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Brazilian director, screenwriter and producer Guga Lemes launches beORIGINALS with 10 projects already

May 31, 2023

Maribel Ramos-Weiner

Guga Lemes de beORIGINALS

Brazilian director, screenwriter and producer, Guga Lemes, recently launched beORIGINALS, based in São Paulo, to create audiovisual formats and original productions for streaming, TV, cinema and digital platforms.

The initiative, which came to life with an initial investment of US$600,000, is a partnership with the beGIANT Group, which founded Brazil’s first entertainment agency in 2013. beORIGINALS expects to reach US$1.2 million in revenue in its first year.

beORIGINALS kicks off with ten projects, including the reality show Mulekes (7×30′), the documentary series Cangaço Urbano: Brazilian Bandits Way; the fiction film, The Boy Who Lits Up, and the documentaries The Big Mountain and The Crater (25′).

Mulekes, “the first soccer reality show in Brazil,” according to Lemes, features children from 10 to 12 years old that compete to be part of the Corinthias team with an exclusive contract for one year. beORIGINALS is already in conversations with companies such as Globo, Netflix and Amazon.

“We are already working on a second season and we are in negotiations with a soccer star from Brazil to be the mentor of the show,” said Lemes.

Lemes has created and produced series broadcast in 53 countries by HBO. Among them: Encounters in Brazil, starring Latin American artists such as Jorge Drexler (Uruguay), Natalia Lafourcade (Mexico), Francisca Valenzuela (Chile), Roberto Musso (Argentina), Andrea Echeverri (Colombia) and Lisandro Aristimuño (Uruguay). In addition to producing for streaming platforms and TV channels, including Globoplay and Sony, Lemes has won awards at the Cristal Festival (France), Wave Festival (Brazil) and El Ojo (Argentina).

beORIGINALS works with renowned creators from the Brazilian audiovisual industry such as Paulinho Moska, curator of Cultura Latina; André Abujamra, the curator for Proyectos Musicales; Baboo Matsusaki is the curator for Animation and Diversity; and Renata Netto, executive curator of Audiovisual Production.

The team of curators also includes: Bebete Viégas (Photography), Chica Barros (Reality), Edson Campos (Multiplatform Projects), Felipe Barahona (Influencers), Gabriel Gallindo (Political and Social Movements), Jean Leme (Activist Design), Mari Bechara (Communications), Nanna de Castro (Screenwriting), Tatiana Farah (Research Documentaries) and Wagner Almeida (Production).