puredrifting
Major Contributor
Hi all:
I have been speaking with a producer who wants to book me to shoot a feature documentary, both here and in Brazil. He wants to work with a local Brazilian gaffer he knows and a production company rental house. For what it's worth, I have shot for this production company before, they are legit, we shot a PBS doc a few years ago that did very well and they are working on some other big projects at the moment. This will be a very small scale, run and gun shoot for a low budget doc about a famous Brazilian. He is talking about me bringing a DSLR, a small camera like my Canon C100, a few lenses, and renting tripod and grip and lighting in Rio. I am applying for a Brazilian visa and I see that there is a tourist visa and a business visa. Under the business visa, "media coverage or filming" is specifically listed. He wants to avoid carnets, business visa and making this into something bigger than it is. I have traveled to the UK, France and South Africa for similar types of shoots with minimal gear and rented locally and I have gone as a tourist, with no issues. I have never been to Brazil though and none of the other countries I have done these shots in have required a visa as Brazil does.
I would like advice from anyone who has actually done this, flown from the U.S., as a tourist, and filmed small scale (2-3 person crew) docs. Should I tell the producer that we have to do this by the book, get the carnet, get the business visa, etc.? If so, he may not hire me and will likely find someone else who is comfortable doing it the "undercover tourist" way. On the other hand, I would like to avoid prison time, being detained, hassled, etc. I have done international shooting both ways and it has always varied from country to country. To me, if I am carrying a DSLR and a C100 with some lenses in a backpack, that can be pretty tourist/photography buff looking. It begins to seem more suspicious if I have tripod tubes, light stand tubes, big lighting kits with grip gear, etc. Entering the country with all of that gear seems much less feasible to be a "tourist".
Seeking opinions and advice. I like to do things the "right way" but I have been on two shoots in Africa where doing things the "right way" turned into a huge hassle with delays, shakedowns, almost missing once a day flights in remote airports because nobody even knew what a carnet was so it took hours to get it stamped, etc. So what is your opinion of me going to Brazil, as a tourist, with a backpack with a C100, DSLR body and a few lenses, sans carnet, hiring grip and lighting and sound locally, shooting, staying very low key? The U.S. Customs officer I spoke with departing on a trip for Morocco last year told me that they are mainly concerned with carnets and electronics when people are doing to trips to Asia where electronics are such a big deal. He laughed and said with us going to the Sahara Desert, bringing back electronics into the U.S. was not a big concern of theirs. Of course, this was just one officer and is anecdotal. I can see that a carnet is a must for bigger shoots but I can honestly say that on most overseas shoots I have worked on, the carnet has been a huge hassle, a time suck, expensive and generally, nobody in any country seemed to care about me having one, even when I brought back a whole Rock and Roller cart full of gear.
So what would you do if you were in my shoes? It would be great to hear from someone who has actually shot micro scale doc production in Brazil.
I have been speaking with a producer who wants to book me to shoot a feature documentary, both here and in Brazil. He wants to work with a local Brazilian gaffer he knows and a production company rental house. For what it's worth, I have shot for this production company before, they are legit, we shot a PBS doc a few years ago that did very well and they are working on some other big projects at the moment. This will be a very small scale, run and gun shoot for a low budget doc about a famous Brazilian. He is talking about me bringing a DSLR, a small camera like my Canon C100, a few lenses, and renting tripod and grip and lighting in Rio. I am applying for a Brazilian visa and I see that there is a tourist visa and a business visa. Under the business visa, "media coverage or filming" is specifically listed. He wants to avoid carnets, business visa and making this into something bigger than it is. I have traveled to the UK, France and South Africa for similar types of shoots with minimal gear and rented locally and I have gone as a tourist, with no issues. I have never been to Brazil though and none of the other countries I have done these shots in have required a visa as Brazil does.
I would like advice from anyone who has actually done this, flown from the U.S., as a tourist, and filmed small scale (2-3 person crew) docs. Should I tell the producer that we have to do this by the book, get the carnet, get the business visa, etc.? If so, he may not hire me and will likely find someone else who is comfortable doing it the "undercover tourist" way. On the other hand, I would like to avoid prison time, being detained, hassled, etc. I have done international shooting both ways and it has always varied from country to country. To me, if I am carrying a DSLR and a C100 with some lenses in a backpack, that can be pretty tourist/photography buff looking. It begins to seem more suspicious if I have tripod tubes, light stand tubes, big lighting kits with grip gear, etc. Entering the country with all of that gear seems much less feasible to be a "tourist".
Seeking opinions and advice. I like to do things the "right way" but I have been on two shoots in Africa where doing things the "right way" turned into a huge hassle with delays, shakedowns, almost missing once a day flights in remote airports because nobody even knew what a carnet was so it took hours to get it stamped, etc. So what is your opinion of me going to Brazil, as a tourist, with a backpack with a C100, DSLR body and a few lenses, sans carnet, hiring grip and lighting and sound locally, shooting, staying very low key? The U.S. Customs officer I spoke with departing on a trip for Morocco last year told me that they are mainly concerned with carnets and electronics when people are doing to trips to Asia where electronics are such a big deal. He laughed and said with us going to the Sahara Desert, bringing back electronics into the U.S. was not a big concern of theirs. Of course, this was just one officer and is anecdotal. I can see that a carnet is a must for bigger shoots but I can honestly say that on most overseas shoots I have worked on, the carnet has been a huge hassle, a time suck, expensive and generally, nobody in any country seemed to care about me having one, even when I brought back a whole Rock and Roller cart full of gear.
So what would you do if you were in my shoes? It would be great to hear from someone who has actually shot micro scale doc production in Brazil.
