Giannina Scott Options Rights To Mat Youkee’s ‘Children Of The Jungle’

EXCLUSIVE: Giannina Scott has optioned the rights to journalist Mat Youkee‘s book proposal Children of the Jungle: The True Story Behind the Survival of Four Children in the Amazon. Giannina brought the project to Scott Free, who is producing, under her Cara Films banner, alongside Ridley Scott and Scott Free President Michael Pruss. There are no other attachments at this time and it’s not set-up at a studio yet. 

The story follows the June 2023 rescue of June 2023 rescue of four indigenous children — Lesly, Soleiny, Tien, and Cristin — after forty days in the Colombian Amazon has been heralded as one of the great survival stories. Through interviews with the family, members of the indigenous and military search teams, and elders from Colombia’s Amazonian communities, FORTYDAYS IN THE JUNGLE tells this remarkable story in the words of it’s fascinating and complex characters. It goes further, however, in investigating the brutal history, resilient culture and current struggles of Colombia’s indigenous communities. By shining a light on the historical context preceding the crash and the aftermath of the children’s rescue, the book demonstrates that 13-year-old Lesly and her siblings were survivors even before they set foot on flight HK2803.

The book will be October 15th, 2024 by Scribe Publications in the US, UK and all English language territories.

Youkee has been living in Colombia since 2010, working as a freelance journalist and professional investigator, and has been reporting on this story for the Guardian. He is a freelance journalist and independent consultant with nearly two decades professional experience in Latin America. Youkee is based in Bogota and has been covering this story since it became world news back in June 2023.. He is repped by represented by Kayla Grogan at Aevita Creative.

The deal was negotiated by Justin Brown on behalf of Scott Free and Kayla Grogan and Maria Cardona Serra of Aevitas Creative Management, the latter of whom also handled the publishing deal with Scribe.