CASE STUDY

Client: Sharp Entertainment for TLC
 (Discovery Networks)

Filming 90 Day Fiancé in the Amazon Rainforest
Date: 2018

THE PROJECT

A budding romance between Paul and Karine on the long-running reality format 90 Day Fiancé brought a Sharp Entertainment crew to the heart of the Amazon Rainforest in early 2017 to film Paul meeting Karine’s family for the first time. This was the first of seven shoots in Brazil for Sharp Entertainment, following the couple. If filming in Brazil can seem daunting to foreign production crews, then this certainly raised the bar.

The initial trip to cover the story was a 17-day shoot started in the remote jungle metropolis of Manaus and took the crew and cast 26 hours by boat up the River Solimões to Karine’s hometown, just over one hundred miles from the Colombian border.

THE CHALLENGE

To make sure that every aspect of the 17-day shoot ran smoothly, that the Sharp Entertainment crew and their 20-plus cases of equipment stayed together and safe throughout, and that everyone went home at the end with their sanity intact, despite the long hours, extreme humidity and unpredictable weather.  

OUR SOLUTION

Planning, planning and more planning, a dose of good luck, very hard work plus a highly-skilled, flexible and good-humoured team. Story Productions have been working with reality formats since 2012, supporting foreign crews filming in Brazil, including episodes of House Hunters International (Leopard USA) Food Paradise International (Loud TV, USA) and Goodbye Deutschland (RTL, Germany) as well as directing and shooting episodes ourselves for overseas production companies. We understand the challenges of filming reality TV and we understand the challenges of shooting in Brazil, and so we knew that the logistics of a shoot in such a remote location would require military-style planning. 


First up, a location scout spent a week mapping out the shoot, documenting transport options, people, places and even the food in a meticulous 40-page recce report. For the initial shoot, we provided a local fixer, two production assistants, camera assistant, two assistant producers and armed security guards.

The Story crew’s unique skillset was essential for the success of this project, staying focused and patient under pressure, solving last-minute problems and bridging the gap between local customs and international expectations. And that’s why Sharp Entertainment invited us back for a subsequent six shoots in Brazil, including a live shoot from our São Paulo studio with fiber optic streaming to New York.

In addition to all logistical support, Story Productions has gradually taken on creative responsibilities for 90 Day Fiancé shoots, providing a camera team, DOP and fixers from our small production base in Manaus, supported by one of our directors from São Paulo. We’ve given Sharp peace of mind in delivering footage that matches their production values, while enabling them to pare back the size of their own crew.

PRODUCTION NOTES

Story Productions provided ANCINE permits for all Sharp Entertainment crews – a legal requirement for foreign crews in Brazil. 
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