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CNN Films “Blue Carbon: Nature’s Hidden Power” Premieres on Sunday, April 21 at 9pm ET/PT on CNN
DOCUMENTARY FOLLOWS SCIENTIST AND GRAMMY® NOMINATED DJ JAYDA G, FEATURING MUSIC FROM WU-TANG CLAN’S RZA
Trailer: https://youtu.be/v6MaDvzGnfs
NEW YORK, NY – (March 20, 2024) – CNN Films embarks on an international adventure to find nature-based solutions for a warming planet in Blue Carbon: Nature’s Hidden Power from MakeWaves and HHMI Tangled Bank Studios. Starring Grammy® nominated DJ and marine toxicologist Jayda G and featuring the music of Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA, the immersive documentary combines the universal languages of music and science into a vibrant call to action to protect the planet. Blue Carbon: Nature’s Hidden Power premieres Sunday, April 21 at 9pm ET/PT on CNN.
Directed by Emmy® and BAFTA-winning director Nicolas Brown, Blue Carbon follows the global journey of Jayda G as she investigates a powerful new ally in the battle to slow climate change: blue carbon ecosystems. These ecosystems soak up copious amounts of planet-warming carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and help bolster food security, all while protecting coastal communities from rising seas and powerful storms. Across six countries and five continents, Jayda G’s quest to uncover blue carbon’s potential takes her from the mangroves of Vietnam and Senegal to the salt marshes of France, the seagrass meadows of Florida, and beyond.
Featuring an innovative soundtrack from legendary rapper and composer RZA and showcasing music from Brazilian musical icon Seu Jorge, the film lies at the intersection of Jayda G’s twin passions for music and marine life as she charts her own course to inspire the next generation of conservationists.
“CNN Originals has always valued key voices and creative storytelling about the climate crisis, and Jayda G’s journey in Blue Carbon is a perfect example,” said Amy Entelis, Executive Vice President of Talent, CNN Originals, and Creative Development for CNN Worldwide. “This CNN Film spans continents, languages and cultures but connects viewers through one collective call to protect our warming planet.”
“Blue carbon has such potential to help us combat climate change, as long as we listen to and learn from the stories of the people working to protect blue carbon ecosystems,” said Jayda G. “It’s made me hopeful about our future and has helped me feel more connected with mother nature. I hope that when people watch this film, they feel the same way.”
“Blue carbon is an incredibly effective tool we can use to mitigate climate change, and at virtually no cost,” said director Nicolas Brown. “We hope this story reaches global audiences with a hopeful message about the power of blue carbon.”
“If strengthening blue carbon ecosystems means we can save species, protect communities and turn down the Earth’s thermostat, then what are we waiting for?” asked executive producer and MAKE WAVES co-founder Sarah Macdonald. “Jayda G’s quest, told with an exhilarating mix of music and science, strives to be the catalyst for a global movement.”
“Coastal ecosystems protect us from hurricanes, house and nourish incredibly diverse species, and absorb large amounts of carbon,” said biologist and HHMI Tangled Bank Studios executive producer Dr. Sean B. Carroll. “We hope this film opens the eyes and ears of audiences worldwide with the message of why it is important to protect these vital ecosystems.”
Blue Carbon: Nature’s Hidden Power is a Make Waves and HHMI Tangled Bank Studios production directed by Emmy and BAFTA-winning filmmaker Nicolas Brown (The Serengeti Rules). Executive producers are Sarah Macdonald, David Guy Elisco and Sean B. Carroll, alongside Philippe de Bourbon, Claude Grunitzky, Alexander Asen, Sian Kevil, Don Mullan, M Sanjayan and Julie and Sebastien Lepinard. Executive producers for CNN Films are Amy Entelis and Alexandra Hannibal. The film is supported by Conservation International, with additional funding from Fondation Erol and Ocean Born Foundation, alongside European broadcasters, NDR (Germany) and Canal+ (France).
Blue Carbon will stream live for pay TV subscribers via CNN.com, CNN OTT and mobile apps on Sunday, April 21. The film will be available on demand beginning Monday, April 22 to pay TV subscribers via CNN.com, CNN apps, and Cable Operator Platforms.
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About CNN Originals
The CNN Originals group develops, produces and acquires original, long-form unscripted programming for CNN Worldwide. Amy Entelis, executive vice president of Talent, CNN Originals and creative development, oversees the award-winning CNN Originals portfolio that includes the following premium content brands: CNN Original Series, CNN Films, CNN Presents, and the newly formed CNN Studios, an internal production studio which creates long-form programming for CNN’s global platforms. Since 2012, the team has overseen and executive produced more than 45 multi-part documentary series and 60 feature-length documentary films, earning more than 110 awards and 445 nominations for the cable network, including CNN Films’ first Academy Award® for Navalny, making CNN the only news organization with this distinction. Acclaimed titles include the Peabody Award winning and 13-time Emmy® Award-winning Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown; five time Emmy® nominee, Apollo 11, directed by Todd Douglas Miller; Emmy® nominated Eva Longoria: Searching for Mexico; the Emmy® Award-nominated “Decades Series”: The Sixties, The Seventies, The Eighties, The Nineties, The 2000s, and The 2010s, executive produced by Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman; The Last Movie Stars, directed by Ethan Hawke about the lives and careers of actors and humanitarians Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman; Grammy® Award nominee Little Richard: I Am Everything, directed by Lisa Cortés; The Many Lives of Martha Stewart; This is Life with Lisa Ling; Primetime Emmy® and duPont-Columbia Award-winning, RBG, directed by Betsy West and Julie Cohen; See It Loud: The History of Black Television, executive produced by LeBron James and Maverick Carter; the Producers Guild Award and three-time Emmy® Award-winning Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy; BAFTA nominee and Directors Guild Award winner, Three Identical Strangers, directed by Tim Wardle; and the five-time Emmy® Award-winning United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell; The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper; and Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace?. CNN Originals can be seen on CNN, the CNN Original Hub on Max and discovery+, and for pay TV subscription via CNN.com, CNN apps and cable operator platforms.
About MakeWaves
MAKE Waves is a multi-award winning international film and television production company renowned for both hard-hitting investigative journalism and epic environmental feature-documentaries. Based in London, the company launched into the environmental space with the hugely successful film, ‘The Great Green Wall’ that premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2019. Like ‘The Great Green Wall’, ‘Blue Carbon’ has a female musician/activist protagonist and also interweaves music throughout as a way of telling sometimes complex scientific and human justice stories. MAKE’s environmental films are supported by significant impact campaigns to encourage change at both policy and grassroot levels.
About HHMI Tangled Bank Studios
HHMI Tangled Bank Studios is a mission-driven production company that crafts awe-inspiring films where science is a lens for making sense of our world. The studio is uniquely positioned to shine a light on some of the most significant scientific challenges and breakthroughs of our time. Recent films include Emmy Award-winners The Serengeti Rules and The Farthest – Voyager In Space; Emmy-nominated Nature’s Fear Factor and My Garden of a Thousand Bees; Peabody Award winner Inventing Tomorrow; and Oscar-nominated All That Breathes, the only documentary to win best documentary at both Sundance and Cannes. To extend the reach and impact of each film, the studio undertakes educational and public outreach efforts in partnership with mission-driven organizations. For more information, please visit WWW.TANGLEDBANKSTUDIOS.ORG.
Press Contacts:
CNN Films
MakeWaves
HHMI Tangled Bank Studios