Sundance Earth Lounge 2026

Hundreds of filmmakers, creators, and climate advocates gathered at Earth Lounge during Sundance 2026 for a day of storytelling, action, and coalition. This is how we show up at industry milestones to keep climate on the agenda. 

The day opened with Fletcher Keyes, producer of Sundance-premiering documentary The Lake, and actor and activist Alysia Reiner in conversation about the environmental crisis unfolding in Sundance's own backyard, grounding the room in the real and the urgent.

Action partners Grow the Flow Utah and The Great Salt Lake Hopeline ran an immersive storytelling installation that moved hundreds of community members from awareness into direct engagement. Dropout TV's Lily Du and Grant O'Brien hosted our trope-busting game show tackling clean energy misinformation alongside expert Malik Reid from Come Clean, while also dismantling the industry myths that slow us down. Rare's research put numbers to what we know to be true: 70% of audiences want climate-conscious stories on screen.

None of this can be accomplished alone. Each of our presenting partners, Come Clean, Sustainable Entertainment Alliance, Climate Spring, Universal Film, NRDC Rewrite The Future, The Redford Center, and Jackson Wild, help fuel the environmental storytelling community. Together, we're able to grow a movement that can scale.