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Due
to so much light information circulating
all over that does not contribute to
this business reality, we have decided
to create this section called “Against
the wall”. In this section, the
giants in the world of the telenovelas,
series, miniseries and fiction formats
answer all the questions related to
this business. |
| Clearing
up doubts |
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We
will go through the most burning aspects
of the Venezuelan telenovela and the
key markets with two of the greatest
representatives of this business. We
will talk with Carlos Bardasano,
vice-president to Grupo Cisneros
(a group that owns a network consisting
of channels and production centers in
several countries in Latin America and
the United States). This group owns
Venevision International,
one of the most important contents marketing
company in this industry.
On the other hand, we will speak with
José Escalante,
an executive with a great career in
worldwide markets and general manager
at RCTV International,
property of AB1 group from Venezuela.
We will make this two Venezuelan executives
our first questionnaire. |
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hich have been the
three most distributed telenovelas in the continent
up to now?
There are many ways of evaluating this. If we
focus on the Latin American ones, we can name
two productions: Los ricos también
lloran and El derecho de nacer.
If we take into account which one contributed
to the opening of the international markets
the most –that is, outside the American
continent– it’s been without question
Cristal.
The one with greatest success worldwide has
been Kassandra.
And the most profitable one has been Betty
la fea.
We can’t leave out the triumphant Brazilian
telenovela Vale todo, in its original
version.
There are people that say that among
the many actions to reassure its market, one
of the giant Televisa’s tactics is to
reinforce the classic telenovela and thus prevent
a possible boom of other kinds of products.
What do you think about it?
They’ve tried to renew the genre
looking for originality and creativity, and
so they’ve gone from the traditional or
epic telenovela to the anti-establishment or
social one. Let’s take for example El
conde de Montecristo. The results showed
that risks increase when the plot strays away
from the traditional telenovela concept that
it has as the original idea. Not many non-traditional
telenovelas have had local success. In Venezuela
it’s been Por estas calles and
Cosita rica. A company’s strategy
must be aimed to produce 80 % of its telenovelas
in a traditional or classic style. That way
it minimizes the risks.
In order to open a market in the United
States, during the nineties Pepe Crusillá
used the same strategy in Miami: he adapted
several culebrón-style stories
by the well-known Delia Fiallo. Which is the
strategy to conquer the United States’
Hispanic market today?
Exactly the same one than 10 years ago. A good
and trustworthy adaptation from a Delia Fiallo’s
original story can never fail. A traditional
romantic telenovela with 50% of it shot on location,
the latest technological advances and the advantage
that the best drama talents love working in
Miami will be a certain success, as it has been
proved by the Venezuelan Alfredo Schwartz
from Fonovideo, the producer
that has made most telenovelas in Miami during
the last ten years, all of them with a worldwide
success, from La mujer de mi vida to
Gata salvaje and Inocente de ti.
How many telenovelas have been broadcasted
by Venevision’s Channel 4 in Venezuela?
From its beginnings up to now we have broadcasted
392 telenovelas, from which 215 have been local
ones and 117 have been foreign ones. Venezuela’s
audience is mature and open-minded, it appreciates
and supports good programs wherever they come
from. For instance, Marimar, Betty
la fea, Xica and La mujer
de mi vida, each one of them has triumphed
among this audience.
Each year you participate in the World
Summit of the Telenovela and Fiction Industry,
this year it will take place in Madrid. What
do you think of this event?
This famous and prestigious event has
turned into a required place of discussion,
in which we can debate important theories and
experiences regarding the telenovela industry,
the television cornerstone. In this event we
analyze projects and encourage formats. This
third Summit promises to be even more interesting
and in-depth than the two previous ones: the
Miami one, where it was born and was a success
and the one from last year in Barcelona, where
it grew stronger. So all of us involved in this
business will be in Madrid this year.
nd for you, José,
an expert in the world markets, which are
the three telenovelas with the most circulation?
If we are talking about world circulation,
I think that it has to be a recent telenovela,
as it sells in more countries. But statistics
say that Los ricos también lloran
(Televisa), Kassandra
(RCTV), Betty la fea
(RCN) and another one, Mi
gorda bella (RCTV).
What do you think are the policies
of the great factories of telenovelas in order
to win and control the markets? It is said
all along Latin America that Televisa reinforces
its classic telenovelas every time there are
new successes with modern and renewed subjects…
Each producer’s strategies are a secret.
But I do believe that Televisa
tends to reinforce the classic telenovela,
as it is their strongest product and besides
it is very well produced. On the other hand,
at RCTV we have kept the
classic line but we have produced telenovelas
that are more contemporary to which we have
added some comedy, as in the case of Trapos
íntimos and Mi gorda bella.
What is RCTV’s plan in order
to conquer the Hispanic market of the United
States?
We are analyzing the possibility of co-producing,
making independent productions and/or productions
between both the United States and Venezuela.
But our strategy has already given good results
and at the moment we have three hours of telenovelas
on Telefutura (Trapos íntimos,
Carmencita la cuaima and Juana la virgen).
How many telenovelas, since the beginning
of CORAL –today RCTV– have been
sold, and to how many countries?
They are a lot. Now we have an average of
15 thousand hours per year and we are in approximately
85 countries.
What is your present view of the business,
with the movement of Telemundo in the Unites
States, which on the one hand has created
a strong division in the production of telenovelas
distributed by Tepuy Internacional? On the
other hand, Televisa and Univision, in their
fight for the market, have made evident the
need for contents for these audiences. And
moreover, Azteca América, also produces
contents for them…
The current business is wide and complex;
it seems as if all of a sudden we have realized
that we are 40 million Hispanics in the United
States and that Hispanic TV is important in
terms of income from the advertisers. It is
such a big business that the big American
and/or Latin American networks are studying
different alternatives that will allow them
a participation in the Hispanic television
media in the United States. We will probably
see a lot of new ventures and/or the rebuilding
of the existing ones.
What is your opinion on the Telenovela
World Summit, as you have participated in
it and in the third one in Madrid-Spain that
is about to come?
It is one of the most important events of
the industry. It is the place for producers,
writers, distributors, buyers and agents,
either of licenses or services, to exchange
ideas on the market needs, the new tendencies,
to get stronger over the competition and ready
to make this beautiful genre of the telenovela
grow even more.
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