Hollywood’s Climate Advisor – The New York Times

Years later she was working on one documentary series who followed her while trying to convince her father, a prominent evangelical pastor who has called on Christians to arm themselves for an inevitable war against liberals, that climate change is a reality. She failed, but the experience gave her an opportunity to ask producers what the climate movement is doing wrong when it comes to storytelling. It was the beginning of her journey into activism in the film world.

Activists for other causes were already working in the industry, she later learned. There were several organizations that championed specific storylines. color of change for blacks, Enlightening for indigenous peoples, Define American for immigrants.

However, there was none for climate change. So Joyner created Good Energy in 2019.

The problem wasn’t that TV and film writers didn’t care. Joyner noted that some would burst into tears when speaking out about their climate scares. But there were obstacles.

There was a lack of repertoire beyond science fiction films and apocalyptic stories like “Interstellar”, “The Day After Tomorrow” and “The Road”. Although many of them do not mention climate change. Science also intimidated some writers. To top it off, the challenging politics of climate change has made some in the industry concerned about alienating audiences.

After investigating the issues, Good Energy wrote a Playbook for Screenwriters. The idea is to help them reflect exactly how climate would affect characters if their stories took place in the real world. Good Energy also advises on TV, film and podcast projects, but Joyner said non-disclosure agreements prevent them from specifying which.

Joyner shared with me some stories that she would like to see more on screens big and small. It would be stories that help us envision a future that is not apocalyptic, stories that deal with the uncertainty of the future, and ones that show courage by showing how communities, not heroic individuals, can change things .

“That’s, you know, really how we move things forward in the real world,” she said.

Then there are the stories dealing with the psychological toll of climate change. They help viewers who feel isolated understand that they are not alone and are engaged, Joyner said.