Streaming companies have democratised the audiovisual production through their original series and films, bringing different ways of telling stories to everyone, which is a wonderful path. Very recently, only films and series produced in the United States or the United Kingdom were available to a large audience, always with English as the official international language and with the signature of renowned British and American film and TV studios. However, this reality has changed and forever (amen!) the way of producing and consuming audiovisual content. More and more Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, HBO, Apple TV +, among others, are investing in their own productions in their catalogues.
Netflix is the largest company in the segment and saw in the regionalisation of content a way to increase the reach of its audience and create an engaging and effective communication with its audience worldwide, considering every society wants to see themselves represented on TV screens. Let’s have a look at Netflix Brazil and the Brazilian target, for example. Nowadays, the Brazilian audience represents Netflix’s second-largest market, The USA is the first one, with more than 16 million subscribers, according to data released by Netflix itself, in 2020.
Therefore, since 2016 Netflix has invested millions of dollars in the production of Brazilian content, after the good result of the original series “3%”. The Brazilian public reacted well to the series that became one of the 10 most viewed in the country that year, causing the interest of streaming to increase the number of local production in Brazil, as it realised that the Brazilian market has already a tradition of watching fictional content such as soap operas – the highest rate audience there- and the viewers would respond well to the creation of new stories that could do the citizens to identify with their culture and cultural assets (actors, directors, locations) on the screen.
In early 2020, according to a report by “Valor”, a Brazilian business magazine, Netflix announced that would invest 350 million reais (Brazilian currency), equivalent to 55 million euros, in Brazilian audiovisual content such as series, movies, reality shows, stand-ups or documentaries – between 2020 and 2021.
In addition, foreign audiences have also begun to be interested in content that presents other artistic and cultural realities. It is as if the audiovisual culture has finally become globalised. The language definitely ceases to be an obstacle and the hegemony of the English language in audiovisual production loses strength. Viewers from different parts of the world want to get closer to other cultures, realities and narratives. Brazilian Netflix series became notorious not only in Brazil but, all over the world. “3%” was so well received by the national and international public that it won three more seasons. In August 2019, streaming announced that the series would be renewed for a fourth and final season.
In conclusion, everyone benefits from this business model. Streaming companies, the talents of these countries who have the chance to see their ideas and societies shown to “all four corners of the world” and to viewers who have a multitude of content to explore.
Now you can check out the main Brazilian series launched by Netflix since 2016 and that you can watch wherever you are.
3% (2016-2020)
It is a series of dystopian and drama, the second series produced by Netflix in Latin America after “Club de Cuervos”, created by Pedro Aguilera. The synopsis tells a post-apocalyptic thriller set in near-future Brazil, where a select few are allowed to join a privileged society after undergoing an intense and competitive process. At the age of 20, every citizen receives the chance to undergo a rigorous selection to ascend to Maralto, a region full of opportunities. However, only 3% manage to get there. The series has 4 seasons.
Samantha! (2018-2019)
Samantha! is a comedy series created by Felipe Braga. It is the first Brazilian comedy series produced by Netflix and the third produced in Brazil after “3%” and “The Mechanism”. It was directed by Luis Pinheiros and Julia Jordão, and scripted by Roberto Vitorino, Patricia Corso, Rafael Lessa and Filipe Valerim.
The series tells the story of a former child celebrity from the 1980s who fell by the wayside after entering adolescence and tries to return to the spotlight with absurd plans. Samantha is married to Dodói, a former football player who has just returned home after spending more than ten years in prison, and together they have two crazy kids, Cindy and Brandon. Netflix has produced 2 seasons and decided to cancel it.
The mechanism (2018-XXXX)
“O Mecanismo” (Original title) is a political drama series, created by José Padilha and Elena Soarez, directed by José Padilha, Felipe Prado, Marcos Prado and with scripts by Elena Soárez. Marco Ruffo is a Federal Police officer obsessed with the case he is investigating. When he least expects it, he and his apprentice, Verena Cardoni are immersed in one of the largest investigations of embezzlement and money laundering in the history of Brazil. The proportion is such that the course of the investigations completely changes the lives of everyone involved. The series has two seasons.
The girl from Ipanema (2019- XXXX)
“A coisa mais linda”(Original title) is a drama series, launched on 22 March 2019, created by Giuliano Cedroni and Heather Roth, with text collaboration by Léo Moreira, Luna Grimberg and Patricia Corso, directed by Caíto Ortiz, Hugo Prata and Julia Rezende.
The series discusses the rise of bossa nova and female empowerment in 1959, the title is inspired by a verse from the song ” A Garota de Ipanema (The Girl from Ipanema), by Tom Jobim and Vinícius de Morais. In 1959, after moving to Rio de Janeiro, Malu discovers that she was stolen and abandoned by her husband. Willing to make a comeback, she dives into the universe of the newly created bossa nova genre songs when she meets Chico, a talented singer who takes her on a journey of self-knowledge, and Adélia, a black girl and favela resident, who fights against racism and battle to support sister Ivone and daughter Conceição. Together, Malu and Adélia open a bossa nova club, where Chico successfully performs, but soon they realise that they will have to face several problems in an age of male dominance. The path of the two is also crossed by Lígia and Thereza, married with brothers Augusto and Nelson, respectively. The first dreams of becoming a professional singer, but is repressed by her husband, an aspiring macho and conservative politician; the second is a journalist who fights for women’s rights in the labour market and has the support of her husband, who, like her, lives liberal relations with other men and women. The series was launched internationally called “Most Beautiful Thing”, but the second season became “The Girl from Ipanema” because the first name didn’t relate to the song and as a consequence messed up the public understanding of the title and story.
Good morning, Veronica! (2020 – XXXX)
Bom dia, Veronica! (Original title) is a Brazilian television series that premiered on 1 October 2020, on Netflix. Based on the eponymous novel by Ilana Casoy and Raphael Montes, the series has a script adapted by Casoy and Montes, and is directed by José Henrique Fonseca.
The best Brazilian Netflix series produced so far according to myself, the series unfolds the storyline of Verônica Torres, a police clerk who works at a homicide station in São Paulo. Married with two children, her routine ends up being interrupted when she witnesses the shocking suicide of a young woman. In the same week, she receives an anonymous call from a desperate woman asking for help and she gets into a crazy and violent world.
Kissing Game (2020 – XXXX)
“Boca a Boca”(Original title) is a Brazilian drama television series, created by Esmir Filho, produced by Gullane Filmes and Netflix. The series debuted in 2020 and portrays a cattle ranching town in the countryside, where teenagers panic when they are threatened by an epidemic outbreak caused by a contagious infection transmitted by kissing. In a contemporary and mysterious plot, the series depicts the desires of a youth connected in a physical reality full of fear and distrust.
Omniscient (2020 – XXXX)
“Onisciente” (Original title) is a Brazilian science fiction television series created by Pedro Aguilera, of the same team behind 3% and produced by Boutique Filmes. The series depicts a world watched by drones. For some decades, every citizen of the city of São Paulo has been monitored by a personal drone 24 hours a day, which evaluates each attitude through Omniscient artificial intelligence and denounces infractions, bringing crime to almost zero. Upon arriving home, Nina, a programmer who works in Omniscient, finds her father murdered, but no crime has been reported and everyone around her seems to want to hide the fact so as not to show the system’s flaws. With the help of her brother, Daniel, and a mysterious ally, Judite, she outlines a plan to gain access to her father’s drone images and uncover what happened, but the truth can be surprising.
Brotherhood (2019 – XXXX)
Irmandade (Original title) is a Brazilian police television series created by Pedro Morelli, produced by Netflix streaming and O2 Filmes. The series tells the (fictional) story of a homonymous criminal faction in the 1990s. The synopsis depicts in the 90s, Cristina, an honest and dedicated lawyer, discovers that her brother who disappeared years ago is, in fact, imprisoned for being the leader of a criminal faction. She is then forced by the police to work as an informant. But, as she infiltrates the faction, the girl begins to question her values about law and justice.
