From Brazil to L.A. : Transmedia and Audiovisual Creators Raphael Draccon and Carolina Munhoz (Part One)

“But, at heart, all good stories are the one kind of story, the story written by an individual man from his individual truth”, Ray Bradbury, “Zen in the art of Writing”.

Extraordinary life stories, such as those of heroes and fantastic beings permeate fictional narratives for the publishing market, TV, movies, and comics. Raphael Draccon and Carolina Munhoz were chosen as Pop Junctions case studies for being a romantic and professionally successful duo in these areas of entertainment and culture. Before they met each other, they had already followed successful paths and formed an amazing fandom in Brazil as bestsellers, admired by references such as Paulo Coelho. The fandom has already spread to the rest of the world with successful series for Netflix, HBO Max and a DC comic, which has just been released. Together they have sold more than a million copies of books.

Raphael Draccon and Carolina Munhoz were also chosen as case studies because they bring together unusual and solid characteristics as content creators, capable of reading a world and translating it to increasingly sophisticated and broad audiences in a universal aesthetic and language without losing their creative DNA. It is unusual to find successful multiplatform creators in each medium they propose to work in, especially when considering that after conquering a successful space in Latin America and Portugal, they are increasingly becoming a reference in one of the main and most competitive audiovisual markets of the world: Los Angeles.

Raphael Draccon was born in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), in 1981, and began his professional career at age 16 in local newspapers. At 18, he became a teacher at a martial arts dojo (huge Bruce Lee fan!). At age 19, he entered film college, specializing in film writing. At age 20, he received an American Screenwriter Association (ASA) Merit Award for his first feature screenplay, the supernatural drama "In Your Hands." The script was delivered by Stuart Manashil, from Creative Artist Agency (CAA), to Will Smith, and also to James van Praagh, bestselling writer and producer of the “Ghost Whisperer” series.

From the age of 21, he became a screenwriter, script evaluator, and script doctor for several production companies such as O2 Filmes (director Fernando Meirelles, from City of God). At 22, he wrote the first novel in the fantastic literature series: “Dragons of Ether”. He was a finalist in the “Best Videoclip” category, with the singer Cláudia Leitte, in the Multishow Awards and Meus Prêmios Nick, on the TV channels Multishow and Nickelodeon.

At the age of 25, he became the youngest author to sign with the Spanish publisher Planeta do Brasil, remaining for six months among the bestselling authors. Two years later, he became part of the Portuguese publishing holding company Leya in Brazil. He wrote the column “Cavernas & Dragões” in “Sedentário & Hiperativo,” nominated for the MTV VMB with more than 2 million unique hits per month, and became a member of the biggest podcast about cinema on the Brazilian internet, Rapaduracast.

He was responsible for nominating the work of George R.R. Martin, “Crônicas de Gelo & Fogo,” for the publisher Leya BR and debuted in the Portuguese literary market with the book “Espíritos de Gelo,” by the publisher GaiLivros. His fantastic literature series “Dragões de Éter” reached the milestone of 500,000 copies in Brazil. The first book in the series was released on August 16, 2011 in Portugal by Editora Dom Quixote. At the age of 30, he became editorial coordinator of the Leya BR holding and fantastic literature editor of the Fantasy – Casa da Palavra publisher.

In 2013 he was invited by HBO to be one of the ambassadors of the Official Exhibition of Game of Thrones in Brazil and officially joined the hall of authors of the editorial group Random House through the sale of the Spanish language rights of “Dragões de Éter” series to the Random House Mondadori. During a launch tour in Mexico, "Dragones de eter - Cazadores de Brujas" reached 4th place in the top 10 in Mexico. Raphael Draccon is the author of 11 books.

In 2015 he joined the team of screenwriters at Rede Globo de Televisão, one of the ten largest TV broadcasters in the world. Currently he and Carolina Munhoz were considered by the US Government an “alien of extraordinary abilities,” receiving an Einstein Visa and moving to California. In 2019, they debuted on Netflix as screenwriters and executive producers.

Carolina Munhóz is 32 years old. She is a journalist, screenwriter, and novelist - chosen as Best Writer by the Young Brazilian Award and by the Shorty Awards in New York. She is the author of 10 bestselling fantasy books in Brazil. Paulo Coelho cited her and Raphael Draccon's name at the Frankfurt Book Fair (the most important in the world), as a Brazilian writer who should represent the country on a global stage. She was a screenwriter and script doctor for Rede Globo by Globo Filmes. The writer has more than 250 fan clubs, 300,000 books sold, and 200,000 followers on social networks, reaching the Trend Topics of Brazilian twitter four times.

Raphael Draccon and Carolina Munhoz currently have two original Netflix series as writers and producers: “O Escondido,” with two seasons, and “Cidade Invisível (Invisible City),” which reached the Top 10 of 60 countries, staying first in Brazil for weeks. They were recently signed by HBO Max; they will be responsible for creating and developing original TV series and films. They are represented by Hollywood agencies CAA and The Gotham Group.

Both are authors of 1 of the 8 stories in the comic, "DC's Harley Quinn Romances #1,” which has just been released in the United States. It is a special edition celebrating Valentine's Day called "Dating App Disaster" about one of the greatest Brazilian superheroines in the world of comics: Beatriz da Costa, known as Fogo.

There are many interesting topics to be covered and therefore this interview will be divided into two parts. We will address biographical aspects to understand how the trajectories of the authors are inspiring for young talent, aspects related to content creation, editorial and audiovisual business, interaction with technology and platforms, relationship with fandom and influence in the conception and development of projects, the relationship between creators and large entertainment companies, and future projects will also be covered.

Raphael and Carolina, what does it mean to be Latin American content and entertainment creators in one of the biggest and most important industries in the world? How did you build this project from a distant idea? How has this trajectory in Los Angeles been - contact with the chain of people involved as agents, artists, companies? What were the biggest challenges faced and the greatest achievements obtained?

Being Latin American content and entertainment creators in one of the world's biggest and most important industries is a great privilege and responsibility. We feel proud to represent our culture and bring our unique perspectives. We built our project from a general idea by working hard and never giving up on our dreams, something that, as contradictory as it may seem, Hollywood tries to do with talent.

The trajectory in Los Angeles has been challenging but also rewarding. We've met many talented and passionate people in the industry who have helped us. Our biggest challenges were cultural and language barriers and adapting to a new and competitive market. Our greatest achievements have been producing high-quality content that resonates with audiences and receiving recognition from the industry.

figure 2: Credit: Authors´ Facebook profile

The book market was your “business card” for accrediting you for the creative and entertainment industry. In Brazil, it is a tradition to find you for long hours with thousands of readers autographing copies on bookshelves at book fairs, considered some of the largest in the world. Could you please talk a little about the creation of your fandom, was the relationship with readers always strategic, planned? How did the audience/readers interfere in the creation of your books? How do you relate to these people today?

Our relationship with our readers has always been personal. We believe that connecting with our audience is crucial for our success as authors and creators. We have always valued their feedback about how the stories touched each of them at different points in their lives. Stories about how the books helped them deal with loss and depression and even rethink values. This is priceless.

Our fandom grew organically through word of mouth, social media, and book fairs. We have always tried to be accessible and approachable to our fans, and we still maintain that connection today.

figure 3: Credit: Authors´ Facebook profile

“A transmedia story unfolds across multiple media platforms, with each new text making a distinctive and valuable contribution to the whole. In the ideal form of transmedia storytelling, each medium does what it does best—so that a story might be introduced in a film, expanded through television, novels, and comics; its world might be explored through game play or experienced as an amusement park attraction. Each franchise entry needs to be self-contained so you don't need to have seen the film to enjoy the game, and vice versa. Any given product is a point of entry into the franchise as a whole. Reading across the media sustains a depth of experience that motivates more consumption” (Jenkins, 2006).

I would like to know if you have already participated in any fictional project which contains the logic of transmedia as an instrument of engagement, content loyalty, brands. If so, how was the experience? Have you already lived the experience of having stories told by fans in fanfics, for example? How do you feel about the fact that the content you produce can be recreated on other platforms by readers and viewers?

Yes, we have participated in projects that utilize the logic of transmedia storytelling. Transmedia is a powerful tool for engaging audiences and creating brand loyalty. It's exciting to see fans create their own stories and interpretations of our work, and we feel honored that our content can inspire such creativity.

Dragons of Ether has already had an official fanfic contest. The winner organized with the reader community forum to create a character collectively, which was used as inspiration for an original character in the last book.

In "The Kingdom of Eternal Voices," the main characters are completely connected to the authors' life experiences and relationships with their audiences on the internet.

We also just did a comic book with DC Comics with characters that may be explored on other paths.

In addition, nowadays, it is common for video game companies to come to us to offer their IPs to adapt as movies or TV series. It is a natural path.

Biography

Renata Frade is a tech feminism PhD candidate at the Universidade de Aveiro (DigiMedia/DeCa). Cátedra Oscar Sala/ Instituto de Estudos Avançados/Universidade de São Paulo Artificial Intelligence researcher. Journalist (B.A. in Social Communication from PUC-Rio University) and M.A. in Literature from UERJ. Henry Jenkins´ transmedia alumni and attendee at M.I.T., Rede Globo TV and Nave school events/courses. Speaker, activist, community manager, professor and content producer on women in tech, diversity, inclusion and transmedia since 2010 (such as Gartner international symposium, Girls in Tech Brazil, Mídia Ninja, Digitalks, MobileTime etc). Published in 13 academic and fiction books (poetry and short stories). Renata Frade is interested in Literature, Activism, Feminism, Civic Imagination, Technology, Digital Humanities, Ciberculture, HCI.