WEBVTT - Storytelling with Adam McKay 0:00:01.120 --> 0:00:03.880 Hey, before we start, I wanted to let you know 0:00:04.000 --> 0:00:07.120 that this interview was recorded a while ago. Since then, 0:00:07.360 --> 0:00:09.400 some of the projects our guess we'll talk about have 0:00:09.440 --> 0:00:13.720 evolved a bit. And also, we cut down four billion, 0:00:13.760 --> 0:00:17.360 three hundred and eighty seven million trees. Yeah, I know 0:00:17.760 --> 0:00:21.279 that's an insane number, but it's true. Also, over one 0:00:21.360 --> 0:00:24.640 hundred and fifty people died from wildfires, we hit record 0:00:24.680 --> 0:00:28.240 global temperatures, and a fuck ton of other terrible things 0:00:28.240 --> 0:00:30.720 have happened. Check the show notes if you want to 0:00:30.720 --> 0:00:33.480 see updates on anything we talk about in today's episode. 0:00:33.840 --> 0:00:34.640 Thanks for listening. 0:00:36.479 --> 0:00:39.680 I had the moment where I'm like, holy crap, where 0:00:39.720 --> 0:00:43.080 no one's paying attention. We're in real trouble here. 0:00:43.760 --> 0:00:45.919 What do I do? I make movies. 0:00:47.400 --> 0:00:52.120 So I wrote five six different ideas for movies, and 0:00:52.479 --> 0:00:55.000 I just kept coming back to the idea that if 0:00:55.040 --> 0:00:58.280 a good portion of the movie could be funny, nothing 0:00:58.520 --> 0:01:02.640 is better at, you know, bringing people together then laughter. 0:01:02.760 --> 0:01:04.800 It's kind of the ultimate truth detector. 0:01:09.600 --> 0:01:09.800 Hi. 0:01:10.480 --> 0:01:14.600 I'm Chris Turney, and this is Unfucking the Future, a 0:01:14.760 --> 0:01:17.760 show about the climate crisis and what we can do 0:01:17.880 --> 0:01:21.800 about it. It's easy to get depressed about the climate. 0:01:22.480 --> 0:01:26.400 According to a host of recent scientific studies, this past 0:01:26.480 --> 0:01:31.520 year was the hottest ever recorded in human history. But 0:01:31.680 --> 0:01:34.720 now is not the time to despair. It's for time 0:01:34.760 --> 0:01:39.800 to get activated. And that's what this show is all about. Together, 0:01:40.080 --> 0:01:43.240 we really can on fuck this. Let's dig in. 0:01:43.840 --> 0:01:47.120 We're fucking the future. 0:01:49.560 --> 0:01:52.360 Let's play a game, all right. On the counter of three, 0:01:52.640 --> 0:01:54.720 name your favorite dinosaur. Don't even think about it, just 0:01:54.800 --> 0:01:58.000 name it ready one two three glass. 0:01:57.880 --> 0:02:04.040 Raptor favorite non pornographic magazine to masturbate two Good housekeeping. 0:02:05.760 --> 0:02:07.760 If you were a chick, who's the one guy you 0:02:07.760 --> 0:02:08.440 would sleep with? 0:02:08.639 --> 0:02:12.400 John Samos? What did we just become best friends? 0:02:12.480 --> 0:02:12.720 Yep? 0:02:13.720 --> 0:02:16.360 That's a scene from the two thousand and eight film 0:02:16.480 --> 0:02:19.760 Step Brothers. It stars John c Riley and Will Farrell 0:02:19.919 --> 0:02:23.720 and was directed by our guest today, Adam McKay. He's 0:02:23.720 --> 0:02:27.840 since written, directed, or produced projects like Succession, The Big Short, 0:02:27.919 --> 0:02:32.880 and Anchorman. The Man is a Hollywood legend, but he's 0:02:33.000 --> 0:02:37.000 not just a filmmaker. Adam McKay is also an activist, 0:02:37.240 --> 0:02:40.639 and he's tackling the climate crisis in his own particular 0:02:40.680 --> 0:02:45.359 way his storytelling. His most recent film, Don't Look On 0:02:45.919 --> 0:02:49.519 is an environmental allegory he's used for success of that 0:02:49.680 --> 0:02:53.920 film to create Yellow Dot, a production studio that's fighting 0:02:53.960 --> 0:02:56.560 back against all that climate disinformation we. 0:02:56.639 --> 0:02:57.720 See every day. 0:02:58.560 --> 0:03:02.040 So how did this comedy genius become a climate activist. 0:03:02.840 --> 0:03:05.320 It started back in two thousand and eight when he 0:03:05.360 --> 0:03:09.639 was making a film about another global crisis, the mortgage bubble. 0:03:13.000 --> 0:03:14.919 We were making this movie, The Big Short. 0:03:15.480 --> 0:03:19.320 And you know, because I have a job where I 0:03:19.400 --> 0:03:23.079 write scripts, I direct, it's not a regular nine to 0:03:23.240 --> 0:03:26.720 five job. Part of my job is to kind of 0:03:26.880 --> 0:03:31.960 just follow whatever interests me or I'm curious about. So 0:03:32.240 --> 0:03:36.120 I started reading some stuff that was really alarming, and 0:03:36.400 --> 0:03:44.000 I went from concerned giving money to holy crap, we 0:03:44.080 --> 0:03:48.120 are in trouble. I thought I have to be wrong, 0:03:48.640 --> 0:03:53.800 like it can't be this, you know, dire. And so 0:03:53.880 --> 0:03:58.440 I started just talking to scientists and calling them and 0:03:58.520 --> 0:04:03.920 I just kept double triple checking the science, and every 0:04:04.480 --> 0:04:07.920 answer I got was worse than one. 0:04:08.960 --> 0:04:13.360 But before Adam was digging himself deeper and deeper into 0:04:13.400 --> 0:04:17.279 a hole of climate anxiety, and suddenly just giving money 0:04:17.320 --> 0:04:20.320 didn't seem like enough. He felt like he had to 0:04:20.360 --> 0:04:24.320 do something, and so he started writing. 0:04:25.640 --> 0:04:28.520 I heard there's an asteroid or a comment or something 0:04:28.520 --> 0:04:30.200 that you don't like the looks of. 0:04:32.279 --> 0:04:33.080 Tell me about it. 0:04:33.400 --> 0:04:39.479 Yeah, twenty minutes, twenty minutes go. That's a clip from 0:04:39.480 --> 0:04:43.520 Don't Look Up, Adam's record breaking twenty twenty one film. 0:04:43.760 --> 0:04:46.880 You can find it on Netflix. The movies about two 0:04:47.000 --> 0:04:50.400 scientists who tried to warn the media and mankind. But 0:04:50.440 --> 0:04:53.200 there's an approaching comment that's going to destroy our planet. 0:04:53.960 --> 0:04:57.080 Now you're never going to believe this, but no one listens. 0:04:57.480 --> 0:05:00.560 And then doctor Mindy and miss Debosky, you'll come on 0:05:00.600 --> 0:05:02.000 and talk about that planet you discovered. 0:05:03.600 --> 0:05:04.440 We filmed a comment. 0:05:04.600 --> 0:05:06.120 They know what we're here to talk about. 0:05:06.200 --> 0:05:09.480 Right of course, Jack and Bree love doing science segments. 0:05:09.640 --> 0:05:12.200 Just remember, keep it light fine, Jack and Bree love 0:05:12.240 --> 0:05:12.960 having a good time. 0:05:14.000 --> 0:05:17.760 That's my Partnessy V is frighteningly close to how the 0:05:17.800 --> 0:05:21.760 world has dealt with global heating, or hasn't. Despite the 0:05:21.880 --> 0:05:25.560 decades of warnings from the scientific community, the reaction from 0:05:25.560 --> 0:05:29.960 world leaders has been more like tumbleweeds. Adam recognized, but 0:05:29.960 --> 0:05:34.200 the climate crisis isn't just a scientific problem. It's actually 0:05:34.200 --> 0:05:38.080 a hearts and minds problem. It's making people care about 0:05:38.080 --> 0:05:42.120 this problem, and how's he doing it through storytelling. 0:05:43.640 --> 0:05:47.280 So the story of that movie is obviously. 0:05:47.400 --> 0:05:50.600 I had the moment where I'm like, holy crap, where 0:05:50.640 --> 0:05:54.000 no one's paying attention, We're in real trouble here. 0:05:54.680 --> 0:05:55.400 What do I do? 0:05:55.760 --> 0:05:59.599 I make movies? And I just kept coming back to 0:05:59.640 --> 0:06:02.080 the that if a good portion in the movie could 0:06:02.120 --> 0:06:06.479 be funny, nothing is better at you know, bringing people 0:06:06.480 --> 0:06:10.400 together then laughter. It's kind of the ultimate truth detector. 0:06:10.920 --> 0:06:14.160 So I sort of settled on the comedy, and then 0:06:14.480 --> 0:06:16.560 obviously we got into making it done. 0:06:16.600 --> 0:06:19.200 Look Up was such a big moment for climate scientists. 0:06:19.200 --> 0:06:21.560 I think we will owe you a huge fanks from 0:06:21.600 --> 0:06:25.000 the scientific community. I went embarrassed myself for you to 0:06:25.000 --> 0:06:27.360 ask if you saw my picture before you cast in, 0:06:28.520 --> 0:06:32.000 you just told me for a project, why did you 0:06:32.080 --> 0:06:32.760 choose a comment? 0:06:33.720 --> 0:06:37.600 My friend David Sirota, who's a journalist, had made an 0:06:37.640 --> 0:06:41.560 offhanded comment to me about how it's like a meteorite's 0:06:41.600 --> 0:06:45.080 going to hit the planet and no one cares yes, 0:06:45.320 --> 0:06:48.000 And I remember saying to him and he was talking 0:06:48.040 --> 0:06:51.039 about climate and I said, David, that's the movie and 0:06:51.080 --> 0:06:53.039 he's like, what do you mean. I go, that's the 0:06:53.080 --> 0:06:56.599 movie and he's like, how is that a movie? 0:06:56.640 --> 0:06:58.960 I go, well, let me figure that out. 0:07:01.160 --> 0:07:04.159 What Adam wanted to get across was the urgency of 0:07:04.200 --> 0:07:08.279 a climate crisis. It's something that's happening right now. There's 0:07:08.360 --> 0:07:11.200 nothing more urgent than a comet about to blast us 0:07:11.240 --> 0:07:12.080 all to oblivion. 0:07:13.040 --> 0:07:16.080 What would really surprise us would be a comet, because 0:07:16.120 --> 0:07:19.440 that could come from outside our solar system, and that 0:07:19.480 --> 0:07:21.120 would kind of blindside us. 0:07:21.200 --> 0:07:22.600 And what we liked. 0:07:22.520 --> 0:07:26.760 About it was it was a familiar movie trope that 0:07:26.920 --> 0:07:31.200 a lot of us know. We've seen versions of disaster movies, 0:07:31.640 --> 0:07:35.640 whether it's an earthquake or Godzilla's going to attack a city. 0:07:36.440 --> 0:07:40.840 We're very comfortable with that as something that we know 0:07:41.040 --> 0:07:43.320 how that story plays out. 0:07:43.480 --> 0:07:47.200 Normally in a disaster flick, humanity comes together to save 0:07:47.240 --> 0:07:50.160 a day, but of course in Don't Look Up, the 0:07:50.240 --> 0:07:51.680 opposite happens. 0:07:51.720 --> 0:07:56.440 So disrupting that story would feel weird to an audience 0:07:56.480 --> 0:08:00.920 and hopefully funny and maybe a little uncomfortable, And so 0:08:00.960 --> 0:08:04.240 that that was really how I came upon it. 0:08:04.240 --> 0:08:07.840 It's headed directly at Earth and it really likely will hit. 0:08:09.040 --> 0:08:11.240 This sounds very very exciting. 0:08:11.360 --> 0:08:14.920 Exploding stars like stars actually explode, So how big is 0:08:14.920 --> 0:08:16.400 this thing going to like destroy someone's house. 0:08:16.520 --> 0:08:17.200 Is that possible? 0:08:17.520 --> 0:08:20.560 Well, comment bed asking, which is what it will officially 0:08:20.600 --> 0:08:25.800 be named, is somewhere ye right, congratulations, it's somewhere between 0:08:25.800 --> 0:08:27.640 six and nine kilometers across. 0:08:27.680 --> 0:08:28.640 So it's bad. 0:08:29.160 --> 0:08:33.400 It would damage the entire planet, not just a house. 0:08:34.040 --> 0:08:34.920 The entire planet. 0:08:34.920 --> 0:08:37.120 Okay, Well, as it's damaging, will it hit this one 0:08:37.160 --> 0:08:39.520 house in particular, that's right on the coast of New Jersey. 0:08:39.520 --> 0:08:40.319 It's my ex wife's house. 0:08:40.360 --> 0:08:42.360 I needed to be it. Can we make that happen? 0:08:44.160 --> 0:08:46.640 Once he had figured out his idea for the movie, 0:08:46.960 --> 0:08:49.360 Adam says, the script just poured out of him. 0:08:49.640 --> 0:08:55.640 He was so inspired and it was the craziest experience. 0:08:55.760 --> 0:08:58.480 I had an outline, but then I went to this 0:08:58.840 --> 0:09:04.319 house we have lake in Ireland, and I wrote the 0:09:04.360 --> 0:09:06.800 whole script in like four weeks. 0:09:06.800 --> 0:09:07.720 It was incredible. 0:09:07.760 --> 0:09:10.640 Wow, just did he really poured out of me. 0:09:11.360 --> 0:09:14.240 I've had that experience maybe one or two other times, 0:09:14.640 --> 0:09:18.600 but never like this. It was like a fever dream. 0:09:19.200 --> 0:09:23.679 So it was the fastest thing ever where. We sent 0:09:23.800 --> 0:09:25.800 it to Leo. We sent it to Jen Lawrence. I 0:09:25.840 --> 0:09:30.120 think Jen Lawrence was first in and then Leo and 0:09:30.160 --> 0:09:33.640 Tyler Perry and all these great people and then the 0:09:33.679 --> 0:09:38.880 release of it was its own crazy story, like nothing. 0:09:39.160 --> 0:09:41.000 Oh my god, it was insane. 0:09:42.280 --> 0:09:45.280 In the movie, the media and the government all turn 0:09:45.360 --> 0:09:48.120 a blind eye to this comic that's about to wipe 0:09:48.160 --> 0:09:51.679 out a planet, and meanwhile they're frightening the people who 0:09:51.679 --> 0:09:54.640 are trying to warn the public about the impending disaster. 0:09:55.440 --> 0:09:58.760 It's depressingly similar to what happened when the movie was 0:09:58.840 --> 0:09:59.679 actually released. 0:10:00.320 --> 0:10:02.199 Oh my god, it was insane. 0:10:02.520 --> 0:10:06.160 When we did the theatrical release, we got it was 0:10:06.240 --> 0:10:09.440 like I've gotten bad reviews before, Like I don't care. 0:10:09.559 --> 0:10:12.200 When you do this as a job, you're used to it. 0:10:12.240 --> 0:10:18.480 But these were the nastiest reviews, Like they were so 0:10:19.040 --> 0:10:22.959 angry and personal and welcome to my world. 0:10:25.400 --> 0:10:29.080 I remember joking, this must be what it's like. 0:10:29.400 --> 0:10:31.480 This must be what it's like to be a climate 0:10:31.559 --> 0:10:33.160 science is for the pat sort of hears. 0:10:33.720 --> 0:10:35.960 Can I share with you, just for a moment, what 0:10:36.040 --> 0:10:40.079 bad reviews have looked like for climate scientists, for search 0:10:40.120 --> 0:10:44.720 fundings being blocked, individuals have been publicly vilified, and of 0:10:44.760 --> 0:10:47.440 course there's some good old gas lighting going on out there. 0:10:47.760 --> 0:10:50.920 President Trump just tweeted about the extreme cold slamming more 0:10:50.960 --> 0:10:54.280 than seventeen million Americans tonight. His tweet also mocked the 0:10:54.360 --> 0:10:57.319 science of climate change. From President writes in the East, 0:10:57.360 --> 0:10:59.360 it could be the coldest New Year's Eve on record. 0:10:59.440 --> 0:11:02.280 Perhaps could use a little bit of that good old 0:11:02.320 --> 0:11:05.760 global warming that our country, but not other countries, was 0:11:05.800 --> 0:11:09.760 going to pay trillions of dollars to protect against. Bundle up. 0:11:12.640 --> 0:11:16.560 There's an insane amount of misinformation out there, and there's 0:11:16.600 --> 0:11:19.320 a lot of companies and politicians who are making money 0:11:19.360 --> 0:11:22.320 with a status quo we now have. It's created a 0:11:22.320 --> 0:11:25.360 pretty toxic environment for those of us talking about climate 0:11:25.800 --> 0:11:30.600 and apparently also for those making movies about climate any. 0:11:30.679 --> 0:11:33.880 Reviews were quite mixed, with some critics describing it as 0:11:34.000 --> 0:11:36.480 too negative and even smug. 0:11:36.920 --> 0:11:41.040 Meryl Streep I remember, was like, I don't understand. She's 0:11:41.080 --> 0:11:43.600 like she was confused, like I saw the movie. This 0:11:43.640 --> 0:11:46.280 is not the movie I saw it. But then a 0:11:46.480 --> 0:11:48.400 wonderful thing that happened. 0:11:49.000 --> 0:11:57.559 We're un fucking the future. We're un fucking the future. 0:12:02.120 --> 0:12:06.600 We released it on Netflix worldwide and it was the 0:12:06.640 --> 0:12:11.320 most incredible thing I've ever seen. People in dozens of 0:12:11.520 --> 0:12:17.120 languages immediately identified with it, and it went on to 0:12:17.120 --> 0:12:20.600 become the number one movie in like ninety two countries, 0:12:21.040 --> 0:12:23.800 which that doesn't happen with a comedy. 0:12:24.080 --> 0:12:26.360 It's very rare. Comedy is very cultural. 0:12:26.840 --> 0:12:29.280 And then I started hearing stories that there were huge 0:12:29.360 --> 0:12:30.840 protests in France. 0:12:31.480 --> 0:12:34.600 The French process is obviously so hyped up. Everyone's frying 0:12:34.640 --> 0:12:38.840 banana skins, Mario cart style. There's no police there, and 0:12:38.920 --> 0:12:41.560 they started and banas I just got hit in the 0:12:41.559 --> 0:12:45.760 head banana skins. How politicians, police and the public around 0:12:45.760 --> 0:12:48.000 the world reacts has yet to be seen, but the 0:12:48.040 --> 0:12:50.480 past week has shown that climate protest is now made 0:12:50.559 --> 0:12:52.760 up of a whole ecosystem of tactics. 0:12:53.080 --> 0:12:57.880 And then climate scientists were like criticizing movie critics, like 0:12:58.120 --> 0:13:02.840 there were these fights online, like George Mambiad wrote this 0:13:02.960 --> 0:13:06.040 beautiful piece how the movie made him cry because it 0:13:06.040 --> 0:13:08.320 had been in his life for the previous twenty years. 0:13:08.760 --> 0:13:12.840 The response amongst my fellow scientists was quite amazing, and 0:13:12.920 --> 0:13:15.560 it takes a lot to get them excited. It was 0:13:15.600 --> 0:13:18.880 a special moment for many of us. Someone else understood 0:13:19.240 --> 0:13:22.200 and showed just how mad the last few decades have been. 0:13:23.000 --> 0:13:26.920 So it ended up being an experience like nothing I 0:13:26.960 --> 0:13:31.640 have ever had in making films and TV shows. You know, 0:13:31.679 --> 0:13:36.559 we're dealing with just a gargantuan force, you know, changing 0:13:36.640 --> 0:13:41.400 the livable climate, and it's amazing how much it just 0:13:41.679 --> 0:13:46.920 bats you around emotionally, how it plays with people's perceptions, 0:13:47.040 --> 0:13:51.240 how some people you don't want to deny it. So yeah, 0:13:51.240 --> 0:13:55.760 it's a wild, wild experience, there's no question. And the 0:13:55.880 --> 0:13:58.320 number one thing I've been trying to do through the 0:13:58.360 --> 0:14:02.280 whole thing is just keep my sense of humor. 0:14:03.840 --> 0:14:07.280 It's not surprising Adam would prioritize his sense of humor 0:14:07.360 --> 0:14:11.240 considering his background, but he's also onto something in regards 0:14:11.240 --> 0:14:14.640 to how we humans are wired to communicate. If there's 0:14:14.679 --> 0:14:17.720 one failing we scientists have is that we think that 0:14:17.760 --> 0:14:20.800 the only way to communicate the urgency of global heating 0:14:21.160 --> 0:14:25.600 is via facts and data. But research increasingly shows that 0:14:25.680 --> 0:14:30.120 these facts don't often change people's minds. If we really 0:14:30.160 --> 0:14:34.200 want people's attention, we need new strategies. We need empathy, 0:14:34.720 --> 0:14:37.960 we need common ground, We need to tell them stories. 0:14:38.720 --> 0:14:41.440 All this points back to a big lesson Adam learned, 0:14:41.600 --> 0:14:42.920 and we can take away too. 0:14:43.600 --> 0:14:46.720 What I learned is there is no one way to 0:14:46.880 --> 0:14:49.440 do it. Yes, this is a story that's got to 0:14:49.480 --> 0:14:53.360 be told in a thousand and a million different ways, 0:14:53.400 --> 0:14:56.680 because you know, seven billion people, the world is vast, 0:14:56.720 --> 0:14:58.800 there's so many different emotional experiences. 0:14:58.840 --> 0:15:01.520 So what I learned we don't look. 0:15:01.400 --> 0:15:05.440 Up is the way we told the story worked really 0:15:05.600 --> 0:15:09.640 well for the people it worked for, and. 0:15:11.800 --> 0:15:12.720 That's great. 0:15:13.040 --> 0:15:16.560 So yeah, the big lesson as well, there are a 0:15:16.760 --> 0:15:20.200 lot of different ways to tell this story for a 0:15:20.440 --> 0:15:23.880 lot of different people. One example is, you know, we 0:15:24.000 --> 0:15:27.440 do this prayer in the end of the movie where 0:15:27.480 --> 0:15:32.560 Timothy Chalomay's character says a very sincere prayer to God 0:15:32.760 --> 0:15:34.880 in this moment of collapse. 0:15:35.280 --> 0:15:42.800 Dearest Father, an almighty Creator, we ask for your grace tonight, 0:15:43.960 --> 0:15:50.400 despite our pride, their forgiveness, despite our. 0:15:50.320 --> 0:15:55.680 Down And there's nothing funny or cynical about it. I mean, 0:15:55.720 --> 0:15:59.040 I wrote that as sincere as possible, but it never 0:15:59.120 --> 0:16:02.480 occurred to me that they were of course a duh. 0:16:02.560 --> 0:16:06.720 There would be tons of people of faith that would 0:16:06.760 --> 0:16:10.479 really connect with that moment. So I read some beautiful 0:16:10.600 --> 0:16:14.520 pieces in outlets that normally I don't think would even 0:16:14.760 --> 0:16:18.840 watch anything I make, like you know, Christian News Monthly 0:16:19.200 --> 0:16:23.080 or whatever making that up. And then I saw some 0:16:23.360 --> 0:16:27.360 responses to the movie from Believe It or Not, right 0:16:27.400 --> 0:16:31.280 wing corners of the World, and I saw like one 0:16:31.320 --> 0:16:34.000 guy who I'm sure his boss yelled at him afterwards, 0:16:34.280 --> 0:16:36.320 but he wrote this piece that was like the movie 0:16:36.400 --> 0:16:42.280 is ultimately calling for true accountability. And I was like, wow, 0:16:42.480 --> 0:16:46.760 this guy is writing for a magazine I find reprehensible, 0:16:47.240 --> 0:16:49.640 but he really got the movie. 0:16:50.160 --> 0:16:55.000 The end is so moving, Adam, the prayer is beautiful 0:16:55.200 --> 0:16:59.560 and Leonardo DiCaprio a wonderful moment at the tay Bluff. 0:16:59.680 --> 0:17:02.560 I think it's something like we really did have everything, 0:17:02.720 --> 0:17:05.240 didn't we? And oh my god, it was so beautiful. 0:17:05.240 --> 0:17:06.919 I actually brought me to tears and it was just 0:17:06.960 --> 0:17:09.720 an incredible emotional moment. It was just so real. 0:17:12.000 --> 0:17:14.400 The thing of it is is we really. 0:17:16.520 --> 0:17:18.639 We really did have everything, didn't we? 0:17:20.960 --> 0:17:23.399 I mean, when you think about it. 0:17:25.480 --> 0:17:28.320 So I got to tell you this story of that line. 0:17:28.920 --> 0:17:32.120 So for me, the line in the end when I 0:17:32.160 --> 0:17:35.600 wrote it was Jen Lawrence saying, at least we tried, 0:17:36.600 --> 0:17:38.680 And that was the line when I was a little 0:17:38.840 --> 0:17:42.360 great line, but no, no, no, I totally agree with you. 0:17:42.400 --> 0:17:46.080 So I when I wrote that line at this lake 0:17:46.160 --> 0:17:49.040 house in Ireland, I had tears in my aunt. So 0:17:49.160 --> 0:17:52.399 then we're shooting the scene and DiCaprio comes up to 0:17:52.400 --> 0:17:55.160 me and he goes, you know, I love Jen's line, 0:17:55.200 --> 0:17:58.600 but is there a line that can really drive the 0:17:58.760 --> 0:18:02.240 loss home? And of course I'm the writer of the script. 0:18:02.320 --> 0:18:04.800 I'm delighted with the line I've written and it's so. 0:18:04.880 --> 0:18:05.480 I tell him. 0:18:05.880 --> 0:18:08.960 I go like, look, I think it works great, but 0:18:09.000 --> 0:18:11.120 if you want to try something, which is the way 0:18:11.160 --> 0:18:14.600 I work, I always let actors improvise. I go, if 0:18:14.640 --> 0:18:18.239 you've got something, let's film it. So he leaves. Then 0:18:18.280 --> 0:18:20.920 he comes back and I'm next to my script supervisor, 0:18:21.480 --> 0:18:27.000 Kate Hardman, who's hilarious from Texas and no BS calls 0:18:27.119 --> 0:18:29.560 everything like she sees it, and DiCaprio's like, you. 0:18:29.560 --> 0:18:32.679 Know, I came up with this line. What do you 0:18:32.760 --> 0:18:33.360 think of this? 0:18:33.480 --> 0:18:35.679 And he takes a beat and he says, you know, 0:18:35.800 --> 0:18:39.600 right at the very end, I just say, wow, we 0:18:39.720 --> 0:18:43.280 really did have it all, didn't we? And he said, 0:18:44.200 --> 0:18:47.760 and Kate Hartman and I both of us tears in 0:18:47.800 --> 0:18:53.160 our eyes, and I'm like, uh yeah, Leo, let's do that. 0:18:54.000 --> 0:18:56.280 It's all right, It's all right. 0:18:58.840 --> 0:19:01.760 Like e what after they saw the movie was like 0:19:01.880 --> 0:19:04.159 that was the line? And I go, you know, I 0:19:04.200 --> 0:19:07.520 cannot tell a lie. I did not script that. That 0:19:07.720 --> 0:19:10.520 was all Leo and I go, well, the. 0:19:10.560 --> 0:19:12.960 Only credit I'll give myself is I filmed it. 0:19:13.000 --> 0:19:16.600 I was smart enough to go you inspired, you inspired, 0:19:17.440 --> 0:19:20.439 Thank you. I like the Twister, but but it's so 0:19:20.640 --> 0:19:25.680 funny because it might be the single line from anything 0:19:25.720 --> 0:19:29.719 I've ever worked on that moves me the most. It 0:19:29.800 --> 0:19:33.040 hit me every single time I watched the movie when 0:19:33.040 --> 0:19:34.680 we were editing or screening it. 0:19:35.200 --> 0:19:37.840 Adam was encouraged by the success he saw We don't 0:19:37.880 --> 0:19:41.720 look up, and this inspired him to start another big project. 0:19:42.280 --> 0:19:47.360 He founded Yellow Dots Studios. It's a nonprofit production studio 0:19:47.560 --> 0:19:50.600 fighting against climate disinformation and inaction. 0:19:51.160 --> 0:19:54.600 One goal is educate on climate. There's still a remarkable 0:19:54.800 --> 0:19:58.719 amount of people once again because no functioning news media 0:19:58.760 --> 0:20:03.320 on it. They don't under stand the basics on how 0:20:03.359 --> 0:20:04.399 the climate is warming. 0:20:04.720 --> 0:20:07.160 So that's a big thing. Communicate the science. 0:20:07.480 --> 0:20:10.760 The other thing is to point to the cause aka 0:20:11.040 --> 0:20:14.560 the villains, big oil and the banks that fund them. 0:20:14.680 --> 0:20:19.280 They directly did this. They knew back in the seventies 0:20:19.280 --> 0:20:22.160 that it was happening. They chose to lie about it 0:20:22.240 --> 0:20:23.719 and keep making money. 0:20:24.200 --> 0:20:27.560 Okay, I need to interrupt for a second and underscore 0:20:27.640 --> 0:20:31.960 Adam's last point. The big ore companies have known about 0:20:31.960 --> 0:20:35.680 global heating for decades, and instead of trying to help, 0:20:36.000 --> 0:20:39.600 they covered it up, which brings us to a segment 0:20:39.640 --> 0:20:44.240 we call what the fuck are you talking about? What 0:20:44.280 --> 0:20:51.080 the fuck are you talking about? You might assume that 0:20:51.160 --> 0:20:54.200 we've only known about global heating for a few decades, 0:20:54.600 --> 0:20:58.200 but actually as far back as the eighteen eighties, scientists 0:20:58.280 --> 0:21:00.720 knew but if we added carbon to the hemosphere it 0:21:00.760 --> 0:21:04.920 could change our climate. Now fast forward to the nineteen seventies. 0:21:05.520 --> 0:21:08.280 By that time there was some amazing research being done 0:21:08.280 --> 0:21:11.000 to figure out what impact burning fossil fuels was having 0:21:11.080 --> 0:21:16.040 on the climate. Who was doing at research? X on Mobile, Yes, 0:21:16.119 --> 0:21:19.560 that big oil company, and they confirmed by nineteen seventy 0:21:19.560 --> 0:21:22.800 seven that global heating was real and was actually happening. 0:21:23.280 --> 0:21:26.200 So what did they do with this information? They spent 0:21:26.520 --> 0:21:30.320 millions and millions of dollars spreading lies and confusion about 0:21:30.359 --> 0:21:34.680 their own excellent research. The public started to hear about 0:21:34.760 --> 0:21:38.159 the changing climate in the nineteen eighties. I was a 0:21:38.200 --> 0:21:41.320 nerdy teenager growing up in England and I remember Margaret 0:21:41.400 --> 0:21:45.120 Thatcher of a British prime minister, giving several famous speeches 0:21:45.160 --> 0:21:48.760 about it. She spoke about the responsibility we had to 0:21:48.840 --> 0:21:53.600 balance economic growth with protection for the environment. But it 0:21:53.760 --> 0:21:57.480 must be gross, but it doesn't plunder the planet today 0:21:58.440 --> 0:22:01.720 and leave our children to deal with the consequences tomorrow. 0:22:02.480 --> 0:22:04.280 We are not the lords. 0:22:04.680 --> 0:22:08.359 We are the lord's creatures, the trustees. 0:22:07.800 --> 0:22:08.600 Of this planet. 0:22:13.040 --> 0:22:15.960 That clip was from a speech Thatcher gave in nineteen 0:22:16.000 --> 0:22:19.520 eighty nine. But here's a crazy thing. Since she gave 0:22:19.560 --> 0:22:22.720 that speech, humans have pumped more carbon into the atmosphere 0:22:22.840 --> 0:22:26.320 than we did in the entirety of history before nineteen 0:22:26.359 --> 0:22:29.879 eighty nine. In other words, most of the damage from 0:22:29.920 --> 0:22:33.679 burning fossil fuels has been caused after these big corporations 0:22:33.760 --> 0:22:38.439 knew exactly how harmful it was. It's absolutely criminal. And 0:22:38.480 --> 0:22:42.359 that's what the fuck we're talking about. What the fuck 0:22:42.400 --> 0:22:48.240 a we're talking about? Okay, let us get back to Adam, 0:22:48.480 --> 0:22:52.320 who's actually trying to help us unfuck this. He's using 0:22:52.359 --> 0:22:55.080 his voice as a storyteller and an activist through his 0:22:55.160 --> 0:22:57.199 company Yellow Dots Studios. 0:22:57.760 --> 0:23:03.320 We're working on numerous different climates projects. I wrote a 0:23:03.359 --> 0:23:08.119 script called to see that's a specscript. 0:23:07.560 --> 0:23:10.560 To TC is that two degrees anegrad correct. 0:23:10.320 --> 0:23:16.240 Correct and it's a big sort of climate epic that's 0:23:16.359 --> 0:23:22.480 you know, dramatic, funny, thrilling that spans hundreds of years 0:23:22.640 --> 0:23:26.120 of climate change. And then I'm working on another script 0:23:26.320 --> 0:23:30.200 about the corruption that has stopped action on climate and 0:23:30.240 --> 0:23:33.399 it's a comedy. It's about a serial killer that hires 0:23:33.480 --> 0:23:36.720 a lobbyist to make it easier for him to kill. 0:23:37.200 --> 0:23:46.280 And we've got Rob Pattinson, Robert Downey, Junior uh for 0:23:46.520 --> 0:23:51.840 his twitterker, Amy Adams, Daniel Deadweiler. It's incredible cast has 0:23:51.880 --> 0:23:54.920 signed up. It's definitely one of the main thrusts of 0:23:55.560 --> 0:23:59.760 every single thing I'm doing, just because it feels ridiculous 0:23:59.800 --> 0:24:06.080 to be you're alive at this giant seismic moment and 0:24:06.160 --> 0:24:10.200 not to at least somewhat address it with anything we're doing. 0:24:10.240 --> 0:24:13.040 It feels like a lot of stuff that doesn't is 0:24:13.080 --> 0:24:17.800 going to feel awfully irrelevant in the next couple years. 0:24:17.840 --> 0:24:20.800 So we always at least try and have it next 0:24:20.840 --> 0:24:23.639 to a project we're doing, if not directly in the 0:24:23.680 --> 0:24:24.320 middle of it. 0:24:25.040 --> 0:24:28.080