Written by Kianna Best on Feb 29, 2024. Posted in General Interest

Leadership Stems from Grass Roots

From green studios to comprehensive guidance, on set sustainability has never been easier. And yet despite efforts from some productions, carbon emission figures are still dangerously high, so is the industry doing enough?

The Sustainability in Production Alliance revealed that the average tentpole production generates 3,370 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide across the timeline of a production. Of this, 48% is generated as a result of fuel usage and a reliance on non-renewable resources. Although productions are aware of the alternative options, and some are even being put into action, there is still a roadblock in establishing these practices as the norm.

Green Don’t Cost a Thing

One of the key reasons for this is the concern (or misconception) about extortionate costs involved in going green.

“People often assume that sustainable initiatives cost more money,” says Amelia Price, head of the Sustainable Film consultancy, which is one of the leading proponents of change. “However, whilst there might be more of an upfront cost, often they are cheaper in the long run. We need to get out of the habit of thinking short term and take an approach that benefits multiple productions over a longer period of time.”

Price and Sustainable Film co-founder Jimmy Keeping provide productions with step-by-step guidance to a more sustainable future. But it’s proving to be a difficult battle to change the decision-making processes of the people who have the power to change as they tend to stick to the status quo, often allowing ignorance to influence the entire supply chain.

If we just take a minute to pause and think a situation through, often we’ll have a better, more sustainable solution, that will also save money.

Sustainable Film’s Roots carbon calculator is proving to be a good starting point as it assists productions in understanding the carbon footprint of each department. The company also recently launched a survey opening up communication around sustainability, so that the industry gets talking and hopefully implementing changes.

“By having a sustainability team on a production you are opening up possibilities for cost reduction and efficiencies as well as reducing the impact the production has,” says Keeping. “For instance, by setting up a thorough waste management plan you are reducing waste costs as it’s cheaper to recycle than it is to send things to general waste.”

“We’re still operating in a world where decisions around script and schedule are being made very late in the day,” adds Price. “The trickle-down effect means that crews are often fire-fighting and have to go for the simplest solution that’s already in front of them. If we just take a minute to pause and think a situation through, often we’ll have a better, more sustainable solution, that will also save money.”

Plan Ahead

Sustainable certifications are certainly helping the cause. Productions are required to meet certain green standards to get the stamp of approval, and in some countries are even receiving additional funding as a result of meeting the certification criteria. Leading certificates include Bafta’s Albert and the US-based Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). Both are revered by the industry but it is vital that these green requirements are integrated into pre-production or even in the developmental stages of a project to avoid room for neglect and poor planning around sustainability on set.

So with all the will in the world, how is that producer supposed to take on all of these newer, cleaner, more efficient technologies if they don't have the budget to do so?”

Many of the top US studios set up sustainability initiatives from the early stages of a production and have united through the Producers Guild of America’s Green Production Alliance to help accelerate the adoption of sustainable practices and technologies within the industry. One of the most useful tools is the Green Production Guide, which helps productions reduce their environmental footprint. But more needs to be done.

As Louise Marie Smith, managing director of Neptune Sustainability, points out: “We can't recycle our way out of climate change. We're going to have to fundamentally change the way we operate and how we power our sets. We know fuel and electricity use is about half the footprint of an average production, so that's where we need to focus.”

Smith has certainly walked the talk on major productions she’s worked on, including Universal Pictures’ Jurassic World: Dominion, which had a meticulous environmental accounting report put together in pre-production, so that all flight, hotel or accommodation booked, fuel used for ground transportation and boat and helicopter hired to get a shot, could be tracked. This was then fed into a carbon calculator.

While on Eon’s Bond film No Time to Die, Smith introduced the first zero-emissions vault stack batteries. She insists taking sustainable steps is not as hard as people think.

Even just going paperless can make a difference, including taking advantage of cloud infrastructure to save on waste. There are also digital tools like pre-visualisation studios that allow producers and directors to test concepts before shooting and “results in fewer unnecessary set builds, requires less contingency planning, and reduces time, material use and costs,” according to the Production Guild.

But there's still a little bit of a gap in the ambition and the resources to make these changes happen, according to Smith. “A lot of these sustainable changes cost more money, but that's not reflected in the budget. So with all the will in the world, how is that producer supposed to take on all of these newer, cleaner, more efficient technologies if they don't have the budget to do so?”

Studio Support

Fortunately, many of the world’s leading studio facilities, including Pinewood and Warner Bros., are getting in on the green game, setting a positive example with things like solar panelled roofs, EVs and hydrogen generators.

Bristol’s The Bottle Yard Studios is a good example with its GBP12 million sustainably-designed television production facility, which is powered by a 1 MWp rooftop solar array that is community-owned, thus expanding its commitment beyond the industry.

Technology and construction technology is advanced enough that if it's something you're determined to do, you can do it. Getting LEED certified only cost us 1% of our budget.

While over in Atlanta, Georgia the Electric Owl Studios is showing that sustainability can be achieved from the very start. Welcoming clients such as Disney, Netflix and NBCU, the LEED certified facility has introduced a range of initiatives, including 30% of its studio power usage offset by solar energy, living walls integrated into its architecture, and water refill stations everywhere.

“Technology and construction technology is advanced enough that if it's something you're determined to do, you can do it. Getting LEED certified only cost us 1% of our budget,” says Michael Hahn, co-founder of Electric Owl Studios. “It's not a cost that we have to pass on to the tenants that come here, so it costs them absolutely nothing to be green, or to be in a green facility. It’s important to communicate that to everybody – you can do it too.”

The film industry is gradually recognising the importance of sustainability and making efforts to reduce its environmental impact, although there’s still a way to go. As consumers become increasingly eco-conscious, there is a growing incentive for the film industry to prioritise sustainability not only for the planet but also for its own long-term viability.

As the European Film Academy recently pointed out there could be a time in the not-too-distant future, as our planet continues to crumble, where people choose to watch something or not based on whether it was made sustainably.

 

This article was first published in the FOCUS 2023 issue of makers.

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