Why I created a reality show for glaziers (and what filming the first episode was like)

I created a MasterChef-style reality show, but for glaziers. The references were Forged in Fire, the show about bladesmiths, and MrBeast's videos. TV experience? None. I had no idea how a format like this gets put together, but the idea was in my head and I decided to do it.

This post is the story of what we lived through on the day we filmed the first episode, for anyone who wants to understand what Arena do Vidro is and why it exists.

The set is my factory

I didn't spend anything on a set. The arena is my own mirror shop, the Routeck factory in Contagem, Minas Gerais, Brazil. We just tidied the space and built the judges' table in the middle of production. The advantage is that everything a glazier needs was already there: the sheets, the Router Glass for cutting, the Jateck for sandblasting, the edger, vinyl and LED.

I pitched the idea to a videomaker friend and he got excited. It was his first time shooting a reality show too. My business partner was in. My whole team helped. I joke that everyone there is crazy, because they believed in an idea nobody in the industry had tried before.

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Nobody knew what was coming

The main rule was spontaneity. Only my crew and I knew the format. The judges didn't. The contestants didn't. I invited the two best glaziers I know, Janael Hipólito and Rômulo Sullivan, who happened to already know each other, and they arrived knowing nothing about the challenge.

• Four judges: Natan, from Peru; Pet, a partner of ours; Vinícius, who came from Rio de Janeiro with 30 years in glass; and Rui.
• GoPros strapped to the contestants' chests to capture their point of view at the bench.
• Contracts signed before we started, because I'm not that crazy.
• Breakfast for everyone, probably the only meal of the day. It was brutal.
• A minute of prayer before starting.

The format: 4 challenges and R$ 10,000

I challenged the two of them for a R$ 10,000 prize (around US$ 1,800). There are four challenges, each with a different difficulty, and probably things they'll never have to do in their own shops. In the first, they had 1 hour and 30 minutes to reproduce a Hello Kitty mirror with a frosted band, LED and touch switch, with the vinyl cut by hand. In the second, 10 minutes to make a mirror and 15 to sell it on the street.

Whoever wins an episode gets a bonus: smashing the rival's mirror. In EP1 Rômulo took it (7.5 to 6) and Janael was genuinely sad, because he'd grown attached to the piece.

What I learned while filming

• Pressure changes everything. Janael, who is extremely fast at the bench, forgot basic break-out details in the first minutes because of nerves.
• Every glazier works differently. At the judges' table, Vinícius explained why tapping the mirror with the cutter head chips the silvering and makes break-out harder.
• Anyone who has never used a dust-free sandblaster is impressed. It was both contestants' first time on the Jateck and both left wanting one.
• A good judge is a tough judge. Vinícius's question, "would you buy what you made?", became the show's yardstick.

What's next

All four season 1 episodes are on YouTube (the first two also in Spanish and English), and Janael Hipólito took the R$ 10,000 in the finale. Want to be on the next season? The application form is right here on the site.

Where was Arena do Vidro filmed?

At the Routeck mirror factory in Contagem, Minas Gerais, Brazil, which is Leandro Caldas's own plant. No set was built.

Who are the season 1 contestants?

Janael Hipólito (@espelhos_janael), 8 years in the trade, and Rômulo Sullivan (@monteglass_), 5 years in and owner of Monte Glass.

How do I join the next season?

Fill in the application on this site. The production team contacts selected glaziers on WhatsApp.

Watch episode 1 · Episode 2: selling a mirror on the street · The Router Glass, which cuts the arena's mirrors

Episode 1