Penelope Cruz will be talking child marriages…
The 47-year-old Spanish Oscar-winning actress will executive produce and narrate the four-part documentary series Not A Bride.
Hailing from VIS Social Impact, the cause-driven production division of ViacomCBS International Studios, and Pedro Almodóvar’s El Deseo and Spanish indie Mogambo, the series has been acquired by Paramount+ internationally.
Written and directed by Dario Troiani, the series aims to uncover common misconceptions surrounding child marriages. According to NGO Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage, 12 million girls are married before the age of 18 each year, which means 23 girls every minute. Child, early and forced marriage and unions happen all over the world, and 650 million women alive today face the direct consequences of child marriage. Not A Bride will shed light on the reality that this occurs in many countries, cultures and religions.
“With the continued expansion of Paramount+ internationally, it’s important that our production slate is reflective of the ways in which our audiences see ourselves and one another. By partnering with El Deseo and Mogambo, we hope to address common misconceptions associated with child marriages, to inform our audiences around the world,” said Laura Abril, Senior Vice President and Head of VIS EMEA and Asia.
Georgia Arnold, Head of VIS Social Impact and SVP Social Responsibility, ViacomCBS Networks International added, “With the recent launch of VIS Social Impact, our studio’s mission is to develop groundbreaking social impact-driven content that addresses equity, as well as climate and health. Not A Bride will harness the power of storytelling to address the critical global issue of child marriage, and we hope its worldwide debut on Paramount+ will help to shift perceptions and create meaningful progress towards a more gender equal world.”
El Deseo’s Esther García, who will executive produce with Agustín and Pedro Almodóvar, commented, “The testimonies of the girls and women who have suffered this traumatic experience are shocking. Through this documentary we aim to give the world a better idea of this huge problem which we truly hope will begin to be solved.”
VIS Social Impact is part of Content for Change, a global ViacomCBS initiative that aims to counteract racism, bias, stereotypes and hate through the company’s culture, creative supply chain, and the content it creates. Not A Bride is the second VIS Social Impact project announced, following Protest & Progress from photographer and social activist, Misan Harriman, which will also debut on Paramount+.