Before BNW…
Pedro Giglio’s work as a creative writer precedes Brand New Whatever. Here is some of his previous work for companies such as Riot Games and Penguin Random House.
Riot Games
Throughout a six-year-long career as a Web Content Coordinator / Editor for the company’s São Paulo office, Pedro’s undertaken ad hoc creative writing projects for the Brazilian League of Legends player base on the side. All while dealing with some strong rules (such as relying on non-canonical versions of the Champions), cultural differences (how to promote a time-sensitive piece for Valentine’s Day in a country that doesn’t celebrate it? By using it as a trampoline to the local equivalent date on both occasions!).
While some of the older content’s sunsetted, here’s a recap.
What’s Your League of Legends Vibe?
Qual a Sua Vibe no LoL? was an algorithm-based musical personality test for Spotify users in Brazil. Each person’s listening habits led to one out of 17 curated playlists, each linked to a specific musical genre and one of League of Legends’ many Champions. Pedro’s tasks included the curation & research of musical genres, connecting them to each character’s personality traits, and writing playlist descriptions. Listen to them on RGB’s official Spotify profile – from “Na Vibe da Ahri” to “Qual a Sua Vibe no LoL? – A Coletânea”.
Hunting Season
Temporada de Caça was a series of audio novel episodes to tease players about Elderwood Hecarim, an upcoming Champion skin. (Translated script available upon request.) On this community-driven event, as players from the BR server kept hitting the gameplay goals Riot defined, a new episode went online — all while keeping the protagonist’s identity a mystery until the last episode — along with in-game rewards and new wallpapers featuring the beasts from Summoner’s Rift. Pedro has written the script for the audio novel and story content for the website; he’s also assisted in directing the voice actor in the recording session. Here’s his Hunting Season post-mortem on LinkedIn.
Tales of the Fabulist (The Legend of Nami Iara)
River Spirit Nami, the first Brazilian folklore-inspired skin for League, loomed on the horizon. Riot ran Contos do Fabulista, a daily episodic audio novel, on the official forums. Keeping the original Champion in mind and inspiring himself in the legend of the iara (the Brazilian indigenous peoples’ take on the mermaid myth), Pedro wrote the story & script (and posted it under the guise of the Fabulista) – and helped the art team with storyboarding. Alongside the capture of the launch website for A Lenda da Nami Iara, a community translation is available on Wikia.
Suma / Penguin Random House
Aimed at younger audiences, Suma is a label by Companhia das Letras, a Penguin Random House subsidiary in Brazil. Here are some books Pedro has worked in as a freelancer alongside Tati Contreiras – his wife and, back then, his writing partner. Giglio & Contreiras are credited with preparation & ghostwriting.
RezendeEvil’s Unofficial Minecraft Adventures
In 2015, Pedro “RezendeEvil” Rezende was one of Brazil’s biggest YouTubers. Back then, over nine million subscribers watched his daily Minecraft streams featuring improvised stories – such as the episodic Paraíso (“Paradise”) – set in Mojang‘s hit game. Bringing an original story to the table, RezendeEvil’s unofficial Minecraft trilogy became a best-selling book for the kids & early teens demographic.
- Dois Mundos, Um Herói (“Two Worlds, One Hero”), 2015
- De Volta ao Jogo (“Back to the Game”), 2016
- Jogada Final (“Final Play”), 2016
MateiFormiga’s Unofficial Pokémon GO Book
Guilherme Coelho, also known as MateiFormiga, spent part of 2016 travelling around Brazil – cell phone in hand – trying to find new creatures on Niantic’s hit game. Vamos Pegar Todos! (“Let’s Catch ’em All!”) is in equal parts a real road trip, showcasing his findings while meeting fellow YouTubers from other Brazilian capitals – and a fictional side story in which a clumsy and annoying travel blogger who keeps trying, by any means possible, to one-up Coelho in catching ’em all.