Climate Storytelling

Shifting mainstreaming narratives and helping everyday audiences engage in climate solutions

The conversation about climate has changed. 8 in 10 Americans believe climate change is happening and audiences want stories that envision a hopeful future. Films are essential for countering misinformation, deepening understanding, and inspiring courage to embrace solutions at the scale needed.

As a leading industry influencing public opinion and culture, our community must come together to help close the gap between awareness and action. In the years to come, the narratives we see on screen will play an essential role in the environmental movement.

Climate Storytelling Resources

Projects, events, and resources that change the conversation, influence industry trends, and grow the movement for impactful climate storytelling

NRDC Climate Storytelling Fellowship

The Redford Center is partnering with NRDC’s Rewrite the Future program, the Black List, and the CAA Foundation for the third iteration of the Climate Storytelling Fellowship, which aims to encourage more varied climate stories that reflect the reality of the climate crisis and solutions.

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Good Energy Playbook

In 2022, we contributed to and sponsored the Good Energy Playbook, an open-source digital guide to portraying climate change on-screen. Our essay “Based on a True Story: Documentaries as Story Fodder” brought inspiration from environmental solutions documentaries to narrative film and television writers.

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Hollywood Climate Summit

We’re proud sponsors of the Hollywood Climate Summit, an annual event that brings key players in the entertainment industry together to drive action around climate change. The Summit is organized by Young Entertainment Activists (YEA!), an activist hub and creative production studio in the entertainment industry.

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Grist’s Climate Fiction for Future Ancestors

In 2022, we were proud sponsors of Fix, Grist’s solutions lab’s second annual climate fiction short-story contest, Imagine 2200: Climate Fiction for Future Ancestors. Grist’s hope is that this fiction contest, and the collection of stories they publish, will be part of an uprising of imagination — something we believe is necessary to get us out of this climate crisis.

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“Historically, documentary films and nonfiction media have been the primary place to find climate stories, solutions, and hope. Finally, we’re starting to see an industry shift. Environmental narratives are more commercially viable than ever before. Audiences want climate stories.”

Jill Tidman

Executive Director, The Redford Center