In Oren Jacoby’s evocative documentary This Is Not A Drill, a powerful alliance forms—three passionate grassroots environmentalists join forces with descendants of John D. Rockefeller to confront the most formidable oil and gas giants in the United States.

Justin J. Pearson unites a multiracial movement in Memphis, Tennessee, in a fierce stand against a destructive crude oil pipeline. Roishetta Ozane, a resilient mother of six from Louisiana, channels the heartbreak of losing her home to relentless, record-breaking hurricanes into fierce political advocacy—taking her fight from the wreckage of her community all the way to the steps of Congress. And Sharon Wilson, once an oil industry insider, now a fearless methane hunter, wields infrared technology to reveal the invisible poisons seeping from fracking sites and pipelines across Texas.

Supporting them are defiant Rockefeller heirs—descendants who have turned their backs on the family’s oil dynasty to expose ExxonMobil’s decades-long campaign of deception. Together, as the film reveals, this coalition unearths what they call Big Oil’s “Big Con”—an industry doubling down on fossil fuels while cloaking the truth in layers of misinformation.

“When democratic institutions and protections are stripped away, corporate greed runs unchecked—and the public pays the price,” Jacoby reflects. “How do we protect our communities? We found three extraordinary individuals who’ve risen to the challenge, showing us the path forward. They are confronting oil and gas giants that ignore scientific warnings and continue expanding infrastructure that fuels the climate crisis. Each of them has something deeply personal, urgently real, at stake.”

Variety sat down with Jacoby to discuss This Is Not A Drill, which made its debut at the 2025 Telluride Film Festival.

“I traveled across the country for a year in search of people who were already living the reality of the climate crisis—those who had decided to fight back,” Jacoby explains. “I was fortunate to meet three individuals who were not only charismatic and courageous but were already making a difference. Their families, their communities—each had suffered at the hands of the oil and gas industry. They weren’t activists or environmentalists by trade. They became fighters when they realized no one else would come to their rescue.”

The filming began in late 2021 and concluded just this past summer—capturing a final, pivotal moment outside Elon Musk’s XAI facility in Memphis.

The Rockefeller family members encountered during the making of the film were, for the most part, deeply private individuals. Yet, despite their reluctance to step into the spotlight, they chose to stand firm—willing to do whatever it takes to hold Big Oil accountable and amplify the efforts of grassroots leaders like Justin, Sharon, and Roishetta in halting the reckless expansion that fuels the climate emergency.

One of the greatest challenges, Jacoby notes, is the pervasive sense of despair—that the battle is already lost, that resistance is futile. But that’s not the spirit of Justin, Sharon, or Roishetta. Year after year, through shifting administrations and political indifference, the people in this film continue their fight. Because they know—we cannot afford to stop.

Despite the obstacles—harassment from private security, surveillance, and intimidation on public roads near oil and gas facilities—this film is not about a single lawsuit or one corporation. It is a searing portrait of an entire industry that has failed to tell the truth, failed to protect communities, and failed to act in the public interest. And yet, amid the struggle, the film carries a message of hope—that even in the darkest times, we can rise, we can resist, and we can change the world.

The film received support from Patagonia Films, the Ford Foundation, and generous individual donors. We are continuing to raise funds to ensure its message reaches every corner of the nation.