Hothouse Partners with Litton Entertainment and The 51 Percent Project
Thomas Fiedler, Dean of the College of Communication at Boston University, announced today that Hothouse Productions, a Boston University class that operates as a student-run, client-driven production company, will partner with Litton Entertainment and the 51 Percent Project to create a series of public service announcements (PSAs) targeting environmental education and climate-solutions activism for young people.
“Boston University is committed to addressing climate change, perhaps the most challenging issue of our times,” Fiedler said. “So I’m delighted to announce this innovative multi-party collaboration to address that issue.”
Fiedler cited surveys showing that a growing majority of American voters – more than 51 percent – say they are concerned about climate change, but they don’t know how they can affect it. BU has responded by creating the 51 Percent Project, headed by Sarah Finnie Robinson, Senior Fellow at Boston University’s Institute for Sustainable Energy and a prominent investor in large-scale climate solutions with the goal of arming this majority with information to motivate them to action. Students in BU’s Hothouse production program will use this information to create and produce public-service videos providing these voters with a call to action addressing climate change.
“Litton Entertainment is the key communication partner of this collaboration,” Fiedler said. “It will place the video messages on network television where millions of Americans can see them on Saturday mornings.”
The Hothouse Productions class, created by Professor Garland Waller, will produce, shoot, write, and edit the PSAs, which are informed by Robinson’s work on climate communications for an increasingly concerned American public. The class will be advised in close partnership by her and Meg LaVigne, Litton Entertainment’s president of television.
"It's exciting to be working with these bright BU students in the creative and professional framework that Hothouse Productions provides,” said Ms. Robinson. “The collaboration with Litton's educational programming division provides a superb opportunity to bring efficacious communications to a Saturday-morning audience of kids and parents who are eager to know about solutions to climate change."
“Litton’s commitment to the welfare of teens is at the core of our content development. Teens are passionate about engaging and educating all of us about ways to make our world even better. We’re very proud to support Boston University and Hothouse Productions’ unique student-created campaign. They are our future leaders, and we are excited to listen to them and watch their work,” commented Ms. LaVigne.
About Litton Entertainment
Litton Entertainment, a division of Hearst Television, is the preeminent independent producer and distributor in the U.S. television industry, creating and distributing quality programming for over 20 years with a specialty in educational and informational (“E/I”) programming. Litton talent and crews can often be found traveling the globe producing Emmy winning, content distributed worldwide. Litton's Weekend Adventure, produced by Litton Studios, was the first program block of its kind and airs Saturdays on ABC stations nationwide. Litton Entertainment provides CBS Network with six original programs for Saturday mornings called CBS Dream Team: It's Epic!; The CW Network with One Magnificent Morning, a three-hour destination featuring E/I programming; and NBC stations with six original E/I series under the iconic brand The More You Know. Litton's syndication and news division distributes a diverse slate of programs including the new E/I block Go Time! and Consumer Reports TV. For more information, visit here. Litton is majority-owned by Hearst.
Public Relations Contact:
Sara Krajewski | Litton Entertainment | 843.883.5060 | sara@litton.tv
