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© Greenshoot 2015 BFI End of Year Sustainabil i ty Report

Trialling the BS 8909 Specification for a Sustainability Management system for film.


A year in sustainable production As the lead body for film in the UK, the BFI embraces best practice and takes seriously its responsibility to co-ordinate a UK-wide sustainability strategy for all parts of the film sector. This includes adopting the BS 8909, the British Standard for film sustainability that was launched in 2011, giving a framework for organisations and productions to follow. A co-ordinated approach to sustainability using BS 8909 will help us all meet UK carbon budgets and lead to greater efficiencies and long-term cost savings so that budgets can be used to better support the film industry. Greenshoot supported a number of productions over the past 18 months that were publically funded with the aim to assess the framework of the BS 8909 Sustainability Management System (SMS). Concentrating on delivering practical ‘hands on’ support to reduce each production’s environmental footprint. We received fantastic and much appreciated support from the BFI’s film team, headed by Fiona Morham. This document is an abridged version of the report delivered to the BFI in November. Climate change - how do we know? The current warming trend of our climate is of particular significance because most of it is very likely human-induced and proceeding at a rate that is unprecedented in human history. Earth-orbiting satellites and other technological advances have enabled scientists to see the bigger picture, collecting many different types of information about our planet and its climate on a global scale. This body of data, collected over many years, reveals the signals of a changing climate. The heat-trapping nature of carbon dioxide and other gases was demonstrated in the mid-19th century. Their ability to affect the transfer of infrared energy through the atmosphere is the scientific basis of many instruments flown by NASA. There is no question that increased levels of greenhouse gases must cause the Earth to warm in response. The 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference took place in Paris in December 2015 (COP21). The conference objective was to achieve a legally binding and universal agreement on climate, from all the nations of the world. It is the duty of every global industry to make a difference in reducing our dependence on fossil fuels - coal, oil and natural gas - are burnt they release CO2 into the atmosphere. Because of this the layer of greenhouse gas is getting thicker, which is in turn making the Earth warmer. Thus the ongoing unlimited burning of fossil fuels is the cause of climate change. Further reading: 1. IPCC (Intergovernmental panel on Climate Change)Fourth Assessment Report, Summary for Policymakers, p. 5 https://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar5/wg1/WGIAR5_SPM_brochure_en.pdf


With thanks to NASA for providing data.

The requirements of British Standard 8909

The Standard requires that a production should ‘establish, implement and maintain a procedure to identify and evaluate the significance of sustainable development issues associated with its activities, products and services.’

The Standard works by asking productions to state what they want to achieve in terms of sustainability and to describe what they will do to achieve their aims. In conjunction with Greenshoot, the production will then implement their plans and review actual activity and outcomes against their initial objectives. These must take the social, economic and environmental issues into account.

Historically this Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle has proved an effective way of ‘holding’ organisations to their stated course. It has produced significant results for hundreds of thousands of organisations using other Management Systems Standards, like ISO 14001 for environmental management and ISO 9001 for quality assurance. Most recently we remember the London ‘Green Olympics’, which started life as BS 8901 and moved to an international standard for the Olympics ISO 12121.

British Standards usually relate to either companies or to products. However BS 8909 aims to be more flexible and applicable. It can apply to a feature film just as well as it can to a cinema - or in fact any company working in the film industry and its value chain. Complying with this relatively new Standard highlights that processes are in place and as a result the film company’s environmental impact is being minimised.

Increased environmental efficiency during 2015 The take up for an increased drive into a reduction of environmental impacts is slowly being seen across the UK filming industries. The key points learned from the BFI productions Greenshoot supported in 2015 include;

• Crew understanding, carbon education is growing across the filming sector - practical training should be increased.


• A call for a practical ‘hands on’ support was appreciated across all film productions. • Recycling & composting more prevalent – but far from being the norm. • Water bottles favoured over coolers/canisters, reduction in waste & ‘usual practice’ • The national database of reputable contractors and suppliers is growing and

continually monitored. • Repurposing programmes are gaining traction and charitable partners & organisations

are growing. • Without a green runner or nominated green production contact, any new

environmental programme or system will not be effective. • The need for an alternative to fossil fuel reliant generators across the sector.

A gradual improvement in uptake and a furthering of industry crew education but with plenty of room for more engagement. Ultimately the responsibility lies with producers and top management to make the initial decision to commit to a being a sustainable production. The changes are small but can lead to cost savings and a reduction in carbon emissions. For any strategy to be successful there is as always a need for Producer commitment and a green runner, or a production runner who is tasked with over seeing the green programme. An initiative to increase the number of productions adopting a green strategy is the imminent launch of the Green Screen Environmental Production Programme. This is an entry-level education online platform that all filming productions can benefit and learn from. It’s at green-screen.org.uk and contains case studies of successful sustainable productions, tips on how each filming department can be environmentally friendly and other resources to simply establish a green programme. Qualifying productions receive the Green Screen stamp that publicises their achievement. Introduction Adopting Sustainability Management Systems (SMS) is gathering pace across the film sector. On the ground engagement is increasing but for producers, financiers and management to be convinced of the merits of an SMS they need to have a positive experience and understand that a ‘business as usual’ format works. The British Standard 8909 can be embedded into productions and should not be seen as a framework for fixed business only. The BS 8909 specifies requirements for a sustainability management system for film and offers a route map to follow. Key areas have to be addressed including the Social, Environmental and Economic pillars of the sustainability management system. The standard is applicable to any organisation that wishes to establish, implement maintain and improve a sustainability management system for film.

A successful SMS on f i lm sets is dependent on two key factors :

Ø The strategy has full buy in and support from the producers & top management

Ø There is a green production

runner on-set during filming


Production case studies Film noir thriller City of Tiny Lights, written by Patrick Neate and based on his novel, filmed for six weeks in and round London during April 2015. Directed by Pete Travis and starring Riz Ahmed and Billie Piper. The thriller ‘Free Fire’, written and directed by Ben Wheatley, filmed for six weeks in a fixed location near Brighton during June/July 2015, with a few days night shoots nearby. It starred Armie Hammer, Cillian Murphy and Sam Riley and was produced by Andrew Starke and Michael Constable. Family adventure film, Swallows & Amazons is based on the classic novel by Arthur Ransome and filmed for six weeks in the Lake District and Leeds during July/August 2015. Directed by Phillipa Lowthorpe and starring Kelly Macdonald and Rafe Spall. City of Tiny Lights - Production Summary Key contact on the production was the Line Producer and meetings took place in prep to scope and identify issues relating to the production and the SMS. (See production BS 8909 sustainability matrix and levels of engagement that follow.) At the time of filming there was no Green Runner appointed - which meant it was a challenge for the production implementing green strategies. Special thanks goes to the production team for their commitment and support. Even though ultimately it is a combination of the efforts of the whole crew that make a successful sustainable production, there needs to be a focal point for the initiative. A presence on set that interacts with all filming departments, reminding and advising crew on how the strategies work on a day-to-day basis. That is the green runner, a new industry entry level position that was introduced in 2009 onto Universal Pictures Jonny English Reborn and Warner Bros. Sherlock Holmes, A Game of Shadows. Scope of the SMS on ‘City of Tiny Lights’ It was agreed the scope of City of Tiny Lights would cover the production filming period itself (so not including post production or distribution) using the three pillars of sustainability - Social, Economic and Environmental. Specific areas to be covered were clearly defined. These key areas were assessed for the film production and where they fall within the Standard: Crew education: Social Energy reduction: Environmental & Economic Supply chain management: Environmental & Economic Carbon footprinting via Greenshoot’s educational and tracking: Environmental & Review system START©, assessing financial & carbon savings: Management review Travel planning: Social, Environmental & Economic Location and ecological assessments: Environmental, Social & Economic Office and digital management of paperwork: Supply chain management Recycling: food, DMR & waste: Environmental


Reporting & monitoring: Management review and reporting

Issue identification Tracking assessments Comment & outcome Prep Communication & Planning Location filming & London boroughs.

Full EMS (environmental management programme agreed on in Prep)

1. Location team communicated areas of filming to all residents. 2.Resident & boroughs informed. Reduced crew engaged for night shoots in high residential areas. 3.Producer attended all location filming.

Logistics for a SMS: Sustainability Management System The areas that were covered for the project but not exhaustive included:

- Location filming - Transport management &

impacts - Facilities - Community relations - Ethical business practices - Greenhouse gas

emissions tracking - Land remediation - Legislation - Biodiversity - Energy usage and source - Disposal of waste - Water management - Nuisance (Light, Sound,

Smell)

1. Reduction in transport - car sharing/ public transport adopted. 2. Communication to crew on C02e reduction at mid point and wrap. 3. Management review meeting on wrap.

Production Communication, action, planning - Daily call sheets - Daily risk assessments - Progress reports - Tracking of greenhouse

gases - Staff commute - Transport plans and

assessments - Supply chain management - Legislation

1. Set visits to monitor and answer queries 2. Management review on wrap 3. Set attendance 4. Monitoring & measuring 5. Education 6. Reporting 7. Carbon footprint analysis

City of Tiny Lights - Departmental highlights

Department Summary key highlighted areas

Assistant Directors The 1st AD and his team were very engaging and supportive with the sustainability programme and Melanie Dicks met with the Assistant Directors team in prep to explain and explore what sustainability strategies could be adopted on the production and how the team could support a carbon reduction programme through key communication strategies. As there was no green runner it put more pressure on the ADs with regard to encouraging crew engagement with the recycling system and composting initiative. The Assistant Director designed the callsheet to communicate that the entire production was going green and a communication plan was sent out ahead of the first day of filming.

Catering Rose Catering and the chef and kitchen team were supportive and took the time to understand the environmental impact reduction programme in detail but did require an additional allocation in budget to use an alternative to polystyrene.

Costume Claire Anderson, the costume designer, was a big supporter of the green initiatives and made a point of washing costumes in cold washes and reusing bags & hangars and using portable water bottles. She said. “This is a brilliant initiative on the production and something the industry should adopt. I find it offensive the amount of waste produced. We should all be adopting environmental reduction strategies on every production’.

Transport Transport formed an important part of the framework for the SMS and this is an area that should be seen as change in normal working practice. The crew on City of Tiny Lights used London public transport system and the staff commute tracking fell from day 1 with 36 cars at the unit base to 22 cars mid point and 18 on the last few filming days. A positive step in reducing the shows environmental footprint. The line producer was keen to adopt a no idling policy and this helped with the continual improvement of their sustainable development messaging throughout the production.


Support & Suppliers overview

There is a growing need for emphasis to be placed on key suppliers supporting a green programme. Productions can have a huge influence on the behavior of their suppliers by asking them to implement simple sustainability strategies or enquiring at tender stage if they have a company environmental programme or strategy

Production

From the outset the entire production team were engaged and supportive and a clear, concise communication plan adopted. Ethical supplies, digital office and the distribution of call sheets were all effective. Introductions to key suppliers during prep and follow ups during filming supported the SMS.

Carbon Footprint - City of Tiny Lights


Conclusions

The sustainability programme on City of Tiny Lights was adopted by the production in early prep. The cast and crew felt it necessary that the filming production industry should be reducing environmental impacts and education and training is key. The conclusion reached that for any sustainability programme to work effectively a green runner has to be trained to work across the production to make any sustainability management system work effectively.

The producers were fully supportive of the Environmental Management System & SMS programme embedded onto the film production. Subsequent productions have since benefitted from industry Green Runners and in turn they have benefitted from carbon & environmental training programme that has been run through Greenshoot since 2009.

Final comments - Producer

Rebecca O’Brien

I’m for anything that eliminates waste and makes things more sustainable. I’m old enough to remember the 1960’s when the post-war ethic of making-do and mending still pertained and I can’t think why we ever let it go. We were whole hearted supporters of the idea from the start but it had a bumpy beginning, mainly because cast and crew were not really sure what bins to use because the pictures of what to throw in which bin didn’t look like the Greenshoot items we had! So there was certainly confusion – which led to the wrong things being put in the bins. Although people made an effort, as the shoot wore on, I thought people got lazier and put anything in any bin. What would have been good would have been accurate pictures of what should go in the different bins. It would have perhaps helped too if there had been a person dedicated to looking after the Greenshoot stuff. It was quite a big additional ask of the caterers and the locations department to look after the recycling properly and I do think a dedicated “green runner” would be a terrific help in terms of looking after the programme. I’d like to have seen water coolers and people with reusable bottles but the caterers were too stretched to take on that responsibility. A green runner could deal with that. Because we were putting in more effort to be green I was far more aware of poor practice when I saw it. I ticked off a couple of drivers for idling their cars unnecessarily! I was certainly more aware of our environmental impact during the shoot, especially as we were filming in some tricky neighbourhoods at night and we were required to work very quietly. It was impressive to see a film crew in “stealth mode” and it’s great to know that it’s possible to not be a noise nuisance. Because a film unit is a transient, temporary creature it’s surprisingly difficult to instil green culture, so the Greenshoot initiative is really welcome. To make a strong statement about what you’re trying to achieve on sustainability is the only way to make yourself heard. Our experience of greening our shoot was not perfect but it was much better than on previous shoots and a lot of people became more aware of the potential of sustainability because of the efforts made during the production. On a more macro level, I think it would really help indigenous British productions to become more sustainable if there was more understanding at local Council and general location hiring level if these organisations made a distinction between our, invariably far lower budget operations, and bigger budget inward investment films. We have to pay the same fees to Councils for street filming and other facilities – we’re just seen as fair game to the Boroughs. You’re making a film? Let’s get what we can from you. It’s depressing and disheartening when you try and keep your vehicle footprint to a minimum but you’re still charged the same rate for the base as a huge unit. Film London would be well advised to take note and could really support indigenous film-making activity by making a stand for better rates for lower budget productions. I’d certainly support a budget line for sustainability and would be delighted to welcome a green runner on to any shoot – it would really be worth it. Rebecca O’Brien, producer, City of Tiny Lights


Free Fire - Production Summary The thriller ‘Free Fire’, written and directed by Ben Wheatley, filmed for six weeks in a fixed location near Brighton during June/July 2015, with a few days night shoots nearby. It starred Armie Hammer, Cillian Murphy and Sam Riley and was produced by Andrew Starke and Line Produced by Michael Constable. The film will be released in 2016 and was made with the support of Front Row and Sony. Key contacts on the production were the Line Producer Michael Constable and Production Co-ordinator Filiz-Theres Erel. Information was gathered in prep to scope and identify issues relating to the production and the SMS and thanks goes to the production team for their help and support on the production. (See production BS 8909 sustainability matrix and levels of engagement that follow.) The trainee Green Runner on ‘Free Fire’ was Edd Khan. Edd was sourced by the production and though hadn’t worked on a feature before, what he lacked in experience he made up for in energy and enthusiasm. Employing Edd meant the sustainability programme had a chance of succeeding because as experience has shown on previous BFI productions, if there isn’t one specific member of the crew who has responsibility for overseeing green strategies then the systems will not work. In early prep the Co-Producer and Production team assessed the production against the framework of the BS 8909. Point of contact was established and a Sustainability Management System (SMS) was implemented across the production. The producers signed off an Environmental & Sustainability policy in prep. This acts as key communication to all cast and crew and interested parties and stakeholders that the production is reducing its impact on the environment through its business activities. On Greenshoot’s first visit to the production during prep we spent time training Edd in the basics of being a Green Runner and the fundamentals of on set procedures and etiquette. He was an enthusiastic and eager learner of how to establish an EMS, all issues of crew management and working with the appointed recycling/composting company who were selected as the most competitively priced and ethical alternative in the area. Once filming began, Edd was in contact daily with Greenshoot for advice and support. We were able to support him with any issues and also liaise directly if necessary with head of departments, crew and suppliers who needed very specific help and advice. As the shoot progressed confidence grew and the results were impressive. The crew in turn grew in their understanding of the environmental procedures put into place by the team and overseen by the production Edd and Greenshoot - they only involved small changes to traditional working practices. Special thanks go to Edd, the entire production team including assistant directors for their continued support and great end results making Free Fire a Sustainable production.


Free Fire - key areas supporting a Sustainability Management System


ADs The 1st AD and the AD team were very engaging and supportive of the sustainability programme & environmental impact reduction strategies implemented. They worked with the green runner, and together helped to encourage the rest of the crew to engage with the recycling system and composting initiative and energy reduction campaigns. Call sheet memo’s and key communication placed around the set in the form of ‘green’ campaigns helped.

Catering Ross Boswell of Catering Collective was supportive and took the time to understand the sustainability programme. They were keen for the initiative to work and appreciated that the separation of waste streams was the key part of the EMS. Meal times were challenging as maintaining a minimum 90% separation between food and DMR was imperative. As the shoot progressed this figure was achieved and sometimes surpassed - Edd worked hard with the catering team to ensure the environmental management system for recycling worked for the recycling company collecting all the waste. Note: Catering companies across the industry have to understand the changing nature and requirements of the industry going green. Extra communication should be sent to all catering companies to see who is adopting greener practices. Productions should note that an extra cost has to be allocated to catering to embed a composting programme. At fixed studios and locations a full EMS ( Environmental Management System) can reduce traditional waste costs by 55%.

Costume Emma Fryer, the costume designer, was a big supporter of the green initiatives and made every effort to wash costumes in cold washes and reuse bags and hangars.


There is a growing need for emphasis to be placed on key suppliers supporting a green programme. Productions can have a huge influence on the behavior of their suppliers by asking them to implement simple sustainability strategies.

Production From the outset the entire production team were engaged and supportive and a clear, concise communication plan adopted. Ethical supplies, a digital office and the distribution of call sheets were all effective. Introductions to key suppliers during prep and follow-ups during filming supported the SMS.

Conclusions

The SMS was successful on Free Fire as the presence of a Green Runner ensured crew engagement with the programme.

We have see some progress with trained environmental stewards/runners in the industry over the last five years as they receive education and training in the basics of environmental best practices, legislation, working to a framework of standards e.g. ISO 14001 or the BS 8909. Not constrained to one department they interact with all departments and the films value chain and stakeholders. Learning on the ground and communicating progress and challenges back up to top management. Andy Starke: Producer, Free Fire. Ultimately for me it’s about keeping the issue in front of everyone. Eventually it will become second nature but having Greenshoot really does force it up the to do list – which on a film set is usually very, very long. There are a lot of very simple things that make a big difference to the sustainability of a shoot and being able to utilise Greenshoot as a resource and source of information is very helpful.


.


Swallows & Amazons - Production Summary A family adventure film, Swallows & Amazons is based on the classic novel by Arthur Ransome and filmed for six weeks in the Lake District and Leeds during July/August 2015. Directed by Phillipa Lowthorpe and starring Kelly Macdonald and Rafe Spall. The film will be released in the UK in 2016 and was made with the support of the BFI and BBC Films. Special thanks goes to the Production Manager, Erin Duffy for her support and commitment and brilliant overall production management in relation to creating a sustainable production. Initial meetings took place at the production office in Leeds and although the production went into hiatus for 6 weeks we kept in contact with the production team throughout. We scoped and identified issues relating to the production and the SMS. (See production BS 8909 sustainability matrix and levels of engagement that follow.) Logistics meetings with the location team, art department took place two weeks before filming began in Leeds where we understood the nature of the schedule and challenges some of the rural locations presented. The Green Runner, Myron Johnson, was sourced by the production. He had some production experience and was based in Leeds and had real enthusiasm for film and the environment and had completed a media degree. Training sessions took place on the production and Myron was a great asset to supporting efforts. Myron and Greenshoot looked closely at regional suppliers and the need for greater access to reduce fossil fuel consumption across the filming industries.

Issue identification Tracking assessments Comment & outcome Prep Communication & Planning Location filming in Lake District and in

Leeds studio. Full EMS (environmental management programme agreed on in Prep)

1. Location team communicated areas of filming to all residents. 2.Resident & boroughs informed. 3.Producer attended all location filming.

Logistics for a SMS: The areas that were covered for the project but not exhaustive included:

- Location filming - Transport management &

impacts - Facilities - Community relations - Ethical business practices - Greenhouse gas emissions

tracking - Land remediation - Legislation - Biodiversity - Energy usage and source - Disposal of waste - Water management - Nuisance (Light, Sound,

Smell)

1. Reduction in transport - car sharing/ public transport adopted. 2. Communication to crew on C02e reduction at mid point and wrap. 3. Management review meeting on wrap.

Production Communication, action, planning - Daily call sheets - Daily risk assessments - Progress reports - Tracking of greenhouse

gases - Staff commute - Transport plans and

assessments - Supply chain management - Legislation

1. Set visits to monitor and answer queries 2. Management review on wrap 3. Set attendance 4. Monitoring & measuring 5. Education 6. Reporting 7. Carbon footprint analysis



ADs The 1st AD (Nige Watson)) and his team were very engaging and supportive with the sustainability programme. Melanie Dicks met with the Assistant Directors team in prep to explain and explore what sustainability strategies could be adopted on the production. They were quick to support the Green Runner Myron Johnson in his duties, encouraging crew engagement with the recycling system and water cooler initiative.

Costume Amy Roberts, the costume designer, was a supporter of the green initiatives and where possible would wash costumes in cold washes and reuse bags & hangars. The department were pleased at the lack of plastic water bottles on set.

Transport Transport formed an important part of the framework for the Environmental plans. A movement strategy was put in place for travelling between the various Lakes. The line producer was keen to adopt a no idling policy and this helped with the continual improvement of their sustainable development messaging throughout the production. Running a minibus scheme to cut down on commuting cars was also really successful and almost halved the number of cars going to and from set each day


There is a growing need for emphasis to be placed on key suppliers supporting a green programme. Productions can have a huge influence on the behavior of their suppliers by asking them to implement simple sustainability strategies.

Production

From the outset the entire production team were engaged and supportive and a clear, concise communication plan adopted. Ethical supplies, digital office and the distribution of call sheets were all effective. Introductions to key suppliers during prep and follow ups during filming supported the SMS (Sustainability Management System) As much as possible the production ran a virtual production office by sending out as much information as possible digitally. This resulted in a significant saving in paper of approximately 20 boxes of stationary. Due to no facilities or waste companies locally being able to compost the catering waste, the production ran a recycling system with a clear bag for DMR Dry mixed recycling and a cream pop up with a black liner for general rubbish and catering waste.

Key challenges for regional films starting a Green programme from the perspective of the Green Runner.

Production - general

Getting to know who the crew are quickly and efficiently. The refillable bottles were already labelled up for me and this made both learning names and giving them out quite tricky. Best idea would be to have kept the bottles blank and then gone around asking people which name and department they are in whilst handing out the bottles.

Water management

Water bottles are heavy and the pumps are pretty fragile. Getting them to locations can be really tricky and on days when equipment has to be transported by quads and trailers etc. water is always bottom of the list of priorities. Water was a hug challenge - please see solutions.


Catering Even with recycling push at lunch, catering still producing a lot of waste throughout the day for the unit base and this is biggest overall contributor to black waste which was separated by hand. See solutions.

Unit moves Unit move was an absolutely huge challenge by the end of two moves I had moved 600 kilos of water 5 times in two days along with all other supplies multiple times. It was backbreaking! See solutions.

Green Runner - Myron’s regional green solutions for the next film.

Water solution. More robust pumps or lots of spares are essential. Better water bottles for crew to make sure they keep using them for the entire shoot. And cheaper flexi bottles for SA’s to use and keep as souvenirs

Transport. Running a minibus scheme to cut down on commuting cars was also really successful and almost halved the number of cars going to and from set each day.

Art department Seeing the waste from the art department made me wonder just how much waste is produced prior and after the main unit arrives and leaves. Its difficult to estimate how much waste is needlessly wasted or not recycled this way. And as I’m always attached to the main unit this is something that is quite difficult to get involved with. Maybe a more definite way of open up dialogue with people from the art department who pre-dress and strike down any sets etc.

Presence of a Green Runner.

Delegating my jobs for a whole day didn’t work what so ever which in some ways is nice it shows my presence has a good effect and has made a difference. Unfortunately as soon as I was gone people didn’t bother. This may have been nothing was put out and so people couldn’t (some people told me this was the case and they were disappointed)

Green runner tip Speak to the chippie, sparks, riggers etc. on a one to one basis. Introduce yourself, assure them that small offcuts can go into mixed recycling and ask nicely that anything they are not sure of to keep hold of and see if it can be recycled.

Myron Johnson, Green Runner, observations

Overall almost everyone on set appreciated a focus on minimising waste in the film industry! Almost everyone commented from their own experiences how wasteful it often is and they were glad people were trying to make a change no matter how slight. There needs to be a culture change that accepts bringing your own bottle and cup to every production you work on, every day you’re there. With water and tea/coffee facilities being provided without the need for throw away cups etc. It is sad to finally come to the end of a wonderful production and a life changing experience. First and foremost I’m indebted to Greenshoot, Harbour Pictures and Creative Skillset for collectively making this possible and I thank all of them for the support I have received and for the opportunity to work on something as exciting, challenging and rewarding as Swallows and Amazons. Composting needs to be available for all shoots, and the plans in place ahead of the shoot need to negotiate with locations, catering and art-dept really thoroughly to make sure even out in hard to reach locations a plan of 100% waste disposal or use is in place. And the bins on set are simple and easy to use for all crew.


Having an on-set Greenshoot runner does really work well and the day I was not in proved just how much of a difference it makes when you assign someone to take overall responsibility for these things. More work with the art-debt for breaking down sets etc would be a good next step. This could be achieved in a different way to having a Greenshoot runner etc. A database of local suppliers/tradespeople and services for the regions seems an excellent way of reducing carbon and integrating more with local communities. Conclusion by the author:

Do the entertainment and filming industries have a moral or financial imperative for sustainability, like any other global industry, or can they go hand in hand? There is progress across the filming industries with environmental impact reduction programs increasing across the film value chain and we continue to measure progress with industry support. All to often though we can get caught up on focusing on the ‘footprint’ of the organisations, film companies and productions. This has its place in tracking, monitoring and measuring but we have to create and support an industry that is ‘fit for purpose’ in relation to making the sector a greener place to work in. What is actually happening on the ground with crew and their working behaviours? More emphasis should be placed on practical ‘hands on’ support in the supply chain within the filming sector. We still have to specifically request printing double-sided in the office - something that should be the ‘norm’ and a reduction in carbon heavy supplies like disposable plastic bottles, diesel generators for ‘on location’ power. There is a groundswell of desire from cast and crew but productions also have to look at increased efficiency on the bottom line. Some producers have commented during 2014/15 that environmental sustainability and cost reduction do not go hand in hand. One way to counter this is to allocate a green budget into each production budget during prep, something the US studios have been doing for over 7 years. If there is a line allocated the desire will go hand in hand and cost savings will be seen across the sector. Environmental sustainability should now advance, like the Health & Safety movement when it was introduced a decade ago. Nowadays, H&S risk analysis is the norm on every production. Climate change should no longer be a nebulous statement. Our climate is rapidly changing. Surely we should be placing the real risk of climate change alongside all our filming production practices? With regard to the bigger picture, there is still some way to go for the film industry and sustainability. It’s a gradual process that requires concerted and consistent efforts to establish it as the norm and not an occasional optional extra. One benefit that we are seeing is the adoption of a sustainability line being allocated early into budgets but this should be taken up by all digital accounting programmes and budget and scheduling software.


Conclusions and suggestions for 2016

• Introduce and campaign for a Green Tax Credit (GTC) that rewards producers. The GTC should sit alongside the cultural test for tax relief and be recouped by producers as an incentive.

• Continue to educate the next generation of filmmakers and support the current generation with embedding environmental best practice.

• Champion productions that follow a simple code and share best practice across the industry. • Invest in training and practical hands on support with Environmental Management

prorgammes that are easy to follow and implement across the filming industries. Our call to action is the launch of http://www.green-screen.org.uk an entry-level, online educational platform that focuses on Producer engagement with practical ‘hands on’ support for the entire crew. All resources created for the platform have been suggested by crew, for crew. All the learnings on film productions since 2010 have led to the development of Green Screen, supported by the BFI, Film London and Creative Skillset. We hope you will join us in 2016 to support and grow this exciting new digital platform for training, education and certification.

Melanie Dicks Co-founder & Managing Partner Greenshoot www.greenshoot.com E:[email protected] M: +44 (0) 7775 91255

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