What is Green Film Making?
Green film making simply means leaving as little environmental impact on the planet as possible while producing your film.
Aside from clear environmental benefits of making your film production greener, higher sustainable standards lead to: recognition from peers, audiences, investors, stakeholders and NGOs. It reduces reputational risk and enhances competitiveness. Taking the lead in sustainability also means you’ll stay on top of existing regulatory requirements and ahead of future legislation.
Throughout the competition Strawberry Earth will collect and document on and offline information about green film making in the Netherlands and internationally. What follows is an overview of useful information to start the ball rolling for you.
Is the environmental impact of a film really that big a deal?
Absolutely. We are living in an age of transition; the amount of fossil fuel resources is rapidly decreasing, this means we need to be very efficient with what we still use. But it also creates new opportunities to look for effective alternatives. Everyone has a part to play and the film industry is no exception since it’s a major contributor to environmental pollution. Like any other industry, there’s room for improvement. Things can be done more efficiently and by using fewer resources, that means productions should be cheaper too.
For producers, the key is to identify priorities and challenges before production begins.
A useful checklist could include:
• Make a green commitment and engage the filmmakers, financers and everyone involved with the production, at an early stage
• Set achievable goals for yourself and the team, and lead by example
• Identify green partners who can supply the products/services you need
• Hold a pre-production meeting with department heads to announce the sustainability plan
• Solicit input from department heads regarding ways to make their department greener
• Hold a kick-off meeting with cast and crew to communicate green goals and strategies for the production
• Include green updates in weekly production meetings
• Consider doing a mid-point evaluation: compute progress statistics and share lessons learned to keep crew engaged and to re-energize the team.
How can you reduce a film’s environmental impact?
We’ll explore this question in a lot more detail during workshops throughout the competition but, in general, sustainability benefits can be found through: using products and materials which incorporate innovative technology (such as LED lighting, eco design, digital film), efficient planning of logistics and transportation, monitoring energy use, reducing waste, sustainable catering and through collaborations with sustainable partners and suppliers. The Green Film Making Competition aims to focus on sustainable innovation which can deliver big environmental benefits, but of course there are lots of basic things that can be done. Here is a summary of some of the basic ways in which different film departments could consider sustainable improvements:
Production Office
• Recycling
• Green office supplies
• Green cleaning supplies
• Green catering for the kitchen and no water bottles
Art department and set dressing
• When constructing and dismantling sets a lot of the material used ends up being thrown away but there are ways to avoid this including selecting practical locations rather than having to build
• Using non toxic supplies for painting
• Recycling left over props and set dressing or making them available to other film sets for a fee
Composting, recycling and reducing waste
Making different recycling bins available for: Recycling (Cans & Bottles), Recycling(Paper), Compost (food), Compost(dishware) and General Trash
Transportation
Instituting an ‘anti-idling rule’ for drivers, requiring drivers to turn off vehicles while not in motion, thus reducing our carbon dioxide output. Researching and sharing information with the crew about public transport to and from the set
Is anyone in the film industry already working sustainably?
Much is already happening in the US and elsewhere in Europe. And, as a consequence of a very detailed study on the audiovisual industries’ carbon footprint, the New Zealand government also sponsored the comprehensive Greening the Screen (one of the most detailed toolkits in the world for environmental procedures). Similar codes have been issued in the USA the UK through the Greening Film project) and France. In California, there is a growing movement to make the Hollywood film industry greener. In November 2005, Warner Brothers proudly presented Syriana as the first blockbuster in the world having all its carbon emissions offset by investments in renewal energies. Since then, many other studios, films and TV shows followed with totally carbon free emission productions. Over 2011/2012 Strawberry Earth will explore even more ways of taking the film industry into the future by making the film industry greener!