According to the AFP, a gathering of prominent figures from Hollywood took place in Los Angeles for a four-day summit to address climate change.
Renowned personalities like Jane Fonda and the Oscar-winning directors used their influence to champion the fight against climate change at a summit held in Los Angeles last week.
The Hollywood Climate Summit brought together filmmakers, scientists, and activists, to transform the industry’s culture and encourage movies and TV shows to leverage their considerable impact on global audiences.
Summit co-founder and TV writer Ali Weinstein emphasized Hollywood’s immense power: “We’re on the brink of cultural change in many aspects.”
However, a recent Norman Lear Center and Good Energy study revealed that the climate crisis is absent for the most part from scripted entertainment.
Of the approximately 37,000 TV and film scripts produced since 2016, less than three percent contained any climate-related keywords, and a mere 0.6 percent made any mention of “climate change.”
This scarcity of representation is concerning, as fellow summit co-founder Heather Fipps pointed out, given that people often spend more time with TV and film characters than with their own families. Fipps stated that we must steep our fictional worlds in reality.
Weinstein further emphasized the urgency, stating that everyone on Earth is somehow affected by the climate crisis if we’re not showing that that content is science fiction in our day-to-day content.
The summit featured keynote discussions, including one with “Abbott Elementary” star Quinta Brunson and “Everything Everywhere” directors Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan. Jane Fonda will also call upon the industry to oppose new fossil fuel developments in California.
Oscar-nominated star Stephanie Hsu joined a conversation on the importance of intergenerational dialogue about climate change.
Additionally, a panel addressed the role of reality TV and shows that are unscripted, including shows that tackle climate issues.
Fipps highlighted the possibility of addressing climate change through humor and satire, citing shows like “Succession” and “The Sex Lives of College Girls” as examples that take a comedic approach to shed light on the issue without being overtly political.
While Hollywood and its high-profile figures often face accusations of hypocrisy regarding climate change, the summit’s co-founders clarified that they focus on transforming the industry’s treatment of culture rather than finding individuals to asign blame.
“This climate event was an advocacy event to change the culture of Hollywood—not for Hollywood to claim we’re experts on climate and leading the way,” Fipps explained.
“We’re activists operating within entertainment. The entertainment industry hasn’t done enough in this area.
The summit seeked to inspire the entertainment industry to use its platform to raise awareness and promote action on climate change.
This initiative emphasizes the potential for movies and TV shows to contribute positively to the discourse on this critical issue.
The 2023 Hollywood Climate Summit took place in Los Angeles between June 21 — 24.
