RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – A backstage, a big ballet, and choreography. Anitta didn’t need much more than that to produce her Show das Poderosas, released in 2013.
Even so, it was a success: besides accumulating more than 160 million views in eight years, the video inaugurated a golden decade for the pop industry, which also led to a maturation of the national creative scene. Not only the performers gained a stage, but also the minds behind them.
This is the case of director Felipe Sassi, who, while still in college, played around producing music videos and soon began working with KondZilla, the largest YouTube channel in Brazil.
There, he directed the music video of Karol Conká’s VIP List and ended up drawing the attention of Warner Music, which then invited him to direct clips of singers like Ludmilla, Iza, and Gloria Groove. Beyond the aesthetic appreciation, Sassi also created what fans called “Sassiverse”, a narrative universe that permeates the clips of different artists.
“It was a joke, but it ended up engaging the fans because it was something unheard of,” he explains, whose YouTube views are already in the billions.
Adding a narrative aspect to clips has become a new standard for national pop – whose clips can cost from R$200,000 to R$1.5 million, depending on the artist and the level of production.
And the gringos, once an inspiration, also started to incorporate Brazilian creativity in their work. After the success of Anitta’s Vai Malandra, Swedish singer Tove Lo invited MC Zaac, Anitta’s partner in the single, for her Are U Gonna Tell Her?
And to direct the clip, recorded in Brazil, he called Alaska, a duo formed by Gustavo Moraes and Marco Lafer – who pay the bills making advertising films but bet on clips as a means of expressing their creative brand in projects of scale.
This is also the case of Fernando Nogari, who made a documentary about the São Paulo nightlife and was invited to direct the clip for Baila Comigo by Selena Gomez. More recently, he also signed the clip for Nem Um Pouquinho by Duda Beat, which drew attention for its visuals similar to international clips.
“All of this happened because access has become more democratic. Today, you don’t have to leave the country to study photography direction, and this ended up opening space for many talented people,” explains the director.
“The power to realize an idea in a refined way is happening more and more. Just look at TikTok,” comments Lafer, also highlighting the emergence of new cameras and equipment that, besides being cheaper, do not require a large crew. “It’s nice to see the evolution of the market. The democratization of doing is still going to grow a lot.”
KONDZILLA
Konrad Cunha Dantas, better known by the stage name KondZilla, or just KOND, is a Brazilian screenwriter and director. He is the founder of KondZilla Records, a music video production company and record label often credited for being the main popularizer of ostentatious funk.
He currently owns the largest YouTube channel in Brazil and Latin America, and the third-largest music channel in the world, with 64.1 million subscribers and 34.1 billion views.
In addition to his music videos, he is also the creator and director of the Netflix drama Sintonia.
Among the artists who have worked with KondZilla are funk, rock bands, and rap artists such as MC Guimê, DJ Marlboro, Mr. Catra, Charlie Brown Jr., Karol Conká, Racionais MC’s, and Aloe Blacc.