Commissioning Brief: Stories on Migration and Climate, in partnership with Counterpoints Arts

Climate Spring and Counterpoints Arts have launched a new commissioning call for feature film and television projects that explore the vital and complex intersection of climate change and migration. This brief invites creative storytellers and production companies to propose genre-driven, commercially viable stories that centre migrant and displaced characters with agency - not as victims of circumstance, but as navigators of complex global transitions. ‍

Join us in changing the narrative

We believe that the intersection of climate and migration offers some of the most urgent, under-explored and narratively rich ground for storytelling today. Through this commissioning brief, we aim to incubate stories that move us out of fear and into agency, from passive witnessing to collective imagining.

What we're looking for

We’re seeking scripted projects that are:

Narrative-rich and character-led
Stories should centre on compelling protagonists navigating the personal and political realities of migration and climate disruption, making choices that reflect ingenuity and growth.

Bold and genre-driven
From romantic comedies to sci-fi thrillers, fantasy epics to grounded drama - projects should be entertaining and appeal to wide audiences. We are especially drawn to narratives that challenge the default of despair and offer inspiration for audiences while meaningfully engaging them with emotional depth.

Solution-oriented, not just symptom-focused
We are not looking for stories that default to despair and warning or presenting migrants as passive victims. We are looking for stories that challenge the dominant narratives and offer pathways forward - whether it’s about reclaiming agency, revealing systems of accountability, or imagining migration as an accepted, welcomed necessary response to our changing world.

Rooted in lived experience
We actively encourage submissions from creators with lived experience of displacement - whether due to war, climate change, or through social and economic precarity - or from second-generation migrants. These stories should reflect the rich diversity and complexity of modern lives and identities.

Themes of focus

We are particularly interested in:

• Environmental displacement and climate migration: Explore how environmental changes are reshaping borders, communities, and futures.
  
• Regeneration and cultural identity: Narratives that showcase how displaced communities are not just surviving but reconnecting with or creating new cultural and ecological futures.
  
• Migrant joy and resilience: Beyond trauma, we welcome stories that embrace humour, love, and radical joy amidst upheaval.
  

Who should apply

We invite proposals from production companies and creative teams with strong ideas or early-stage scripts. Teams with lived experience of migration or displacement are especially encouraged. Projects may be purely fictional, but should engage with the emotional and political truths of our time.

We are particularly interested in projects where the writers or producers who have themselves or their families experienced migration.

How to apply

Applications for this commissioning brief are ongoing. If you wish to apply, please email your pitch and supporting materials to enquiries@climate-spring.org.

Support available

Selected projects will receive:

• Development funding to support pitch-to-script work
  
• Editorial guidance and consultancy from both Climate Spring and Counterpoints Arts
  
• Industry matchmaking with broadcasters and distributors
  
• Eligibility for future funding rounds for production
  

Key insights

Avoid the Default of Crisis
Too often, climate-linked migration is framed as a sudden “crisis,” reducing people to victims and reinforcing harmful stereotypes. We need narratives that move beyond panic and oversimplification, embracing complexity and human nuance.

Centre Lived Experience
Stories about migration must centre the voices of those directly affected. Too many narratives still speak about communities rather than with them. Let’s shift the lens—amplifying how people want to be seen and how they tell their own stories.

Frame Migration as Adaptation
Migration isn’t just a symptom of breakdown—it’s often a powerful form of adaptation. We need stories that reflect resilience and choice, not just suffering; narratives where migrants are agents navigating change, not just casualties of it.

Connect to Justice
Climate-linked movement doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It intersects with histories of inequality, exploitation and resistance. Stories that surface these connections help reframe migration not as a “problem to solve,” but as part of the path to climate justice.

‍We thank Unbound for funding and support for this commissioning brief.

Further resources

Climate Spring's Storytelling Guide - The Stories We Need

Counterpoint Arts

Climate Outreach

PopChange

Define America - Immigrants Belong Toolkit

IMAGE: Still from Utama (2022), dir. Alejandro Loayza Grisi