Paul Goodenough Talks Rewriting Extinction Campaign

Turning The Ecological Clock Back

Writer/ producer Paul Goodenough has just launched Rewriting Extinction, a campaign featuring notable comic creators and celebrities, and Tripwire’s editor-in-chief Joel Meadows spoke to Goodenough about it…

TRIPWIRE: What was the genesis of this project?

PAUL GOODENOUGH: I’d worked with BAFTA and BBC in 2012 on pulling together a consortium consisting of the major broadcasters (Sky, Channel 4, Netflix, IMG etc) – to all agree and enforce a set of rules that would enforce massive carbon reduction for all TV shows. It was and is a phenomenal success. By bringing together the whole industry, who then held each other accountable, it completely rewrote the rule book on how TV shows were made.

Then I looked at the environmental sector and saw that 200 species go extinct every day, and realised someone had to do something. The traditional charity model of everyone working in their own silos, and trying to save one species at a time wasn’t working. More needed to be done. And as a writer/producer and a massive comic fan, I knew comics (especially online comics) would not only simplify the message for the general public, but they’d also capture the imagination.

TW: This is a very ambitious project. What gave you the confidence to put this together and move it forward?

PG: There’s no other choice. Honestly. I don’t want to be doing this whatsoever. It’s been the most stressful and debilitating thing I’ve ever done. But it’s not enough just to sit around at home and hope something changes… I saw the problem and once I did, how could I possibly live with myself if I didn’t DO something about it.

TW: How did you gather the creative people involved with it?

PG: Honestly…? I just annoyed them until they gave in. Like most people, I started with the people I knew. Charlie Adlard and Rob Williams deserve a lot of credit, they really came to bat for this. And Rob introduced me to Will Dennis who then opened the project up to the US creators. Managing 300 creators was really tough, but I have to just say, they were amazing. They sacrificed so much, and gave so much of themselves to this. It’s truly humbling. I owe them a greater debt than I could ever repay.

TW: How did Kieron Gillen get involved in the Cara Delevingne comic story?

PG: Well I knew Kieron had journalistic chops, and had a similar intrinsic value and soul to Cara. Whenever I’ve spoken to either of them, they just have this beautiful poetic energy, where they can step outside themselves and view the world as a whole. I just knew that Kieron would do an outstanding job (and he really did!). Also, Kieron loves music of course, and so when Cara revealed she’d written some lyrics that inspired the comic, well… the rest is history.

TW: How did artist Sean Phillips come on board too?

PG: From memory, I’m pretty sure I first chatted to Sean about the project at Thought Bubble in 2019, and he said he was up for it. Again, he’s just an absolute gem. I love Sean. As with almost all the 300 creators, I just spoke to them all either in person or on Zoom once lockdown hit. I think, but I may be wrong, that I then suggested Sean would be great for the comic with Cara and Kieron, but it might well have been Kieron… I’ve had A LOT of conversations recently.

TW: How did you come up with the structure of this campaign?

PG: Research basically. I looked into the science behind the biodiversity crisis, and the answer is surprisingly simple.

1: We need to change the system. There are laws and business practices that are driving species (and us) into extinction. Greenpeace are (for me) the best organisation on the planet to bring about systemic change.

2: We need to protect the most biodiverse places on the planet. These are generally areas where the indigenous/original people live. These areas are under incredible threat from outside entities who want to exploit the resources in those areas, and when they do, they often destroy the ecosystem and displace the people. It’s heartbreaking. So we’re working with World Land Trust to buy the land with the local indigenous people/communities, so their land is safe… forever.

3: Restoration. Whether it’s rewilding (the process of turning an area back to its ‘original’ wild state), reintroduction of species (wolves, bears, lynx, bison, beavers) or regenerative agriculture (a process of farming that undoes all the destruction from previous methods), we knew we needed to repair the damage. So we highlighted charities and projects all over the globe that would repair the most beneficial places, and restore the ecosystems so the area can then repair itself – with no need for human intervention.

George Monbiot, Greta Thunberg and Tom Mustill deserve a massive amount of credit in pulling together the plan. Without their knowledge, passion and advice (to us all), I dread to think the mistakes I would have made. You can find out more about our plan, and the specific projects on our website: www.rewritingextinction.com

TW: I know there are other comic talents and celebrities involved with Rewriting Extinction. Can you talk us through who else is part of this and what they are doing?

PG: Sure. We’ve got comics from everyone from Ricky Gervais to Jane Goodall, from Sir Lenny Henry to Brooklyn Beckham…. You can see everyone involved on our website. BUT I want to be super clear, we are NOT using celebs to ‘front’ this. We have voices from all over the planet, from climate scientists, to UN Ambassadors, to spiritual leaders, to politicians, to those struggling to survive as their climate breaks down… All the stories we made are honest collaborations.

The stars involved were all speaking on subjects they have authority on. Things they care about and want the world to know. We undertook a brainstorm for each comic (over 100 actually) where we’d get on a Zoom meeting with the stars, experts, writers and artists, and between us create the core concept, live. Each comic represents what the collective creators wish the world would know and understand about a particular environmental matter, or species. But really really key to this is that our stories are ‘educational’ or ‘worthy’, they’re wonderful, stupid, ridiculous, hilarious, terrifying… all the good things a story should be.

TW: How confident are you of meeting your goals in twelve months here?

PG: Hmmm. Well it’s very hard to know. We’ve got a number of key milestones along the way, places where we can say “WELL DONE, we’ve now saved the Iberian Lynx” for example. So I’m confident we’ll save a whole tonne of species, I’m just not sure how many. I certainly want us to be able to say with utter confidence that hundreds, if not thousands, of species are protected, forever, because of what we all have done.

But to do that, it has to be a movement, not a campaign. We need everyone out there to share our message, to be active and DO something and take responsibility to help make this happen. I’m just one person, and it can’t be about me, or our wider team. If everyone out there shares our messages, helps build a community, or takes it upon themselves to fundraise for us, we CAN and WILL get this sorted in 12 months. It’s entirely possible.

But I can’t do it alone. It’s just not possible. (plead plead!!)