Ligia learned the trade of subtitle translation with her father – and now business partner – Claudio Fragano. She was only 14 when she began translating, on pen and paper, the movie trailers he brought home. That was when she found out that work could also mean having fun and learning a lot.
When the time came for college admissions, she enrolled in Language Studies, graduating from FFLCH/USP with a Bachelor’s Degree in English. She taught English as a Foreign Language in some of the most renowned schools in São Paulo, while still working alongside her father.
When the film industry went digital, she felt they could take a larger step together. She proposed to her father that they found a company to meet the newly emerging demands. In 2014, they founded Little Brown Mouse, named after the main character of Gruffalo, a children’s book by Julia Donaldson, a mouse whose cunning and quick wit more than make up for his small stature (more about the book/origin of the company).
As the company grew, Ligia took on more responsibilities. She made sure to hire a first-class team of translators and revisers, and earned an MBA in strategic business management. At the helm of LBM, she brings in ideas and references that go far beyond her immediate professional context. An avid traveler (in every sense of the word) and reader of magazines ranging from Piauí to the Harvard Business Review (but overall of subtitles), she strives to innovate in every aspect of her life – including, of course, her work.
And so it comes as no surprise that Ligia and Ivan would meet in a cutting room, of all places. It didn’t take them long to start dating, and marriage came soon after – their own, and Ivan’s to LBM: in 2018, he joined the staff as post-production supervisor. They each work on a floor of the LBM main office, a two-story house on the west side of São Paulo, in the warm company of Lindinha and Bob.