The Incredible Numbers Behind Netflix’s ‘Senna,’ Its Most Ambitious Brazilian Production to Date

What a difference a decade makes. It’s been nearly 10 years since Brazil produced the dystopian “3%,” its first series for Netflix. Since then, the country has launched an average of two shows a 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 thru 2023 and 2024.

On Nov. 29, Netflix’s most ambitious and expensive Brazilian series, “Senna,” launched worldwide. According to the Associated Press, the streamer spent over $170 million on production. Currently ranking number two in Brazil and number six globally in its first week, it’s likely to sit high in Netflix’s Top Ten charts in Brazil and other territories, given the fervent 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 as Brazil may have a storied tradition in making telenovelas and films, but not in series, which are not as entrenched,” said Zenatti, who estimates that up to 15 writers were involved in the project.

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

“We’ve had a successful trajectory 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’d been searching for a Brazilian project with the ambition to share a national story on a global stage. ‘Senna’ perfectly embodied that vision,” 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 turned them down. Caio, the Gullane team, and I 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 explained.

The project took off soon after Netflix boarded. Cutting-edge technological advancements also helped, given the technical demands of the show, which included 2,000 VFX shots, as well as the use of LED filming technology to provide a more immersive feel of the races.

They also took great care to replicate the cars in painstaking detail, tapping the expertise of the Crespi family, with a long tradition in motorsport in Argentina, where three of the four race tracks used in the show were built. The producers commissioned 22 replicas of race 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 developed a technique using adapted chassis that were 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 in making a series about Senna if we don’t get the cars right? Of course, that would be absurd and also, because I’m a huge motor racing fan,” said showrunner/lead director Vicente Amorim, known for his action thrillers “Motorrad,” Globoplay’s 2019 “The Division,” 2021 revenge tale “Yakuza Princess” and “Santo,” a manhunt thriller for Netflix.

“I feel I’d been preparing all my life for this,” he mused.

The logistical challenges were overwhelming, as they replicated some 30 different circuits around the world, with units shooting across four countries, amassing 980 hours of footage.

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

● Filmed in Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Northern Ireland

● Post-production and VFX in four countries (U.S., Canada, Spain, Brazil)

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

● A core crew of 2,206 people, 569 of them 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 lay in “being true to Senna’s essence.” He pointed out: “Telling a story where he is a compelling character for people who don’t know him and that is at the same time is a true representation of who he was in real life, that was the biggest challenge, really.” Lead 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 Vicente Amorim’s overall direction to Julia Rezende’s direction, Gustavo Bragança’s screenwriting team and other key artistic leads, all are 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,” said the Gullanes.

“‘Senna’ undoubtedly reinforces our belief in the ambition of the Brazilian audiovisual industry. It has already established itself strongly in the domestic market and is on its way to carving out a significant presence in the international market,” they added.

According to Zenatti, Netflix in Brazil has several new projects in the pipeline. These include “Vini Junior,” a biopic on world-class soccer player Vinicius Jr; “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 such as ‘Senna,’ the upcoming ‘100 Years of Solitude’ and ‘The Eternaut’ in Argentina are testament to the talent, the passion and the commitment of the Latin American audiovisual industry,” said Netflix’s VP of Latin American Content, Paco Ramos.