The Man Behind the Camera

The production of any telenovela is in many ways a reflection of Latin American culture. In other words, the common perception of Latin American people as fun, crazy, and party-going people is reflected by the madness that is telenovela production. A telenovela is not produced without its own series of melodramatic events, sometimes even more dramatic than the plot line of the telenovela itself. I think that Dr. A’s story about the birthday candle incident is the perfect example of the craziness of production.

As we studied production though, I became very interested in the role of the director. In my opinion, the director can make or break the success of a telenovela. Some directors are very detail-oriented, while others let little details slide. When watching a telenovela, the talent of the director is very apparent by the quality of the telenovela. Also, certain actors and actress like to work with certain directors, so a good director can be very valuable to a telenovela because he or she can bring in very talented actors and actresses. This is also true of writers. Certain actors and actresses enjoy working with particular writers.

The telenovela that I am studying, Pablo Escobar El Patrón del Mal, is very well produced. I believe a lot of this is due to its director, Carlos Moreno Herrera. Carlos Moreno is originally from Colombia. He has worked on projects in Colombia, many different parts of Central America, and Spain. His first work was with the documentary Chamberlain in 1992, and then afterwards he worked on many other very successful projects. I believe his influence is one of the reasons this telenovela was so successful, and I believe this is a prime example of why a talented director is very crucial to a telenovela’s success.