Planet Media Announces Awardees from the 2024 Planet Media Call for Pitches

The awardees will receive a budget to create content to premiere this winter.

CONTACT: Clarke Williams
Clarke.Williams@aspeninstitute.org | 1-703-554-7378

Wednesday, March 13, Miami Beach, FL – Today, This Is Planet Ed, an initiative of the Aspen Institute, announced the awardees from the Planet Media Call for Pitches, spearheaded by its Planet Media Task Force. Young Park and Nak Yong Choi of Park Star Media will be awarded a budget of $40,000 to create new content that increases scientifically-grounded understanding of climate science and solutions for children.

Planet Media, co-chaired by Gary Knell, former President and CEO of National Geographic and Sesame Workshop, and Katharine Hayhoe, Chief Scientist at The Nature Conservancy, seeks to leverage the reach and influence of children’s media to help them understand: Our world is changing, but, together, we can make the changes we need for a brighter future. Planet Media partnered with The Nature Conservancy to identify four essential climate principles that children’s media can use to lay a foundation for climate literacy.

The Planet Media Call for Pitches received more than 200 submissions for short-form content to support children ages 8-12 in understanding these essential principles. Ideas pitched incorporated these principles across a range of formats including podcast, anime, vlog and more. During Aspen Ideas: Climate, finalists pitched their concepts before a panel of judges including Knell and Hayhoe, along with Bill Nye, and Nile Rodgers, Musician/Producer and Co-Founder, We Are Family Foundation.

Young Park and Nak Yong Choi will be producing a 2D science-fiction anime-style video called “Yo Zeno,” which features a rebellious space prince who embarks on an epic intergalactic adventure and learns essential climate lessons.

“We’ve been so thrilled to be part of the Planet Media Call for Pitches and we’re excited to work with the Aspen Institute to make this idea about interconnectedness come to life,” said Park. “Anime can be fun and light hearted, but also tackles deep subjects and issues, so this is a great way to reach kids and make a brighter future for the next generation.”

Park and Choi lead a team of animators at Park Star Media, a creator-driven creative production company based in Los Angeles and Seoul, where they focus on creating, developing, and producing quality kids’ content for multiple platforms across international markets.

“Creatives have an incredible opportunity to engage children and young people in climate storytelling, ” said Knell. “Our Call for Pitches process showed that there is tremendous innovative energy ready to be tapped to deliver kids’ climate media using hope, humor, and solutions.”

“Children’s media can encourage young people to start conversations about climate change,” said Hayhoe. “The awardees for the Call for Pitches presented us with engaging ideas that show young people the positive and exciting potential of climate action, and what they can do to help.”

Other awardees included Lindsey Owen, who was awarded $20,000 to support production of her animated video idea “Solar Punks,” about time-traveling heroes who help kids find solutions to ecological problems in a solarpunk, utopian setting. In addition, Erica Rabner and Robby LeDoux were awarded $20,000 to make “Cold Sweat,” a song-centered drama about a Texas tween who becomes a climate vlogger.

To further amplify the work of Planet Media, National CineMedia (NCM), the largest cinema advertising platform in the US, has joined the effort as an exclusive cinema marketing sponsor. NCM will air a video highlighting the work of Planet Media and these creatives during their Nooive® pre-show in theaters across the country, ensuring our message reaches millions of young, diverse moviegoers.

The Planet Media Task Force consists of leaders across children’s media, climate, and education. The Nature Conservancy serves as a scientific partner for the initiative, and the Task Force will create a guide to support children’s media in integrating essential climate principles in engaging ways.

For more information, visit Thisisplaneted.org and follow This Is Planet Ed on X, Facebook, and Instagram.

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This Is Planet Ed is an initiative of the Aspen Institute Energy & Environment Program that intends to unlock the power of education as a force for climate action, climate solutions, and environmental justice to empower the rising generation to lead a sustainable, resilient, and equitable future. This Is Planet Ed works across Early Years, K-12, Higher Education, and Children’s Media to build our societal capacity to advance climate solutions. www.thisisplaneted.org.

The Aspen Institute is a global nonprofit organization whose purpose is to ignite human potential to build understanding and create new possibilities for a better world. Founded in 1949, the Institute drives change through dialogue, leadership, and action to help solve society’s greatest challenges. It is headquartered in Washington, DC and has a campus in Aspen, Colorado, as well as an international network of partners. For more information, visit www.aspeninstitute.org.