Adam McKay has launched the non-profit Yellow Dot Studios to make videos and other materials aimed at raising public understanding of the climate emergency and related issues, following the viral success of his spoof Chevron ad last September that had over 4.5million views in 24 hours alone. McKay and his Yellow Dot team will produce quick-turnaround videos, memes and media that is in step with the increasing urgency of the climate crisis.
Yellow Dot Studios has also released debut video, ‘Money: The kind of money that’s unregulated, gathers by the billions, causes inaction to the climate crisis, bank collapses and an unaffordable life for large portions of the planet. Enjoy!’
Commercial For Big Money, which along with the first number of videos to be released in the coming months, were written before the start of the WGA strike, and is available with Spanish subtitles.
“The climate is changing much faster than large swathes of our media are telling us, and there is no time to waste,” says McKay. “Oil companies’ horrible and destructive disinformation created decades of delay in dealing with climate breakdown. Yellow Dot’s goal is to push back, whether that’s through in-house videos, or videos for climate orgs and activist groups, to help get people involved and activated at a rapid pace.”
Financed by climate philanthropists and donors, Yellow Dot Studios will draw upon a pool of creatives to reach new audiences, spanning the political divide. The aim is to create entertaining, memorable, and scientifically accurate short videos, commercials, memes and print advertising to help drive public knowledge and urgency, shine a light on the polluters and politicians as well as scientifically proven solutions. While some of the content will originate from the Yellow Dot team, the studio will also take on commission work with worldwide organizations and donors to help amplify their specific missions.
Staci Roberts-Steele will serve as Managing Director. Most recently, Roberts-Steele worked as a production executive at Hyperobject Industries and was a co-producer on Don’t Look Up. In addition, she produced recent climate videos under McKay’s Hyperobject Industries banner, including the spoof Chevron ad. Roberts-Steele also produced an ExxonKnew video for Stop The Oil Profiteering (STOP) of Darth Vader praising Exxon for their dastardly plot to slow-cook Planet Earth, upon receiving devastating scientific research in the 1970s that clearly showed the impact on the climate. Roberts-Steele will produce all content.
Five-time Emmy-nominated producer Anna Wenger, who also produced the ExxonKnew Darth Vader will work alongside Roberts-Steele as a producer. Most recently, Wenger completed a stint as show runner of CBS’s educational women’s STEM series Mission Unstoppable.
Dr. Ayana Johnson, a scientist who advises on climate policy, and is co-creator of the think tank Urban Ocean Lab, the podcast How to Save a Planet, and the anthology All We Can Save will serve on the Yellow Dot board. David Fenton will act as a senior advisor. For decades, Fenton worked with climate scientists and NGOs at his former PR and Advertising agency, Fenton Communications, and penned The Activist’s Media Handbook: Lessons from 50 Years as a Progressive Agitator.