Join Democrats Abroad Environment & Climate Crisis Council for a special Earth Month virtual panel discussion with the filmmakers behind the acclaimed documentary The White House Effect.
This powerful film examines how the United States, once poised to lead the world on climate action, became entangled in decades of political struggle, industry influence, and missed opportunities that shaped today’s climate crisis. Through archival footage and behind-the-scenes accounts from key figures in U.S. climate policy, The White House Effect reveals the political decisions that altered the course of global climate action.
Joining us for the live conversation on April 15th at 12:00 pm ET / 6:00 pm CET are the documentary’s directors and producers, Bonni Cohen and Jon Shenk, alongside Michelle Deatrick, Chair of the Democratic National Committee, Environment and Climate Crisis Council. The panel will explore the film’s revelations, the political forces that shaped U.S. climate policy, and what lessons they hold for the fight against the climate crisis today.
As part of this Earth Month event, Democrats Abroad will provide free streaming access to the documentary from April 6 to April 20, giving viewers the opportunity to watch the film ahead of the discussion and revisit the site for a few days afterwards.
RSVP for the Zoom link to the event and a link to watch the film. Your country committee may also be having a viewing
Meet the Directors & Producers:
Bonni Cohen is an American documentary film producer and director. She is the co-founder of Actual Films and has produced and directed an array of award-winning films. In addition to the recent film, The White House Effect, now streaming on Netflix, she produced the Oscar-nominated film Lead Me Home, which premiered at the 2021 Telluride Film Festival and is a Netflix Original.[5] She also co-directed Athlete A, which won an Emmy for Outstanding Investigative Documentary[6] and received four nominations from the Critics’ Choice Awards.[7] She is the co-founder of Actual Films, the production company of the documentaries An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power, Audrie & Daisy, 3.5 Minutes, The Island President, Lost Boys of Sudan and The Rape of Europa.[8] Cohen is the co-founder of the Catapult Film Fund.
Jon Shenk is an Emmy-winning and Oscar-nominated documentary film director and director of photography, known for his films Lead Me Home Athlete A, An Inconvenient Sequel, Audrie & Daisy,The Island President, Lost Boys of Sudan. He is the co-founder, with his wife Bonni Cohen, of Actual Films, a documentary film company based in San Francisco, CA. He co-directed (with Pedro Kos) and photographed Lead Me Home which premiered in 2021 at the Telluride Film Festival, was acquired by Netflix, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject) in 2022.
Michelle Regalado Deatrick is the Founder and National Chair of the first-ever DNC Council on the Environment and Climate Crisis. She is a battleground state organizer, a labor advocate, a policy analyst and a national environmental leader. Michelle serves on the National Advisory Boards for Climate Power and OnePointFive Climate Pledge, and on the boards of the Ecology Center and the Huron Valley Workers’ Organizing and Research Center. She chairs her County’s Environmental Council, which she founded. A recent county commissioner who flipped a rural multi-term red seat to blue, and a former Peace Corps Volunteer, Michelle is the Michigan Chair of the National Writers Union and a member of UAW Local 2320. She is also an internationally recognized poet and winner of the Chautauqua Poetry Award.