Maria Julia Bottai

I have nearly ten years experience as a freelance researcher, content producer and writer in audiovisual (nonfiction) and communication projects. I am also partner at Paradox Filmes, a small-sized production company focused on documentary-driven content.

I specialize in researching, analyzing and systematizing information; conducting interviews; writing and storytelling, with focus on social subjects (education, human rights, sustainability).

Born in Argentina and raised in São Paulo, Brazil, I've worked and lived in several countries. I speak fluent Portuguese, Spanish and English.

With a degree in Economics from Universidade de São Paulo (USP), I've abandoned a promising marketing career to work in the nonprofit sector. Over five years I did research, development and coordination of projects, mainly on sustainability and children's rights. In 2005, I had my first experience in the audiovisual area: writing and producing an educational doc, related to a project I coordinated. Fascinated by the world of documentaries, I decided to change fields.

Since then, I've worked in educational documentaries and awareness projects for nonprofit organizations such as Save the Children and AECID (Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation), documentaries for Al Jazeera English, BBC and Canal Infinito; TV shows for channels BAND, Discovery H&H and TNT; and content for brands such as Natura, XYZ Live and Aliança Francesa de SP. I have also been photography assistant-editor at newspaper Folha de S.Paulo.

Currently, I work at Instituto Natura – which develops and supports projects focused on public education – as online content producer/manager on the project “Learning Communities”. Simultaneously, I am developing documentary projects for TV at Paradox Filmes.

Additional education: post-graduate degree in Institutional Communications from Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona (UAB), documentary course at Academia Internacional de Cinema de São Paulo (AIC).