Press ReleasesMaking it Cool: Internews Helps Produce Climate Change Series for MTV ViewersSeries to Reach Global Youth On Air, Online via MTV SWITCH Campaign(London, 10 September) Half a billion MTV viewers around the world will be able to meet five dynamic young innovators in the race to combat global climate change, thanks to a lively and inspiring new series of short films called Element. Produced with the support of Internews, the Element series anchors a new package of films and public service announcements (PSAs) launched today by MTV Networks International as part of its global climate change campaign, MTV Switch. The Element series will be made available to MTV’s global network of 165 local TV channels in 162 countries, with a potential audience of 560 million viewers. Five new Element films will be presented to the MTV global audience of 15-25 year olds alongside cutting-edge PSAs on global warming, fresh from a stable of top European and US creative agencies. The PSAs and Element films are available online at MTV Switch and Element TV. “In Element, we’ve worked to confront both the skeptics who think that climate change is just too big to tackle – and those who hope that just changing their light bulbs is enough,” said Mark Harvey, Internews Europe’s Head of Development, who with Emily McDowell is the co-founder and co-producer of Element. He added, “Our five characters are from a new generation of climate activists who will connect with young people looking for those who embody lifestyle change, rather than preach about it.” Internews helped the lead producer of Element, London-based Television Trust for the Environment (TVE), to finance the series and identify outstanding individuals who would have credibility with the MTV audience and help expose the films to audiences beyond MTV viewers. For over a year Internews has worked with TVE and the Element Partnership to scour the globe from Rio to Tehran to find young people who are reacting in very different ways – through their design brilliance, entrepreneurial spirit and web savvy – to the challenges of global warming. In the five-minute pieces in the new Element series, viewers can follow the stories of five young individuals who are tackling global warming head-on: Harsha, who won the Australian Young Designer of the Year award for an almost fossil fuel-free, bio-plastic molded car; Bremley, who is fighting deforestation and desertification in his native Northeast India; Courtney, an American living in Oxford, England who manages carbon offsetting projects around the world; Igor, a Brazilian whose urban food gardens are slowly spreading across Rio de Janeiro; and Sepehr, named Iran’s Best Environmental Blogger. The films will reach global TV and Internet audiences just as the UN is convening vital international negotiations in the run-up to the Copenhagen Climate Summit in 2009. Satinder Bindra, Director of Communications for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), said, “UNEP commends the MTV SWITCH campaign for commissioning programming that so effectively combines entertainment and real world examples of youth engagement in climate change. It is fascinating to see how many of the young Element entrepreneurs already have their feet firmly in the new carbon economy that UNEP is promoting.” Internews works to improve coverage of environmental issues in the developing world through its Earth Journalism Network. At last year’s UN conference on climate change in Bali, Internews helped produce a forthcoming film for the Element series that features the attempt of a young American journalist, Jeff, to pioneer climate change teleconferencing on the Second Life virtual reality platform. Internews plans to present the film to negotiators and policymakers at the next international climate talks in Poznan, Poland in December. MTV Switch is the first youth-focused, global, multi-platform campaign created to help slow down the acceleration of global warming. Element Partnership is a non-profit media production company that focuses on reaching young people with information and initiatives on social change and global challenges such as poverty and climate change. It develops its programmes in close partnership with TVE and Internews. The Element Climate Change Series is a co-production of the Element Partnership and TVE, made with the support of Internews, the European Commission EuropeAid Cooperation Office, Oxfam Novib and the Com + Alliance of Communicators for Sustainable Development that includes UNEP, the World Bank and the Reuters Foundation. CONTACT : Mark Harvey, mb + 44 7703 180 524 |
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