By Chesney Hearst, Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Having directed commercials, short films and music videos for Leo Justi and Apollo, along with producing music of his own, 25-year-old Julio Secchin is an up-and-coming creative force in Rio de Janeiro.
“I got in the filmmaking/music business for one reason and one reason only: to make enough money so I can have a Lamborghini Aventador,” Secchin told The Rio Times. “But, in the meantime, I’ll continue with my music-video work, along with advertising and shorts.”
Born and raised in Rio, Secchin studied filmmaking in college but says that he had to forge his own path into the industry.
“There’s only one way of learning filmmaking; Sweet talk your friends into doing your project and keep doing it until you get something done properly,” he said.
One such friend that Secchin coaxed into a creative collaboration was music producer and fellow Carioca Leo Justi. Secchin took Justi’s second release, “O Homem Mau”, and produced the music video “O Homem Mau (Sniper Queen)“, featuring a character Secchin had created before he met Justi, named “Sniper Queen”.
“Sniper Queen is one of the most iconic characters to emerge from this year’s Brazilian music-video production,” Secchin, who plans to make the video into a feature film, said in his director’s statement. “Like Leo Justi’s music, he blends the harsh ghetto lifestyle with sophisticated and complex elements. Patrolling through the rooftops of Rio de Janeiro, he wears his unmistakable fur coat with shiny wrestling tights, portraying himself as a super-hero figure with a sniper rifle.”
The video, which received its premiere on Vice last year, gained attention for both Justi, who crafts his own style of music he calls “Heavy Baile” and for Secchin. “It’s his work, he had the idea before,” Justi told The Rio Times. “It just fit!” Justi added that, “he [Secchin] still plans to do a long movie and that would be dope.”
“There’s a long way until I get to do a proper feature,” says Secchin, adding, “But every time I do a film or music-video, I try to push the envelope towards something most people in Brazil don’t: Visual excellence and 21st century plots. That really sounded arrogant rsrs [lol].”
For his second and most recent music video production, Secchin worked with the Rio based artist, Apollo on his debut single, “Taste of Your Lips“.
“Taste of Your Lips… that’s the most you can get out of a smoke machine and a circular dolly,” Secchin told The Rio Times when speaking about the making of the video. “That was the right choice though […] in the end of the day, it really made the visuals have a strong character.”
For his day job, Secchin currently makes television and internet spots for Margarida Filmes. He also has created two short films Carioca and Copyright Cops.
As if all of that weren’t enough, Secchin also produces music under his last name alone.
“In music, I had guitar lessons for over six or seven years,” said Secchin. “It is some sort of formal training I suppose, but the kind of music I make is much more related with producing and composition, not playing some instrument in a band.”
Thus far he has released one song, “Night Lights” which features vocals by Maria Luiza Jobim, a Rio based singer-songwriter who releases her work under the name Opala.
“The inspiration for both music and film work come from the most unexpected places. I’m not totally aware of it really,” said Secchin.
He told The Rio Times that more of his songs are recorded, including a track featuring Apollo, and they will be released as a four to five track EP in the next few weeks.
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