Could you explain a little about how you got into the work that you're now doing around climate-focused documentaries?
I've been making documentaries for about 20 years and I have a background in making science documentaries. So I was always in that field and I was always interested in if and how we could use TV to try and help bring the issue of climate change to people's attention. Then I got approached by the BBC and it was just amazing when they said they were gonna put climate change on BBC One. It was hugely uplifting to know that the BBC was going to do that at that point, because not many people were really talking about it. Climate communication comes in waves.
We had this kind of amazing synergy where Climate Change: The Facts got commissioned and then, just as it was being broadcast, Extinction Rebellion was taking off, as well as Greta Thunberg’s school strikes. It was an incredibly brilliant commission. I love BBC Four and all of that, but for it to be front and centre on BBC One was just the dream job.
It doesn't get much bigger than primetime, BBC One, Attenborough. People are going to watch it.
Interestingly, they didn't know whether people would. Still. Even when we were in the edit, it was seen as a gamble. Even though we had Attenborough, there'd been a time when people just didn't want to talk about climate change. And then it got a really big audience. I don't know exactly how big, but everyone was thrilled. It's all about timing with those things as well. Is the audience going to have the appetite to watch something that was quite challenging? And we got a few reviews that were like: “It's a hard, hard watch.”
It went through several iterations, as all those films do. At one point it was very, very sciencey. But our team knew we couldn't just do that science without actually trying to look at where the true responsibility lies. How do we hold those who need to be held accountable, accountable? So within the realms of it being a science commission and an Attenborough commission, our big mission was not to just make one of those films that talks about the weather but never actually gets to the bottom of it.
And also, not to blame everyday people for everything. That's where you need to really get the balance right and look at where actually responsibility does lie. Because if you just make people feel guilty, they're not going to watch something.
I think one of the things the film does really well is contextualising things that can be quite abstract. So, to the average person on the street, the difference between 1.5 degrees and two degrees is half a degree. But there's the bit with the coastal community in Louisiana that is already being displaced and stuff about the genuine human impact. It’s necessary to make it, as much as it is very science-y, accessible as well – which it has to be for a primetime, BBC One audience.
And then it's about entertainment ultimately as well, isn't it? As communicators, we have to make sure that we don't just preach within the little bubble. You've got to apply all of the same rigorous storytelling and craft to this issue that you would to something else.
That’s one of the things I’m trying to get at with this project. If you're a sane person, the science is settled now and there's no two ways about that. So now it's about convincing people about the things we need to actively do. So I wanted to ask more broadly about the role that you think art can play in that next step?
That is a really interesting thing because the science is settled, but I spent a year replying to complaints from climate deniers in 2019. They just won't give up and swamp you with letters and complaints that they try to escalate through the BBC system, all organised online. I think that has actually got worse since then.
But to answer your question, how do we make sure that this is seen as something that isn't a niche problem for people on one side of the political spectrum? Arts can go either way with that and how we handle it can go either way. It's not a political problem. We have this issue, and one way or another we need to sort it out. It’s practical. That is where art can be a kind of bridge to bring people together and that's where the Attenborough stuff is just so fantastic. With his involvement, you do manage to make it not political. As communicators, we need to be aware of that and aware that there is another side of people that don't share our views.
It's very easy, if you're a creative person in certain industries, to not be able to relate to other people out of your bubble. So I think the most interesting thing we can do as creatives is to find those ways to appeal to people so we're not preaching to the converted. Do you know what I mean? There's no point in us all having a conversation constantly within a bubble. How do we find art that pierces that and finds a new audience? That's what I'd be really interested to see from the young generation of new artists coming through so we're not just banging the same drum. We're somehow finding a new way.
Serena Davies directed the David Attenborough documentary Climate Change: The Facts
(Credit: BBC)
That’s the genius of every Attenborough programme I've ever seen. Even the ones that don't have climate change in the headline of the show, he's always put climate change at the heart of it. I'm not sure there's a single person who's done more for mainstream viewpoints on the climate crisis than Attenborough. When he puts a programme out, it goes in every broadsheet newspaper and every tabloid newspaper. There's even a segment on Gogglebox talking about it every time one of his shows goes out. The reach is unrivalled.
I completely agree and he is still working so hard and still willing to do all of this. That's what I find incredible. His output is amazing. He does have that broad cut-through.
The amazing thing about working with him was that it's exactly how you would hope it would be. He’s obviously amazingly well-informed and charming to everyone on location because he was a filmmaker himself, so he understands being in the field. Everyone's on their A-game when you're filming with him. But he's very funny and, as you say, completely unrivalled in his ability to bring those stories to life. He's a master storyteller, from his natural history storytelling to then being able to bring that to hardcore and often really complicated issues.
Who are those next people that are coming through and have that voice? You think about the power that influencers have and stuff. There’s Greta, obviously, but come on, then, somebody step up. Use your voice to do something about this. Where is this figure gonna come from? I'm always trying to get stuff commissioned about climate change and it's very, very hard. We need to, as artists and creatives, find new ways of communicating this. That's where I really hope that young creatives can do that. I grew up making Horizon and those old science strands. We need to find new, cool ways of doing stuff and then we need to use that power of those people that have influential voices online. Can't we tap into that somehow, and why do we not?
I think the climate discussion suffers around the fact that it's so rarely seen as a live issue. It's just this constant ongoing thing above all of our heads. It never has a moment in the spotlight.
Yeah, although weirdly I think the tragedy is that now, more than ever, we are seeing it. It was always a future problem, but it isn't anymore. Then the critical thing is how do you talk about it without people switching off? How do we not just do doom and gloom? So much has been on personal responsibility and people have shied away from actually grasping the nettle of who is responsible and should be held accountable? If we can do that, we can take people with us. It's all to do with regulation and capitalism and the rest of all of that stuff. If people think they're going to be lectured personally about how much meat they eat or those things, then it's kind of off-putting. How do we hold power to account rather than trying to make this about the little people? It's too easy to blame the little people.
We made Climate Change: The Facts, then Extinction: The Facts, and we really wanted to make another one. There was a conversation around whether to make a film about “what can we do?”. That became really tricky, because how do you fill an hour without going “oh my god, it's footage of someone insulating their roof”? The stuff that we have to do doesn't make amazing TV.
I do think that is the challenge: what is the next story? I think there is some really interesting new science around tipping points and stuff, but it’s very dense and complicated. You do have to be really rigorous in your research and what you're saying, because otherwise someone will try and pull it down.
In terms of trajectory, do you think we're in any better state regarding climate communications now than we were five years ago when you made this, or even five years before that?
I have to say that we thought we were on the crest of a wave that would continue, and it just hasn't. I find it deeply depressing that the wave of activism and buzz just disappeared, didn't it? There was all that hope after the pandemic that somehow we were going to see the light. I think actually it's worse. You think about COP. You think about Paris. That was a big deal in 2015, but when did we even have a COP that got that kind of attention? I think of all of those people and organisations with vested interests. They're just laughing. They got away with it. They totally got away with it. Now we've got a climate denier elected into the White House today. We've taken a massive step backwards.
David Attenborough documentary Extinction: The Facts explored our impact on nature
(Credit: BBC)
It's a shame, because it feels in some ways like the messaging does hit. But it's quite transient, like it goes straight out. I was watching your films and the bits that really resonate are the bits that are about humanity or about animals and things, because we care about animals, as all of Attenborough's work shows. How do you make that messaging stick and translate into action?
That's exactly it. That's exactly the problem. People talk a lot about impact films, don't they? That's the missing link. The one thing that I would do differently now, and I think is really important for people trying to do this kind of stuff, is if you're gonna do something that's gonna make a splash, then you need to equip people with action points. Our film went out on BBC One, but then what could people actively do having watched it? I would make sure that I had that next bit in place, so that you’re capitalising.
We've touched on this next answer in that conversation, but what would be your advice for anyone hoping to make art about the climate crisis and to get their message out there?
Don't be shy and don't just do something wishy-washy if you have an opportunity to talk about it. Do it, but make sure you get someone on the hook as well. How do we attach a sense of someone being held accountable to the stuff we put out there?
That's it. I think sometimes even brilliant art about the climate crisis is sort of angry, but in quite a generalised way.
Yes, ungrounded. That's where I think it then gets a reputation and people can dismiss it as tree-huggy and wishy-washy. If you are going to say something, make sure you're not just saying it within your own little bubble. You've got to give it an extra layer. So yes, it's fine to be an artist and believe in it, but when you're talking about something so important, how do we also give it that extra layer? Or is that not art’s place?
That's why I think the challenge would be to just make something completely original. Who's going to be the person to do that? That's what I'd say to your amazing young creatives. Find a different way of talking about it.
Climate Change: The Facts and Extinction: The Facts are on BBC iPlayer. For more of Serena's work, check out Talesmith TV.
0 Comments