Good Energy is a non-profit organization and creative consultancy that advocates for and advises on the inclusion of climate change in Film & TV entertainment, arts and culture. [1] [2]
Good Energy was founded in 2019 by Anna Jane Joyner, a climate communications expert and non-profit executive. [1] Since Joyner had appeared in the 2014 SHOWTIME climate documentary series Years of Living Dangerously , in 2018 Joyner was asked to serve as consultant on CBS’s Madam Secretary, since the show featured a character based on both her work in climate and Joyner’s relationship with her father Rick Joyner, an evangelical Christian climate skeptic and megachurch pastor. [3] [4] TIME Magazine reported that this experience helped inspire the founding of Good Energy. [4]
Deadline reported that In April 2022 Good Energy published a screenwriting playbook titled Good Energy: A Playbook for Screenwriting in the Age of Climate Change developed with input from more than 100 screenwriters, producers, Film & TV creatives, climate scientists, climate justice leaders and psychologists to serve as a resource for portraying climate in scripted entertainment, in collaboration with organizations including Bloomberg Philanthropies, The Redford Center, Center for Cultural Power, and Creative Artists Agency Foundation. [5] The playbook was helmed by a core team of co-writers—Good Energy's founder Anna Jane Joyner, writer Carmiel Banasky, and writer Scott Shigeoka [6] —and it features quotations from the Academy Award winning climate allegory film Don’t Look Up’s director Adam McKay along with entertainment industry professionals including actor Mark Ruffalo, who is the co-founder of the climate non-profit The Solutions Project, and Norman Lear. [7] [8]
In October 2022 Good Energy published a research report in collaboration with the USC Norman Lear Center which found that from 2016 - 2020, only 2.8 percent of scripted television portrayed climate change or mentioned any of the studied climate change-related keywords. [9] The report and Good Energy’s work have been a reference for reporting on climate in entertainment by many news cites including NPR, The Washington Post, and the BBC. [10] [11] [12] In 2024 they released a new version of this report, now extended with a formalized test inspired by the Bechdel test that they call the Climate Reality Check. [13]
According to the entertainment industry trade newspaper The Hollywood Reporter , Good Energy consults on portraying climate in film and TV. [14] In 2023, the organization expanded its practice to leading workshops, advising entertainment executives, and continues to collaborate on research, including a study with the USC Media Impact Project on the impact of Apple TV+’s Extrapolations, a streaming series focused on climate. [14]
Mark Alan Ruffalo is an American actor. He began acting in the early 1990s and first gained recognition for his work in Kenneth Lonergan's play This Is Our Youth (1996) and drama film You Can Count on Me (2000). He went on to star in the romantic comedies 13 Going on 30 (2004), Just like Heaven (2005) and the thrillers In the Cut (2003), Zodiac (2007), and Shutter Island (2010). He received a Tony Award nomination for his supporting role in the Broadway revival of Awake and Sing! in 2006. Ruffalo gained international recognition for playing Bruce Banner / Hulk since 2012 in the superhero franchise of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Shonda Lynn Rhimes, is an American television producer and screenwriter, and founder of the production company Shondaland. Inducted into the Television Hall of Fame and NAB Broadcasting Hall of Fame, Rhimes became known as the showrunner—creator, head writer, and executive producer—of the medical drama Grey's Anatomy (2005–present), its spin-off Private Practice (2007–2013) and the political thriller Scandal (2012–2018), becoming the first woman to create three television dramas that have achieved the 100 episode milestone.
Shailene Diann Woodley is an American actress. Her accolades include nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award, a British Academy Film Award and two Golden Globe Awards. Born in San Bernardino, California, she was raised in Simi Valley, and started modeling at the age of five and began acting professionally in minor television roles. She first gained prominence for her starring role as Amy Juergens in the ABC Family teen drama series The Secret Life of the American Teenager (2008–2013). She subsequently starred in the films The Descendants (2011) and The Spectacular Now (2013), receiving a nomination for her first Golden Globe Award for the former.
Participant Media, LLC was an American independent film and television production company founded in 2004 by Jeffrey Skoll, dedicated to entertainment intended to spur social change. The company financed and co-produced film and television content, as well as digital entertainment through its subsidiary SoulPancake, which the company acquired in 2016.
Legendary Entertainment, LLC is an American mass media and film production company based in Burbank, California, founded by Thomas Tull. The company has often collaborated with the major studios, including Warner Bros. Pictures, Universal Pictures, Sony Pictures and Paramount Pictures, as well as streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu. Since 2016, Legendary has been a subsidiary of the Chinese conglomerate Wanda Group and American equity firm Apollo.
The Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) is a labor union representing film, television, radio, and new media writers. It was formed in 1954 from five organizations representing writers, including the Screen Writers Guild. It has around 20,000 members.
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) is an eleven-day film festival held in Santa Barbara, California in February annually, since 1986. The festival screens over 200 feature films and shorts from different countries and regions. SBIFF also includes celebrity tributes, industry panels and education programs.
The USC Scripter Award (Scripter) is the name given to an award presented annually by the University of Southern California (USC) to honor both authors and screenwriters. Starting in 1988, the USC Libraries Board of Councilors award the year's best film adaptation of a printed work, recognizing the original author and the screenwriter.
Skydance Media, LLC, also known as Skydance Productions, is an American media production company based in Santa Monica, California. Founded by David Ellison in 2006, the company specializes in films, animation, television, video games, and sports.
Robert Scott Steindorff is an American television and film producer, executive producer, writer, and autism advocate.
Dominic Ng is an American banker. He has served as CEO of Los Angeles–based East West Bank since 1992, and chairman and CEO since 1998. In 2022, Ng was appointed by the Biden administration to be a U.S. member of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Business Advisory Council, serving as chair in 2023.
Annapurna Pictures is an American independent media company founded by Megan Ellison on April 2, 2011 and based in Los Angeles, California. It is active in film, television and theatrical production, film distribution, and video game publishing.
The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers is an American sports comedy-drama television series based on the 1992 film written by Steve Brill. Developed by Brill, Josh Goldsmith, and Cathy Yuspa for Disney+, the series serves as a follow-up to the film, and is produced by Disney Branded Television, ABC Signature and Brillstein Entertainment, with Brill serving as head writer, and Goldsmith and Yuspa serving as showrunners.
Michael Waldron is an American screenwriter and producer known for his work on television series Rick and Morty and Heels, creating the Marvel Cinematic Universe series Loki, and writing Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022).
Adrian Politowski né Murshid is a BAFTA-nominated Swedish film producer, fund manager, and entrepreneur. He co-founded and was CEO of Umedia from 2004 to 2019. He currently is the Executive Chairman of the production and financing group Align that he co-founded and ran as CEO (2019-2024). His career is focused on three areas:
Extrapolations is an American anthology miniseries created by Scott Z. Burns for Apple TV+. The series premiered on March 17, 2023.
Sharon Tal Yguado is an American media executive.
The Climate Reality Check is a tool designed to evaluate whether climate change is being represented in films, TV shows, and other narratives. Developed by Good Energy and Matthew Schneider-Mayerson, a researcher at Colby College, this test was inspired by the Bechdel Test, which measures gender representation in media. The Climate Reality Check aims to ensure that climate change is depicted in on-screen stories.