CSL Report Out: 2020 : simplebooklet.com

climatestorylabs org 3 OVERVIEW Curated in partnership with Exposure Labs New Orleans Film Society and the Southeast Climate and Energy Network a virtual Climate Story Lab US South took place over the week of April 26 2021 Climate Story Lab is a series of interventions designed by Exposure Labs and Doc Society with a laser focus determination to accelerate effective climate storytelling at the regional level The Southern region of the United States is one of the most vulnerable areas in the country to the impacts of climate change often plagued by extractive storytelling practices and viewed through a very narrow lens perpetuated by mainstream media Women BIPOC and low income communities are often at the forefront of the climate emergency yet rarely at the forefront of storytelling both as makers and as protagonists There is a critical opportunity to support sustainable infrastructure for Southerners to determine who the story is about who is telling the story how it s being told and how it gets shared Over the week regional creative storytellers were brought together with the climate community scientists economists political strategists faith leaders cultural curators journalists grassroots organizers and funders for four days of radical collaboration Together this powerful group Grew thought and power building partnerships between climate storytellers climate organizers and other stakeholders that center and build potential for climate impact Reimagined notions of success beyond the big festival circuit the major institutional funders etc Discussed and shared solutions around how to disrupt and challenge power in the storytelling landscape by examining and reimagining extractive storytelling and funding models REPORT OUT US SOUTH APRIL 2021

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climatestorylabs org 4 BIG THANKS To the project teams our partners and the many speakers and experts who shared their insights throughout the week We learned from representatives from American Resilience Project Arm in Arm Beautiful Ventures Black Public Media CHISPA Florida Can You Hear Us Campaign Climate Advocacy Lab Doc Society Environmental Defense Fund Ford Foundation Hip Hop Caucus Hot Springs Doc Festival Indie Memphis Film Festival Jolu Productions Looky Looky Pictures Lumbee Film Festival MacArthur Foundation Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation NC WARN New Orleans Film Society People s Justice Council Perspective Pictures Reel South SMASH Miami Sol Nation Southeast Climate and Energy Network SCEN Storyline Media Swampscapes USCAN Young Entertainment Activists YEA Zero Hour and more REPORT OUT US SOUTH APRIL 2021

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climatestorylabs org 6 FENCELINE feature documentary Team Lo Jackson Director Story Editor Josh Bagnall DP Producer Elsa Kern Producer St Bernard Parish residents have lived on the fence line of local oil and sugar refineries for over 100 years FENCELINE explores how this community has been shaped both economically and environmentally In production HOLLOW TREE feature documentary Team Kira Ackerman Director Monique Walton Chachi Hauser Producers Jolene Pinder Co Producer Meryl O Connor Editor Tanielma DaCosta Mekenzie Fanguy Annabelle Pavy Story Protagonists Three young women spend a year exploring the history of the Mississippi River in Louisiana For the first time they notice the river s engineering stumps of cypress trees and billowing smokestacks Their different perspectives weave together a new story about climate change and how they fit into it Planned completion summer 2021 JORDAN short narrative Team Ebony Blanding Director Writer Brandon Puncho Williams Phoebe Brown Co Producer Shayla Love Creative Strategist An adventurous young girl cares for an ailing mermaid only to discover she is not what she seems Planned completion summer 2021 NEVERGLADES 360 degree cyclorama Team Cristina Molina Director Katie Pfohl Curator Neverglades tells the little known history of ecofeminist activists who fought to preserve the Everglades one of the largest wetland landscapes in the United States from which Florida derives one third of its drinking water and which serves as a crucial barrier against coastal flooding Drawing connections between the two wetland territories I call home this project links South Florida and Southern Louisiana which share not only environmental likeness but also the same urgent threat from climate change Cristina Molina In production REPORT OUT US SOUTH APRIL 2021

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climatestorylabs org 7 RAZING LIBERTY SQUARE feature documentary Team Katja Esson Director Producer Ann Bennett Producer Julia Steele Allen Impact Producer Ronald Baez Miami Producer Jason Fitzroy Jeffers Consulting Producer Corinna Sager Consulting Producer Leigh Johnson Editor Ricardo Acosta Story Editor Hector David Rosales Director of Photography Chanda Dancy Shannon Sea Composers Razing Liberty Square is a feature length documentary addressing climate gentrification by following the redevelopment of a historic African American public housing project in Miami and its impact on long time residents Planned premier January 2022 REGENERATION OF LAND AND CULTURE short documentary Team Brooke Bierhaus Director Editor Anne Martin Impact Producer Quapaw Nation of Oklahoma communications department Quapaw Cattle Company Ancestral knowledge is deeply rooted in regenerative agriculture principles around the globe In Northeast Oklahoma the Quapaw Nation has utilized ancestral practices to reinvigorate the land and their identity Chairman Joseph T Byrd says it best The Buffalo are a symbol of our resilience as a people In production UNTITLED A BLACK FAMILY ORIGIN STORY ABOUT THE LEGACY OF RACISM AND PROMISE BASED IN NEW ORLEANS LA feature documentary Team Kaleia Martin Executive Producer Milik Robinson Sidney Wadsworth Co Directors Untitled is an honest compassionate microscope magnifying the connection between capitalism racism and the climate crisis by paralleling my own middle class Black family s origins with American history at large starting on a Louisiana sugar cane plantation going through integration in New Orleans and throughout the US and landing on today s realities This film will amplify the history and legacy of the 1930s 1940s New Deal legislation with a special focus on housing and education in order to expose the ever evolving systemic nature of racism that most Black people have had to endure in order to create America as it is currently constructed The timeline will conclude with a compelling invitation to join in with efforts across Southern communities and US communities at large to advocate for an opportunity to move towards healing our relationships with each other and the planet by supporting a revised Green New Deal policy platform Kaleia Martin In development REPORT OUT US SOUTH APRIL 2021

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climatestorylabs org 9 THEMES Climate Spotlight Projects Hollow Tree with panel feedback from Abigail Franks SCEN and Jeff Orlowski Exposure Labs Razing Liberty Square with panel feedback from Laura Benge Helen Keller National Center Max Steinman Exposure Labs and Lisa Osborne Black Public Media The morning session focused on key questions through the week goals of the lab and an introduction from the partners The afternoon session focused on a deeper dive into the intersectionality of the climate crisis with a discussion from climate organizers from across the region who are using stories and art in their climate work This included a panel discussion titled The South Got Something to Say with Nakisa Glover Founder and Executive Director of Sol Nation Lindsay Harper Arm in Arm National Core Support Team Coordinator at USCAN and Executive Director of Georgia WAND Education Fund Inc Reverend Michael Malcom Executive Director of Alabama Interfaith Power and Light and Founder of Martha s Corner Inc and The People s Justice Council Marilynn Marsh Robinson Partnerships and Alliances Manager at the Environmental Defense Fund Breakout sessions took place around the theme of Climate Touches All Issues and included smaller sessions focused around Faith Rev Dallas Conyers SCEN Youth Jorden Revels NC WARN Immigration Maria Revelles CHISPA Florida Housing Taylor Snider SMASH Miami Keynote provocations included Monique Verdin My Louisiana Love Rev Lennox Yearwood Jr Hip Hop Caucus We definitely got something to say Reverend Michael Malcom Alabama Interfaith Power and Light REPORT OUT US SOUTH APRIL 2021

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climatestorylabs org 10 KEY TAKEAWAYS I believe that it s important for the South to start telling these stories because as the South goes everything else goes if we can win the South we can win it all We ve seen that happen with the recent elections with Georgia and now we see that there s a fight to restrict that same liberty that was experienced Reverend Michael Malcom Alabama Interfaith Power and Light Long before it ever had a spotlight or a name communities in the South have been and still are living through environmental injustices Environmental justice isn t a lens for many Southerners it s a part of their experience Climate touches all issues from faith to housing to immigration to young lives and beyond therefore we must approach solutions with an intersectional lens Climate justice is racial justice and economic justice and housing justice and more When it comes to Southern storytelling there is no shortage of those qualified to tell a story The problem is that many populations are not seen People in power are more likely to have expertise deemed by society s standards higher education certificates or a specialized skill Because it is not society s or dominant cultures traditional reflection of expertise lived experience is often overlooked Story Lived Experiences Ebony Blanding Director and Writer of one of the Climate Story Lab s climate spotlight projects JORDAN remembers her lived experiences growing up Ebony recalls the first time she learned about environmental pollution growing up in East Atlanta Born an East Atlanta Grady Baby it wasn t until middle school that she recalled first learning about environmental pollution When she walked to school she would smell unusual smells so she asked a teacher What does this mean It was a Black male teacher who was the first person to ever explain to her what environmental pollution meant Thinking back to her grandma Ebony recalled her keeping all of her Tupperware and plastic bags that was the first person she ever saw recycle Story The Right Messenger Reverend Malcom environmental justice minister for the Southeast Conference of the United Church of Christ recalls when everything clicked It was during a conference he attended through his schooling that Reverend Dr Gerald Durley in the midst of his presentation and in no uncertain terms asked him How can I preach to them in the pulpit shout them and my abuse but they can t breathe in public Immediately Reverend Malcom started seeing the environmental injustices that were taking place around him from the toxic smells of the nearby waste dump where he grew up to the creek that ran by their house changing colors as chemicals were released They were things that affected the way he and his family lived the deemed value of their land utility costs the types of meals his parents had to decide to serve them It was connecting with Reverend Dr Gerald as a messenger that allowed him to see all of those injustices REPORT OUT US SOUTH APRIL 2021

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climatestorylabs org 11 KEY TAKEAWAYS Story The Cycle of Being Exposed Monique Verdin co producer of My But never once did we talk about the environment never once did we talk about climate and never once did we talk about the social ills that was causing us hell while we were here on Earth we were too busy trying to get to heaven Reverend Michael Malcom Alabama Interfaith Power and Light From the Southern perspective someone who can remember their grandma reminiscing to them the river wasn t that high when I was a kid holds a different more localized kind of valued expertise When it comes to expertise and those who have power it is important to identify the right messenger for the story being told and to let them speak In the South climate culture and history are often intrinsically intertwined By tapping into Southern storytellers as the ones to tell the stories about their region and not only listening to but hearing them as the qualified experts they are you re going to get a picture of climate change that has history that goes deep and that creates a connection Context is invaluable and the right messenger is critical When it comes to the climate crisis the South has no shortage of frontline communities Louisiana Love recounts that on the day that Hurricane Katrina was flooding her grandmother s house her grandmother who never wanted pictures said Take my picture I want people to know this happened to me Verdin recalls her grandmother who migrated to St Bernard Parish in the 1940s for work taking her to the place where she grew up and telling her This is not the place where I grew up Verdin s family are Houma Indian in Southeast Louisiana land that has been experiencing decades of environmental degradation with Hurricane Katrina and the BP oil leak being two examples of the latest In My Louisiana Love Verdin aimed to relate that these issues are not just her problem and they re not just her family s problem the decisions made were not made by her family or even on her family s behalf but they are the ones having to deal with the side effects She asks How do we remain and reclaim and how do we establish relationships If we are not talking about these issues in a way in which it speaks to the hearts and minds of people I think we miss an opportunity that continues us on the cycle of being exposed to the greatest of harms and the climate crisis Nakisa Glover Sol Nation The climate movement works to inform which is critically important but not to inspire Reverend Lennox Yearwood Jr Hip Hop Caucus REPORT OUT US SOUTH APRIL 2021

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climatestorylabs org 13 THEMES Climate Spotlight Projects Neverglades with panel feedback from Juan Carlos Zaldivar SwampScapes and Megan Koza Mitchell New Orleans Film Society Regeneration of Land and Culture with panel feedback from Greta Hagen Richardson Hot Springs Doc Film Festival Nick Price Reel South and Michael Premo Storyline The morning session focused on a grounding around the day s theme of power from Kim Pevia Director of the Lumbee Film Festival The afternoon session focused on how power gets wielded in the world of storytelling by first thinking about the power of storytellers and collaborators A session on protagonist stewardship was led by Ani Mercedes Impact Producer and Founder of Looky Looky Pictures This was followed by an impact and non extractive storytelling case study presented by Naila Jefferson looking at her film Vanishing Pearls After Naila s presentation there was a shift in examination to the larger system of storytelling at play by focusing on equitable access to resources and distribution and measuring success outside of traditional metrics A roundtable discussion on GateOpening included Kiyoko McCrae New Orleans Film Society Ani Mercedes Looky Looky Pictures Kayla Myers Indie Memphis Film Festival Moderated by Melinda Weekes Laidlow Beautiful Ventures REPORT OUT US SOUTH APRIL 2021

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climatestorylabs org 14 KEY TAKEAWAYS GROUNDING In the same way that oil is pumped from rich and thriving coastlines old growth forests logged soil degraded and coal and mountains stripped away the South gives not always with the just permission asked Change happens and giants do fall Kim Pevia Lumbee Film Festival In the South it s not just that people have experiences but entire communities do It s not that people show up to fight for what is right but entire communities do Activism in the South is nothing new Looking at preservation and regeneration in the South it spans generations Land in the South takes on a meaning unlike any other region in the United States The ability to be grounded has allowed many Southerners who have grown up lived and are living with layered hardships to accomplish connect and mobilize when it comes to taking on a giant For Kim Pevia to be grounded creates a wise relationship with the body it is an act of liberation and decolonization One of the easiest ways to ground oneself nature Resting grounding and self care is an important part of taking on giants We ve been taught to separate ourselves from our bodies and to live in our minds and a mind is a good thing it s a great servant but it s a terrible master grounding in the body gives the mind a place to rest Kim Pevia Lumbee Film Festival PROTAGONIST STEWARDSHIP The South as a region is plagued by extractive storytelling practices and viewed through a very narrow lens perpetuated by mainstream media When it comes to communities collaboration and reciprocity matters Nothing about us without us Ani Mercedes Looky Looky Pictures One practice in combating extractive storytelling is protagonist stewardship Ani Mercedes Impact Producer and Founder of Looky Looky Pictures defines a protagonist as someone real and personal who is allowing you into their personal life and to tell their story as it s unfolding this is someone who is different from an expert a fictional character or a passive subject Protagonist stewardship is the process of collaborating with the protagonist to proactively consider and plan for how the film and its rollout might impact their life Showing empathy reciprocity and solidarity with the protagonist are important part of the stewardship REPORT OUT US SOUTH APRIL 2021

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climatestorylabs org 15 KEY TAKEAWAYS Listening to your protagonists is a great way to identify impact and how you d like your film to be used GATE OPENING Solidarity with other people in the field can help us look outside of what distribution has looked like in the past it can be a way for us to collaboratively build a Southern way of filmmaking Kayla Myers Indie Memphis Film Festival When the right film is put in front of the right audience then it becomes impactful irrelevant of numbers and data Gatekeeping prevents this How can films have more impact Gate opening strives to reduce the gaps and inequities between a film and its audiences It s also reducing the gap between who knows what and who holds power when it comes to demystifying the film industry Traditionally power has been in the hands of distributors but the landscape today doesn t necessarily require a distributor to reach an audience The collective way that Southerners live and operate is specific to the region but that can be used as an advantage Engaging an audience outside of a top tier festival has the potential of having a more meaningful impact Stay with the story until the story is fully told Nailah Jefferson Vanishing Pearls Story Case Study Collaboration and Non extractive Storytelling in Action Through a friend Nailah was introduced to Mr Byron of Point a la Hache Louisiana Proud to have grown up in New Orleans about 40 minutes away from the area of her story she had never heard of the community of African American fishermen until the BP oil spill and meeting Mr Byron Nailah knew that their story needed to be told but it was extremely important to her that she told it the right way in hopes of giving them something powerful that they could use to fight another day and potentially save their community in the recovery process from the BP oil spill versus what could have been a memoriam of their community Vanishing Pearls was used as a reference in a lawsuit Mr Byron was going through and successfully got him more compensation he was not only able to recover after the oil spill but the money could also be spread back throughout the community That wouldn t have been possible if Nailah hadn t listened at the beginning Mr Byron could see ahead as she was just becoming familiar with the story People in the South are known for getting things done and doing so in their own way Progress and innovation can be attained by building relationships through collaboration and coordination where different approaches can lead to growth REPORT OUT US SOUTH APRIL 2021

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climatestorylabs org 16 KEY TAKEAWAYS Innovation always comes from the margins Melinda Weekes Laidlow Beautiful Ventures Virtual platforms along with new forms of distribution and access have disrupted the traditional way of doing things giving way to innovative opportunities for production and distribution Forced change brought about with the COVID 19 pandemic coupled with movement building has given way to a lot of rusted gates when it comes to gatekeeping in distribution When people use the term disruptive that s a flag that there s potential for innovation Ani Mercedes Looky Looky Pictures REPORT OUT US SOUTH APRIL 2021

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climatestorylabs org 18 THEMES Climate Spotlight Projects JORDAN with panel feedback from Zanagee Artis Zero Hour and Megha Agrawal Sood Doc Society Fenceline with panel feedback from Hannah Hearn Working Films Roger Sorkin American Resilience Project and Caroline Beaton Exposure Labs Untitled A Black Family Origin Story About the Legacy of Racism and Promise Based in New Orleans LA with panel feedback from Devon Dansky Samuel Rubin Young Entertainment Activists Julia Hoppock Exposure Labs The afternoon session focused on all things impact and a session from climate communication experts on types of messages and narratives that resonate Leading the session on Impact Campaigns 101 and covering the how tos and best practices of developing an impact campaign Hannah Hearn Working Films Andy Myers Working Films Following this session was a deeper dive into strategies and learnings that could be used to reach audiences effectively and to drive them to action This was led by Jack Zhou Climate Advocacy Lab In celebration of the South it s culture and replacing dominant narratives the closing session was a trivia game hosted by the fabulous drag duo from New Orleans Tarah Cards and Laveau Contraire REPORT OUT US SOUTH APRIL 2021

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climatestorylabs org 19 KEY TAKEAWAYS The role impact campaigns can play in the South is huge in getting audiences to invest in the narrative Impact campaigns have the opportunity to help others develop a mutual understanding of the world being laid out in front of them and are important in cutting through dominant narratives Dominant narratives can affect peoples perception of climate change versus the reality of climate change A great way to cut through that interference is to spotlight the ways that local climate impacts are already affecting the health lives and livelihoods of people throughout the South When approaching a story for impact Working Films suggests thinking about it through the following 8 elements Purpose Outcomes Audience Content Partnerships Timing Action and Evaluation Reaching the right audiences at the right time in the right locations with the right resources looks different for every project When thinking through communication around the climate crisis it s important to ground messages in local and personal impacts while making the connection clear that climate change is the cause Climate Advocacy Lab suggests the 5 following pillars for effective climate communications Audience Message Messenger Mode of Contact Ask The South has a unique position and arguably an obligation in being able to ask if there are any underlying narratives to challenge whether that be in the region itself or perceptions of the region this can be done by further asking yourself as the storyteller what voices do I want to center what should people know what should they feel and is there anything they should do Southern storytellers distinctively affect impact in two ways 1 They have more control over the region s narrative and 2 They connect with fellow Southerners on messages that resonate and are more hyper local focused REPORT OUT US SOUTH APRIL 2021

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climatestorylabs org 21 THEMES The morning session was an open discussion facilitated by Zandash Brown Artist Development Coordinator Programming Manager for the New Orleans Film Society This time was used to examine the role of storytelling in social change and how funding can impact that role within the overall ecosystem unpacking both opportunities and challenges storytellers face when approaching impact as a goal The afternoon session focused on educating philanthropy on the inequities of extractive storytelling and funding models and the benefit of investing in models that honor the leadership and voices of those most directly affected by climate change This panel discussion included Jon Sesrie Goff Ford Foundation Lauren Pabst MacArthur Foundation Dwayne Patterson Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation In a breakout session following the panel small groups were asked to discuss ways to reimagine reporting and measures of impact to include transformational not just transactional change REPORT OUT US SOUTH APRIL 2021

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climatestorylabs org 22 KEY TAKEAWAYS The new three R s Realize Redistribute and Redo the cycle Abigail Franks SCEN A recurring theme throughout the week that weaved into almost every conversation was funding While it appeared as a root cause to some problems and a distant enabler to others it also came up repeatedly as a place to be able to catalyze solutions There is a need for a reevaluation of who is qualified for the funds overly focusing on an established track record ignores the systemic reasons why someone might not be able to obtain that track record to begin with In order to achieve the transformational change at the scale needed to curb the climate crisis we must think beyond short term metrics based funding Funders should think holistically about long term even unrestricted funding to ensure storytellers and organizers have the resources to thrive While climate change presents an exponential and existential threat for communities in the South foundation grantmaking does not reflect that reality There is also a need for much deeper investment in regional art and cultural work One of the biggest issues with funding is defining where potential funders put value Funders tend to have interest in scale and numbers but with too strong of a focus on the quantitative and without context actual impact is lost Funding can feel transactional in comparison to collaborative or co created creators and funders can share power Distribution and granting of funds often has too many stipulations and not enough input from creators on miscellaneous expenses or what they might actually need to spend funds on funders should examine supporting the ecosystem as a whole REPORT OUT US SOUTH APRIL 2021

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climatestorylabs org 23 CONCLUSION Our vision to partner with local stakeholders in the Southern region of the United States by co designing an initiative that aimed to inspire and activate a regional cohort of storytellers climate organizing groups and climate experts interested in using stories from their region to reach and engage diverse audiences around climate action came together over this week of collaboration Storytellers protagonists organizers funders and more can all work together to fill in the gaps needed to communicate connect and shift the narrative around climate change Filling in these gaps can not only have a local impact but that momentum can also build towards larger scale social and policy change and a larger more intersectional movement We hope that this is just the beginning of more regional collaborations building a movement and ecosystem that will lend to long term regional investment and sustained collective power while shifting the narrative and culture around climate change and crafting innovative and additive approaches to create lasting impact Thank you to our partners the project teams and all of the inspiring participants who showed up throughout the week we really appreciate you climatestorylabs org REPORT OUT US SOUTH APRIL 2021

CSL Report Out: 2020

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