Emerson College Library: Teach-In on Sustainability 2024: Keynote: Hollywood's Hold on Sustainable Views

Keynote

Keynote: Hollywood's Hold on Sustainable Views

Monday, March 4, 12:00 pm-1:00 pm

Presenters:

Lydia Dean Pilcher: International Filmmaker, Climate Leader and Educator
Brent Smith, Dean of the School of Communication
Jay Bernhardt, President of Emerson College
Nejem Raheem, Chair of the Department of Marketing Communication

Description:

Filmmaker Lydia Dean Pilcher tackles the intersection of climate change and the entertainment industry in her collaborations with Hollywood studios, unions & guilds. Her focus is clean energy innovation and she co-leads an industry-wide movement promoting the need for diversity in content and voices in climate storytelling on screen. She has taught a graduate film seminar at New York University about the shifting landscape of audience and storytelling: Producing with a Vision: Radical Transformation and Disruption in the Entertainment Industry; and in 2024 she teaches a graduate level course she designed for Columbia University’s Climate School and School of the Arts: Climatic Change: Storytelling Arts, Zeitgeist, and our Future.

Location

Bright Family Screening Room Washington St. Boston, MA 02116

Sustainability Goals

Sustainable Development Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts

Sustainable Development Goal 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

Films by Lydia Dean Pilcher @ Iwasaki Library

Lydia Dean Pilcher is a successful flimmaker, having produced and directed over 30 films. Below is a select list of Emerson owned films by her, but she has also worked on such films as the Radium Girls and The Queen of Katwe.

Cutie and the Boxer
In New York City in 1969, nineteen-year-old art student Noriko fell in love with 41-year-old avant-garde artist Ushio Shinohara and put her career on hold to marry and support this rising star of the Manhattan art world. But 40 years later and still struggling, Ushio remains consumed with reinforcing his legacy via his 'boxing' paintings, while Noriko is now finding her own creative voice through a series of drawings.
Mississippi Masala
In this exotic and erotic interracial love story, an African American businessman falls for a beautiful Indian immigrant, only to encounter shock and outrage from both families.

Below is the roaming art installation created by Lydia Dean Pilcher.

HOMING INSTINCT: A Film Installation by Lydia Dean Pilcher
An immersive cinematic installation, Homing Instinct is based on the story by Dani McClain published in the anthology, Octavia’s Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements. The exhibition is supported by a Silver Sun Foundation residency.

Green Film Organizations and Community Resources

PGA (Producer's Guild of America) Green
The Producers Guild’s national PGA Green initiative was established in 2008 as part of the Producers Guild of America’s commitment to actively promote sustainability in the entertainment industry.
Green Production Guide
Developed by film industry leaders with environmental expertise, the Green Production Guide offers the tools, resources, and vendors you need to reduce the environmental impact of your production.
PGA Pro Tips (Unified Best Practice Guide)
The PGA Green Unified Best Practices represents the best current strategies for green production, based on the experience of a wide range of producers working in the field today to achieve sustainability in motion picture and television production.
Green Spark Group
Through our activities and initiatives, Green Spark Group is helping to achieve progress on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Earth Angel
Earth Angel is a full-service sustainability agency dedicated to reducing the environmental impact of entertainment productions.
Green Film School Alliance
The Green Film School Alliance (GFSA) is an organization united to integrate industry-level sustainable production practices into film school programs. We commit together to bring common language, standards, and tools to all institutions. This alliance is built around taking specific actions to reduce the impacts of physical production on the environment, a willingness to share best practices, and a pledge to further sustainable initiatives at all schools.
Good Energy: A Playbook for Screenwriting in the Age of Climate Change
Good Energy is a story consultancy for the age of climate change. Our mission is to inspire, support, and accelerate stories in scripted tv and film that reflect the world we live in now—and help us envision a better future.
USC Annenberg Norman Lear Center Media Impact Project
The MEDIA IMPACT PROJECT is the research and evaluation arm of The Norman Lear Center at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. We are a hub for collecting, developing and sharing approaches for measuring the impact of media in order to better understand the role that media plays in changing knowledge, attitudes and behavior among individuals and communities.

Climate News

Exxon Misled the Public on Climate Change
The New York Times article from 2017 about how Exxon Mobil gaslight the public concerning the impacts of greenhouse gas emissions and what Exxon Mobil knew.
Big Oil has Engaged in a Long-Running Climate Disinformation Campaign While Raking in Record Profits, Lawmakers Find
A CNN article from 2022 discussing the disinformation campaign that big oil companies used to green-wash their information, actions and impact.
How Hollywood is Crafting a New Climate Change Narrative
A Rolling Stone article from 2024 about the climate change movement in Hollywood.
Universal Filmed Entertainment Group Launches GreenerLight Sustainability Program
A 2023 article about the GreenerLight Sustainability Program. The new initiative will embed eco-conscious measures across the studio’s entire filmmaking process, from the script phase to shoots.
Star-Powered Super Bowl
This YouTube video is part of CBS Morning's 'Protecting the Planet' series. Super Bowl 58 is set to become the first of its kind to be powered entirely by renewable energy sources. This initiative marks a significant departure from traditional energy use at large-scale events.

Sustainable Development Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production

The United Nations describes the work of this goal as "ensuring sustainable consumption and production patterns, which is key to sustain the livelihoods of current and future generations. Unsustainable patterns of consumption and production are root causes of the triple planetary crises of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. These crises, and related environmental degradation, threaten human well-being and achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Governments and all citizens should work together to improve resource efficiency, reduce waste and pollution, and shape a new circular economy."

Learn more about Sustainable Development Goal 12 here.

Sustainable Development Goal 13: Climate Action

The United Nations highlights the importance of this goal, stating "The global temperature has already risen 1.1ºC above the pre-industrial level, with glaciers melting and the sea level rising. Impacts of climate change also includes flooding and drought, displacing millions of people, sinking them into poverty and hunger, denying them access to basic services, such as health and education, expanding inequalities, stifling economic growth and even causing conflict. By 2030, an estimated 700 million people will be at risk of displacement by drought alone."

Teach-In on Sustainability 2024

Climate Resources

General Climate Information