading TV broadcasters which target new audiences with different interests.
Raphael Corrêa Netto, Globo’s Executive Director of International Business, tells Yako Molhov how they are able to sustain a great content offer and further expand Globo’s international presence in CEE and the rest of the world.
Raphael Corrêa Netto, Globo’s Executive Director of International Business, tells Yako Molhov how they are able to sustain a great content offer and further expand Globo’s international presence in CEE and the rest of the world.
Raphael Corrêa Netto, Executive Director of International
Business, Globo
Raphael, what are the latest trends in telenovelas? Are there specific genres preferred in different parts of the world? What about the CEE region?
More than trends, specific genres or formats, what makes a drama piece successful is having a good story and knowing how to tell it. Globo reaches millions of people every day; viewers different from each other, with different tastes and experiences, “united” by their passion for our content. Therefore, we invest in an increasingly varied menu with thought-provoking, innovative and modern products with fast-paced narratives that deliver emotion and a more intimate experience with our content. Our international partners also recognize this value when setting up their programming strategies.
Bulgaria’s bTV Media Group, for instance, has just licensed three productions. For the pay TV network bTV Lady, the group bet on the romantic comedy The Big Catch, about the mishaps surrounding a heist in a luxury hotel, as well as the big hit Edge of Desire, about three women who share the desire to fight for their dreams. For its OTT service bWeb, the group chose the super series and International Emmy winner Hidden Truths, with a bold plot that shows the underbelly of the glamorous world of fashion. On the other hand, Visionary Thinking – one of the leading content distributors in the region – chose the period limited series Nothing Remains the Same, with a great love story that takes place behind the scenes of the birth of Brazil’s first TV station.
You have been expanding your presence to numerous markets and festivals in the past year. What is your strategy for 2018 in this respect?
The participation of our products in international trade fairs and festivals is another move to expand our international strategy. Globo’s works are already known to our trading partners through our licensing catalog, which is released annually. But strengthening the presence of our productions, especially in other markets, opens opportunities for new partnerships and international projects, including content co-production. The market is constantly changing and that’s exciting. We know the potential of our new crop of series, conducted by Writers’ Room (Casa dos Roteiristas), a multiplatform creation space specific to the genre. The four FIPA D’Or awards we won in the 31st Festival International de Programmes Audivisuels (FIPA), in France, with Under Pressure, and the Grand Jury award given to Jailers at MIPDrama Screenings, during MIPTV 2017, show us that we are on the right track.
What have been your best-selling titles in 2017 and early 2018?
The series Under Pressure has won over the market: 26 countries will broadcast the co-production made with Conspiração Filmes, which depicts the routine of a team of doctors in a hospital with few resources in the suburbs of Rio de Janeiro. I should also highlight Edge of Desire, launched in January during NATPE, which was a huge hit on SIC in Portugal and has been selected by countries like Bulgaria, Uruguay and Ecuador. We also have titles that are attracting a lot of attention in the market, such as Rock Story, about a former rock star that needs to reinvent himself when he sees his career and personal life crumble. The plot, which was launched at the last MIPCOM, has already been licensed to 30 countries.
What is your strategy for CEE in 2018 and which are your key markets?
Our strategy is to concentrate efforts on markets such as Croatia, Hungary, Albania, Bulgaria and Romania. In the last one, for instance, we returned to mark our presence in February with the debut of Total Dreamer on Happy Channel, from the group Antena TV, an important player in this market. Our telenovelas and drama series create a lot of interest in the region, especially “family-oriented” content. Not only for the Eastern Europe, but for all markets in which we operate, we focus on understanding the need of every programmer, based on their programming and ratings, and the way our titles may consolidate their strategies on multiple platforms. We participate in important events in the region, such as NATPE Budapest and the MIPs, and we are constantly monitoring market movements in Eastern Europe. Today, with the expansion of broadcast platforms, the business opportunities are vast and varied.
Globo is known for producing high-quality and unconventional telenovelas like India: A Love Story, The Clone, Edge of Desire. What is your newest project that can be described as unconventional?
I should highlight the super production God Save the King, currently airing in Brazil, which is a medieval plot with dramatic and comic elements, which has as its starting point two prince brothers who do not want the throne: one is scared of becoming the king and the other renounces the crown for the love of a commoner girl. The telenovela has a high investment in visual effects and a thorough, impressive technology, costume design and set design work. The work has seven to eight times more effects than most of Globo’s productions, with CGI effects in virtually every scene. To give life to huge castles full of details and vast hilly fields, which we don’t have in Brazil, God Save the King is being shot in a totally indoor scenographic city at Globo Studios in Rio de Janeiro, with two sheds measuring more than 2.000 square meters. One of them has a large chroma key area for scenes involving visual effects, forests and the battles of the plot. The production represents a very transformative challenge, especially as regards technological innovation and experimentation in the programming.
Globo Play recently celebrated two years and there are reports about Globo planning to start its own streaming service. Talking about VOD, which are your biggest VOD/SVOD clients and how much of your distribution revenues now come from digital clients?
Long before the new broadcast platforms emerged, Globo’s works have been fitting in the programming strategies of very different players on the international scene. The move to occupy new windows was then quite natural and followed all market changes. Our VOD strategy can not only contemplate a proprietary platform, but also help our partners with our content, whether with already finished works or with new co-productions. We do not disclose the numbers of our operations, but I can tell you that, today, multi-platforms already account for a significant portion of our work.
Recently, in addition to Hidden Truths for bWeb, we also licensed the super series, along with limited series Happily Ever After? and Siren’s Song to Univision Now, in the United States. Jailers and the Brazilian version of Supermax were selected for Sundance Now and Shudder, respectively, OTT premium services of AMC Networks, and are available in the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Australia and New Zealand. And since last year Merciless and The Hunter have been part of the Walter Presents portfolio, a VOD service dedicated to foreign drama and comedy in the UK and US.
More than trends, specific genres or formats, what makes a drama piece successful is having a good story and knowing how to tell it. Globo reaches millions of people every day; viewers different from each other, with different tastes and experiences, “united” by their passion for our content. Therefore, we invest in an increasingly varied menu with thought-provoking, innovative and modern products with fast-paced narratives that deliver emotion and a more intimate experience with our content. Our international partners also recognize this value when setting up their programming strategies.
Bulgaria’s bTV Media Group, for instance, has just licensed three productions. For the pay TV network bTV Lady, the group bet on the romantic comedy The Big Catch, about the mishaps surrounding a heist in a luxury hotel, as well as the big hit Edge of Desire, about three women who share the desire to fight for their dreams. For its OTT service bWeb, the group chose the super series and International Emmy winner Hidden Truths, with a bold plot that shows the underbelly of the glamorous world of fashion. On the other hand, Visionary Thinking – one of the leading content distributors in the region – chose the period limited series Nothing Remains the Same, with a great love story that takes place behind the scenes of the birth of Brazil’s first TV station.
You have been expanding your presence to numerous markets and festivals in the past year. What is your strategy for 2018 in this respect?
The participation of our products in international trade fairs and festivals is another move to expand our international strategy. Globo’s works are already known to our trading partners through our licensing catalog, which is released annually. But strengthening the presence of our productions, especially in other markets, opens opportunities for new partnerships and international projects, including content co-production. The market is constantly changing and that’s exciting. We know the potential of our new crop of series, conducted by Writers’ Room (Casa dos Roteiristas), a multiplatform creation space specific to the genre. The four FIPA D’Or awards we won in the 31st Festival International de Programmes Audivisuels (FIPA), in France, with Under Pressure, and the Grand Jury award given to Jailers at MIPDrama Screenings, during MIPTV 2017, show us that we are on the right track.
The Big Catch
What have been your best-selling titles in 2017 and early 2018?
The series Under Pressure has won over the market: 26 countries will broadcast the co-production made with Conspiração Filmes, which depicts the routine of a team of doctors in a hospital with few resources in the suburbs of Rio de Janeiro. I should also highlight Edge of Desire, launched in January during NATPE, which was a huge hit on SIC in Portugal and has been selected by countries like Bulgaria, Uruguay and Ecuador. We also have titles that are attracting a lot of attention in the market, such as Rock Story, about a former rock star that needs to reinvent himself when he sees his career and personal life crumble. The plot, which was launched at the last MIPCOM, has already been licensed to 30 countries.
What is your strategy for CEE in 2018 and which are your key markets?
Our strategy is to concentrate efforts on markets such as Croatia, Hungary, Albania, Bulgaria and Romania. In the last one, for instance, we returned to mark our presence in February with the debut of Total Dreamer on Happy Channel, from the group Antena TV, an important player in this market. Our telenovelas and drama series create a lot of interest in the region, especially “family-oriented” content. Not only for the Eastern Europe, but for all markets in which we operate, we focus on understanding the need of every programmer, based on their programming and ratings, and the way our titles may consolidate their strategies on multiple platforms. We participate in important events in the region, such as NATPE Budapest and the MIPs, and we are constantly monitoring market movements in Eastern Europe. Today, with the expansion of broadcast platforms, the business opportunities are vast and varied.
Globo is known for producing high-quality and unconventional telenovelas like India: A Love Story, The Clone, Edge of Desire. What is your newest project that can be described as unconventional?
I should highlight the super production God Save the King, currently airing in Brazil, which is a medieval plot with dramatic and comic elements, which has as its starting point two prince brothers who do not want the throne: one is scared of becoming the king and the other renounces the crown for the love of a commoner girl. The telenovela has a high investment in visual effects and a thorough, impressive technology, costume design and set design work. The work has seven to eight times more effects than most of Globo’s productions, with CGI effects in virtually every scene. To give life to huge castles full of details and vast hilly fields, which we don’t have in Brazil, God Save the King is being shot in a totally indoor scenographic city at Globo Studios in Rio de Janeiro, with two sheds measuring more than 2.000 square meters. One of them has a large chroma key area for scenes involving visual effects, forests and the battles of the plot. The production represents a very transformative challenge, especially as regards technological innovation and experimentation in the programming.
Rock Story
Globo Play recently celebrated two years and there are reports about Globo planning to start its own streaming service. Talking about VOD, which are your biggest VOD/SVOD clients and how much of your distribution revenues now come from digital clients?
Long before the new broadcast platforms emerged, Globo’s works have been fitting in the programming strategies of very different players on the international scene. The move to occupy new windows was then quite natural and followed all market changes. Our VOD strategy can not only contemplate a proprietary platform, but also help our partners with our content, whether with already finished works or with new co-productions. We do not disclose the numbers of our operations, but I can tell you that, today, multi-platforms already account for a significant portion of our work.
Recently, in addition to Hidden Truths for bWeb, we also licensed the super series, along with limited series Happily Ever After? and Siren’s Song to Univision Now, in the United States. Jailers and the Brazilian version of Supermax were selected for Sundance Now and Shudder, respectively, OTT premium services of AMC Networks, and are available in the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Australia and New Zealand. And since last year Merciless and The Hunter have been part of the Walter Presents portfolio, a VOD service dedicated to foreign drama and comedy in the UK and US.
