Telenovelas go Russian around
Argentina's Telefe filming 'Tango' with mixed cast
And Argentina's Telefe Intl., the country's biggest exporter of TV programming, is happy to feed that need.
It bowed an adaptation of Argentinean sitcom "Amor mio" (Loony Love) in January on Russia's national state-owned channel Rossiya, and is filming "Tango de a tres" (Tango by Three) in Buenos Aires with a mixed Russian and Argentinean cast.
"Tango," a 110-hour novela penned by Telefe scribes and co-produced with Russia's TTO, is about a Russian woman hunting for her missing scientist son in Argentina, and will bow in a 6 p.m. or 7 p.m. slot on Rossiya in the second half of 2006. Some 85 episodes will film in Argentina, the rest in Russia, with Spanish dubbed into Russian.
Telefe Intl., backed by Spain's Telefonica, is now in talks with Russian broadcasters for a retread of the poor-makes-it-rich comedy "Los Roldan" (The Roldans), which has been adapted for Brazil, Chile, Mexico, France, Spain and Italy, and private-eye drama "Los simuladores" (The Pretenders).
Russia is just one market.
"Muneca brava" (Wild Angel) and "Floricienta" (Flinderella) are being adapted for Portugal, following local versions of "Wild Angel" and "Rebelde Way" (Rebel's Way) for satcaster Star in India.
The foreign adaptations and productions are part of Telefe Intl.'s strategy to get more programs on primetime in Asia and Europe.
This pulls in five- to 10-times more revenue than from the sale of programs for dubbing and replay, says Gonzalo Cilley, head of formats and international production at Telefe Intl.
"As the ad market grows, broadcasters are airing more local fiction" as these bring in more viewers, he says. "If we adapt our programs to the local market, we can get them on primetime."
Yet it can take two years for formats to get on air.
"There is a lot more money involved -- scripts need writing and rewriting. We are always in contact with our partners, and a lot of travel is involved," he says.
The strategy is paying off. Telefe Intl. format sales have been growing 30% a year since 2003. This year, it expects 40% of its revenue to come from format sales, up from 5% in 2001, Cilley says.
Foreign nets are looking to Argentina for lower costs and fresh content.
Most producers in Argentina make an episode a day of a telenovela, compared with one a week in Asia. What's more, Argentina's audience is demanding; nearly 100% of primetime content is local.
This helps make stories edgier and more modern than the poor-rich romances traditionally associated with Brazilian, Colombian, Mexican and Venezuelan telenovelas, Cilley says.
