Company Spotlight

Company spotlight: Garapa

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I am really excited to introduce Garapa, a multimedia company based in São Paulo, Brazil. The trio of photojournalists has a clear mission statement: “Our main goal is to make good multimedia storytelling, using photography, audio, video, interactivity and whatever else comes our way, for distribution across multiple media, specially the internet.” And, if you have watched their demo reel above, you can tell that they clearly have talent!

Q) Please briefly introduce yourself and your role at Garapa.

A) I’m Paulo Fehlauer, one of the founders of Garapa. I’m a journalist, photographer and multimedia producer.

Q) What makes your company unique?

A) We’re a multimedia collective and production studio focused on high quality independent visual content. Our portfolio includes a vast array of formats and platforms – photo assignments for editorial use, video documentaries for TV and the web, complex web-based multimedia platforms, art galleries and exhibitions. We also have an educational branch focused on multimedia storytelling and collaborative production workshops.

Q) How do your employees drive innovation and creativity?

A) We try to maintain a very horizontal and collaborative environment, in which everyone on the team can participate on all production steps.

Q) What company portfolio piece are you most proud of?

A) We have just launched a large project called “Produção Cultural no Brasil” (Cultural Production in Brazil), which brings nearly a hundred interviews with some of the most important actors on the field of culture in Brazil. The project is composed by an interactive web platform with over 100 videos, as well as 5 books with longer interviews, and was produced by an association of 4 different companies, each one bringing its own expertise to the project.

Q) How do you see your company expanding in the next five years?

A) Our goal is to find the right balance between profit and creative freedom. For that reason, we’ve been aiming more and more at qualified venues for distribution of our work, from renowned magazines, newspapers and websites to art galleries, curators, festivals and specific niches on the advertising world. With that said, we’re expecting a considerable growth on the next few years, without putting aside our desire to innovate and experiment.

Q) Why would your company be an ideal place to work?

A) First of all, for the horizontal and creative environment I mentioned above. Also, we’re part of a creative cluster in São Paulo, called “Casa da Cultura Digital” (Digital Culture House), a very charming “villa” where several companies, collectives and individuals share not only infrastructure but ideas and projects. Collaboration for us is the key.

Q) Will you divulge any funny stories that can give us an insight into the day-to-day operations at your company?

A) We do a funny prank here that we call “stand up comment”, which consists of posting funny comments on Facebook profiles if someone leaves his computer unattended. We even created a set of rules for it – for example, one of the rules is that the “victim” has to wait at least one hour before accusing the joke.

Q) What recommendation do you have for people either entering the workplace or looking to transition to this type of work?

A) There are no formulas, and that’s the essential and greatest aspect of our times; try, create, experiment and, most important, spread your word, even regardless of immediate monetary gain. If your work is good, it will pay off sooner than you expect.

Q) On that note, are you currently hiring?

A) Not at the moment, but work comes and go all the time, and we’re always up for new partnerships and possibilities.

Q) How can we learn more about your company?

A) You can find us at:
Twitter: @garapa
Facebook: http://facebook.com/coletivogarapa
Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/garapa
Flickr: http://flickr.com/photos/garapa/
Website/blog: http://garapa.org/en/
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/garapaimagem

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Want to recommend a multimedia company to be highlighted in this series? Please email us at innovativeinteractivity@gmail.com. A company will be featured every Friday, so look for the next company spotlight Friday, November 4th!

Other posts that might interest you:

• Company spotlight: Chance Multimedia
• Company spotlight: Tellit Multimedia
• Company spotlight: Duckrabbit

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