From June 21-24, filmmakers, scientists and activists are gathering in Los Angeles to seek to make the fight against climate change more visible on our big and small screens.
Stars like Jane Fonda or the Oscar-winning directors of Everything Everywhere All At Once will advocate for the entertainment industry to take the fight against climate change seriously at the fourth Hollywood Climate Summit in Los Angeles this week. This summit, which will take place from Wednesday June 21 to Saturday June 24, will bring together filmmakers, scientists and environmental activists to try to change the culture in the sector and encourage cinema and television to use their enormous influence on the public. in the whole world.
“Hollywood is an extremely powerful industry“said Ali Weinstein, co-founder of the summit and television writer.We are on the verge of a cultural shift in many ways“. According to a recent study by the Norman Lear Center and the consulting firm Good Energy, the climate crisis is “virtually non-existent” in the entertainment industry. Less than three percent of the approximately 37,000 film and television scripts made since 2016 mentioned “any keyword related to climate” and only 0.6% used the words “climate change“.”For us, this is a big deal because most people on average spend more time with movie or TV characters than with their own family.“, assures Heather Fipps, also co-founder of the summit.
“Imbue our words with our reality”
At this summit, Quinta Brunson – the star of the comedy series Abbott Elementary – will take part in a debate with Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, the directors ofEverythingEverywhere which won seven major Oscars this year including Best Picture.
It’s really important for us to imbue our words with our reality. Everyone on Earth is affected by the climate crisis in one way or another. If we don’t show that in our day-to-day content, that content is science fiction.
Ali Weinstein, co-founder of the Hollywood Climate Summit
Jane Fonda will appeal to the entertainment industry to fight new fossil fuel projects in California. Taiwanese-American actress Stephanie Hsu, nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Everything Everywhere All At Once, will participate in a discussion on the need to talk about climate change openly between generations. A round table will discuss the role of improvised shows, including reality TV, in representations of climate change.
Climate change, in a humorous tone
According to Heather Fipps, recent series like Succession And The Sex Lives of College Girls have shown that screenwriters can deal with the issue of climate change with “jokes” Or “projections“towards those responsible rather than adopting a mournful tone.”It can be fun to laugh at climate change“, she says. “It can be liberating to see it on our screens and not have people gulp it down as a political message.“.
Hollywood and its private jet stars are frequently accused of hypocrisy about climate change, but the summit co-founders say their aim is to change the general approach, not to blame individuals. “This event is meant to be an awareness event to change the culture in Hollywood, not at all for everyone in Hollywood to claim to be climate experts“.”We are activists active in the entertainment industry“, they insist.”The entertainment industry is hypocritical. She didn’t do enough“.