Italian producer Andrea Olcese tells Clive Whittingham why his company, Einstein Multimedia, is expanding into the Brazilian production sector.

Andrea Olcese

When Italian pubcaster Rai TV commissioned Einstein Multimedia to make 230 episodes of daily drama series Agrodolce (Bitter Sweet) with a multimillion-euro budget in 2010 it seemed the production company had it cracked.

Three years on, the relationship between producer and broadcaster has broken down and become mired in prolonged legal arguments over payments. It has left Einstein’s chief creative officer Andrea Olcese facing some tough choices: sit and wait, hoping the case is decided in his favour; battle on in a territory where you’ve fallen out with the main pubcaster; or look elsewhere for opportunities.

He’s chosen the latter course and joined forces with David Wyler and Lincoln Hiatt from LA-based Genetic Entertainment to form a Brazilian venture, Einstein/Genetic. Olcese is also developing formats for the Brazil market outside the Genetic alliance, initially partnering with local prodco Boutique Films.

Speaking to C21, Olcese says the decision was a no-brainer given the potential of the Brazilian market. “Rather than standing and waiting for Italian justice I wanted to try another challenge in another marketplace,” he says.

“In Brazil, consumption is absolutely booming. When there is this much potential, advertisers are going to be looking at the marketplace. I know for sure that many big brands are reducing investment in Europe because consumption there is not improving. Here in Brazil, it’s a completely different thing – people are consuming like crazy.

“TV in this country still has the same power as it did in Europe in the 1980s. People still watch and enjoy TV and the appointment with the daily telenovela is one of the main things in society. You’re talking about one of the biggest pay TV markets in the world.”

And it’s only going to get bigger. Brazil is hosting the football World Cup next year and the next summer Olympic games after that. Conservative estimates suggest it will become the fourth biggest economy in the world by 2020, usurping many establish players like Canada and several European nations.

Footballers' Wives

A large Italian ex-pat community makes the move more attractive still and Olsece’s first project is focused on that group. Einstein is partnering with Boutique to develop Arca De Noè (Noah’s Ark). The 13×30′ reality series will focus on Italian and German families and the work they do for a Brazilian supermarket that wants to produce authentic European food, wine and beer. Olcese described the show as a cross between Cake Boss and The Farmer Wants a Wife, with a Brazilian twist.

“Factual, factual entertainment and formats are our specialities and what we became successful with in the past, so obviously this is the first genre we’re looking for,” says Olsece. “What we’re aiming to do with Einstein/Genetic is create a product that fits the culture of this country. It’s not only adapting international formats to Brazil, it’s also taking advantage of the huge culture of this country and turning it into an opportunity for the Brazilian marketplace.

“My dream is that in a few years we will have Brazilian formats created with the experts like David, Lincoln and myself and spreading those formats around the world. There are very good formats from Israel in the marketplace; I don’t understand why in the near future we can’t have Brazilian formats.”

One of Olsece’s early imports could be Love My Pet, a dating show for animal owners with which he found success on Sky Uno in Italy. Olsece also previously worked on Italian versions of Footballers’ Wives, Name That Tune, Top of The Pops, Love Bugs and Today’s the Day.

One challenge any outsider must overcome in the Brazilian market is the much-publicised regulations around the amount of local production aired on the nation’s pay television channels. Olcese rails against the suggestion he is partnering with Boutique on his first production to get around that rule, saying Boutique’s expertise makes it an ideal partner for the programme. In fact, he’s in favour of the new regulations, saying they are driving growth in the Brazilian production industry.

Top of the Pops

A greater challenge, according to Olsece, is breaking through as an indie prodco when so many of the Brazilian networks produce in-house. That will change though, given time, he believes.

“There is a huge in-house production sector here, with big shows like Big Brother and The Voice, but they are produced inside the facilities of Brazilian television – Globo TV in Rio is probably bigger than most US studios as far as premises and facilities are concerned,” he says.

“But Italy was the same in the 1990s; everybody was producing internally, like Rai and Mediaset. Now 95% of the production of light entertainment and non-scripted is attached to an indie producer. The Italian broadcasters learnt it is cheaper and better to produce with an indie even if you’re producing on your own premises.”

Given Brazil’s potential, Olcese says he expects some of television’s biggest players to be piling in and partnering with local producers on projects moving forward. He’s hoping that by turning his back on his homeland he’s ahead of the curve.