BY MELISSA JUN ROWLEY
FEBRUARY 22, 2024
AMANKRIS99 - STOCK.ADOBE.COM
PLENTY OF ASPECTS of the climate movement need revamping — the terminology and phrases that only scientists, governments and corporate sustainability departments understand, the faceless statistics smeared across news headlines, the incessant admonishment of consumer behavior and the doom and gloom storytelling — to name a few. Concurrently, while the way the climate narrative is relayed to the masses is part of the problem, by all counts, it can be an integral part of the solution, and Hollywood is playing its part.
Take the Netflix show, Unstable, for example. In the new series, Rob Lowe stars as a genius biotech innovator, who’s created a slew of planet-saving solutions. The Hulu mystery, A Murder at the End of World, hones in on a tech billionaire who wants to save the world from climate change. Hulu’s Indigenous American comedy-drama, Reservation Dogs, features Dallas Goldtooth, an advocate for the Land Back Indigenous sovereignty movement. The CBS sitcom, Ghosts, rolled out an episode called “The Tree,” that dives into different ways a few of the central characters relate to nature and climate change.
And my personal favorite: an episode of Apple TV+’s Ted Lasso shines a light on the beloved character, Sam Obisanya, as he takes a stand against AFC Richmond’s fictional corporate sponsor, Dubai Air, because it’s owned by an oil company that’s causing environmental and economic devastation to his native country Nigeria. In solidarity, Sam’s teammates boycott the sponsor alongside him on the field, covering up the company logo on their jerseys. This isn’t just a story about footballers bonding. This is a story about climate activism winning. We need more of this.
Businesses can follow suit. For organizations wanting to amplify their environmental efforts, promoting stories of optimism and teamwork is vital. In addition to getting more buy-in from stakeholders and their staff, this will make their ESG (environmental, social and governance) programs more relatable and possibly garner more attention from investors. As Ernst & Young relays, sustainability is everybody’s business.
One of Good Energy’s standout projects from last year was a collaboration with Scott Z. Burns on the series Extrapolations for Apple TV+. This was the first mainstream show centered entirely around climate. This year, Good Energy will get a chance to measure the impact of the show. For now, the organization is dedicated to ensuring that by 2027, 50 percent of contemporary TV and film acknowledges climate change.
As part of the summit, the cofounders are creating a marketplace for climate narratives, building on a strategy they started two years ago with their climate writing Pitchfest. In partnership with NBCUniversal, they received 120 submissions from writers around the world with varied experience levels. Three out of 20 projects are now in development with producers and production companies they met through the Pitchfest. Diversity proved to be a core part of the program’s impact that year with more than 60 percent of the projects written by BIPOC screenwriters, a 40-year age difference among all the participants and six different countries represented.
Adding to the movement, NBCUniversal recently launched the GreenerLight Program under its film studio, Universal Filmed Entertainment Group’s (UFEG). The program expands NBCUniversal’s sustainability program across the filmmaking process from script to screen, throughout development, production and distribution.
Kimberly Burnick, Director, Sustainable Content and Partnerships at NBCUniversal, and the GreenerLight Program team believe it’s important for them to not disturb the creative process of TV creators and filmmakers, but instead align with it and provide guidance and resources. That’s why they’ve been partnering with environmental organizations, such as the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), which has dedicated branches to support storytellers with access to scientists and experts. Together, the two groups offer script reviews and workshops to NBCUniversal’s creatives to help them normalize sustainability on-screen, whether that’s having characters drive electric vehicles or having an entire plot point dedicated to a climate issue.
Climate change affects every aspect of our lifestyles. So it was only a matter of time before mainstream programming began reflecting this — beyond the apocalyptic narratives many news headlines and dystopian films perpetuate. As the climate narrative continues to evolve and becomes more integrated into our culture, values-aligned companies have an opportunity to support efforts across the entertainment industry, as well as grassroots activism, through funding, branded content partnerships and creating their own campaigns to bring awareness to environmentalist practices.
Source (Archive)
FEBRUARY 22, 2024
AMANKRIS99 - STOCK.ADOBE.COM
PLENTY OF ASPECTS of the climate movement need revamping — the terminology and phrases that only scientists, governments and corporate sustainability departments understand, the faceless statistics smeared across news headlines, the incessant admonishment of consumer behavior and the doom and gloom storytelling — to name a few. Concurrently, while the way the climate narrative is relayed to the masses is part of the problem, by all counts, it can be an integral part of the solution, and Hollywood is playing its part.
Take the Netflix show, Unstable, for example. In the new series, Rob Lowe stars as a genius biotech innovator, who’s created a slew of planet-saving solutions. The Hulu mystery, A Murder at the End of World, hones in on a tech billionaire who wants to save the world from climate change. Hulu’s Indigenous American comedy-drama, Reservation Dogs, features Dallas Goldtooth, an advocate for the Land Back Indigenous sovereignty movement. The CBS sitcom, Ghosts, rolled out an episode called “The Tree,” that dives into different ways a few of the central characters relate to nature and climate change.
And my personal favorite: an episode of Apple TV+’s Ted Lasso shines a light on the beloved character, Sam Obisanya, as he takes a stand against AFC Richmond’s fictional corporate sponsor, Dubai Air, because it’s owned by an oil company that’s causing environmental and economic devastation to his native country Nigeria. In solidarity, Sam’s teammates boycott the sponsor alongside him on the field, covering up the company logo on their jerseys. This isn’t just a story about footballers bonding. This is a story about climate activism winning. We need more of this.
Businesses can follow suit. For organizations wanting to amplify their environmental efforts, promoting stories of optimism and teamwork is vital. In addition to getting more buy-in from stakeholders and their staff, this will make their ESG (environmental, social and governance) programs more relatable and possibly garner more attention from investors. As Ernst & Young relays, sustainability is everybody’s business.
Tell Me Something Good
According to an analysis by the Norman Lear Center’s Media Impact Project and Good Energy, which supports TV and film creators in telling compelling and accurate climate stories, less than 3 percent of film and TV scripts from 2016 to 2020 mentioned climate-related terms. However, the Good Energy team shared with me that 2024 is emitting a different frequency, as they’re seeing an upswell in appetite for climate representation, from individual writers and filmmakers to studios and production companies. Their dream scenario has a greater impact at the systemic level within Hollywood — for climate representation to become the norm. Right now, this appears far more attainable than ever.One of Good Energy’s standout projects from last year was a collaboration with Scott Z. Burns on the series Extrapolations for Apple TV+. This was the first mainstream show centered entirely around climate. This year, Good Energy will get a chance to measure the impact of the show. For now, the organization is dedicated to ensuring that by 2027, 50 percent of contemporary TV and film acknowledges climate change.
A Greener Kind of Screen
While searching for initiatives focused on bringing climate-based realities on-screen without scaring people away, along with Good Energy, I connected with the Hollywood Climate Summit. Embarking on its fifth year, the annual conference brings together entertainment and media professionals, activists and climate organizations to share knowledge and tools that can help Hollywood harness its massive platform to communicate climate stories in the most impactful way possible. Founded by Allison Begalman, Heather Fipps, Ali Weinstein and YEA! Impact, and presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, last year the event included think tanks, workshops and a star-studded roster of speakers, including Jane Fonda and Quinta Brunson.As part of the summit, the cofounders are creating a marketplace for climate narratives, building on a strategy they started two years ago with their climate writing Pitchfest. In partnership with NBCUniversal, they received 120 submissions from writers around the world with varied experience levels. Three out of 20 projects are now in development with producers and production companies they met through the Pitchfest. Diversity proved to be a core part of the program’s impact that year with more than 60 percent of the projects written by BIPOC screenwriters, a 40-year age difference among all the participants and six different countries represented.
Adding to the movement, NBCUniversal recently launched the GreenerLight Program under its film studio, Universal Filmed Entertainment Group’s (UFEG). The program expands NBCUniversal’s sustainability program across the filmmaking process from script to screen, throughout development, production and distribution.
Kimberly Burnick, Director, Sustainable Content and Partnerships at NBCUniversal, and the GreenerLight Program team believe it’s important for them to not disturb the creative process of TV creators and filmmakers, but instead align with it and provide guidance and resources. That’s why they’ve been partnering with environmental organizations, such as the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), which has dedicated branches to support storytellers with access to scientists and experts. Together, the two groups offer script reviews and workshops to NBCUniversal’s creatives to help them normalize sustainability on-screen, whether that’s having characters drive electric vehicles or having an entire plot point dedicated to a climate issue.
Climate change affects every aspect of our lifestyles. So it was only a matter of time before mainstream programming began reflecting this — beyond the apocalyptic narratives many news headlines and dystopian films perpetuate. As the climate narrative continues to evolve and becomes more integrated into our culture, values-aligned companies have an opportunity to support efforts across the entertainment industry, as well as grassroots activism, through funding, branded content partnerships and creating their own campaigns to bring awareness to environmentalist practices.
Source (Archive)
