EXCLUSIVE: Robert Downey Jr. has teamed up with best-selling environmental author Thomas Kostigen to write Cool Food: Erasing your carbon footprint one bite at a time. The book was acquired by President/CEO of Blackstone Publishing, Josh Stanton. The actor/producer and Kostigen are planning a book they believe will provide a smart, accessible, and groundbreaking roadmap for making climate-solving food choices. The deal marks the first major non-fiction book from Downey Jr., best known for his iconic turns as Iron-Man and Sherlock Holmes and partnering with his wife Susan Downey on their production label Team Downey. Downey Jr. has leaned into nutrition since the start of his Marvel run to prepare for the rigors of this role. Although there has been a preoccupation in Hollywood with reducing the carbon footprint, doing so through diet seems like an innovative wrinkle. Blackstone has not set a release date.

“Our best global food future doesn’t require hand-twisting, fad diets, or radical shaming — just a shift in perspective to uncover the many solutions in plain sight,” Downey, Jr. said. “With Kostigen in the cockpit and awesome ground control of Blackstone, this should be an actionable adventure. Join us.”

Kostigen said, “As the great Yogi Berra once said, ‘The future isn’t what it used to be.’ We are increasingly being presented with predictions of worsening weather. Cool Food shows how we can change that outlook for the better by making a few different choices at the grocery store, trying something new on the restaurant menu, and keeping an eye out for foods that store more carbon in the soil rather than polluting the air.”

The deal was negotiated by Stanton and Blackstone head of new business development, Rick Bleiweiss, along with WME’s Mel Berger, David Black agency’s Susan Raihofer. Downey, Jr. is represented by WME and Hansen, Jacobson, Teller. Kostigen is replaced by Lighthouse Management & Media, CAA and Felker Toczek.

Blackstone CEO Stanton confirmed the deal, saying the publisher is “proud to partner with Robert Downey, Jr. and Thomas Kostigen to publish this essential book that shows how we, as individuals, can have a major impact with the foods we choose to eat. says Stanton. “Cool Food provides an accessible roadmap with practical steps to reduce our carbon footprint – and, with bright and witty Downey, Jr. and Kostigen at the helm, readers are sure to have fun learning too. “

Downey, Jr. and Kostigen will provide details on how to create a carbon-free diet and dissect their own take on their fresh food paradigm. The duo will guide readers through the adventures they’ve embarked on that uncover a 360° story of where these foods are grown and sold – ranging from exotic regions, local produce and giant wholesale markets, to the simple, Michelin-starred restaurants in which they are. served.

In 2019, Downey, Jr. founded The Footprint Coalition, a nonprofit solely focused on adopting and scaling sustainable technologies. Kostigen has been writing about climate change for two decades.