Glaz Entretenimento, one of the fastest growing outfits in Brazil and Portugal, and global company Boat Rocker have struck a co-production-distribution deal on fantasy mystery TV series project “Human Nature.”
Created and executive produced by Denis Nielsen (“3%,” “Rensga Hits!”), with Joe Mallozzi (“Stargate Atlantis”) attached as showrunner, “Human Nature” marks Glaz’s entry into English-language TV drama production.
Inspired by real-life facts, the TV show is set at an Azores surfing event. There, a young surfer discovers strange occurrences in his seemingly idyllic island community as competitors suddenly begin to disappear.
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Maggie Malina (“Promised Land”) and Glaz Entretenimento’s Business Director and Producer Carolina Alckmin are also set to executive produce.
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Based out of Brazil and now Portugal, Glaz Entretenimento has made a name with comedies that managed to garner national acclaim in Brazil. With its long tradition of creating both animation and live action programs, the company has already produced film and TV content in Brazil, now focusing on big streaming projects and expanding to the international market with its offices in Lisbon as a Europe beach head.
The company hit the ground scoring commissions from Netflix for series “De volta aos 15” (“Back to 15”), inspired by the book by influencer Bruna Vieira. The franchise’s last season snagged a huge success not only in Brazil but in several other countries such as Portugal, France and Germany. Seasons 1 and 2 figured among top 10 non-English shows on the streamer. The series’ Season 3 premieres in the second half of 2024.
Further standout recent moves by Glaz in Brazil take in:
*The production of Seasons 2 and 3 of “Rensga Hits!” for Globoplay. Season 1 was a huge success not only on the Brazilian platform, but also in linear TV, reaching more than 20 million households on its premier in 2022. The series’ new season is written by Renata Correa and directed by Nathalia Warth, Carolina Durão and Isabella Gabaglia, and produced by Carolina Alckmin and Mayra Lucas.
*Glaz is also developing a new music show named “Brega Story,” based on a graphic novel by Gidalti Jr., winner of the Jabuti Awards. “’Brega’ has elements we loved to explore in “Rensga Hits!’” [music universe] but bolder and with another landscape: the North of Brazil, Belém do Pará; and instead of Brazilian country music sertanejo, we are going with tecnobrega,” said Alckmin, a former O2 Filmes executive.
*Also in development is an erotic thriller, based on a book by Sue Hecker, the same author of “Burning Betrayal,” the movie Glaz launched on Netflix in October 2023, reaching the streaming service’s Global Top 10 among non-English shows for four weeks. “It’s clear for us that there’s an audience eager for this genre and we want to be able to reach them. So we are developing an investigation series that follows a crime that happens in a pleasure club, called Clube Hedonê,” she said.
Glaz’s Business Model in Portugal
“Upon observing how well Brazilian content travels abroad – as seen by the success of our films and shows on Netflix – we were eager to explore collaborations with other countries. Why not bring our expertise on feature-film co-productions to TV series? And what better place than Portugal to start?” Alckmin questions.
“Portugal has amazing landscapes and talent, both creative and crew. The weather is fantastic – 300 days of sun over the year. The audiovisual industry is not as crowded as it is in Spain, and yet you can access equivalent resources in terms of equipment and technology,” Alckmin said.
“A More Cost-Effective Way”
Alckim added: “It’s a seven-hour flight from New York, ten hours from São Paulo… And last, but not least, the country understands the economic power of the entertainment industry and wants to support it through public incentives.”
“Bringing more audiovisual projects to be shot in Portugal is to bring more money to the country – and to help forge a world of the imagination that ultimately endorses all other sorts of additional economic activities here such as tourism. More than that, we can create an alternative for the American/Brazilian market, for instance, that is looking to produce great content in a more cost-effective way,” she concluded.
Beyond “Human Nature,” Glaz Entretenimento is involved in further film and TV projects in Portugal, including:
*Thriller series “Nazaré,” created by Taina Muhringer & Carolina Margoni, focused on two women – a former Spanish lawyer and a Portuguese investigator – uniting to solve a murder.
*On the non-fiction TV side Glaz is producing true crime show “Gis,” by Gustavo Ribeiro and Fernanda Polacow, about Gisberta Salce Junior, a Brazilian trans woman who was killed in the city of Porto by a group of orphan kids, a murder that shocked Portugal.
“After we were nominated for the International Emmy Award for “The Evandro Case – The Devilish Plot,’”we understood the impact of this genre on creating awareness. This is a sensitive and urgent topic to discuss,” Alckim commented.
*Glaz is also preparing two new feature film projects: “Caminhos do Coração,” created by Flavia Lins e Silva and Maria Ines Almeida, about three Brazilian women who connect by walking the Caminho de Santiago together and discover that midlife crisis can, actually, be the beginning of a new life; and developing IP “Pão de Açúcar,” based on the awarded book by Afonso Reis Cabral, winner of the Premio Camoes.
Alckmin speaks Wednesday Jun. 19 on a panel on Brazilian industry, part of the 8th edition of Conecta Fiction Forum, which runs Jun. 18-21 in Toledo.