Rewrite the Future
Partnering with Hollywood to tell the story of climate change.
Storytellers are leading the way by creating award-winning film and television content that’s reflecting environmental issues and resonating with audiences worldwide. | A project of the Sustainable Entertainment Alliance | Produced by NRDC's Rewrite the Future | Narrated by Meryl Streep | Music by Coldplay
Produced by the Sustainable Entertainment Alliance and NRDC’s Rewrite the Future
Narrated by Meryl Streep
Music: “Adventure of a Lifetime” by Coldplay
With support from Producers Guild of America Foundation
Special thanks to Todd Levin, Lisa Whiteman & Christopher Johnson
Clearances/Guilds by Jonathan Handel, Feig/Finkel
Reel Production by Zealot:
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Editors: April Gafni, Claire Healey
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Sr. Producer: Addy Morrison
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Creative Director: Charlotte Phillips
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SVP, TV & Streaming: Rich Mele
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Graphics Designer: Phillip Parrish
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Sound Engineer: Brett Graves
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Music Supervisor: Natalie Wali
Clearances provided by Cleared by Ashley, Inc./Ashley Kravitz
Footage from “3 Body Problem,” courtesy of Netflix Media, LLC
Footage from “30 Rock,” courtesy of Universal Television LLC
Footage from “Abbott Elementary,” courtesy of Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
Footage from “Anchorman,” courtesy of Paramount Pictures
Footage from “Aquaman,” courtesy of Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
Footage from “Avatar,” courtesy of 20th Century Studios, Inc.
Footage from “Avatar: The Way of Water,” courtesy of 20th Century Studios, Inc.
Footage from “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” courtesy of 20th Century Studios, Inc. and Cinereach Productions, LLC
Footage from “Beatriz at Dinner,” courtesy of Roadside Attractions LLC. & Lions Gate Films Inc.
Footage from “Big Little Lies,” courtesy of Home Box Office, Inc.
Footage from “Biggest Little Farm”, courtesy of NEON Rated, LLC
Footage from “Black Panther,” courtesy of MVL Productions, LLC
Footage from “Boy Who Harnessed the Wind,” courtesy of Netflix Media, LLC
Footage from “Breaking Boundaries: The Science of Our Planet,” courtesy of Netflix Media, LLC
Footage from “The Climb,” courtesy of Home Box Office, Inc.
Footage from “The Crown," courtesy of Netflix Media, LLC
Footage from “David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet,” courtesy of Netflix Media, LLC
Footage from “Day After Tomorrow,” courtesy of 20th Century Studios, Inc.
Footage from “Deepwater Horizon,” courtesy of Lions Gate Films Inc.
Footage from “Don’t Look Up,” courtesy of Netflix Media, LLC
Footage from “Dune,” courtesy of Legendary Entertainment
Footage from “The End Is Nye,” courtesy of Universal Television LLC
Footage from “Extrapolations,” courtesy of Media Res Studio
Footage from “Free Willy,” courtesy of Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
Footage from “Get Out,” courtesy of Universal Studios Licensing LLC
Footage from “The Good Place,” courtesy of Universal Television LLC
Footage from “Interstellar,” courtesy of Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
Footage from “Jurassic World: Dominion,” courtesy of Universal Studios Licensing LLC
Footage from “The Last of Us,” courtesy of Home Box Office, Inc.
Footage from “The Lego Movie," courtesy of Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
Footage from “Mad Max: Fury Road,” courtesy of Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
Footage from “Moana," courtesy of Disney Enterprises, Inc.
Footage from “My Octopus Teacher,” courtesy of Netflix Media, LLC
Footage from “Nomadland,” courtesy of 20th Century Studios, Inc.
Footage from “The Office,” courtesy of Universal Television LLC
Footage from “Okja,” courtesy of Netflix Media, LLC
Footage from “Outer Banks,” courtesy of Netflix Media, LLC
Footage from “Parasite,” courtesy of NEON Rated, LLC
Footage from “Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway," courtesy of Columbia Pictures
Footage from “Red Notice,” courtesy of Netflix Media, LLC
Footage from “Ted Lasso,” courtesy of Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
Footage from “WALL-E,” courtesy of Disney Enterprises, Inc. and Pixar Animation Studios
Footage from “Wednesday,” courtesy of Netflix Media, LLC
What we do
Rewrite the Future leverages NRDC’s deep environmental expertise to support creators in telling entertaining stories that reflect our climate-altered world and the path toward a better future.
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Consult on film and TV projects, bringing the insight of NRDC’s hundreds of environmental experts to content across genres
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Host workshops and presentations about representing climate and environmental topics onscreen
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Encourage new voices through NRDC’s Climate Storytelling Fellowship, in collaboration with the Black List, CAA Foundation, NBCUniversal, and the Redford Center
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Lead public discussions about climate representation at the Sundance Film Festival, the Hollywood Climate Summit, the Television Academy Foundation, and elsewhere
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Advise entertainment companies on integrating climate content into their sustainability strategies
Watch Rewrite the Future Events
Hollywood Climate Summit 2024: Infinite Possibilities
In this conversation, Dorthy Fortenberry and Roxane Gay explored climate change and world building, how entertainment can shift cultural narratives, and the importance of mentoring new voices.
Sundance 2024: The Last Laugh
“The Last Laugh: Comedy in the Age of Climate Change," featuring Quinta Brunson and Mike Schur, explored how to tackle tough topics through comedy, why laughter is the best medicine, and how climate change can unlock creative opportunities.
Sundance 2023: The Big Picture
“The Big Picture: Representing Our Climate-Altered World On-Screen” brought together a panel of Hollywood professionals to discuss creative strategies for representing climate in film and on TV. Watch the video of NRDC’s virtual panel at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival.
Hollywood Climate Summit 2023: Justice in the Way Forward
This panel highlighted the essential role storytellers play in imagining a way forward for humanity that doesn’t perpetuate and uphold the unsustainable extractive systems that got us here in the first place.
Sundance 2022: More Than a Feeling
“More Than a Feeling: Climate Emotions in Film & TV” brought together a panel of Hollywood storytellers and mental health experts to discuss how to represent climate emotions in entertainment to better reflect our lived responses to the crisis. Watch the video of NRDC’s virtual panel at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival.
Sundance 2021: Beyond Apocalypse
“Beyond Apocalypse: Alternative Climate Futures in Film and TV” gathered filmmakers and climate leaders to discuss how entertainment stories can help us see, feel, and build the climate future we want. Watch the video of NRDC’s virtual panel at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival.
Climate change represents a tremendous creative opportunity for storytellers. NRDC’s website has information about a wide array of climate and environmental topics.
Rewrite the Future works closely with the Entertainment Partnerships team at NRDC, which uses pop culture, entertainment, art, and storytelling to shift the cultural narrative around our environmental crisis.
“It’s really exciting when storytelling can resonate with the greatest issue of our time. There can be no greater focus than saving our home.”
Laura Dern, actor, in Variety, "Is Hollywood Doing Enough to Fight the Climate Crisis?"
Submit Your Screenplay to the NRDC Climate Storytelling Fellowship
NRDC’s Rewrite the Future, in partnership with the Black List, CAA Foundation, NBCUniversal, and the Redford Center, invites writers to apply for the NRDC Climate Storytelling Fellowship, now open for submissions.
The annual fellowship encourages climate storytelling by supporting the revision of screenplays or pilots that engage with climate change in a meaningful way, through events, actions, character, emotions, plot, and/or setting.
The fellowship awards three recipients with $20,000 each and six months of mentorship with industry professionals and climate storytelling experts to provide creative support for their original script. At the conclusion of the fellowship, revised scripts will be hosted on the Black List website and may be reviewed for development by prominent studios, agencies, and/or production companies. Writers will retain all rights to their scripts.
The 2026 fellowship cycle is now open for submissions through November 28, 2025. Reach out to rewritethefuture@nrdc.org with any questions.
For additional storytelling resources, visit