June 21, 2024

Kelsey Munro & Claudia Karvan: Climate Storylines In BUMP Season 4

Kelsey Munro and Claudia Karvan discuss their journey of introducing climate storylines into season 4 of the acclaimed Stan series - BUMP.

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BUMP co-creators Kelsey and Claudia sat down with SSA's Tessa de Josselin to share why they acknowledged climate change in season four and how they went about tackling a tricky subject on-screen.

For Claudia, the turning point was attending Groundswell Giving's climate fellowship on Heron Island along with Tessa, where she learnt her biggest superpower as a storyteller is to talk about the issue with hope.

The pair also discuss the reception they received from audiences and networks and the fun they had incorporating this new element into character arcs and storylines!

  • Humour is a great tool when showcasing complex topics like climate and helps avoid didactic narratives.
  • Introducing climate into a character's arc can be fun, makes a character more relatable and opens up new storylines.
  • Climate storylines are not a commercial disaster! BUMP 4 was well received by audiences, crew members and streaming partners.
  • Research is key. Kelsey and Claudia chose to keep a folder of climate articles/fodder to refer to for inclusion into dialogue or storylines.
  • Kelsey and Claudia hope BUMP S4 has paved the way for other storytellers to include climate. For them, it will now always be an inclusion in other scripts moving forward.

Curious how you can incorporate climate into your content?

Join our free online workshop - Sustainability On Screen!

As storytellers, our creative voices are uniquely placed to inspire audiences globally. Whether it's through characters, themes or the story itself, sustainable actions that feature on screen have the power to influence positive behaviours off screen. And it doesn't need to be dry or boring! 

This workshop will show you simple and fun strategies, ideas and approaches you can bring to your own genre of work. You'll even develop your own climate lens to appraise content by. 

Writers, script departments, development teams, producers, directors, actors, designers and editors - this workshop is for you!

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