The cost of silence

LOG LINE: THE COST OF SILENCE

Secretly filmed over nine years, an oil industry insider exposes the devastating consequences of the Deepwater Horizon oil-spill and uncovers a public health disaster and the coordination between government and industry to silence the victims. 

Impact Campaign: PARTNERING WITH Engagestream

Global environmental disasters are no longer distant threats—they’re here, and accelerating. Yet instead of bold, inspired action, the U.S. government’s rallying cry remains familiar: energy independence through more drilling—the very path that created this crisis.

The solutions exist. The technology is ready. The public is awake. What we need now is the will—and the infrastructure—to mobilize meaningful, sustained change.

ENGAGESTREAM is that infrastructure.
ConceptionMedia’s founders are developing a new kind of streaming platform, ENGAGESTREAM designed and engineered to transform powerful storytelling into sustained real-world impact. By combining film, social media, and real-time tools into an interactive, personalized system, it simplifies and amplifies the viewer’s ability to take action.

As a centralized hub for global NGOs and tipping-point campaigns, ENGAGESTREAM will give audiences immediate, trusted ways to get involved—organizing locally, advancing solutions, and supporting credible movements. Each campaign is backed by curated media, dynamic calls to action, and real-time impact tracking, turning moments of inspiration into measurable progress.

Powered by intelligent feedback loops, AI architecture, and dedicated impact teams, ENGAGESTREAM keeps audiences connected—to each other, to movements, and to the change they’re helping create. In a media landscape plagued by apathy and burnout, ENGAGESTREAM redefines what it means to watch: shifting the experience from passive to participatory—where audiences don’t just witness a crisis unfold, they help drive its resolution.

ENGAGESTREAM will launch with The Cost of Silence and the frontline fight for environmental justice—then scale nationally and globally, becoming a vital tool for filmmakers, organizers, and audiences ready to take action. Please contact us for more information.

Film synopsis: THE COST OF SILENCE

The Deepwater Horizon disaster of 2010 was the world’s worst offshore oil drilling accident in history. The resulting oil spill contaminated 68,000 square miles of the Gulf of Mexico and threatened the lives of six million people. To make the oil go away, toxic chemicals called 'dispersants' were sprayed in unprecedented amounts. In the months and years after the disaster, the world has been led to believe that the 'clean-up' was a success, the dispersants were harmless, and life is back to normal. An oil field insider knew the official story was suspect and began to investigate. What he finds is a far different story.  

From BP employees to clean-up volunteers to coastal residents and even innocent vacationers, Gulf Coast families and communities of all ages, races, and classes are suffering chronic illness, cancer, and premature death at rates far above national averages. The common link among the victims: all were exposed to oil and dispersants. 

The cover-up has been successful, and a dangerous precedent has been set for the use of toxic dispersants in all future oil spills: ports around the world are stocked and pre-approved for deployment. Hiding this catastrophe paved the way for the 2025 Trump administration’s announcement of the most extensive offshore oil development plan in fossil fuel history.