Documentary Web Series, “Spotlight California” Uses Comedy to Highlight Environmental Injustices
by Megan Rummler, The Laughter Effect
California is a paradox — on the one hand, a physically beautiful landscape and great wealth, but on the other, poverty and environmental challenges. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, California is both the wealthiest state and simultaneously holds the highest poverty rate in the nation at 20.6 percent. Roughly a quarter of Californians live in poverty. Nine million California residents live vastly different economic and environmental realities.
A recent example of this duality involves the former Exide Technologies Battery Recycling Facility, located in Vernon, California. For decades the Vernon plant melted down old car batteries and released harmful toxic chemicals into the air, including lead, benzene, and 1,3-butadiene, according to a report from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. Thirty-three years after the creation of the plant, the state has found and reported elevated lead levels in the soil of thousands of residential properties near the plant. An estimated 100,000 people are reportedly impacted. Presently, California’s Department of Toxic Substances Control plans to begin removing lead-tainted soil from 2,500 residential properties. The cleanup, which spans seven Los Angeles neighborhoods, has been referred to as the largest of its kind in California history. Exide agreed to close the facility permanently in March 2015 to avoid federal criminal charges.
Americans are not agnostic about the need for clean-up in the face of environmental contamination, however. A 2016 Pew Research Center survey found that an estimated three-quarters of U.S. adults (74%) believe “the country should do whatever it takes to protect the environment.” And yet, illuminating serious environmental justice issues is both complicated and intimidating. Unusual creative approaches can be useful to combat information inertia in the face of consistent environmental messaging that falls in the “doom and gloom” camp. In fact, a 2010 Gallup poll study found that negative, fear-based messaging about environmental issues may cause people to just tune out.
Enter comedy. Comedy has been shown to attract attention, spark conversation, break down barriers, encourage sharing and provide a mental release. But, are comedians willing to take on the task of communicating about issues as dire as environmental contamination?
Comedy: Truth-telling Sheathed in Humor
To employ creative strategy to encourage people to pay attention and even take action, in January and February 2016, the environmental advocacy nonprofit organization, NextGen America, premiered a five-episode documentary web-series titled “Spotlight California.”
Launched during the state’s fifth year of water drought, “Spotlight California” follows Californian comedian and filmmaker, Kiran Deol, as she travels across the state investigating the “California We Don’t See On Postcards.” Deol cleverly utilizes humor and wit to broach the sticky subject that not everyone is living the California Dream of sunshine and surfing. Finding refuge in moments of levity along the way, the filmmaker takes us on a California road trip that will not soon be forgotten.
The series includes five 9-minute episodes:
In Episode 1 (“Heart of The Drought”) Deol goes to Central Valley and meets Californians who have run out of water. In an attempt to convey how desperate the town of Porterville, California, felt, Deol deftly jokes at the beginning of the episode that the area has a “Mad Max” atmosphere.
In Episode 2 ( “Water & Oil”) Deol visits the Cawelo Water District where the drought is causing farmers to use water produced in the oil drilling process to irrigate their farm crops. There are two humorous and memorable moments: an undercover scene that underscores the seriousness of investigating the chemical components in the water; and a private wine tasting event that challenges Californians to taste wine made with grapes irrigated from recycled oil water.
In Episode 3 (“In Our Air”) Deol heads home to Los Angeles to investigate the hidden costs of air pollution. In two comedic scenes, Deol engages in a role-playing scenario where she impersonates an oil company to spotlight glaring racial inequality; and she throws a free guacamole party on the bus to encourage residents to ride mass transit in order to reduce carbon emission pollution from automobiles.
In Episode 4 (“At The Pump”) Deol tries to uncover potential gas price manipulation. In a hilarious game that highlights the issue of transparency, Deol listens in on a quarterly investor call, which is open to the public, to then help deconstruct industry jargon about record profits.
And in Episode 5 (“In The Future”) Deol heads north to Sacramento to discover what’s working for the state despite millions of dollars in resistance from the oil and gas industry.
To get a better sense of the creative forces behind the documentary and how comedy was leveraged for environmental justice, we spoke with Ali Hart in California, who served as an executive producer on the project.
Interview with Ali Hart, executive producer, on “Spotlight California”.
Laughter Effect:
How did you find yourself in this niche intersection of comedy and environmental activism?
Ali Hart:
Well, my graduate degree is an MBA in Sustainable Management from Presidio Graduate School, so I came to humor around environmentalism and sustainability because I realized in school the reason we were so behind on these issues was that the message had been doom and gloom for so long. I really felt there needed to be a rebranding of how we talk about environmental issues mostly because these issues affect everyone. And yet, with the current rhetoric, there was such a battle with climate change. I decided then. My personal motivation was to bring more humor into environmental communications to try and have some impact.
Laughter Effect:
In your opinion, what is the best way to leverage comedy for social issues?
Ali Hart:
As someone that gets a lot of advocacy emails, I hate subject lines that use my full name and say things like, “Alexandra, we must act now!” I feel like screaming, “Don’t yell at me in my inbox!” I don’t need to be told from my inbox what I need to be doing. It seems like everybody wants me to be doing something. On the flip side, when something is funny, I really appreciate it. It gives me positive emotions with that brand — it’s just what humor does. That’s why super bowl ads are so popular. Why can’t that tactic be applied to social issues?
Laughter Effect:
Does humor break down barriers?
Ali Hart:
Yes. It’s a mix of: are you making the right joke and it’s about finding the right angle on the issue to make the joke about. Where the comedy is going to come from is really important because it will not be funny in the wrong place. For example, episode 4 was a hard episode because it was so complex and about gas manipulation. There wasn’t an emotional and personal hook, yet everyone is pretty much affected by gas prices. In the end, Kiran used humor to show how the oil companies were speaking “oil company speak” during their investor calls and finding ridiculous ways to gloat about a profitable year, fully aware journalists were listening in on the call.
Laughter Effect:
What compelled you to accept this project?
Ali Hart:
The project was a pretty unique challenge to come from a political organization or any kind of non-profit — it’s just not typical. I think it’s pretty admirable to create a web series that was investigative-documentary style but had this humor element. What was even more exciting was that I was given creative freedom to play with that intersection over a longer format, while addressing different environmental issues.
Laughter Effect:
How did Kiran Deol become involved in the project?
Ali Hart:
Tom Steyer with NextGen, reached out to Kiran because he was a fan of her work. And, she had already done a documentary herself, which was critically acclaimed. Once we were on set, it was amazing to see how she knew how to direct the interviews on top of looking for the jokes, which are pretty impressive skills and it’s not something every comedian can do. It’s a reminder that you really need to work with comedians who have the right sensibility for whatever it is that you are asking them to do.
Laughter Effect:
What unique skills can a comedian bring to a project?
Ali Hart:
The neat thing about Kiran was that she was learning along with the audience, which I think comes through and it’s part of the magic she brought to the project. Kiran pushed the envelope a lot with the interviews, which sometimes lead to tension and sometimes lead to unexpected funny moments. It wasn’t all serious. But the end product was worth the discomfort because she ended up getting some real gems out of that tension. That was a good lesson for me in terms of letting the creative energy just do what it is going to do. I think a lot of comedians feed off the awkwardness and getting people to a place where they have hit something. It is almost a success marker for some comedians, because that means they’ve taken you somewhere you don’t want to go. I think it is an interesting reality of comedy where the idea is that you have your guard down and you’re open and you’re excited to laugh and then you end up in a place where you’re like oh, I don’t know if I want to be here, but I am here now and I have to deal with it. I think that is a beautiful aspect of comedy.
Laughter Effect:
What were the goals of the project?
Ali Hart:
Using humor, we wanted a way to bridge into a new audience and give people a way to look at these stories in a way they hadn’t seen before. It was really about experimenting with these different ways to talk about these tough issues. Questions like: who is this for; what is the purpose; and, who are we trying to reach were top of mind. That is where it gets really challenging but exciting.
Laughter Effect:
In hindsight, what was the most challenging aspect of the project?
Ali Hart:
Deciding what is funny is pretty tough. Part of the problem is that we all find different things funny. I mean, how do you define funny? I think it’s about figuring out a way to understand what world your audience lives in and what they feel are the forces that are upsetting their reality and then figuring out a way to play with that. The joke is on that element. I think there is something about trying to figure out what that tension is and what they are reacting to and then figuring out how to get in there and show them the hypocrisy or absurdity of that situation in a way that actually resonates. Trying to figure this nuance out is a really hard thing to do.
Laughter Effect:
What are your thoughts on metrics?
Ali Hart:
I’ve been working in the entertainment impact space for my entire career, and there’s always been such an emphasis on measuring impact. I’ve come full circle on this and I think, hey, let’s tell a good story and hope that people listen. Some of this stuff you just can’t measure. Personally, I don’t just see one thing and become obsessed with it. I think it is unrealistic to expect that I’m going to put out a video and make all this social change with it. That is not how people work. If there is a call to action that makes sense and can actually move the needle, then that’s awesome, but I am not hung up on that anymore as the means to an end.
Laughter Effect:
Do you think ultimately that comedy will change people’s minds or attitudes when it comes to difficult social justice issues?
Ali Hart:
I hope so, I mean that is the whole foundation as to why I’m doing what I am doing. What happens is over time there are many touch points on an issue and that hearing things from a different perspective over time is how most people eventually shift. In the end, maybe it’s about just telling a really good story that touches people and helps shift hearts and minds over time. I think making good content is the important part to me and telling stories in an interesting and meaningful way is what matters most.
“I love California, but there are some really weird things about the state,” says Hart. She stated that her primary goal along with Deol was to, “keep our eyes open” with the project and to explore some of the things they didn’t know about the Golden State. In the end, Hart asked herself, “how do we celebrate California in a way that just says, ‘hey, we need to work on this stuff guys.’”
