The creation of big forums and telenovela production sets

With scripts written by the renowned Argentine heartthrob Gabriel Corrado and European TV's guru Valeriu Lazarov, Antena 1 has plunged into the telenovela production competence in Romania.

By Gheorghe Chelo

As the acquisitions of foreign series and telenovelas decreased, Eastern Europe embarked on releasing their own productions. Romania became one of the emblematic cases of this phenomenon when three years ago it produced its first telenovela, bringing about new talents and the development of big and sophisticated production studios. The starting point in Romania was Acasa TV’s Only The Love. What the audience rewarded, apart from the story itself, was the magnitude of the company’s investment, which even built a location house in Buftea.

Between success and failure
Some time after Acasa TV released its first telenovela, Antena 1 – another Romanian TV company – launched Maria’s Secret, which was almost as successful as its predecessor. In this case, the careful selection of actors and central themes was the way to success. The script was written by the well known Argentine actor Gabriel Corrado, who worked with the distinguished producer Valeriu Lazarov.

Meanwhile, Acasa TV was not satisfied with its pioneer role and tried to maintain its leading position by producing two national telenovelas that were as successful as the first one: Love Tears and Eva’s Sins. For that purpose, Media Pro – owner of Acasa TV – and ProTV built around half a dozen of houses, two pubs and other buildings in the same stage in Buftea to shoot several series: Daria, My Love and Movie Romance, among others. On the other hand, ProTV has recently released a new series called Un paso adelante. As expected, the company continued with the habit of constructing buildings especially designed for the shootings, and generated an entire academy on a former factory field.

Gabriel Corrado, distinguished Argentine actor now in the telenovela business. Writer and adaptor.

Marketing is a key element for telenovela success and Antena 1 was the first one to taste the bitter savor of low rating with its second series. In that sense, Acasa TV and its mother company seem to take the lead and support their successful productions by promoting actors, organizing shows, meetings and events to maintain a strong bond with the audience. Their artists have become idols of a whole generation.

New competitors
The genre of telenovelas has already won its own place in Romania and everything indicates it is there to stay. This is proven by the fact that this fall other two companies will enter the competition: Romántica and Kanal D, which has already incorporated Valeriu Lazarov as part of its staff.

Loredana Ilies, Acquisitions Director at Acasa TV.