The 33rd Annual Environmental Media Association (EMA) Awards has celebrated an exceptional year in climate and environmental storytelling.
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After being postponed due to the American actors’ union SAG-AFTRA strike, the Environmental Media Association (EMA) Awards ceremony took place on January 27, 2024, throwing a spotlight on the productions that are building a better world on and off screen.
Hosted by EMA executive co-chair Lance Bass, the gala took place at Sunset Las Palmas Studios in Los Angeles.
Laura Dern received the prestigious EMA Ongoing Commitment Award for her tireless activism, including her work on Common Ground – a documentary about soil degradation shedding a light on sustainable agricultural practices, the highly anticipated follow up to Kiss The Ground, and winner of the EMA’s Best Documentary for 2023.
In an impassioned speech, Dern called for bridge building to inspire more Americans to join the climate fight. She urged the left to be less “elitist” and stop alienating supporters of the “Make America Great Again” movement (also known as MAGA movement) by calling them “stupid.”
Dern pointed to research that suggested that, for conservative voters, elections come down to an uninspiring choice: “The Republican was a jerk. The Democrat was an elitist, and at least the jerk never made me feel dumb,” she parroted before suggesting that, to create change, we need to focus more on inspiring positive change and less on “scolding.”
Dern also proposed a new language for inspiring climate action and engagement: “Let’s consider talking less perhaps about climate change – which I think scares the hell out of people – and talk more about climate rescue, a vision of our future that offers a plan,” she said. “Let’s invite everyone into this space … Let’s see all of us not as heroes or villains, but as a community standing together fighting for what’s right.”
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Echoing the core themes of Common Ground, she added, “We all can together change what we buy, what industries we support or squash, what we watch and what we feed our children. We have the power together to save it all. After all, it’s not rocket science. The soil and the ocean already have the answers to save us.”
The winner for best film went to James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water, which is currently the third-highest grossing film of all time. Its success follows on from the 2009 movie Avatar, currently the highest grossing film of all time.
The winner for Best Episodic Drama went to American anthology miniseries Extrapolations’ episode titled Whale Fall. Set in 2046, the breakthrough episode was written and produced by Scott Burns, the series creator most well recognised for producing Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth. The deeply moving cautionary tale stars Sienna Miller and features Meryl Streep as the artificial intelligence (AI) voice of the world’s last humpback whale.
Best Documentary Series went to Marvel’s Iron Man and Founder of The Footprint Coalition, Robert Downey Jr. for his production of Downey’s Dream Cars, a series that follows a team of experts restore six classic cars from the actor’s own collection to make them more eco-friendly..
The award for Best Comedy was awarded to Unstable, the Netflix series produced by and starring Rob Lowe and his son John Owen Lowe, while the Best Reality Series was dished out to What Am I Eating? With Zooey Deschanel, a series reflecting on and questioning the health impact of the food we eat.
Green Seal recipients were lauded for their continuing commitment to sustainability behind the scenes, and the celebration featured performances and appearances by Sheryl Crow, Nikki Reed, Ian Somerhalder, and Fire Drill Friday’s Jane Fonder.
The EMA will now turn their attention to their annual Impact Summit, with information to be released in the second half of the year.
Full List of 2023 EMA Award Winners:
- Feature Film: Avatar “The Way of Water”- Walt Disney Studios /Lightstorm Entertainment
- Documentary Film: Common Ground – Big Picture Ranch
- Documentary series: Downey’s Dream Cars “Electric Stingray”– Max in association with Boat Rocker’s Matador Content and Team Downey
- Paul Junger Witt Comedy Award: Unstable “Unstable” –NETFLIX
- Television Episodic Drama: Extrapolations “Whale Fall” – APPLE TV+
- Reality Television: What Am I Eating? With Zooey Deschanel “Stop Ghosting Greens”- Max in association with ATTN, a Candle Media Company
- Variety Television: Monumental “Ellie Goulding at Kew Gardens” – Amazon Studios, Freevee
- Children Television: Jane “Apis Mellifera” – Sinking Ship Entertainment in association with Apple
Featured image: The Environmental Media Association
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