For his next trick, Adam McKay, the writer-director-actor-producer (and well-known climate activist) behind smash hits like "The Big Short", "Don't Look Up", "Succession", and "Anchorman" has... launched a non-profit studio focused on climate advocacy?
Yup. The former head writer of SNL with a list of production and writing credits on a string of comedy hits too long to list is putting his production and writing chops to work for climate advocacy.
As McKay writes in a statement introducing his new non-profit production studio, Yellow Dot Studios, "the biggest obstacle to solving [carbon pollution] isn't the science. It's the BS oil companies have blasted us with for decades to create confusion and delay... Yellow Dot is an anti-bullshit media studio."
The goal of Yellow Dot, in the words of its founder, is to "combat, correct and challenge decades of disinformation pushed by oil companies, and amplified by the politicians in their pocket."
The studio is taking requests too.
"Do you need something? A video, a documentary team, graphics, billboards, a foot rub? Just ask," McKay wrote.
McKay and his collaborators including, executive director Staci Roberts-Steele; science advisor, Ayana Elizabeth Johnson; executive producer Anna Wenger; and head of digital and engagement, Elijah Zarlin, are all trying to change the conversation and counteract the mass of misinformation coming from oil companies and their supporters.
"We’ll use creativity, humor, and the vast well of artistic talent around us, to empower more people to be part of a bullshit-free conversation about what we’re facing and what we can do about it. Urgency, scale, and clarity are words we like," McKay wrote. "We also like the word 'corduroy' but that is not relevant to this subject."
McKay named the company Yellow Dot in a nod to the cause of, and solution to, the climate crisis we're facing.
For McKay, the yellow dot of the sun is part of the problem because its heat is being trapped by pollution from fossil fuel use. But in rolling out solar energy, the sun can also be a solution.
"We are here to make life healthier and safer for people, and to serve all who support that goal, including organizations, scientists, and activists all over the planet," McKay wrote.