EXCLUSIVE: While the headlines around the COP28 climate change conference focused on the protracted negotiations around the final agreement, Deadline can reveal how BAFTA and albert set up on the ground for the first time, putting film and TV in the spotlight and ensuring the industry is part of the conversation about the journey to net zero.
BAFTA and sustainability-focused sister org albert’s attendance in Dubai was spearheaded by Carys Taylor. She was recently instated the first ever Director of Climate Content and Sustainability, with a remit across both organizations to boost the industry’s capacity for climate storytelling. In her first interview in the new role, she tells Deadline that the film and TV community need to be part of the climate conversation and not watching from the sidelines.
“Our purpose was to represent the industry at COP, to demonstrate there is momentum and to explore where there might be gaps,” Taylor says. “There are emerging discussions around the need for support and public information and there was a meeting of culture ministers. There is a growing need for the industry to weigh into these conversations.”
At COP, politicians and industries of various stripes are represented in force, but for many on the ground, TV and film is seen as recreation and not part of the climate story. “We shared a lot of what is happening, and people were intrigued – they didn’t think our industry was this engaged,” says Taylor.
Situated in the Blue Zone at COP28 – the space reserved for sessions, meetings, press conferences and official negotiations – BAFTA teamed up with international sustainability agency Futerra, impact producers and consultants ThinkFilm, and the Oslo-based not-for-profit Bellona Foundation to create the Storytelling for Action pavilion.
A series of events and masterclasses spanned how and why to tell climate stories, highlighted indigenous storytellers, and even featured Dr. Matt Winning, probably the world’s first climate scientist and stand-up comic. Delhi-based Pluc.tv spoke to creatives about creating content with and for cellphones, which is especially important in parts of the Global South.
Creatives are increasingly gravitating towards film and TV projects with climate themes. The End We Start From, stars Jodie Comer as a woman fleeing an environmental disaster, and Deadline revealed recently that Adam McKay’s next directorial project will be climate related. Climate storytelling is, meanwhile, permeating all areas of TV, from docs to entertainment. In the UK, ITV wove sustainability messages into reality hit Love Island, while Channel 4 has primetime factual entertainment shows centered around climate and sustainability.
UK broadcasters signed up to a Climate Content Pledge at COP 26 in 2021 and are increasingly willing to put industry beefs to one side and align their activities. Deadline understands the top brass at the British channels have been meeting to chew over climate issues.
BAFTA and albert are also working with partners around the world and there is an ongoing dialogue with the U.S.-based Climate Storytelling Stakeholders in Entertainment and others.
A growing body of research, meanwhile, is dispelling the notion that climate storytelling is not box office, or can’t deliver ratings. A new study commissioned for albert and seen ahead of publication by Deadline underlines the audience appetite.
The University of York study found there is audience demand for climate content that spans genres and interest is heightened when projects intersect with overlapping social issues. Focused on UK viewers, it noted the interest was for local stories and content that shows solutions. The effect on real-world behavior is complex, with positive changes achievable, but often short-lived, it added
“It’s no longer just the preserve of news and natural history,” Taylor notes. “And it’s not about dictating how to live to audiences. It’s about enabling the public to participate in conversations around how to reach net zero. It’s about mainstreaming what people need.”
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