A new player is in town. Seasoned Brazilian producer João Roni, who executive produced hit family drama “My Penguin Friend” starring Jean Reno, has launched Marea Cine.
Now at Content Americas, he brings a robust slate of 19 projects, all geared towards international co-productions.
The launch marks the final step in a strategic restructuring that began in 2025 when Spain’s Twentyfourseven took over the Ocean Films brand and its advertising service department.
Roni, a founding partner of Ocean Films, opted to spin off the content division he had led for 15 years to launch Marea Cine.
“For Marea Cine, this move represents the beginning of a new cycle, more focused and aligned with the ever-evolving ways the world consumes engaging content,” the company stated regarding the launch.
“Marea is a content creation and production company with creative expertise, international market intelligence and the capacity to develop relevant, high-impact projects,” Roni told Variety, adding: “Our focus remains on winning over global audiences and partnerships that favor the best artistic results.”
Among the 19 projects in development, 11 are international co-productions involving partners from Italy, Argentina, Uruguay, Canada, Spain, Chile and France.
Standouts include the feature film “Dot,” which Marea is currently in talks with an Italian company to coproduce.
Inspired by the harrowing true story of American nun Dorothy Stang, who was murdered in the Amazon in 2005, it centers on a priest, Father Anselmo, who is sent by the Vatican to mediate between the nun and the powerful ranchers and loggers she has been fighting on behalf of the poor and the environment. But as he grows to understand her, he realizes that he would be interfering in what he considers the purest way of defending God’s word. When he finds out that his own life is in danger, he returns to the Vatican to recount what he has witnessed. A limited series, “Lot 55,” about the same tragedy, is also in the works.
Marea is producing the film in partnership with Los Angeles-based FJ Productions from Los Angeles. David Schurmann (“My Penguin Friend,” “Little Secret”) will direct.
Series “Brigitte Montfort: Blood on the Tropics” Season 1 is based on an IP acquired by Marea Cine of 500 books created by Jose Alberto Gueiros, written by Spain’s Lou Carrigan and illustrated by Jose Benicio da Fonseca. A cult phenomenon especially in Brazil, the pulp fiction series was sold at newsstands and had a ravenous following. Set in 1960s Brazil at the height of the Cold War, the live action spy series follows Brigitte, a journalist who doubles as a CIA agent.
“Brigitte Montfort” illustrated by Jose Benicio da Fonseca. Courtesy of Marea Cine
Roni’s notable credits include “Little Secret” (“Pequeno Segredo”), which represented Brazil at the 89th Academy Awards in 2017. He expects to continue working with the companies with whom he has cultivated strong ties, including Netflix, TV Globo, Globoplay, HBO, ESPN, Turner and Portugal’s RTP.
Other past credits include:
“Transamazônica – “A Road to the Past” (“Uma estrada para o passado “) (HBO): Winner of the Grand Prize of Brazilian Cinema for Best Documentary Series (2022).
“At This Moment, at the Nation’s Sky” (“No Céu da Pátria Nesse Instante”): Winner of the Special Jury Prize and Best Editing at the Festival de Brasília (2024), and
“Amazon, the New Minamata?” (“Amazônia, a Nova Minamata?): Winner of the Humanity Award at the São Paulo International Film Festival (2022).
João Roni and Fonseca, illustrator of the Brigitte Montfort pulp fiction series