EXCLUSIVE: The Black List, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Redford Center along with the CAA Foundation have chosen three recipients of the group’s inaugural Climate Storytelling Fellowship.
The fellowship was launched in April and aims to encourage more stories about climate change, its effects, and possible solutions. Since then, the CAA Foundation has joined the initiative and helped increase the grant money awarded to the winners.
Elise H. Greven’s Silent Spring, Jonathan Brebner’s The Demon and Ellie Bambach’s American Exiles were chosen out of hundreds of applicants that ranged from sci-fi TV pilots to feature-length romantic comedies, the companies said Tuesday. The trio receive $15,000 apiece and will be paired with screenwriting mentors Sarah Treem (The Affair), Scott Z. Burns (An Inconvenient Truth) and Naren Shankar (The Expanse) as well as climate professionals to help develop their scripts over the next six months, after which the projects may be reviewed by the likes of Hyperobject Industries, Madica Productions, Participant, UTA and WME.
“It’s such an exciting opportunity to be part of a program focused specifically on climate storytelling,” Brebner said. “Good stories have the power to change the world—but first we have to tell them.”
Said CAA Foundation executive Adam Umhoefer: “The CAA Foundation has been a consistent supporter of, and active participant in, efforts to address global environmental concerns. Compelling climate stories on-screen can help us all envision a hopeful future, and inspire action to ensure a livable planet. The CAA Foundation is excited to support these three writers and innovative climate storytelling.”
Here are the loglines of the winners:
SILENT SPRING by Elise H. Greven
Biologist Rachel Carson takes on the government and powerful chemical industries as she struggles to write Silent Spring, the book that sparks the creation of the American environmental movement.
THE DEMON by Jonathan Brebner
A journalist tracking a missing family and a doctor investigating a mysterious disease outbreak uncover a dangerous conspiracy in Canadian oil country.
AMERICAN EXILES by Ellie Bambach Morello
A crisis erupts when America is inundated with climate refugees and eco-terrorists from 100 years in the future.