Telenovelas and the future of Brazilian television

In popularity, telenovelas are, to Brazilian culture, equivalent to Hollywood blockbusters, to international best-sellers, to songs listened by millions of people around the globe, to stadium mega concerts. But, with the consolidation of streaming and new digital media, what's the future of telenovelas and of the Brazilian TV industry as a whole? In Telenovelas and the future of Brazilian television, Rosane Svartman, filmmaker, writer, director, producer, researcher and writer of TV Globo telenovelas such as Never Give Up (2023), A Life Worth Living (2019) and Total Dreamer (2015), ponders that the answer is in media convergence and viewer participation.

Recalling the format’s history and its transformation throughout over a century, the book offers an immersion into the universe of soap operas. The author analyses the telenovela structure — in both narrative and business — to understand its connection to the audience and its subsequent change through the popularization of streaming platforms, of screen diversity, and of the audience’s demands and desires.

In Rosane Svartman's estimation, telenovelas, as long as they remain a part of Brazilian culture, won’t lose their place as a mass-consumption product — and can, therefore, be consumed in any platform, media or screen, whiteout losing its essence and relevance. “The future of telenovelas is in the hands of the viewer, and the future of Brazilian television is in the hands of telenovelas,” she writes.

Telenovelas and the future of Brazilian television is mandatory reading not only for students of culture and media and those interested in the subject, but for everyone who wishes to dive deeper into Brazilian culture and society.

About the author
Rosane Svartman is a writer, director and producer, with a degree in Film Studies from UFF in 1991. She began her career directing shorts, and her first feature, How to be Single in Rio (1997), won awards in the Brasilia Festival and in the Miami Brazilian Film Festival. She holds a master’s degree in Communications, Aesthetics and Technology from UFRJ (2008) and a PhD in Communications – Film from UFF (2019). As a writer, she ran telenovelas such as the 2012 (Intensa como a vida) and 2014 (Sonhos) seasons of Young Hearts, nominated, respectively, for the International Emmys and the Emmy Kids Awards; Total Dreamer (2015), also nominated for Best Telenovela at the International Emmy Awards, and broadcast in over 100 countries; and A Life Worth Living (2019), nominated for the European award Rose D’Or. For the big screen, she directed the comedies Mais uma vez amor (2005) and Untangle (2010), and made her children’s feature debut in 2012 with Tainá: The origin. In 2002, she released her fifth feature, filmed underwater and in 3D, Pluft. Rosane is a partner at the independent film production studio Raccord Produções, and a cofounder of Nós do Morro (1995), the Vidigal film school, and has also published the following books: Onde os porquês têm resposta (2003), Quando éramos virgens (2006), Melhores amigas (2006), Desenrola (2011) and Telenovelas and Transformation (Routledge, 2021). She has also written three theater plays: Mais uma vez amor (2004), O pacto das 3 senhoras (2011) and Anjos urbanos (2012). Rosane wrote Vicky e a musa, the first musical TV series produced by Estúdios Globo for Globoplay and Gloob, with a release date projected for 2023. Currently, in 2023, she's at the helm of her fifth Globo telenovela, Never Give Up.

Specifications
Title A telenovela e o futuro da televisão brasileira [Telenovelas and the future of Brazilian television]
Author Rosane Svartman
Language Portuguese
Page count 248
ISBN 978-65-5691-101-4
Cover Radiográfico
Size 14 x 21 cm
Format Softcover
Year 2023