This year, The Serica Initiative was nominated in 3 separate categories for our programming in partnership with ALL ARTS, and Climate Artists: Courtney Mattison won the 2025 New York Emmy® Award for Best Short Documentary in the Environment/Science category!!

It marked a milestone not only for the series but for everyone involved in bringing it to life. Our Deputy Director, Daniel Tam-Claiborne, worked on the nine-minute Climate Artists Season 2 series with an all-star team from ALL ARTS including Kristy Geslain, Erin McIntrye, Chelsea Rugg, Cindy Rodriguez, Shant Alexander, Juli Lopez, Kael Todorowicz, and Josh Broome.

The episode profiles the San Francisco-based artist whose large-scale ceramic installations visualize the fragility and beauty of marine ecosystems. Behind the finished episode was a carefully planned process that blended storytelling, artistry, and logistics in service of one goal: to translate Mattison’s creative practice into a cinematic reflection on climate change.

Shaping the Story

From the start, the production team approached the episode as more than a traditional artist profile. Mattison’s background in marine ecology and environmental studies offered an opportunity to weave science and art into a unified narrative. The storyboarding process was designed around three movements: introduction, process, and reflection.

The first act would ground viewers in Mattison’s studio—her tools, materials, and rhythms of work.

The second would immerse them in her making process, capturing the tactile intimacy of clay as it transformed into coral-like forms.

The third would expand outward, connecting the studio practice to the larger story of ocean health and climate urgency. This framework gave the team a visual and emotional map for production, ensuring every sequence supported the film’s environmental through-line.

During pre-production, Daniel Tam-Claiborne worked with ALL ARTS to define editorial priorities and visual motifs: the contrast between vibrant, glazed corals and bleached, skeletal textures; the recurring circularity of forms; and the interplay of light and heat around the kiln. These decisions guided the cinematography and informed the questions used to anchor Mattison’s on-camera interview.

Filming on Location in San Francisco

Production took place over two days in San Francisco. Courtney's home-slash-studio in the Noe Valley presented both opportunities and challenges. The natural environment for her work felt authentic and lived-in, but limited natural light required careful exposure control. The small crew kept equipment minimal to preserve a nimble working environment while still achieving dynamic movement through sliders and handheld setups.

In addition to the studio footage, the crew captured exterior establishing shots at Land's End, a fitting location for its natural beauty and proximity to water. These sequences visually linked Mattison’s land-based studio practice to the oceanic ecosystems that inspire her work, providing a visual bridge between art and environment.

Directing the Interview

The on-camera conversation with Mattison was central to shaping the film’s emotional core. Questions were designed to move fluidly between personal reflection and ecological insight: how her scientific training influences her ceramics; what it means to recreate coral forms by hand; and how art can function as a form of environmental advocacy.

In post-production, the challenge was to distill several hours of footage into a cohesive nine-minute arc. The editors built the piece around Mattison’s own words, letting her voice guide transitions between process, reflection, and environmental commentary. The final cut balanced artistic beauty with scientific clarity, culminating in a quiet but resonant call to awareness: a reminder of the fragility of coral reefs and the potential of art to move viewers toward empathy and action.

Looking Ahead

The Emmy recognition for Climate Artists: Courtney Mattison underscores how art-driven storytelling can resonate within environmental media. For the production team, the experience reaffirmed the importance of partnership. Collaboration between artist, crew, and producers strengthened both the aesthetic and the message. ALL ARTS proved once again to be an integral partner in providing technical guidance, editorial input, and licensing and distribution support.

Producing Climate Artists: Courtney Mattison was as much an act of translation as of documentation—converting a material practice into cinematic language. The New York Emmy win is a gratifying acknowledgment of that collective effort, but the deeper achievement lies in how the episode continues to reach audiences beyond the art world, inviting them to see coral reefs—and the planet’s fragile ecosystems—through an artist’s eyes. In the end, the project stands as proof that collaboration across disciplines—between artists, filmmakers, and networks—can make complex issues like climate change not just understandable, but felt.

The two other nominees from Season Two of Climate Artists in contention for the New York Emmy Award were profiles of genre-fluid artist sTo Len and renowned architect, designer, and sculptor Maya Lin. Both are available to stream for free! Please consider nominating Climate Artists for an Anthem Award at the link here.