Netflix’s ‘Senna’ proves the talent of Brazilian filmmaking

What a difference a decade makes. It’s been almost a decade since Brazil produced the dystopian ‘3%’, the first series for Netflix. Since then, the country has launched an average of two shows per month on the platform, said Elisabetta Zenatti, VP of content for Netflix in Brazil, who announced last year that the streaming giant was investing $165 million (1 billion reales) in Brazilian productions. until 2023 and 2024.

On November 29, Netflix’s most ambitious and expensive Brazilian series, ‘Senna’, launched worldwide. According to the Associated Press, the streamer spent more than $170 million on production. Currently at number two in Brazil and number six worldwide in its first week, it will likely be high on Netflix’s Top Ten charts in Brazil and other territories given the avid interest in motorsports around the world.

“Senna” chronicles the triumphs, setbacks and personal journey of Brazil’s three-time Formula 1 world champion Ayrton Senna, from his Formula Ford beginnings in England to his tragic accident at the San Marino Grand Prix in Imola.

“It was a challenge to make, because Brazil may have a rich tradition of making telenovelas and films, but not series, which are not so deeply rooted,” says Zenatti, who estimates that there are as many as fifteen writers involved in the project were.

“Senna” was in development for more than a decade at Gullane, one of the most prominent production companies in the Portuguese-speaking country, with more than 30 years of experience in the industry.

“We have had a successful journey with three major projects in Brazil and internationally: ‘The Beast with Seven Heads’, ‘Carandiru’ and ‘The Year My Parents Went on Vacation.’ Since then we were looking for a Brazilian project with the ambition to share a national story on a global stage. ‘Senna’ embodied that vision perfectly,” said brothers Caio and Fabiano Gullane.

“We wanted to tell the story of his personal life, not just his public persona. When we approached the family, they had already received many other proposals and rejected them. Caio, the Gullane team and I have built a relationship of trust with the family. We had a very clear and aligned vision for the project we wanted to create and how we wanted to portray Ayrton,” Fabiano explains.

The project launched shortly after Netflix came on board. Cutting-edge technological developments also helped, given the technical demands of the show, including 2,000 VFX shots, and the use of LED film technology to give a more immersive feel to the races.

They also took great care to recreate the cars down to the smallest detail, drawing on the expertise of the Crespi family, with a long tradition in motorsport in Argentina, where three of the four race tracks featured during the show used were built. The producers had 22 replicas made of racing cars from different years and teams.

“In addition to the cars built specifically for the series, many more were needed to faithfully recreate the races. To achieve this, we have developed a technique that uses custom chassis that are digitally ‘wrapped’ with different vehicle bodies during post-production,” said the Gullanes.

“We started building the cars more than two years before we started shooting. After all, what’s the point of making a series about Senna if we can’t get the cars right? That would of course be absurd and also, because I am a big motorsport fan,” says showrunner/main director Vicente Amorim, known for his action thrillers “Motorrad”, Globoplay’s 2019 “The Division”, 2021 revenge story “Yakuza Princess” and “Santo”, a manhunt thriller for Netflix.

“I feel like I’ve been preparing for this my whole life,” he mused.

The logistical challenges were overwhelming as they simulated some 30 different circuits around the world, with units in four countries recording and collecting 980 hours of footage.

Details provided by Netflix show the breadth and scale of production:

● Filmed in Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Northern Ireland

● Post-production and VFX in four countries (USA, Canada, Spain, Brazil)

● A total of 325 shooting days between two film units plus the LED studio

● A core crew of 2,206 people, of which 569 are Brazilian

● A total of 3,374 people, including the entire VFX and production team

● A cast of 231 actors from nine different countries, representing 18 nationalities

● 14,446 extras

Amorim agrees that while it was a huge logistical undertaking, their biggest challenge was “staying true to the essence of Senna.” He said: “Telling a story where he is a compelling character for people who don’t know him and at the same time is a true representation of who he was in real life, that was actually the biggest challenge.” Lead actor Gabriel Leone perfectly embodied Senna’s character, he noted.

“Netflix and Gullane agreed that this project should be led by Brazilian talent. As a result, from the general direction of Vicente Amorim to the direction of Julia Rezende, the screenwriting team of Gustavo Bragança and other key artistic leaders are all Brazilian. They executed the series in collaboration with professionals from Argentina, Uruguay, Northern Ireland and the United States during filming, and with teams from the United States, Canada and Spain during post-production,” the Gullanes said.

“‘Senna’ undoubtedly strengthens our belief in the ambition of the Brazilian audiovisual industry. It has already established a strong presence in the domestic market and is on its way to gaining a significant presence in the international market,” she added.

According to Zenatti, Netflix has several new projects in the pipeline in Brazil. These include ‘Vini Junior’, a biopic about footballer Vinicius Jr. world-class; “Pssica,” co-directed by Quico and Fernando Meirelles with a script by Braulio Mantovani; and “Caramelo,” about a chef and his mixed-breed dog. Seasons 2 of police action series “Criminal Code” and reality show “Stranded with My Mother” are also in the pipeline, as is season 5 of teen favela drama “Sintonia.”

“Projects like ‘Senna’, the upcoming ‘100 Years of Solitude’ and ‘The Eternaut’ in Argentina are a testament to the talent, passion and dedication of the Latin American audiovisual industry,” said VP Latin American Content Netflix. Paco Ramos.