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Evita, Frida and now-Bolivar. Indeed, production on a documentary film about Simon Bolivar, liberator of the entire Andean region, wraps up within a month with a finished product expected in two months. Headed by independent producer Bob DeBrino, Bolivar: Path to Glory will tell the Liberator’s story from his infancy through his military and political triumphs until his death.

Hollywood has focused on making dull no-risk movies with guaranteed high-profit margins. Despite the challenges, DeBrino is one step closer to making a Bolivar movie happen

Financed by DeBrino and private investors at about $300,000, the documentary is directed by Ken Golde (The Job) and associate produced by local nature documentary filmmaker Antonio Casado.

DeBrino has been pushing the project for five years, moved by the story of a great historical figure. Documentaries don’t earn as much money or make as big a splash as feature films, so Path to Glory will help set up the Bolivar movie. Casado confirmed that such a production would represent a first in Venezuela and a boon to the struggling Venezuelan film industry.

How to make a Hollywood movie

A former New York City cop, you might call DeBrino a Hollywood realist, a man with one eye on the bottom-line and the other on making a difference.

While working at Warner Brothers as an independent producer, he was “amazed at not finding any films about Bolivar.”

This discovery would represent the project’s uphill battle in a nutshell. “It was good and bad, good for my project but bad because there wasn’t enough studio interest.”

In these times of recession, Hollywood has focused on making dull no-risk movies with guaranteed high-profit margins. Despite the challenges, DeBrino is one step closer to making a Bolivar movie happen. What’s missing? Studio investment. And what’s the best way to get it?

“Americans are highly uneducated, especially about other countries. A big obstacle is convincing Americans that this is an amazing story with fantastic drama, heartbreak and heroism.”

“In the studio system, get a big star and you’re fine,” DeBrino said. “You need to position such a movie with worldwide appeal. So, I’m looking at Benicio Del Toro, Andy Garcia and Antonio Banderas.”

Ken Golde’s no stranger to against-all-odds productions — he wrote a script about Andrew Jackson. It never got made, so he knows about the studios’ marketing anxieties.

“Americans are highly uneducated, especially about other countries,” said Golde. “A big obstacle is convincing Americans that this is an amazing story with fantastic drama, heartbreak and heroism.”

According to him, the big studio rationale has failed repeatedly, revealing its flawed logic and giving people like him and DeBrino reason to hope.

“Bolivar was refined, but rough and tumble, too. The passion and energy he put into troops made men feel like supermen. The world should be interested.”

As Golde said, “Tell the studios: ‘I want to make a period movie with characters Americans don’t know about,’” and the probable response will be: see yourself to the door. On the face of it, such a movie seems a hard sell to a notoriously closed American film culture, but according to Golde, it’s a proven good risk.

“That year, five films like this get nominated for Oscars. A movie on Bolivar faces the same obstacles as other great movies. Studios think it’s risky. It’s the job of producers and directors to convince them it’s not.”

The Liberator through American eyes

A Bolivar movie would follow in the footsteps of Evita and Frida, American movies about Latin American subjects. The movie game is definitely rigged as Hollywood tells not only American stories, but Latin American and Asian ones as well. The reverse is not true. As a result, Latin American stories need Hollywood to tell them if they’re going to go global.

For DeBrino, a good story with poignant drama should interest anyone. In his effusive manner, DeBrino explains why the story of Bolivar is just such a story.

“Bolivar was a master statesman, orator and scholar. He was refined, but rough and tumble, too,” he said. “The passion and energy he put into troops made men feel like supermen. The world should be interested. What he did was out of the norm.”

Like DeBrino, Golde has researched Bolivar in depth and believes that a Bolivar movie can speak to a large audience.

“Great movies are international and cross over into any language,” said Golde. “This is a great story. It’s about a man who found glory through sacrifice and commitment. It’s incredibly inspirational.”

Because of its extreme economic imperatives, a Hollywood movie is necessarily conservative. Box office success is thought to depend on movies that tell a strong story in simple and accessible terms. Like it or not, if you want your movie seen by millions, you have to cut out the complexity.

If Venezuela became even an occasional site for Hollywood productions, it would benefit the beleaguered tourism industry as well as the country’s overall image

“It’s all extremely positive. I’m not interested in his flaws,” said DeBrino. “I’m interested in the positive effect on people today. I’m going to make a very predictable movie, but it’s going to sell because of its character.”

DeBrino claims that his movie will be “factual and realistic” and Golde confirms that “we are just telling the story of Venezuela’s greatest hero.” Yet a story that focuses so heavily on the bright side commits the sin of omission. This is the way global movies get made. According to big studio logic, this way works and everything else just doesn’t add up.

Film paradise

DeBrino and Golde sang the praises of Venezuela’s infrastructure for film projects. Far from troublesome, they see the country as well placed to host productions.

“A top budget guy already found that shooting here is 35% cheaper than the US,” said DeBrino. “I’m amazed at the conditions. You have beaches, mountains and great weather.”

“It’s as easy as my own backyard,” Golde added.

A veteran filmmaker who works often with foreign film crews, Casado sees the Bolivar feature as a unique opportunity.

“A lot of people are involved. It brings investment to the film industry here,” he said.

These productions offer local film crews income, experience and priceless contacts. Besides favoring local film, if Venezuela became even an occasional site for Hollywood productions, it would benefit the beleaguered tourism industry as well as the country’s overall image. Add it up and foreign investment can’t be far behind.

A Bolivar movie might boost Venezuelan fortunes in myriad ways. Yet realizing the movie dream and making Venezuela a top site for Hollywood productions both face the same obstacle: investment. In a wonderful paradox, you need to already have investment to attract more of it.