“Don't Look Up' director Adam McKay is donating $4 million to fund activists engaged in the climate fight.
The Climate Emergency Fund has awarded $7 million to organizations supporting mostly volunteer climate activists around the globe. Those activists have done everything from marching in the streets of France to urge people to “look up” — a reference to McKay’s film — to demonstrating on the water near West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin’s boat about the need for federal climate legislation.
The fund’s goal is to provide a bridge for more traditional wealthy donors with activists looking to make a statement — two groups that don’t always see eye to eye, said Margaret Klein Salamon, the fund’s executive director and a clinical psychologist.,” Salamon said it was an “important psychological, cultural intervention” that put the stakes of the climate fight on stark display.
McKay, for his part, said he’s hesitant to attribute any direct action to his movie. But he sees both film and disruptive protest as actions that change culture, which can be a major step toward influencing policy. The film, he said, sparked an incredible reaction around the globe from ordinary viewers and scientists who have been fighting for climate action for decades.“It was really beautiful to see people who have been fighting this fight for much longer than me really feel seen,” he said.
McKay, 54, started his career in comedy writing and became known for movies like “Anchorman” and “Step Brothers.” In recent years, his work has taken on a more political tone, though it’s still in the realm of comedy — if dark.