Oct 24, 2011

• A Partnership between Conspiração Filmes and Pampa Production, ‘Vermelho Brazil’ (‘Red Brazil’) will cost € 9.1 million and will be the biggest launch on France Television in 2012

The BNDES will allocate R$ 4.5 million for the production of the television series Vermelho Brasil (Rouge Brésil, in French; Red Brazil, in English). The operation takes place within the Support Program for the Audiovisual Production Sector (BNDES PROCULT) and combines a funding line of $ 3 million with investments of R$ 1.5 million in non-reimbursable resources, in accordance with Article 1 of the Audiovisual Law.

The total budget of the project, a partnership between the Conspiração Filmes producer from Rio and the Pampa producer from France, is € 9.1 million. Vermelho Brasil will be the biggest launch on France Television in 2012, with five chapters. It will also be displayed on Globo Television (two chapters), at a date yet to be determined. The contract also provides for marketing on pay TV, pay-per-view, Internet and new media, as well as the launch of movie and DVD versions.

Based on the novel of the same name by French writer Jean-Christophe Rufin - which sold over 400,000 copies in his country of origin - and directed by Canadian Sylvain Archambault, Vermelho Brazil’s backdrop will include historical events related to the French occupation in the Guanabara Bay area in the sixteenth century. With locations in France and Rio de Janeiro, the series reveals a fundamental part of history and the formation of the Brazilian national identity.

Showing the series on TV encourages an open and healthy new business model: contrary to what occurs in the United States and Europe, the Brazilian market is still vertical, i.e., TV channels tend to produce their own programming. The acquisition of content generated outside the station is an important step toward the development of the national television industry. The project also helps to strengthen Brazil’s presence in international co-production projects.

Conspiração Filmes is one of the three largest audiovisual producers in the country and works in all market segments: advertising, movies, TV and home video. Its portfolio of international projects includes the documentary film March of the Living, a Brazil-US co-production, and Lope, a partnership between Brazil and Spain, supported by the BNDES.