Independent Writers' Caucus
Gabriel Brugni da Cruz
909-294-7660
Gabriel Brugni da Cruz is a Latinx film and TV writer hailing from a small town in the state of Bahia, Brazil. He spent his childhood riding dirt roads to go to school and playing soccer in a swampy field that he and his friends often had to share with the neighbor’s cow.
Gabriel has written for the Emmy-nominated show O INFILTRADO, Jon Cassar’s international co-prod RIO HEAT, and a yet unreleased anthology drama series.
He also wrote audio stories for the pre-school series TOM'S GARAGE and penned the Portuguese audio description for movies like THE SHAPE OF WATER, CRAZY RICH ASIANS, and A STAR IS BORN.
An USC alum, Gabriel is one of the founders of Maquinário Narrativo, a Brazilian company that wrote original and commissioned stories. He ran Maquinário Narrativo’s In-House Story Lab, and Feature and TV projects he mentored are now under development at companies like RT Features (CALL ME BY YOUR NAME) and Boutique Filmes (Netflix’s 3%).
For two years, he was also Chair of the Committee of Credits and Compensation in the Brazilian Association of Screenwriters.
Gabriel writes universal tales about love, darkness, and wonder imbued with the untapped stories of his homeland.
He currently lives with his wife in the outskirts of Los Angeles, where sometimes the wind brings the smell of cow dung from neighboring dairy farms. He doesn’t complain. It reminds him of home.
Honors & Awards
Finalist, Humanitas New Voices - THE WHITE LOBSTER - 2021
Finalist, Film Independent Screenwriting Lab - THE WHITE LOBSTER - 2021
Finalist, Festival Guiões - A COLHEITA (The Harvest) - 2020
WGA Associate Member
Male, Latinx
THE WHITE LOBSTER
(Coming-of-Age Feature - JOJO RABBIT meets MONOS)
In a small fishing village on the Caribbean Coast, a poor child diver believes his goodness has been rewarded with a magical powder that makes wishes come true – until he finds out that the powder is called “cocaine,” and that the way to get its reward is by selling it.
THE HARVEST
(Crime/Family TV Drama - MARE OF EASTTOWN meets BLOODLINE)
Something is off about the disappearance of Manuel Vargas, manager of a struggling vineyard in California’s Central Valley, but the ambitious Jo Paras can only pick one role to play: the detective who will lead the case of her lifetime or the daughter who will stand by her mother as Alzheimer’s consumes her mind.
Character-driven, BIPOC-centric, Crime, Historical/Alternative History, Coming-of-Age, Dark, Bittersweet, International
Male, Latinx
unrepped