Adam McKay. Credit: Emma McIntyre Adam McKay is the Academy Award-winning screenwriter and director behind hit movies such as Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, The Big Short , Vice and Don’t Look Up . His producer credits include Daddy’s Home and the universally acclaimed TV series Succession . In 2023, McKay established Yellow Dot Studios , a “non-profit production studio to raise awareness and mobilise action on the climate emergency”. He is also a board member of the Climate Emergency Fund , which “plays a critical role by funding disruptive climate movements”. Carbon Brief’s editor Leo Hickman discussed a wide range of climate-related topics with McKay including the “Great Silence”, James Lovelock, Elon Musk, Kamala Harris vs Donald Trump and his love of the 1957 movie, The Bridge on the River Kwai. CarbonBrief · The Carbon Brief Interview: Adam McKay On why storytellers are avoiding climate change : “I think culture is a byproduct of economy and self-interest.” On being mocked for his climate views : “It’s such a preposterously dynamic and large problem that we’re dealing with. When you really say it in even hard scientific terms, it sounds like you’re a crazy person.” On the “Big Silence” : “I think the combination of the collective agreement necessary to drive our economy, which is more and more becoming a consumer economy, the sense of identity, community and culture necessary to keep that economy afloat, mixed with the threat of mockery, has silenced a lot of big voices.” On why so few artists act on climate change : “I think we don’t fully appreciate how much that money makes life pleasant and shock-free. So a lot of these [entertainment] people really don’t want to talk about the nitty-gritty reality of the waters we’re sailing into simply because it […]