Josef Louis Startom

Josef Louis is an actor, director, and screenwriter, the eldest child of Raul and Leonor. His father was a bank manager who was a big fan of cinema, and on Sundays, he would do imitations of popular artists in a variety show at the small cinema in their town. His mother was a housewife and a multi-talented woman, excelling as a cook and a creative seamstress. His grandparents migrated from Spain to Brazil. His maternal grandmother was a stylist who also enjoyed painting. Art always ran in the family's veins. His earliest memory of interest in theater dates back to his childhood when he tied the ends of a towel to a doorway and, using sock puppets made by his mother, performed for the whole family. However, he officially discovered his theater vocation in middle school at the age of 14. During that time, he wrote his first script and directed his classmates in a play, marking his debut on a traditional theater stage. At sixteen, he got his first job in the accounting department of a cooperative where he started a theater group. Over time, the group evolved into an amateur theater group in the city, with their first plays featuring him as "The Magician" in "The Enchanted Coat" and as "João Grilo" in "O Auto da Compadecida" by Adriano Suassuna. He initially pursued studies in Economics and later in Law at the university but dropped out after about three years. He then moved to São Paulo and studied theater in a course organized by Antunes Filho, one of the most recognized theater directors in the world. Two plays became milestones in his theatrical journey: Bertolt Brecht's "The Exception and the Rule," where he played "The Merchant," and Anton Chekhov's "The Work of Art," in which he portrayed Dr. Ivan Nicolaevich Kochelcov. The advertising world recognized his skills as a creative writer, producer, and actor, leading him to become a partner in an advertising agency where he won numerous awards. There, he wrote, directed, and acted in his first experiences on film sets and started a small film production company. However, he never abandoned theater, continuing to write, direct, and act in musical shows and other productions. Nevertheless, he developed a new passion for movies. Since then, he has worked as an actor and screenwriter on numerous film projects. In addition to his talents in the performing arts, Josef Louis also playing the guitar and piano.