Film Brazil hosted its second annual Brazilian Directors Showcase on Tuesday (3/8) at the Viceroy Hotel in Santa Monica, showcasing select filmmakers and resources to the ad agency community.
Last year’s Showcase spanned events in New York City and Chicago. This time around the show went on the road to Southern California with talent curated by Renato Fernandez, worldwide creative director at TBWAChiatDay LA, with responsibility for the Gatorade brand, and Vic Palumbo, partner/director of interactive production at Deutsch LA.
Fernandez and Palumbo culled down a field of some two dozen entrants to a Showcase featuring eight directors and production companies, as well as a visual effects studio CLAN vfx in Sao Paulo, Brazil. According to Luis Ribeiro, U.S. consultant for FilmBrazil, Fernandez and Palumbo as Brazilian Directors Showcase curators even had a hand in selecting the work that was screened, identifying projects that they thought would translate well and carry optimum appeal in the American ad market.
Akin to a speed dating setup, agency artisans went from table to table in a Viceroy meeting room to get acquainted with each director and company, as well as talent at CLAN vfx. Among the agencies attending the Showcase were L.A.-based 72andSunny, Deutsch and David&Goliath, as well as Anomaly NY, BBDO NY, DDB Chicago, Leo Burnett, Chicago, Wieden+Kennedy, Portland, Ore., The Richards Group, Dallas, and The Community, Miami. Directors from the South American market on hand for the Film Brazil event were Andre Vidigal of Academia de Filmes, Mariana Youseff of Barry Company, Ricardo Mehedff of Hungry Man Brazil, Mateus de Paula Santos of Lobo, Marcus Alqueres of 02 Filmes, Alex Miranda of Trator, the Tomat duo (Mateus Araujo and Tomas Salles) of Zohar, and Caito Ortiz of Prodigo Films.
Outreach program
FilmBrazil is a nonprofit founded in 2003 with the goal of strengthening the country’s overall position as a global advertising production hub.
Among those supporting and behind FilmBrazil are the Brazilian Association of Audiovisual Production (APRO, an organization which is analogous to the AICP in the U.S.) and the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brazil).
The various companies gaining exposure at the Brazilian Directors Showcase are APRO members. Marianna Souza, executive manager of FilmBrazil, noted that the Directors Showcase outreach program is one of many such initiatives instituted by Apex-Brazil.
TBWAChiatDay’s Fernandez said that “Brazil is an unstoppable force today in advertising. Creatives are being ‘exported’ to all parts of the world. And this Brazilian Showcase demonstrates that Brazilian directors and production companies are behind this success. They are among the very best nowadays and capable to offer amazing work with a tropical flavor. It is not a shortlist. It is a sharp list.”
SXSW
As for what’s next, The FilmBrazil contingent at press time was headed to the South by Southwest (SXSW) Festival for a different promotional event, part of which is tied into Prodigo Films’ director Ortiz whose feature Jules and Delores makes its world premiere at SXSW as part of the fest’s Visions program.
A trailer for Jules and Delores was screened at this past Tuesday’s Brazilian Directors Showcase. The 90-minute Jules and Delores, a Portuguese and English-language feature (with English subtitles) takes us to Rio de Janeiro in 1983 when Peralta and his pal Borracha decide to steal the golden replica of the legendary Jules Rimet soccer World Cup trophy. The real-life caper is designed to pay off Peralta’s gambling debts and to please the love of his life, Delores. However, the plot takes on an historic twist when Peralta and Borracha end up heisting the original trophy, which puts the entire country on alert.
Netflix is slated to release Jules and Delores in Central and Latin America. The film was picked up last fall by Picture Tree for international distribution.
