Factual indies Quicksilver and Caravan have combined to co-produce a major seven-part true-crime Netflix Originals series uncovering the twists and turns of the story of Brazilian TV host turned politician Wallace Souza.
Wallace Souza rose to fame as the charismatic and outspoken host of “Canal Livre”, a TV show broadcast in Manaus, the remote and lawless city surrounded by jungle in the heart of Brazil’s Amazon. The programme was a sensation, based largely on the ability of its reporters to arrive first at the scene of a murder. Wallace was elected as State Representative, becoming the most famous, and respected man in the Amazon. And then one day, the unthinkable happened.
A former bodyguard to Wallace made the seemingly incredible claim that Canal Livre reporters were only able to arrive first at the scene of murders because Wallace had ordered the murders himself in a bid to increase ratings; and that he was not a crime-fighter, but the head of a criminal organisation.
The State formed a Task Force to investigate Wallace, who vehemently denied the accusations and claimed they were an attempt by corrupt politicians and drug traffickers to frame him and protect their interests. The Task Force was running against time as collaborating witnesses were killed and almost every day shocking revelations emerged, which potentially turned their investigation on its head.
The Emmy and BAFTA-winning team behind Killer Ratings has assembled a huge trove of information on the case, including exclusive interviews with people inside Canal Livre, close relatives, friends, police and Task Force members, as well as previously unseen footage of Souza filmed in the middle of the scandal. The series provides the most complete account yet of Souza’s extraordinary story.
Killer Ratings Series Director Daniel Bogado says: “What I thought I knew about Wallace Souza when I set out, turned out only to be the starting point of this extraordinary story. When I looked deeper, I saw the events that followed were full of the most jaw-dropping turns, twists and shocks which would be deemed too outlandish in a Hollywood script.”
Killer Ratings is a Quicksilver Media and Caravan Production for Netflix. It is Series Directed by Daniel Bogado (The Hunt for Boko Haram) and the senior producer is Suemay Oram. The Executive Producers are Eamonn Matthews for Quicksilver (Iraq Uncovered, The Truth About Ebola, Syria: Across The Lines), Dinah Lord for Caravan (Holocaust: The Revenge Plot; Avalanche; National Geographic’s Buried Secrets of the Bible), and Alex Marengo (Captive, The Bible). It was commissioned by Ben Cotner and Kate Townsend for Netflix.
Staff Reporter
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