Communication Systems

Production comms in Brazil start at ANATEL. That is the Agência Nacional de Telecomunicações. ANATEL licenses each wireless band used on set. That has walkie channels, IFB feeds, and wireless follow focus.

We file short-term band permits before prep. We scan the RF zone at each site. We log the allocations against our wireless mic gear, like Lectrosonics, Wisycom, and Sennheiser Digital 6000. That way, no two departments clash on air. Walkies are Motorola digital and analog handsets, and we plan spares and battery resupply for when a shoot moves from Rio to the interior.

For jobs with mixed crews across São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Brasília, Curitiba, and Porto Alegre, we add cellular fallback. We use the national mobile networks: Vivo (Telefônica), Claro (América Móvil), and TIM Brasil. Portuguese is the main on-set radio language. English mixed channels stay open for global leads.

On large shows, several units share one band plan each day. We build that plan before prep so stage units and mobile sets can run side by side without clashes.

Here is how this works in practice. Clear-Com and Riedel intercom matrices handle director-to-AD and camera talkback at video village. Surveillance earpieces, IFB receivers, and stage-managed crowd channels cover Carnival shoots inside the Sambódromo. They also support heritage permits at Cristo Redentor via IPHAN.

Remote work in the Amazon (Manaus, MAO airport) and the Pantanal needs repeater stations and sat-comms. Cellular cover thins fast outside the towns. Shoots on indigenous land go through FUNAI. That can bring indigenous-language interpreters into the comms plan. We show up with pre-set handsets, charged spares, ANATEL forms ready, and crew briefings to keep your set in sync from first call to wrap.