the latest
Writers, Actors, and Showrunners: Behind the Scenes at “Papás Por Siempre”
By Fran Stoddard, PMC Board of Directors Co-Chair
At the Papás Por Siempre launch event in Mexico City this fall, a beloved Mexican TV program came alive on stage. I was thrilled to be present at this extravaganza that included the talented actors, the director and executive producer for an audience of around 100 members of the press. While there, we caught up with a few key people behind-the-scenes to ask about this prime-time telenovela produced by renowned showrunner, Rosy Ocampo, TelevisaUnivision, and Population Media Center (PMC).
Papás Por Siempre is the second season of the Papás series, building off last season’s Papás Por Conveniencia (“Family of Convenience”) that engaged more than 6 million viewers per night in Mexico City and made Univision the #1 Spanish language network in its timeslot in the U.S.
Rosy Ocampo is a famous producer at TelevisaUnivision, known for her desire to have commercially successful telenovelas that also have social impact. This passion is what has created the foundation of the partnership on multiple shows over the past many years between Rosy and PMC.
“I’m very enthusiastic about partnering with PMC because they believe, as I do, that stories can change lives,” says Rosy, “and they have their own methodology of mixing entertainment with real measurable impact.”
I also met the head writer of Papás Por Siempre, Pedro Armando Rodríguez. He’s a screenwriter who has built his career in Mexican television – writing original stories that have drawn audiences to TelevisaUnivision.
“It’s a challenge because how do you make a story that is attractive, that is appealing to a big audience, but on the other hand, you can give this message…that can connect with problems that happen in Mexico. I really enjoy it, but I have to say that it’s not—it’s not really easy,” says Pedro with a smile.
Still, the Papás series proves it is possible to captivate audiences while shedding light on critical issues like sexual and reproductive health, adolescent pregnancy prevention, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and sexual and gender-based violence.
“Rosy has always looked for stories that really connect with people with the everyday problems,” says Pedro as he talks about the brilliance and the challenge of the task presented in a show like Papás Por Siempre.
And if writing the story isn’t easy, how about acting it? Especially if you’re tasked with portraying negative behaviors and harmful norms to ultimately illustrate how positive change can happen within the story? I talked with the actresses playing two key characters in Papás Por Siempre: Yeni and Melina.
Natalia Alvarez portrays the character Yeni, a negative character who pressures the character Poncho to have unprotected sex and encourage machismo. Her character throughout the story adds drama and intrigue and introduces the audience to sensitive issues like sexually transmitted infections and teen pregnancy.
Interview with Actress Natalia Álvarez
Natalia shares that playing the bad girl is okay (and even fun) because she knows the show will have an impact. Reflecting on season one of Papás Por Conveniencia, laughing and talking quickly in her excitement, she says, “At the first [season of Papás Por Conveniencia], I didn’t know the impact that there was going to be. And for the second time when we started talking with you guys, with PMC, with everyone, we were like, okay, so we know that this time we made an impact. That a lot of people have learned…that people are gonna see it, and they’re gonna be like, ‘oh, so these two girls are gonna get us in a bunch of trouble again, and we’re gonna learn with them.”
Mexican actress Altair Jarabo agrees. She plays Melina on screen, a negative character who dissuades another woman from recognizing her husband’s behavior as abusive. Altair’s character reinforces negative stereotypes about relationships, violence, and masculinity. She says simply that the way to break stereotypes and introduce new role models for new norms is “through love, through empathy, through discipline.”
“To actually have a change in behavior we must get a change in the people’s point of view of certain problems.” Altair goes on to explain the ways in which PMC’s methodology functions across shows, saying “[the viewers] must have information around them, good influence and bad influence. They have to make a choice and they have to live the consequences of that choice.”
These stars of the show also let me know that there is a tremendous amount of social media posts that tap actors, coordinated by PMC in partnership with TelevisaUnivision and service provider partners – that help generate the impact PMC sets out to achieve.
It takes a team to create a powerful prime-time telenovela, and it takes a team to create impact. Population Media Center is so grateful to everyone at TelevisaUnivision who has made Papás Por Siempre – and our other productions together – possible. Because we are always focused on entertainment and impact, we often talk about impact data and the important service delivery partners who meet the needs of our viewers, but the shows cannot happen without the talent and dedication of our creative partners.
As Rosy told me: “stories break the silence and lead our audience to hope and change and a new, brighter future.”
