The writers’ room in Brazil: A hybrid mode of audiovisual creation – the case of The King of TV

Abstract

With the diffusion of streaming services and a growing demand for series, producers and screenwriters were encouraged to use an American method for writing narratives: the writer’s room. The writer’s room is a method with marked hierarchy and a preponderant figure in the decision process, the showrunner. However, Brazil has a tradition in film and television production. In most of the films and series made, the way of conducting the projects, is marked by authorial cinema, a Brazilian derivation of the policy of the authors of Cahier du Cinéma. The article starts from the possibility that the current audiovisual narratives have characteristics of the two working methods, and the clash between the methods produces marks in the materiality. With the support of the theories of the creation process of Cecilia Salles, will be analyzed the series The King of TV, produced by Gullane Films and shown in Star Plus. The series tells the story of television presenter Silvio Santos, one of the most popular names in the country. A character with strong potential to attract viewers, but with many challenges to transform into a fictional subject. When reflecting on the procedures of creation of the narrative about the famous presenter, the article finds that the Brazilian writer’s room is a hybrid mode of audiovisual writing, but still without a systematization of methods. The lack of systematization is a feature of the current moment of Brazilian production, which has not yet consolidated a balanced relationship between screenwriters, producers and streaming platforms.