Flavio Rocha

TV Real Weekly, July 2, 2008

International Content Director

Globo TV International

Globo TV International, the worldwide sales arm of the Brazilian broadcasting giant, has long been known for its novelas, which have made their way onto networks across the globe. Since the beginning of this year, however, the company has been rapidly expanding its field of activities, and the documentary genre has become a key priority.

Attending MIPDOC and Hot Docs for the first time this year, the company has been offering up the 13-part series Globo DOC, which takes an in-depth look at the colorful flora and fauna of Brazil. “Our goal is to provide an unprecedented look at Brazilian nature and culture to the international market,” says Flavio Rocha, who leads the development of projects for the worldwide market at Globo. “The first series of documentaries is made entirely by Brazilians and shows the great mosaic of shapes and sounds called Brazil, revealed by these 13 episodes.”

The series kicks off looking at the Amazon rainforest, which covers more than half of Brazil’s surface area. It is home to some 30,000 plant species, including 2,500 types of trees, as well as 3,000 different kinds of fish, some 1,000 bird species and a host of other wildlife. The series also includes an episode on the Fernando de Noronha islands and the variety of wildlife that call this archipelago home. Globo DOC also covers the Pantanal ecological reservation, which has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage site, as well as Brazil’s mountains and canyons. Globo is continuing to produce new episodes as it heads into MIPCOM.

As it began developing the series, which was produced specifically for viewers outside of the Brazil, Rocha notes that Globo TV International embarked on an “intense editorial search and investigation of the market in order to know what the demand was.”

The resulting series, Rocha notes, presents the “richness and biodiversity” of a land that “is still mysterious and unknown even to Brazilians.”

For Rocha, working on Globo’s diverse catalogue builds upon a career in television that has seen him develop an expertise in a range of different genres. Prior to taking on his current role in Globo’s international division, he served as the Brazilian broadcaster’s director of children’s programming, developing a three-hour daily slot with original and acquired fare. His career also included a stint as programming chief at Fox Latin American Channels, as well as several years at Globosat, where he launched the GNT Channel in Portugal and the educational station Futura in Brazil. The Brazilian native has spent much of his career within the Globo family, and he is thrilled to see the response from the international community to the company’s newly diversified offering.

Globo DOC was launched to broadcasters in the Americas at NATPE, followed by a presentation to Asian and European networks at MIPTV. “We are really excited with the feedback we’ve already had,” Rocha says. “It is important to know that our production quality is being recognized not only as a telenovela producer, but also as a documentary producer.”

—By Mansha Daswani