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Logline

The Climate Scientists is a documentary series about the compelling work and heroic tactics of experts around the world during a pivotal time, as they try to stop the climate crisis from becoming a catastrophe.

Climate scientists have known for decades that our biosphere is in grave danger. They have warned us, but we haven’t listened. Now as climate impacts intensify, we are relying on them to tell us what to do.

Synopsis

Who will solve the climate crisis? Our project addresses this question, featuring charismatic, carefully chosen professionals at the vanguard in their respective areas – climate science, climate impacts, international policy and carbon reduction.

Each episode centers on a single character and the network of allies around them. Science is fueled by curiosity and love for the natural world and for human civilization. The series will be emotional. We’ll get to know these leaders and find out what’s on their minds, what’s in their hearts, and what they are doing to shift opinion and climate policy.

We will include young activists who can engage with the scientists in an inter-generational debate about strategy. The youth have more to lose; they are fighting for a livable future.

Many of our participants are authors of the most collaborative science project ever, the UN mandated Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

We have done initial filming with influential experts from around the world – Peter Kalmus, Ed Hawkins, Adelle Thomas, Lavanya Rajamani, Joeri Rogelj, Yacob Mulugetta and Rupert Read.

Our first shoot was at COP26, the UN conference in Glasgow that highlighted recent pivotal IPCC findings.

Scientists understand that now is the time for revolution. They are changing their behavior to get our attention. We are documenting their tactics, capturing their drastic lifestyle changes, rebellious speech and acts of civil disobedience.

The work of all these heroes has inspired us to tell a different kind of story about the crisis. It’s not about proving climate change, it’s about our response. Accepting that the crisis is real, The Climate Scientists documents a turning point in history as lived by the inspiring people shaping our survival strategy.
 

Meet the Filmmakers

​​Holly Becker – Director/Producer
Holly Becker recently completed Great Power, her first feature film. She has produced many acclaimed documentaries, including Bring Your Own Brigade, City of Gold, The Source Family, and Original Child Bomb, her first collaboration with Carey McKenzie.

Previously, Holly was SVP of production for Sidney Kimmel Entertainment and VP of production for IFC Entertainment. In her decade at IFC, she was an executive producer on Miranda July’s Me and You and Everyone We Know, Michael Showalter’s The Baxter, Michael Almereyda’s This So-Called Disaster and Happy Here and Now, and Todd Graff’s Camp, plus she worked on scores of other films, including Errol Morris’ Fog of War.

Holly has been a creative/production consultant for Film4 and the Sundance Institute. She lives in Santa Barbara, California, with her husband, Dermott and daughter, Tallulah.

Carey McKenzie – Director/Producer
Carey McKenzie is a director and screenwriter whose recent work includes a feature adaptation of Joan Didion’s political romance, Democracy, and writing for a new Netflix Marseille refugee drama, Transatlantic.

Carey wrote and directed Cold Harbour, a gritty South African crime thriller, which was on Netflix.

Carey directed Original Child Bomb a stylistically innovative art documentary about the human cost of nuclear weapons which premiered at Tribeca, won the grand jury prize at Silverdocs and aired on the Sundance Channel.

Carey has a masters in English from Cambridge and an MFA in film from NYU Tisch. She is a British citizen and EU resident, living in Lisbon.

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Contact

For inquiries, please contact fiscalsponsorship@filmindependent.org.