biography
jaime brożek-banco was born and raised in rio de janeiro, the only child of a military peacekeeper and court interpreter. as he knows it, his parents met as teenagers when andrzej's brother hit raquel with a stray volleyball by accident at the beach. his brother apologized by taking her out for a night on the town, and—while nothing became of them—she soon became part of the family as a friend. a little over a decade later, andrzej asked her out for a date after returning from a mission. they were a better match together, marrying after a year of being together. in 1993 the two had their first child and resided in a cramped apartment until a small windfall gave them the chance to buy a home in bento ribeiro. from age four there on, jaime would call the working-class neighborhood home.

while jaime's childhood was not bleak, it was one filled with long absences and not enough money going around. his father was often away on missions, and if he was in rio, he often spent his time outside the home. his mother had a decent job, and they lived largely off her salary, but she too was young and had vices. still, he was never abused or made to feel completely unloved when both were around. to add more to their problems, jaime had a mischievous streak and was easily influenced by his rowdy set of friends. of course, he never considered himself out of control—he went to school and made fair marks. no teacher would have described him as bright and motivated, but he found himself in less trouble than his peers, enough to stay off their radars.

at age nine, his father shot himself. the loss of one parent was enough to prompt jaime to act out even more. eight months later, with a cantankerous child and no spouse, raquel looked outside of rio for a new start, considering her mother's offer to sponsor her if she came to the united states to live closer to her large family. she began the process after weighing the pros and cons, but it wasn't until jaime was ready for high school that they were granted permission to live in the united states. while, at one point, the family congregated in colorado, circumstances sent most of them back to florida. raquel decided she could benefit more-so by living in colorado with her widowed mother maria. jaime's grandmother, a nurse on the cusp of retirement, resided in a decent neighborhood and helped smooth out his undisciplined ways.

the first year of high school was the toughest for him. years of consuming american culture via the media in brazil didn't prepare him for the culture shock, but he was a quick learner. and as a good-looking kid who spoke english with an "intriguing" accent, it didn't take long for him to make friends. his participation in sports raised his status, although he would be hard pressed to describe himself as popular. likable enough, perhaps, but a crown was never in his future. he steered clear of fights (for the most part), made decent grades (with a little cheating here and there) and tried to have as typical a high school experience as possible. the summer before his senior year, his grandmother passed from lung cancer, ultimately leaving the house to raquel.

at eighteen jaime met sebastian banco after he funded his short film on kickstarter. work in progres...