Rafael Lessa

Rafael Lessa is a writer, director, and producer with over 15 years of experience working for players like Amazon, Netflix, and Gaumont. He is a member of the Television Academy of Arts & Sciences, and his work has screened at the Berlin, Locarno, and Venice film festivals. He transitions between commercially successful TV projects and artistically relevant films on the international stage.

His latest feature film as a screenwriter, Rule 34, a sexually charged political drama, won the Golden Leopard for Best Film at the Locarno Film Festival. Rafael was the head writer and co-executive producer of the show Lov3, which premiered on Amazon Prime Video and wrote seasons one and two of Samantha!, a Netflix original series.

Most recently, Rafael worked as head writer on the series The Brazilian Cowboys, released by Globo, the fourth-largest network in the world. The series was produced by Latin American powerhouse O2 Films (City of God). He is currently writing two book adaptations for RT Features, producer of the Oscar-winning films Call Me By Your Name and I’m Still Here, as well as Frances Ha and Armageddon Time.

Rafael has also collaborated with filmmaker Alex Moratto as a screenplay consultant for his films Socrates and 7 Prisoners, which were awarded at the Independent Spirit Awards and the Venice Film Festival.

He began his screenwriting career with the short film Tá, winner of the Teddy Award at the Berlin Film Festival in 2008. A Berlinale Talents alumnus, he holds an MFA with honors from Columbia University’s Film School and an MBA in the Business of Entertainment from USC. Rafael teaches Screenwriting at Columbia University’s MFA in Film program and is based in Brooklyn, NY. Zero Gravity Management represents him in the U.S. and F.R. Productions in Brazil.