May 20, 2013

Variety: 'Brazil is about to have its blazing moment in the sun' | Variety: 'Brasil está prestes a conquistar seu lugar ao sol'



VARIETY: Brazilian Filmmakers Find New Audiences At Home, Abroad

From the point of view of world sports, Brazil is about to have its blazing moment in the sun. Will this period of high visibility also extend to other sectors of its culture?

Andre Sturm, prexy of film promotion agency Cinema do Brasil, thinks it will. “As Brazil hosts the soccer World Cup next year and the Olympic Games in three years, there’s also tremendous interest in Brazilian cinema,” he says.

Even without the boost from sports, Brazil’s film market has exploded since 2008, with 10% more screens at 2,517; 64% more admissions at 146.4 million; 108% higher box office take at $808 million; and 260% more pay TV subscribers at 16.2 million.

Brazilian cinema has the highest domestic box office share of any Latin American country — 13% on average since 2001, with 18% forecast in 2013 and producers targeting 25% to 30% in two years.


VARIETY: City of Rio Unveils Plans for $50 Million Mega-Studio (EXCLUSIVE)

The City of Rio de Janeiro is set to build a $50 million film and TV studio, Rio Polo de Audiovisual, located a few minutes drive from Brazil’s 2016 Olympic Games stadium.

The news was unveiled on Saturday at Cannes by Sergio Sa Leitao, Rio de Janeiro’s secretary of culture and CEO of Rio City film fund RioFilme. The Polo (literally, “hub”) will be built on land owned by the city in Barra de Tijuca, an Atlantic Ocean-set suburb south west of the capital.

The Polo will cover at least 300,000 sq. ft, 40% of which will be occupied by 14 soundstages, Sa Leitao said. The Polo will also house production, post-production suites and offices.

RioFilme will launch a call for proposals around the beginning of July, he added. The winning applicant or consortium, which can include both a constructor and studio operator, must have the studio open by June 2016, in time for the Olympic Games The aim, however, is to progressively open facilities before that date.

Polo’s construction comes in response to escalating production levels in Brazil, particularly in the TV sector, SA Leitao said.

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