There can no longer be any doubt about it. Brazil is a major player in our industry, be it for theatrical or video distribution; exhibition; television, both network and pay-TV; and, once again, even production, with the dormant Brazilian production sector getting itself back on track and already claiming an Academy Award nomination.
Brazilian buyers, despite hiccups since Mifed, have been a hot property for a number of years now, a property which the sales companies have been looking to squeeze the last dollar out of before the market goes belly up.
But a new financial package introduced in July 1994 has given the sleeping giant some degree of economic stability, and while in economic terms it is still early days, the picture remains, after 24 months, pretty bright.
The economic plan, the Plano Real, has shown that Brazil could learn from the mistakes of the past decade. It was a flexible plan with little rigid dogma and that allowed all sectors of the government to go with the flow rather than face confrontation with the powerful lobby groups that had helped overthrow President Collor.
President Fernando Henrique Cardoso's subsequent victory at the polls, which transformed him from Finance Minister to President of the Republic, guaranteed the stability of the plan and the Brazilian economy took off.
Even the subsequent collapse of the Mexican economy, an event that brought jitters to international investors in Latin America, did not much damage to Brazil's progress. If you are looking for a working example of the success of the 1994 economic plan and exactly what it meant to Brazil, look no further than Disney's The Lion King.
The Lion King hit the big screen in Brazil in July 1994, just as the Plano Real took effect.
Thanks to the plan, many families discovered that, for the first time in nearly a decade, they could budget for little luxuries, like a trip to the cinema. The result: The Lion King clocked up 5.2 million admissions in Brazil, more than double that achieved by predecessors, Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast. Likewise the billing of The Lion King merchandise in Brazil outstripped Aladdin merchandise by 65% over a similar period around its launch date.
Then there is video.
In Brazil, Disney is distributed on video by market leader Abril Video, who has used the Disney catalogue to pioneer sell-through in a market that was, and still is, dominated by rental. Prior to Beauty and the Beast, which at the time sold a record 190,000 units, Abril had managed to ship 57,000 units of The Little Mermaid; 56,000 units of Fantasia; and 110,000 units of Cinderella. Aladdin clocked up sales of 280,000 units to set a new record but it was the release of Snow White in the second half of 1994 that clearly reflected the effect of the Plano Real as 380,000 units were sold. The Lion King shipped on 10 April 1995, and while the numbers are still tiny compared to the US, sales over the first 30 days set a new record of 700,000 units.
And for Abril it's not just Disney cartoons making an impact at sell-through, but films such as Mrs Doubtfire and Baby's Day Out, each of which had clocked up sales of over 120,000 units during 1995.
Yet before sales companies start adding another nought to the already overpriced figures being asked for Brazilian rights, they need to remember that the Disney catalogue, as it is all around the world, is something of an exception. A giant like CIC Video (Paramount and Universal), which, as a pioneer in the Brazilian home video market celebrated its 10th anniversary in 1995, has, as its all-time sales champs, Timecop and Forrest Gump, each with sales in 1995 in excess of 60,000 units, 5,000 more than Jurassic Park, launched post-real in September 1994. The average sales per title over the company's ten-year history, however, is less than 3,500 units.
While figures for video sales are generally accurate, it is much harder to tie down clear theatrical box-office figures, as many exhibitors are unwilling to divulge their numbers. A big hit, normally from a Hollywood stable or major independent, will ring up in excess of 80,000 admissions a week in Brazil when hot and look to total over 1.2 million admissions during its run. Pulp Fiction, for example, rang up 158,780 admissions in its first week in Brazil and passed half a million after four weeks, against nearly 225,000 for Dumb and Dumber in its first week and 1.5 million admissions by the end of week five and 2.8 million by week thirteen. There was no repeat of The Lion King's figures in 1995, with audiences spreading their money over a much wider selection of films.
The Mask was the first film to hit the 2 million admission mark in Brazil in 1995, followed by Dumb and Dumber, Casper and Street Fighter. Among those to go 1.5 million admissions plus include Batman Forever, Interview with the Vampire, Legends of the Fall, Die Hard with a Vengeance, Mortal Kombat, Don Juan de Marco and Pocahontas. Of local productions, Carla Camurati's Carlota Joaquina managed a very creditable one million admissions, the best result by a Brazilian film in over five years, while Fabio Barreto's O Quatrilho also passed the magic million with the help of its Academy Award nomination this year.
'The figures for the Brazilian box-office are the best in years,' Steve Solot, the man in charge of the Motion Picture Association's Latin American office, told Moving Pictures in Rio at the end of 1995. 'They are more than making up for Mexico's tequila effect. In 1995 Brazil comfortably surpassed Mexico theatrically and is the number one market in Latin America in all media, that is theatrical, video and television, including pay-TV, both combined and individually.'
By Solot's estimates the Brazilian industry saw the dollar box-office grow between 40-50% in 1995 over 1994, with attendances up to around 80 million spectators for the year.
If admissions are gradually on the increase, so are ticket prices, with the national average now between US$4 and US$5, although in the main cities like Rio and São Paulo that figure is higher, at between US$10 and US$12 for first-run features. In 1992 the figure would have been less than US$2.5, and in the 80s less than US$1.
Should the Brazilian economy remain stable and grow at the rate analysts believe it can, there is no guessing where Brazil may end up in the world rankings. What percentage of that market the independent titles can hold will be down to the sales companies. International sales companies blew the chance of getting a real grip on the Brazilian video market when it started up in 1985 by being too greedy and too careful. Current indications, which include the threatened Mifed boycott by Brazilian buyers in 1995 in protest over the high prices asked, suggest that the sales companies may be making all the same mistakes and handing the Brazilian audio-visual market to the majors on a plate. Only time and box-office returns will tell.
Christopher Pickard
[Home ] [Content ] [The Sponsors ] [The Team ] [Comments ] [Help ]
