About The Science & Entertainment Exchange

The Science & Entertainment Exchange (The Exchange) is a program of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) that connects entertainment industry professionals with top scientists and engineers to create a synergy between accurate science and engaging storylines in both film and TV programming. From a quick fact check to a special briefing, The Exchange provides quick and easy access to experts from all the scientific disciplines. The goal of The Exchange is to use the vehicle of popular entertainment media to deliver sometimes subtle, but nevertheless powerful, messages about science that catalyze more storytelling grounded in authentic science, encourage the depiction of richer, more diverse STEM characters that challenge traditional stereotypes, and inspire new media projects driven by science and engineering themes.

Chartered by Congress in 1863 under an Act signed by Abraham Lincoln to provide critical scientific advice to the nation, the NAS is a private, nonprofit institution in Washington, DC.  Relying on the uncommon connections available to the NAS, The Exchange has facilitated more than 4,000 expert consultations since the program launched in 2008.

Making a Difference Through Collaboration

The benefits of a collaborative relationship are clear. For filmmakers, science advisers add a sense of realism and verisimilitude to their creative vision. But perhaps even more important, scientists provide access to the array of intriguing, mind-blowing, real-life science stories that are happening around us every day – all of which have the capacity to provide the inspiration for fresh, unique, and compelling narratives as well as diverse lineup of novel, complex, and nuanced characters.

In short, The Exchange helps the entertainment industry harness science as a creative tool. By connecting industry professionals with scientists and engineers, The Exchange brings the reality of engaging science to the creative arts.

And ultimately, a successful collaboration between science and entertainment offers an opportunity to expand the reach of film and television, taking research out of the lab and into the public eye, offering the promise to improve attitudes toward science and galvanizing interest in further discovery.  Entertainment is more than a past-time, taking on the characteristics of a reality that can be shared across cultural and political barriers.  It is persuasive.  It creates connection and understanding.  This is what it feels like to be a race car driver... a police detective... a scientist.  Ideas expressed through humor and heart spread rapidly and effectively.  In a world rife with mis- and dis-information, where facts have been devalued, emotion can be tools for truth.

Grounded in Research

The Exchange's work is fundamentally rooted in the science of science communications.  Before we even launched the program, we did our homework, relying on the research of scholars who had carefully studied the impact of entertainment media on various audiences.  This body of literature has informed and guided our thinking from Day One.  From the broad investigations into the influence of entertainment on public attitudes, understanding, and even behavior conducted by Albert Bandura and Miguel Sabido to the more STEM-specific work of David Kirby and the Kaiser Family Foundation, to the ongoing studies on gender prevalence in entertainment published by the Geena Davis Institute, we continually turn to science to improve our own practice.  As we consider how we can contribute to new stories and new characters that push back on stale and outdated stereotypes, the data collected by others is invaluable to us.