PROJECT MANAGEMENT IN “AN OPEN WORK”: THE CASE OF BRAZILIAN SOAP OPERAS

• Author(s): Maia, Eneide ; Andrade, Ronaldo ; Duarte, Francisco
• Date: 2012
• Origin: Oasisbr
• Subject(s): Soap Operas; Production Process; Project Management; Soap Operas; Production Process; Project Management
• Document Type: Journal article
• Language: Portuguese

Description

The emergence of a new production center of soap operas in Rio de Janeiro consolidates the city as the most important television production center in South America. The productions destined for TV, led by soap operas, generate close to 10,000 (ten thousand) jobs in the city of Rio de Janeiro. Despite large investments and technical and technological advancements in this sector, the soap operas are still strongly defined by a production process that can be considered artisanal. There are few resources and tools to support production process management. Soap operas present high costs and production time, which are considered excessive. It is in this context this article inserts itself. The objective of this article is to describe the production process of soap operas as “open works” and their specificities, characterizing the main problems of production management relative to costs, deadlines, and functional conflicts. With foundation in interviews with key managers and following recordings, the process is described with basis in project management literature. In this way, this paper seeks to characterize the production process of a soap opera at all stages, starting with project choice, definition of the team, recordings and extra scenes, up until its debut, identifying the main hindrances and opportunities for improvement. This project and production process is characterized by infinite variabilities, particular to a work that proposes to be “open” and whose management trademark is dealing with random and unexpected events.

The emergence of a new production center of soap operas in Rio de Janeiro consolidates the city as the most important television production center in South America. The productions destined for TV, led by soap operas, generate close to 10,000 (ten thousand) jobs in the city of Rio de Janeiro. Despite large investments and technical and technological advancements in this sector, the soap operas are still strongly defined by a production process that can be considered artisanal. There are few resources and tools to support production process management. Soap operas present high costs and production time, which are considered excessive. It is in this context this article inserts itself. The objective of this article is to describe the production process of soap operas as “open works” and their specificities, characterizing the main problems of production management relative to costs, deadlines, and functional conflicts. With foundation in interviews with key managers and following recordings, the process is described with basis in project management literature. In this way, this paper seeks to characterize the production process of a soap opera at all stages, starting with project choice, definition of the team, recordings and extra scenes, up until its debut, identifying the main hindrances and opportunities for improvement. This project and production process is characterized by infinite variabilities, particular to a work that proposes to be “open” and whose management trademark is dealing with random and unexpected events.

O surgimento de um novo polo de produção de telenovelas no Rio de Janeiro consolida o município como o mais importante centro de produção para televisão da América do sul. As produções destinadas à exibição em televisão, capitaneada pelas telenovelas, geram cerca de 10.000 (dez mil) empregos diretos no município do Rio de janeiro e, apesar dos grandes investimentos, dos avanços técnicos e tecnológicos este é um setor, ainda, fortemente marcado por um processo de produção que pode ser considerado artesanal. Poucos são os recursos e ferramentas de apoio à gestão do processo produtivo. A teledramaturgia apresenta custos elevados e tempos de produção considerados excessivos. É neste contexto que este trabalho se insere. O objetivo deste artigo é descrever o processo de produção de telenovelas tipo obra aberta e suas especificidades, caracterizando os principais problemas do gerenciamento da produção relativos a custos, prazo e conflitos funcionais. Com base em entrevistas com os principais gestores e no acompanhamento de gravações, o processo é descrito com base na literatura de gerenciamento de projeto. Desta forma, buscou-se caracterizar o processo produtivo de uma telenovela em todas as suas etapas, iniciando com a escolha do projeto (sinopse), a definição da equipe, gravações, edições, até a sua exibição, identificando os principais gargalos e oportunidades de melhoria. Este processo de projeto e produção é caracterizado por inúmeras variabilidades, próprias de uma obra que se propõe aberta e cuja marca da gestão é lidar com eventos imprevistos e aleatórios.