Media for planet earth
Aria McKenna
Writer, Producer, Actress, Voice-Overs,
Climate Impact Strategist
Climate Impact Strategist
saving planet us
Aria McKenna is a multi-hyphenate filmmaker and Al Gore trained climate impact strategist who works to build bridges between climate scientists, policy makers, media and the public. She was born in Miami - ground zero for sea level rise in the United States and her brand is “Saving Planet Us”. Her mission is to use storytelling to break down the cultural barriers that keep us from restoring a safe climate.
With roots as a film producer/writer/director, voice-over artist, and award winning actress, Aria’s experience has run the gamut from acting on TV, radio, and on screen at The Rhode Island International Film Festival, Warsaw International Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival, Big Apple Film Festival and more - to organizing a Scientific Advisory Panel for director/producer Adam McKay's Hyperobject Industries, lobbying senators for climate action in and out of Washington DC with Citizens Climate Lobby, and helping to co-found the Healthy Planet Action Coalition with climate scientists and policy experts around the world to advance a holistic “climate triad” of strategies to restore a safe climate. She has also created both short and long form environmentally driven content through Global Cooling Productions and the Sierra Club, produced political ads for NY candidates through Quantum Surge Media, was part of the narrative division of the Healthy Climate Alliance, and an on-camera host for GreenTV and Long Island International Film Expo.
Having finished High School in Rome, Italy, she speaks fluent Italian and a smattering of French and Spanish. In Rome, she got her first taste of theater acting and her first glimpse into the impact culture plays on beliefs and human behavior. Then, after graduating The American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles, she performed in musicals at Shakespeare Santa Cruz before beginning her legit acting career on stage with Paul Rudd and Adam Scott in Bloody Poetry, which Paul produced. While in LA, she learned her way around TV and film sets (both in front of the cameras and behind the scenes) while she continued to train with George Shdanoff, Lynn Redgrave and others.
Aria then spent a summer steeping herself in Italian culture while waiting tables on the Italian seaside before she moved to NY, where she ran The New York Voice Over Success Program and Voice Tree Productions for almost two decades. She trained actors and produced and directed countless voice over demos while acting in supporting and starring roles in theater, film, TV, commercials and audiobooks.
But when her daughter Phoenix was young, the BP Oil Spill devastated The Gulf of Mexico, which was Aria’s favorite swimming spot as a teenager. She became increasingly concerned about what the oceans - and the world might look like when her daughter grew up. Aria’s tempestuous Florida roots as an expressive and sensitive child living on the end of a dock in the keys, or swimming, dancing and running around barefoot in the woods gave her a deep appreciation for nature, while making the risks to climate and health more palpable. She felt compelled to find more purpose in her work, so she developed the idea to create the TV series, REVOLUTION EARTH which she co-created with Golden Globe, People's Choice Award winner Jeff Abugov (Roseanne/Cheers/Two and a Half Men). From Protests, to organizing, consulting and strategizing, Aria has been involved with multiple organizations, conferences and summits as she continued to evolve the story.
Aria is currently part of the climate and energy working group for the American Sustainable Business Council, and on the advisory board for Love the Wild Foundation. She has been a keynote speaker for Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project, and a panelist and coordinator for the American Renewable Energy Institute’s AREDay Summit which has hosted Tom Steyer, Ted Turner and many environmental luminaries. Additional affiliations include the Foundation for Climate Restoration, CLEO Institute & Vihara Foundation. Aria also attends press briefings through Aspen Ideas Climate and ‘Covering Climate Now’.
Aria is currently focused on taking what she’s learned and putting it into narratives whose central characters are on a journey of self empowerment. She is drawn to stories that are dramatic and hopeful, yet grounded in scientific reality and a love for the ethereal spirit of nature .. and to themes that help bridge cultural divides. She believes that stories give us a chance to face our demons while bringing out the best in our humanity, and that love of water and of family can help unite us to save what we love.
