How Attenborough’s Ocean shows impactful narratives can drive change

It is well recognised that the stories we tell, and the way that we tell them, have power. This includes the power to inspire, drive action and create change on wide-ranging and complex issues such as the climate crisis. Luckily, the screen industries and its community of skilled storytellers are helping lead the charge by harnessing this power to drive forward positive change on the issues that matter most.

Speaking at a special screening of Ocean with David Attenborough – as part of the opening of BAFTA’s and BAFTA albert’s 2025 Green Light Season – award-winning producer and director Keith Scholey explored how and why screen narratives are having such an impact. Scholey, co-director of Ocean and long-time Attenborough collaborator explains: “We have this huge power in our industry to bring about change and raise awareness. And I think it’s just about thinking really hard about what are those issues, what are the moments and when we can bring these topics to the forefront.”

Using Ocean as an example Scholey had the following to say about creating powerful, change driving stories on screen…

Part of what makes Ocean so impactful is the way it takes viewers on a journey. In it Attenborough shares why a healthy ocean keeps the entire planet stable while exposing the realities and challenges it currently faces. Telling such a complex story meant creating a clear narrative structure – one which Attenborough was very much the “architect” of but in a very “collaborative” way.

Scholey says: “David wants to listen to what you’ve got to say… we go off and find lots of stories and try and populate the film, and come back and we talk about it and work on the script etc… so it’s a really collaborative, iterative process.”

He adds: “But when it comes then to the final words and what’s going to be said David’s always been exceptionally hands on with that. I think he’s got to be the best narration writer there’s ever been in broadcasting.

“His use of the English language is utterly superb and he’s also writing for himself and then when he reads his words the level of performance is quite interesting because the wonderful thing about David’s narration is that you don’t notice it because it so flows.”

Ocean is essentially a mission driven film with a clear goal to gain support to protect over a third of our ocean. And as Scholey explains: “If you want to talk about conservation in the modern world you can’t steer clear of politics, everything is interwoven now.”

So how do you create something that creates not just a public impact but also drives change across the board – including politically? In the case of Ocean the trust and authenticity that Attenborough has built up in a decades long career has been vital in giving authority.

Scholey says: “What David has achieved, and it’s taken him I’d say a good 70 years to achieve it is be completely trusted by anyone that listens to him, and that has not been easy. He’s masterful and very wise about making sure that whenever he has talked about something he had certainty about it. And so when it comes to making a film like this … we’ve got a unique person to talk about really difficult things and really important things and be very blunt and very direct and you know it’s true.

“Because David only ever says what is true – he’s been very careful about that all his life and that’s the key to the success of this film it hinges on the fact that that man has got authority and trust.”

Reflecting on how when making natural history content “there can be a real tendency to be lazy about narrative” because there are such “great scenes and images so you can get away with it”, Scholey urges filmmakers to keep pushing boundaries and thinking outside the box.

He says: “it comes to a point where if narrative is not there as well, things start to fall apart” but with Ocean thinking about things in terms of the narrative actually helped drive it. “Because it had this goal, this target [to protect a third of our oceans] it really helped create the narrative because the story had to build to reach a conclusion and that’s filmmaking isn’t it? So it helps and that was a good lesson for us all”, he adds.

Going on to discuss how environmental narratives are approached the producer-director also shared his thoughts on how to tackle difficult topics on screen saying giving the audience “hope” is important.

Scholey reflects: “I’ve always been very frustrated that there’s not many huge feature films about the biggest issues that the world faces right now… I think there’s this thing saying oh you can’t give people bad news. I think you’ve always got to have hope, but lots of great dramas are made about things that are quite dark and so I don’t think that means we shouldn’t be making films about things because they’re dark… we’ve just got to make really great films.”

Already Ocean has achieved a lot; from reaching a huge number of people with a short form version of the film – they’ve had 60 million views (and counting) of a bottom trawling clip, to captivating screen audiences with the full long form version, and even helping to gain attention for the most recent UN Ocean conference.

But Scholey says they won’t stop there: “What is heartening is I hope this conference has been noticed [UNOC] and I hope that we played a role… we’re on the way but these journeys you have to keep your foot on the pedal it is the long haul.”

“The best thing we can all do is just spread the word. If we end up with a population that largely says actually the ocean is important to us and we need to protect it the collective willpower of that just percolates up and brings about change,” says Scholey.

BAFTA is excited to be hosting the Green Light Season, a series of discussions and screenings designed to inspire content makers to take our collective commitment to sustainability to new heights. Through this season of activity we’re asking for the industry’s help to explore how we can create TV and films that support an inclusive conversation about climate change where everyone feels part of the mission.