The 51 Percent Project

In this 2:45 video, Hothouse students show what it was like to make these PSAs and what they learned along the way.

During the Spring 2019 semester, Hothouse Productions teamed with BU’s Institute of Sustainable Energy (ISE) and Litton Entertainment to create three public service announcements for The 51 Percent Project–a group formed to improve communication about global climate change. The title of the series is “Earth to People”.

Along with the client Sarah Finnie Robinson, the Director of the 51% Project, the 16 students in the class worked with alum and script consultant, and LA comedy writer Cody Brotter (’13).

The PSAs were slated to air starting the weekend of May 25 and run through July 20, 2019 in 157 markets, mostly on Saturday mornings, primarily to their young audiences.

“The students at Boston University’s Hothouse Productions exude professionalism and represent an emerging wave of exceptional storytellers in media,” said Meg LaVigne, president of TV at Litton Entertainment. “Litton Entertainment is proud to collaborate with Boston University’s College of Communication and the Institute for Sustainable Energy’s 51% Project on media messages that are educational and impactful.”

About Hothouse Productions

Hothouse
Productions is a class that operates as a student-run, client-driven production company. Teams of four are created each semester. Each team completes one project. Professor Garland Waller was the Academic Executive Producer for Hothouse during the production of The 51 Percent Project. The current Academic EP is Professor Sheila Sitomer.

Videos

Dating Game

This was a take off on the 80’s dating games where one person had to choose between three eligible bachelors or bachelorettes. Here, the “Bachelor” is the earth – and which one might be the best match for those of us making choices about the future.

The Talk

Students created this PSA to be an ironic take on the birds and bees talk between a parent and child. In this case, the child is much more knowledgable about the earth’s issues that the parent.

Mother Nature

In this PSA, problematic issues in human form present Mother Nature with ideas about how to deal with climate change and wake people up. It’s the one human who may just have the answer.