Filming Japan in Brazil with Mateus Asato

Story Productions • Nov 06, 2023

Story Productions was commissioned by Hand Crank Films to document Neural DSP’s collaboration with renowned Brazilian guitarist Mateus Asato. 

We had the amazing opportunity to get to work with one of Brazil's greatest guitarists. Mateus Asato is highly acclaimed in the music world for his innovation and fusion of Brazilian music with influences from jazz, rock, and R&B, all while amassing an impressive 1.3 million followers on social media. He also proudly waves the flag for Brazil across the globe by working with the likes of Bruno Mars, Elton John, Ricky Martin, Jessie J, and many others.


The project, which was filmed in September, is part of the social media promotion campaign for the Archetype plugin collection, a new batch of musical instrument tools created by Neural DSP in an exclusive collaboration with the guitarist.

Mateus Asato playing guitar on top of a Japanese style bridge with vegetation around.

The plugins were designed to provide clean and incredibly smooth guitar tones with a minimalist design that reflects the artist's personality and culture, so the promotional video needed to convey serenity, art, and Japanese culture — not to mention a great deal of talent.


The client brief was for a Japanese-style location and we had a solution which we could present quickly.


The choice of location for the shoot was hugely important. It needed to honor Asato's Japanese heritage, and also effectively convey the concepts of serenity and beauty in the music being played. For these reasons, we selected the Kinkaku-Ji Temple, located in Itapecerica da Serra, approximately 40 km from São Paulo. The location provided the ideal setting to showcase the artist's talent and the quality of Neural DSP’s product.

Behind the scenes of the shoot with Mateus Asato.

Filming Japan in Brazil is easier than you would expect. Despite being a long way from Tokyo, São Paulo is actually a fantastic place to produce projects with a Japanese flavor. Over 6 million Brazilians are of Japanese heritage, and Brazil has many locations and casting opportunities for projects with Japanese connections.


We were able to bring our client's vision to life and deliver exceptionally high-quality work, and make production happen in an incredible location.

So, if you’re looking for an experienced production company committed to ensuring the success of your next project, Story Productions is at your service. Contact us now to receive a personalized quote.

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