Jason Lanzarini

A life, told by a line

Jason Lanzarini

He was born beside a railway line that splits two Brazilian states. The line became magnetic tape, then a highway heading west, then fiber and code. Follow it.

Follow the line ↓

The Timeline

push the little train — or scroll sideways

1973–1986
01

Between Two States

Jason is born in 1973 in Porto União, Santa Catarina — a town separated from its twin, União da Vitória, Paraná, by a railway line. Childhood in Curitiba is a string of new homes and new schools; in 1982, Pope John Paul II’s motorcade passes right in front of his house.

  • 1973 Born in Porto União, SC — beside the railway line
  • ~1976 Childhood on Rua da Glória, Curitiba
  • 1982 The Pope passes his front door
1987–1992
02

Freedom on Two Wheels

At 14, in União da Vitória, comes his first real job: dry-cleaning delivery boy on a bicycle, a crate of clothes on the back. Back in Curitiba he enters federal university — and drops out, unable to afford bus fare. It is his grandfather who buys him clothes and shoes for his first job meeting.

  • 1987 First job — deliveries by bicycle
  • 1990 Back to Curitiba for the vestibular
  • ~1991 Federal university — interrupted
  • 1992 His grandfather’s gift: new clothes for the first meeting
1993–2000
03

Where the “Spot” Was Born

Selling radio ads in Curitiba, Jason learns what a “spot” is — the commercial that arrived from the airport on a reel of tape. Thirty years later, the word would name his studio. In Ribeirão Preto he invents a street-promotions department that, in six months, matches the revenue of ten-year veterans.

  • 1993 Radio sales in Curitiba — learns the “spot”
  • 1994 Jovem Pan Curitiba goes on air
  • ~1995 The Mamonas Assassinas concert
  • 1997 Moves to Ribeirão Preto; his son is born
  • 1998 Radio vans become street activations
2000–2008
04

40 Employees and a TV Channel

His own company: an ad agency, a production house, and a format that grows a 15-minute show into two hours of television. HiperShop tapes 50+ clients a week; Hiperfilmes produces dozens of programs; Canal da Cidade becomes Brazil’s biggest hub of local commercial TV. Forty employees, his own building.

  • 2000 Opens his agency + production house
  • ~2002 Creates HiperShop on TV Clube (Band)
  • ~2003 Hiperfilmes + Canal da Cidade (cable TV)
  • 2006 The peak: 40 employees
2008–2012
05

Losing the Channel, Finding the Camera

The separation takes with it the production house and the channel he built. From an events hall to the revelation of the Canon 5D Mark II, Jason reinvents himself as a wedding filmmaker — and realizes that with a camera you can work from anywhere in the world. Why not the United States?

  • 2008 Starting over
  • ~2009 Partner in an events hall
  • 2010 The turn: Canon 5D Mark II, wedding films
  • 2012 The trigger: work from anywhere
2012–2014
★
06

Five Days on the Road

Orlando is too hot; Boston, too cold — and the 2013 winter collects its toll: the dollar doubles, three incomes vanish at once, a fall on the ice nearly kills him. At the end of May 2014 he loads the car and drives west. Five days on the road. On June 5, 2014, he arrives in Los Angeles.

  • 2012 Orlando — first visit, discarded
  • 2013 Boston: cinematography course and first clients
  • 2014 The hardest winter of his life
  • 5 Jun 2014 Arrives in Los Angeles
2014–2019
07

Betting It All on the Community

In LA, Jason plants the Brazilian Community: Facebook groups that grow into tens of thousands of Brazilians — Brasileiros em Los Angeles, Cadê Empregos, Cadê Moradia, Cadê Carros. In 2016, his show Balada Brasil covers Brazilian Day San Diego — a crowd of 60,000.

  • 2014 Cadê Brazil channel on YouTube
  • 2015 The Facebook groups are born
  • 2016 Brazilian Day San Diego — 60,000 people
  • 2017 The lesson: own your audience
2019–2025
08

Building His Own House

He moves to Ontario, California, chasing an old dream: a studio of his own. The invisible years follow — pandemic, auctions, e-commerce — until, in October 2025, the Spot73 studio finally switches its lights on with the premiere of the Palavrão Tático podcast.

  • Out 2019 Moves to Ontario, CA
  • 2020 Pandemic — and a business degree online
  • 2021–24 50+ auctions across California; eBay stores
  • Out 2025 Spot73 studio goes live — Palavrão Tático
2025–hoje
09

Six Months in Three Days

With AI as his crew, projects that would take six months are done in three days. The ecosystem takes shape: the cadebr.com portal, Cadê Brazil News, the BRLA podcast, a network of 170,000+ Brazilians. On the horizon: a Little Brazil in Los Angeles.

  • Fev 2026 BRLA podcast premieres
  • 2026 Network reaches 170,000+ members
  • Set 2026 Brazilian Family Day
  • → The vision: Little Brazil, LA

What Made Me Who I Am

The stories Jason always ends up telling — the ones that explain everything else.

The New Clothes

At his lowest point, his grandfather bought him clothes, shoes and a shirt for his first job meeting. A gesture that shaped a life.

The Spot on a Reel of Tape

The commercial arrived by plane, on a reel of tape cut with scissors. Thirty years later, that word became the name of his studio.

Mamonas Assassinas

Watching the concert his radio station promoted — and, two months later, the whole country stopping when the band’s plane went down.

The Boston Winter

Three incomes lost at once and a near-fatal fall on the ice. He still didn’t turn back.

Five Days on the Road

Boston to Los Angeles by car, his whole life in the trunk.

Two Goodbyes

After the divorce came two engagements — and two endings that really hurt. The marriage, he says, was what weighed the least.

Eleven Years

In 2015, with no money to spare for his son’s visit, they shared just one afternoon — at the Griffith Observatory. It was the last time they saw each other in person.

The Ecosystem Today

Branches growing out of the same line.

Spot73 Studios

The production company. “Spot” comes from the radio tape days; 73, from the year it all began.

Cadê Brazil

The Community. The cadebr.com portal — home of the Brazilian Community in the US.

BRLA

The audience. Brasileiros em Los Angeles: podcast and groups, a network of 170,000+ members.

The Vision

A Little Brazil in Los Angeles — a physical home for the Brazilian Community, like Chinatown or Koreatown. And on the other side of the line: work hard in the United States, recharge in Brazil.

“Doing whatever it took to compete with giants.”