 Hello, welcome. Thank you for joining us here live in Egypt at COP 27. I'm here with Tyson Culver, who's the director of the movie or the film Juice. How electricity explains the world. Thank you for joining us here today. Thank you so much. Happy to be here. So, the movie is much more, is much more than just electricity. It's about the impacts of energy poverty and energy access. And I think the film, for me, the really interesting aspect was how it brings that humanizing aspect to these impacts. And something we were discussing a little bit earlier was how SDG7, so energy access, actually really underpins all the other sustainable development goals of the U.M. So with that being said, I just want to start off and ask what was the motivation behind the movie and making it? Well, it was absolutely the brainchild of Robert Bryce. Robert's a good friend. He's written six books on energy. And he told me, hey, I've got an idea for a book. And I think I might want to make a documentary out of it. And he started saying stats and facts. He talked about access to energy and electricity, rather, and what it means for women and girls. He talked about the power density of marijuana dispensary be comparative to that of a data center for Amazon or Google. And I walked away from that meeting, thinking I was going to do, basically, like a Guinness Book of World Records. This is why electricity is so darn important. But that only works for so long. You can only do stats and facts for so long. And our first major trip we took was to India. And it was life-changing for me. I didn't know what energy poverty looked like. And I learned pretty quickly over a two-week period in my wife and I own a video production company. And our mantra is when people think they decide when people feel they act. And we knew that we needed people to feel. And so we focused on human stories. Okay, thanks. I know this has been, it took quite a long time to get the movie up and running. So can you tell us a little bit about the process of how the movie came to be and... Sure, so in the intro, I talked about, you know, over a three-year period, we traveled 60,000 miles, interviewed 50 people from seven countries. We went everywhere. And what we would do, the way we built the film was we would go to a location whether it was India or Lebanon or what have you. We had a very small crew, it was a skeleton crew. It included a DP from Deadliest Catch. Our composer was from Street Food Asia, anyone that likes Netflix. Robert, who's a genius in all things energy. And my producer, who just won an Emmy. So it was a small but very strong team. And when we would come back with all kinds of footage, I had our editor, James Treacle, put together assembly edits. Basically like little buckets of stories. And then when we wrapped all of our travels, we went back and started putting those buckets together. And I'm also, I had to watch all the interviews again. It took me, I didn't know everything I was listening to when I saw it the first time because I came into this knowing nothing. I came into this very much being an advocate for 100% renewable. And I learned a lot along the way. And the energy poverty versus climate change, balancing that to me was the biggest takeaway. I didn't know what I didn't know. And I definitely felt that I had geographic blinders on. So, yeah. And I think, so I mentioned the film is much more about just electricity access. And I think for the kind of the rich world, the energy rich world, it's very difficult to really understand and appreciate just how much impact that has on humanity. I think in the film it talks about over a billion people have no access to electricity and billions more have limited or intermittent access. And then can you tell us a little bit more just what you learn on those impacts about particularly online gender and on women integrating into the economy? Absolutely. So a billion people have zero access to electricity and another two billion use less electricity in a given year than a typical American refrigerator. So that leaves you with over three billion people that are walking around in the clothes right now washed by hand. And those clothes are more often than not washed by women. And that starts early and they aren't just washing their clothes. They're also cooking the meal. And they don't have electricity so they can't store the food. So you're cooking every single day and you're out there gathering food every single day. So we just didn't know what we didn't know. And so there was a great deal of learning that went along with it but for me there was also a great bit of help because Robert's probably one of the top energy experts in the world. And so I had my cheat code the entire time. And Robert played a critical, critical role in this because I essentially, he wrote a book that the movie was based on while it was going through. So I had a cliff-snow version for how we could lay out that story. And yeah, this is what we did. Okay, so it sounds like you learned a lot during the process of researching for the film. And I wanna turn a little bit just towards nuclear because we are the atmosphere climate pavilion and it's very relevant to what's going on around us at COP 27. So I think we had a little conversation off stage as well that you actually went into the movie a little bit skeptical on nuclear energy. Can you just tell us a little bit about what it was that you learned and how your opinion on it changed? Right, so yeah, I was absolutely a skeptic. I was very much an advocate at 100% Renewables. And even into the edit, we were 45 minutes into the edit three months before the film was due before I settled on nuclear and it was almost like I did it begrudgingly so. There was still, I had heard all the stats in fact, so I had learned all this stuff, but I'm a little bit older, I'm 48. I grew up doing the bomb shelter stuff. I was probably at the end cap of all that. You know, nuclear that came from military industrial complex. All the stuff you wanna say, I think one, we're incredibly fortunate that so many of our youth are getting behind nuclear and I think it's because they're just like looking at the stats. I didn't have that. I had my own preconceived notions built in, but at the end, while I was watching all this, I mean, I couldn't not choose nuclear. I couldn't not put that out there because it's where everything took us. And if we're going to decarbonize, if we're gonna make life better for people, or if we're gonna have cheap, abundant, reliable energy, nuclear is just such an important, could play such an important critical role in that. Yeah, and also we're talking about how a lot of people get confused, electricity with energy. And actually electricity is supposed to be the easier part of solving climate change and reducing our emissions. So have you thought anything about, you know, how people, I guess the question should be is, you know, we're at COP 27, there's lots of climate and fusion assets here and some people may not be interested in nuclear energy as being part of the solution. So is there one thing maybe you would say to the climate audience now, you maybe haven't watched the film yet, that you think should be reconsidering nuclear energy as part of the mix? Well, I would say, I hear you, I feel you, I've been there, watch the film because, because it's a road trip for them. And I went on my own journey and I was right there with them. You know, I became a nuclear convert over the course of the filming. Also, I mean, if you look at the data and also, I mean, the most critical part, if you're having a conversation about climate change and you aren't talking about energy poverty, you are having an inauthentic conversation. We cannot say, well, but this is for, you know, migrant children, I want to leave you better tomorrow. Why are migrant children more important than someone else's child right now? Why the heck would I think that? So, yeah, I would just, if you're going to be an advocate, listen to everything because I think all above and all above the board solution is going to play a critical role in getting to where we want to be. Yeah. I think that's something that comes up time and time again when we're speaking to people here at COP 27, that it is a balance to strike between climate action and lifting people out of poverty. Climate change to a lot of parts of the world is a luxury problem. So, if you're worried about your next meal or providing for your family, it's very difficult to think kind of longer term on the health of the planet. So, I guess, is there one message that you'd want an audience at COP 27 to take away from the movie? Maybe they might not have thought about it before. If not, okay. I would say, so when we made this film, it's really easy to fall into tropes. It's really easy to sell one thing and to bastardize something else. I think if you're genuinely interested in solutions for people and the planet, that you'd need to look at everything. And I would just encourage people to walk into, walk into what they want to see happening in the future with an open mind. Okay, great. Is there a question from the audience or should I jump onto my last question? Question? Yep, sorry, one second. Thank you. My name is Ihan, I'm from Turkey. Wasn't it uncomfortable to go out and more or less do yet another movie that in the end says nuclear must be a part of the solution? In the last 10 years, there are about, what? One handful of movies that were made like this and I've spoken to a few of the directors and all of them said, I wanted to do it because we believed in it. So, you as a non-nuclear person per se, you're a movie maker. Why do you go out of the comfort zone because it's such a contentious topic? Great question. I would say I'm attracted to things that make people think. I mean, I just really am. And Robert's been a great friend for a really long time. And if there's one thing he's really good at is making me think. And I thought it was really, it was a lot of fun too, because Robert, I come from different places politically. And I like that too. I like difficult conversations. I think difficult conversations have to be had if you're going to have progress. And so I would say for any potential filmmakers out there, there need to be more films like this. There need to be more films that challenge preconceived oceans. And there need to be more folks that walk out there with an open mind. But yeah, it was a heck of a ride. I loved it. I'd do it again and again and again. And we're actually doing a follow-up doc right now called Burning Down the Grid. It's how Washington and Wall Street are weakening our most critical network and story. But it's taken on a world view because while we're living in interesting times and interesting things are going on, so it'll be a follow-up. There'll be a balance to energy, poverty, climate change. And then also the impact that some of our choices have actually had on the grid. Follow-up question? Now I have a follow-up. When you said difficult conversations, you as an outsider, if you would give a piece of advice to the nuclear sector in getting the message out, how do you see? Have they failed so far in getting their message out? If yes, what should they do differently? If not, maybe it's all okay. I think for a long time leadership in nuclear, and this is my opinion, I'm not stating it as fact, but I think they just kind of wanted to exist. They wanted to be quiet. They didn't want to talk about the benefits. They didn't want to talk about, oh my gosh, we've got this carbon-free solution and it can do all this stuff. They just wanted to exist. And that is not what your competitors are doing. And right now they are competitors. I'm not saying they should all try and take each other out, but it's okay to brag. It's okay to walk the walk, and it's okay to advertise. I also think that Kiefer's done some amazing stuff as it relates to tying in labor. There is a whole conversation that needs to be had about what can happen as it relates to labor. There aren't parking lots outside of solar facilities and wind farms, there aren't. And so if you're going to have a solution that people can get behind, part of that solution needs to get people to work. And so if you can get people to work and you can put forth cheap, abundant, reliable energy, talk about it, make more films like this. More people need to hear about that. Okay, thank you. So the one last question, because we're tight for time. So this is something I wanted to ask you before. I didn't get around to it. But you talked about how much you traveled for the film. You were in seven countries, was it? And on five continents, endless filming. Was there anything that you weren't able to squeeze into the film? I mean, there's so much in there already. Is there anything that you left out that you wish you could have got in? There was one story in particular from Joey Shreeroy that was just brilliant. They had figured out, it was a five minute section we were intent on making an 80 minute film where they had figured out how to use essentially the power it takes to run a hairdryer and use it to pull cancer causing carcinogens out of the water in India. And so I want to say the cost was around $25,000. 5,000 people could get cancer free water. They built like an ATM system behind it. I mean, it was amazing. But India was already one of our heavier sections. That couldn't make it into it. And I'm sure there are a million others that were just like right there. But we also, we wanted to make digestible content. We wanted to make something that wasn't too long. That means some of the gyms had to go to the wayside. And hopefully we can wrap some of those stories into our next film. Great, thanks. Sounds great. I can't wait to see you in a few more minutes from now. Okay, I think that's the end of the session. Thanks very much for joining us. I really hope that everyone, COP26, gets a chance to, sorry, COP27, I should say, gets a chance to see the film online at some point. Well, thank you very much for joining us here. Thanks much.