RIO DE JANEIRO – Brazil’s Elas Exportam training program aims to promote film and TV exports by women-led companies by developing leadership skills.
Organized by Brazil’s Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade and Services (MDIC), the program is part of a broader government and industry effort to increase the presence of Brazilian productions abroad.
Debora Ivanov, partner at Gullane Filmes and president of Instituto +Mulheres, Janaína Silva, director of MDIC’s Export Promotion and Trade Facilitation Department, and lawyer Raquel Lemos, one of the program’s advisors, highlighted Elas Exportam during a panel at RioMarket, the business section of the Rio Film Festival.
The first group of 14 women will complete the 88-hour online training program in November. These are owners, managers and directors of local film and TV production, post-production and dubbing companies who want to position themselves in the international market.
The course consists of one or two weeks of classes with local female consultants who specialize in the export of Brazilian productions. In addition to lessons, mentors also provide one-on-one counseling to participants. Mentors are volunteers and participants do not pay any fees.
According to Silva, MDIC selected participants from seven different states in Brazil in May; among these were Rio and São Paulo, the country’s two largest manufacturing centers.
The course began in July with a lecture by Walkiria Barbosa, director general and head of international marketing of the Rio Film Festival and president of the Federation of Audiovisual Industry and Commerce (FICA).
Classes cover technical topics such as market intelligence, export operations, e-commerce, financial education, intellectual property and regulation, and socio-emotional skills including strategic positioning, persuasive communication and sales pitch training.
“The program offers a very rich curriculum consisting of high-quality content. We work in foreign trade and are familiar with the university curriculum, and I can say that there is no training course for women in Brazil of the quality offered by the Eles Exportam program,” Ivanov said. Diversity.
As a partner of Gullane, one of Brazil’s most internationally active manufacturing companies, Ivanov has extensive experience in exports. According to him, Gullane has sold the rights of his films and TV series in more than 100 countries. His productions reached audiences in more than 190 countries and were distributed online.
Silva said, “Elas Exportam not only contributes to the education of female professionals. The program also helps establish networks among women, collaboration, sharing information and clarifying questions. In addition, mentors set examples of professional success for women entering the international market.” Diversity.
He added that MIDC decided to create the Elas Exportam program in 2023 in response to the 2022 study “Women in Foreign Trade: An Analysis for Brazil”, which showed that only 14.5% of export companies in Brazil had a majority of shareholders made up of women. This year was the sixth edition of the programme, and it was the first program covering the audiovisual sector.
Barbosa said the inclusion of the audiovisual sector in New Industry Brazil (NIB), the Brazilian federal government’s flagship program to revitalize and modernize the country’s industry, makes it possible for the sector to participate in certain MDIC programs such as Elas Exportam.
“The audiovisual working group within the NIB is working to create a major program to increase the export of Brazilian productions. The Oscar win of ‘I’m Still Here’, the Oscar nomination of ‘The Secret Agent’ and the awards these films received at the Cannes and Venice Film Festivals have strengthened the Brazilian brand worldwide. The next step is to create a policy to sell our films and series abroad.”
Janaína Silva. Courtesy: MDIC