News

Brazilian hit comedy troupe Porta Dos Fundos, renowned for its irreverent take on the life of Christ in their annual Christmas Specials, is making its first animated special exclusively for streamer Paramount Plus.

The new Paramount Plus Original, titled “Mean Boys,” is written by troupe co-founder Fábio Porchat and co-produced by Vis Americas and Brazilian animation studio, Estricnina.

The move makes sense given that ViacomCBS took a majority stake in Porta dos Fundos in 2017 and co-produced last year’s special with Porta dos Fundos.

“Mean Boys” will give the audience a peek at Jesus’ teenage life before he became Christ as he enrolls in a new high school and, with the help of his pal Lázaro, tries to fit in. “We always wanted to make an animation [film],” said Porchat, adding: “This pandemic turned our desire into a necessity. After all, drawing can’t transmit a virus.” The pandemic continues to...

A Brazilian judge has ordered Netflix to stop showing a comedy special called “The First Temptation of Christ” that insinuates that Jesus Christ was gay.

According to the Associated Press (via the New York Times), Rio de Janiero judge Benedicto Abicair responded to a petition by a Brazilian Catholic organization that demanded Netflix to remove the film, saying it hurt the “honor of millions of Catholics” in the country. A petition started on Change.org last month has received over two million signatures demanding public retraction of the film.

“The First Temptation of Christ” comes from a Brazilian comedy group called Porta dos Fundos, and the special imagines Jesus returning home on his 30th birthday with a gay friend.

Also Read: Offices of Brazilian Production Team Behind Gay Jesus Netflix Comedy Firebombed

Netflix had no comment on the ruling. Porta dos Fundos did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Porta dos Fundos has hit back at a backlash from Christians in Brazil over its Netflix 2019 Christmas Special, co-founder Fábio Porchat calling the protest “homophobic.”

The reaction, which has seen 1.8 million signatures claimed for a petition calling on Netflix to pull the show, or the government to prohibit it, comes over a 45-minute special, “The First Temptation of Christ,” made available by Netflix on Dec. 3.

Porta dos Fundos co-founder Fábio Porchat told Variety Monday that Netflix and Viacom, which took a majority stake in Porta dos Fundos in 2017, are standing by the special. “It doesn’t incite violence, we’re not saying people shouldn’t believe in God.”

“They [Netflix] haven’t said anything to us like, ‘Maybe we should stop making the special available.’ They support freedom of speech,” Porchat told Variety.

“The First Temptation of Christ” kicks off with Jesus, just 30, returning after 40 days in the desert with a new close friend,...

U.K. series “McMafia” earned the International Emmy Award for drama at the 47th annual ceremony recognizing programs from outside the U.S.

BBC’s “McMafia,” which also aired on AMC, was the final winner tonight at the Hilton New York where the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ kudos were handed out at a dinner gala hosted by “Daily Show” correspondent Ronny Chieng.

Australia’s “Safe Harbour” won for movie/miniseries. The thriller about a disturbing trip to Indonesia for a group of friends from Brisbane beat out nominees from Brazil, India and Hungary. Matchbox Pictures’ produced the series for Australia’s Sbs. “Safe Harbour” was picked in the U.S. by Hulu.

The comedy prize went to Netflix’s Brazilian program “Especial de Natal Porta dos Fundos (The Last Hangover),” a Biblical spoof starring popular comedian Fábio Porchat.

Haluk Bilginer of Turkey’s “Şahsiyet (Persona)” won for best performance by an actor.

Porta dos Fundos - Contrato Vitalicio, from the YouTube comedy troupe, is now filming in Rio de Janeiro.

The dry, acidic humour of Porta Dos Fundos (Back Door), an online phenomenon in Brazil since 2012, is ready to transfer to cinemas. The Brazilian comedy troupe, whose YouTube channel has the highest number of subscribers in the country (with over 11.2 million), is currently filming its first feature in Rio de Janeiro.

Scheduled for release in cinemas in June, Porta Dos Fundos - Contrato Vitalicio (Lifetime Contract) is the most anticipated local film of the year, given the size of the group’s fan base. In Brazil, their channel of comedy sketches has reached 2.1 billion views and counting, according to latest data from SocialBlade.com. In January, they had their best monthly result ever, with 74.7 million YouTube views.

“We do not see the film as a new format necessarily. Our humour is the same regardless of the media. We haven’t...

American YouTube fans may not have heard of the Brazilian YouTube channel Porta dos Fundos, but that hasn’t stopped the comedy group of five members from amassing over 10.2 million subscribers and more than 1.7 billion total video views. And all that success on Google’s online video platform has now turned into some impressive deals with traditional media companies.

Porta dos Fundos (translated as Back Door) has landed a TV series deal with Fox’s local Brazilian pay-tv channel Canal Fox for a show called O Grande Gonzalez (The Great Gonzalez). The YouTube comedy group also inked a feature film deal with Brazilian film distribution company Downtown for Porta dos Fundos -- contrato vitalicio (Porta dos Fundos -- Lifetime Contract).

Porta dos Fundos consists of members Antonio Tabet, Gregorio Duvivier, Ian Fernandes (aka Ian Sbf), Joao Vicente de Castro, and Fabio Porchat. The quintet quit their day jobs at Brazilian...