Screenwriting : Environmental films - by Patrick Costello

What do you have in mind? Inconvenient Truth or Day After Tomorrow?

Chernobyl

Chernobyl is definitely fertile ground for a doc. I'm interested in a drama around "Exxon knew"

Patrick. I hope I did not misunderstand what you meant. There are several Chernobyl documentaries.

One of them even better than the series,

An apololistic-eno-of-the-world drama; go all the way back to the late '50s as a start; 'On the Beach'.

It's more about rallying people to effective, heroic action NOW, by pointing out the forces that gave us the climate chaos to begin with

Hi Patrick,

I could imagine that a fictional story about the environment could draw someone's interest - as long as it's a great story and marketable. There have been many, and there also has been many documentaries - short and feature-length - as well.

You might want to do a little research on what's been made recently. The international organization of environmental film festivals is Green Film Network, and they list all of the film festivals around the world that focus on environmental films (docs). The Center for Environmental Filmmaking has a lot of relevant information, too. My apologies if you are already familiar with those two organizations.

Best fortunes in your creative endeavors, Patrick!

Thanks, Bill. I'm pretty familiar with the science and the history - I'm on the steering committee of climate advocacy groups in N. Cal, including the local 350 chapters - (related to 350.org, founded by Bill McKibben). I've seen at least 15 climate documentaries - including "This Changes Everything," What motivates me is the fact that at some point, people tune out to all of the dire warnings, and I think it's a good time to launch a climate drama - with "good" guys and "bad" guys. The well documented facts are that fossil fuel company executives and largest shareholders colluded and paid off politicians (just like Big Tobacco) to hide the truth (emissions generated by their operations would warm the planet and raise ocean level) from the public so they could continue maximizing short term profits. There were a couple of successful films about Big Tobacco and the whistle blowers that exposed their perfidy. Climate is in the headlines constantly these days - a well done drama could become a controversial must-see film!

Hi Patrick,

You certainly bring a lot to the table, with regards to learned knowledge, insider knowledge and the history of real events, and you'd probably even be considered a Subject Matter Expert on the intertwining topics of geology, global warming and corruption.

There are a lot of producers and actors who are publicly involved with environmental concerns, and I bet that, with the right type of brilliant script, finding the right ones who would be interested in such a story wouldn't be extremely difficult.

I'd say a script like that would have a chance - and especially if it's written with the right elements in place; isn't too top heavy with terminology that is hard to understand for the average person; and that could appeal to 18-40 year olds. (and the older age groups, too of course).

With regards to your "some people tune out to all of the dire warnings" comment.....no disrespect to you, but most people are just trying to get through their day, and some people are mostly looking for escapist entertainment. But still....there are a lot of people who would be in your target audience that aren't just looking for escapist entertainment, and it is a topic that people in all age groups care about.

Best fortunes in your creative endeavors, Patrick!

I really appreciate your feedback, Bill, and I totally agree that just getting through daily life limits anyone's capacity for taking in complex info on politics as well as climate, That is a challenge we all face.