‘Esperanza’ Environmental Activism Brazilian Scripted Series In Works At Participant

‘Esperanza’ Environmental Activism Brazilian Scripted Series In Works At Participant

US-based Participant is developing scripted series Esperanza as  co-production with Brazilian activist production company Maria Farinha Films.


The adventure drama follows the crew of the vessel Esperanza as they fight for environmental and social rights around the world.


The series was created and written by Maria Farinha Films co-founders Estela Renner and Marcos Nisti (Aruanas), who serve as showrunners alongside Fernando Meirelles (The Two Popes). Meirelles will also direct.


“Maria Farinha Films is a natural partner for Participant, sharing our mission of driving real-world change through high quality content”, said Miura Kite, Participant’s Head of Global Television. “With our collective experience, I’m confident Esperanza will captivate audiences while shining a much-deserved light on the struggles of activists and the timely importance of the problems they fight.”

Esperanza marks Participant’s first co-production with a Brazilian production company.


“We believe the Global South has a diverse and unique perspective on the challenges humanity has been facing,” Renner and Nisti said. “Combining our vision with Participant’s invaluable expertise is a great opportunity to create a universal narrative for new audiences to connect with the urgent need to fight the climate crisis and protect human rights.”


Participant’s recent TV credits slate includes such series as Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey (Netflix); City So Real (National Geographic), Noughts + Crosses (BBC and Peacock); and Ava DuVernay’s When They See Us (Netflix).