The Story
He was a daredevil; he lived his life based on his instincts and he found freedom in speed. He was a man who made an impact on everyone he crossed paths with in his adventurous life— usually at first because of his appearance. Tiago suffered a terrible accident with fire when he was just 7 years old. Covering 84% of his body with 1st, 2nd, and 3rd-degree burns, he was left with scarring that would stay with him for his entire life. His physical limitations were clear in his mobility, his ability to grow into his adult body during his adolescence and even the adversity he faced. Something drove that young boy to fight through a situation that most wouldn’t have survived; and it continued to drive him through endless reconstructive procedures, social situations and even his professional life. Tiago learnt from a very young age to embrace his misfortune in a beautiful way, using it to his advantage rather than allowing it to burden him. This energy radiated from him, defining him as an inspiration to all who met him. He was a rebel with a cause, living life the way he wanted to—with unstoppable speed and at the forefront of all everything was freedom.
The Film
The life story of Tiago ‘COBRA’ Amorim cannot be misconstrued as one of sadness; despite the tragedies, trauma and adversity that he and his family endured— the story is of freedom, adventure, and great triumph; about a rebellious lionhearted who survived and thrived against all odds, learning to live life fully by embracing fear.
Everything was possible in Cobra’s world, he wanted to show people that this life has more to offer than just the systemic boundaries set for us to conform to, that we are only ever confined by our own fear of reaching beyond the fabricated comfort of normality. It’s a story about the lust for chasing the finite moments that give us meaning, about the nature of a rebel who struggled to digest expectations from a religious order, old-fashioned ideologies and societal rules. As Tiago navigates this confusing and judgemental world, we witness the adversity and hardship faced by someone with 84% of his body burned; someone who grew up at the end of a colonial era in a place where people were classified based on their skin; a discrimination which he experienced too. We vicariously share the burn of ignorance and the ascendancy of a boy who excelled beyond the expectations of others.
Tiago was a living example of inspiration and represented the underdogs, the freethinkers, rebels and misfits. People alike gave him the name “Cobra”, it represented his agility in the skies when he flew, and his scars— snake-like in their various colours and irregular patterns. Tiago died once when he was just 7 years old, and from that tender age had learnt to accept death as part of life; it is in this acceptance that he became divine, attaining the unattainable and recognising trauma as the foundation for strength.
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What Does COBRA Aim To Achieve?
COBRA's story is about overcoming adversity, showing the world a living hero who will change the narrative in mainstream movies that vilifies people with facial scarring.
Tiago always wanted to help young people who had survived similar injuries to his and we think it is important to continue his legacy by involving charities that do exactly that. Part of our film profits will be allocated to help the charities we partnered with.
Our long-term goal has always been to write and produce a feature film about Tiago's life. In order to the film the justice it deserves, we need to first understand the deepest parts of his story... and there's so much material, many interesting people and perspectives to explore, that a documentary seemed like the right way to go about it.
The film will primarily seek to entertain, but the themes of the film will spark conversations about our collective fears and what can happen if we allow these fears to shape our lives. It is a story of hope, of how individual courage and self-belief can help overcome the deepest mental limitations.
The Players
- This is Director/Producer Will A. Masheter’s family. Francisco and Gabriela are in their 90s and still able to recall everything from their past. Joao, one of Tiago’s closer siblings, also lives with them in Rio de Janeiro. Tiago's wife, Tatiana, and son, Tiago Jr. also live in Rio and want to participate. Helena, the closest sister to Tiago is Will's mother. Eldest sibling Luis lives in Portugal and youngest sibling Lourenco lives in London– all are happy to tell their accounts of their experiences with Tiago and the stories they recall.
- Julio Blander is an extreme sportsman and filmmaker who documented the speedfly sport with Tiago before he passed. He will guide us within the extreme sports community in Brazil and set up interviews with all of their flying friends. Some of whom are famous red bull sponsored athletes now.
- Niall Martin, Senior burns consultant for the military and NHS. Nicole Lee, burns matron at Chelsea and Westminster hospital have agreed to help piece together Tiago’s burn care while he was hospitalised— comparing older methods of rehabilitation with modern ones.
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Why now?
- -Tiago always dreamt of working with burn survivors that had sustained similar injuries to his— unfortunately he never reached that goal. We have pledged and are working in collaboration with burns charities such as CBT, BBA and KPF to raise awareness for the wonderful work that they do, and highlight the past and present stigma in movies surrounding scarring. People with facial scarring are commonly portrayed as villains in mainstream movies, we will go against this narrative by presenting a hero to the world, one who had 84% scarring on his body and went on to achieve more than most of us will ever dream of.
- Tiago was an inspiration to Director Will A. Masheter. Will frequently mentions that his uncle is the reason he is making movies today, all because of a few simple words he passed on. Tiago was making his own documentary about the speed-fly sport; having been a pioneer for the sport in Brazil, his passion was to encourage more worldwide adoption and to create a fan base. There was a lot of material shot for their project, which has kindly been donated to this production.
- Tiago’s parents are close to a century old and tell stories with such love and passion. Covering a range of periods, topics, countries and mental battles; this rousing underdog movie will leave people with fresh determination and hope in their hearts. Highlighting colonial social issues mixed with religious conflict within a household, adversity through racism and skin defects, the controversy with mind-altering substances, substance abuse, suicide and repentance.
How Can I Help?
You can support by contributing from as low as £5, and by sharing COBRA with others who might want to contribute too.
Indiegogo is a crowdfunding platform, where you can contribute directly to fund COBRA so that it can be made.
You can choose to contribute (click on SEE OPTIONS above) by keying in £2 or more. Alternatively you choose from any of the 15 Perks ranging from £5 to £7,000 with different benefits.
We target to raise £58,000 which will be used entirely for production and to pay fair, working wages for crew.
Note: Indiegogo automatically adds an optional £2 tip to your contribution – you can choose not to tip by scrolling down to “Add a tip to Indiegogo”, selecting “Other Amount” and leaving it empty.
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What Will I Get In Return For Contributing?
COBRA will be made, and a thrilling, impactful, and entertaining Documentary will be seen worldwide.
There are no financial returns for contributing to Cobra. (Unless you wish to partner)
What you can get, however, is any item of your choosing from the list of perks. You will get to help make an international story that deserves to be told and the perks that are available depending on which one you choose.
Cobra's story rights will not be sold, however, we will look for a fair distribution deal once the Documentary is made.
Risk and Challenges
Our biggest challenge will be timing. We want to make this film and tell this story as soon as we possibly can, but there may be production delays along the way because of interview scheduling and rights issues.
This will in turn delay the expected delivery of the rewards associated with the film itself. If this does happen, we will be sure to update our backers and be completely transparent.
That being said, based on years of experience with film, television, and documentary production, we are confident we will overcome any obstacles we face.
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Directors Vision
To ensure that the energy in which Tiago lived his life is conveyed into the motion of the film, movement and music will keep the pace, and innovative camera angles will put viewers in his shoes (crocs). Using a combination of interviews, animation, stock footage and story narration; the film will be suspenseful, dramatic and hilarious all in one. This energetic character study will transport viewers into a world they have never seen before, from the perspective of a rebel who danced with death in order to live. It is in those finite moments where Tiago found freedom— ecstasy beyond words, moments that will be portrayed with intensified emotion as we fly with him through life.
Here are some of the documentaries that influenced Director Will Masheter to create his vision for the COBRA Documentary:
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Who we are
Director/Producer - Will Amorim is a multi-award-winning writer/director (4 Queens / Community Service / Makeup) who has been producing films for the last six years. Focusing mainly on his own projects, Will has seven short films and a feature film under his belt. Will was born and raised in London to an English father and a Portuguese mother– whose family have always lived in Brazil.
Will was introduced to film from a very early age, having a father (Philip Masheter) who ran a shop that sold and traded in original film stills & posters. His father also wrote biographies on film directors and has been a regular supplier of original content to various galleries over the years.
Taking a slightly different approach than going to film school, Will studied the motions of a film set by starting work as an extra, writing his own films whilst on set and then financing his earlier productions. Now with six years of full-time filmmaking behind him, Will has paved his own path into film, constantly learning and growing as he goes.
Producer - Dragoș Bejanaru was born in Romania and raised in Spain. He moved to London to be in the film industry and has since produced and starred in two award-winning motion pictures (4 Queens / If not Freedom).
Having a keen eye for photography, Dragos has also worked as a professional photographer and behind-the-scenes photographer for the last four years.
On the acting side, he has participated in three productions, one being the popular series, ‘THE GREAT’.
Co-Producer - Carla DiBonito is an award-winning director with a passion for stories that are intrinsic and deep. Her latest short film Luzinete has received several accolades in festivals across the world and impresses for its raw and poignant visual content.
As a Brazilian woman, Ms Di Bonito is inclined to showcase work that embodies her own experiences with social aspects of everyday life. In keeping true to her roots, she is currently in the early stages of pre-production, Connor and Sonia: A comedy that challenges the spectrum of sexuality and love in a married couple at the same time explores the plights of the Latin community in the U.K
DOP/Producer - Kondwani Moraes earned the highest grade at the International Film School Wales with his first short, Ethan.
Since then, he has held nearly every role in broadcast television both in development and production, specialising in factual entertainment and specialised documentary.
Whether planning, producing, shooting or editing, Kondwani loves working as part of a team and getting stuck in to a film producing amazing work visually and emotionally.
‘I’m really excited to have joined the COBRA family. The team are some of the best around with awards and amazing work to back that statement up.
COBRA tells the true story of one man’s battle with mental health, surviving very serious burns mixed with the thrill and love of extreme sports. As a team, I believe we can tell this story in a visually beautiful way and showcase some of the heartwarming stories from those that knew him - using our unique storytelling skills, of course.’
We have partnered with two production companies:
and three charities:
Production Period
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Instagram: @cobrafilmproject // Facebook: Cobra Film Project // LinkedIn: Cobra Film Project
