Delicious Green Producing
Tis the season to be jolly! Tis the season to also get green. Like a sparkly Xmas tree? Yes of course! Like the grinch? If you are that way inclined then sure! But the green I’m referring to is the environmentally conscious kind.
Written & interviewed by Kate Stocker-Wright
Now don’t groan. Save the grinching for later. Climate change has turned us into tribes, with feelings ranging from “it’s about time!” to “this is a nuisance!” but can a film production be climate conscious without the bauble-ache? Below I chatted with Emma Westwood, producer of This Little Girl (2022) a short film that achieved the ALBERT sustainable production certificate.
When making This Little Girl was it always imperative to create a green production?
Absolutely - Myself & Annette (Writer/Director) planned from the beginning how to make this project an environmentally responsible film, both in terms of the production itself along with on-screen content. We both passionately believe the screen industries have a crucial role to play in solving climate change, so reducing the footprint of our production felt vitally important.
We also later successfully received BFI NETWORK short film funding, a requirement of which is to do a BAFTA albert carbon footprint calculation for your film, pre & post-production, so creating a green production was imperative in making This Little Girl.
What are the main challenges of creating a sustainable film and what help were you able to obtain?
The main challenge as a producer in making a sustainable short film is you have a limited budget and amount of time and a lot of work to do, so I’d definitely recommend prioritising and creating a plan early in pre-production. I’d highly recommend making use of the tools and resources at https://wearealbert.org/
ALBERT is leading a charge against climate change; bringing the film and TV industries together to tackle environmental impact and inspiring screen audiences to act for a sustainable future. Guided by their advice & certification system, we decided what sustainable production activities we’d take & came up with our carbon action plan.
If you want to make greener production but don't know where to begin I’d suggest checking-out the ALBERT Production Handbook it’s a great place to start https://wearealbert.org/production-handbook/
Are there any companies, such as lighting or catering, you can recommend?
We were committed to using ethical and environmentally conscious suppliers, ensuring the production’s contracts were awarded to companies who deliver the greenest option possible, especially when it came to travel and catering.
We’d highly recommend Wrexham Chauffeurs Ltd https://wrexhamchauffeurs.co.uk/ they supplied our production transport for our talent, their service was exceptional, highly professional and they take their responsibility to the environment beyond legal and regulatory requirements. They also supplied us with a copy of their company's environmental policy and procedures, which we were later able to use when it came to submitting for ALBERT Sustainable Production Certification.
Also, we’d highly recommend our catering supplier, our production catering was provided by Midlands based catering company Cater for Me https://caterforme.co.uk/ A fantastic catering company, practicing environmentally sustainable policies and specialises in ethically sourced ingredients, supplying sustainably sourced food and catering for all dietary and allergy requirements.
What advise can you offer any filmmakers who desire to create a more sustainable film set?
Be prepared, plan early in the production, and communicate with your team. ALBERT offers excellent training providing the knowledge and skills to create productions in a more sustainable way covering environmental basics, industry’s impact, production case studies & carbon calculation and certification.
Also, small things can make a big difference, for example, we opted for an “Opt-In” printing policy and looked for local cast & crew in the area of production and filming to reduce travel footprint and costs.
In terms of environmental issues, how can the role of the producer take the lead in this?
For a producer, I’d look to ensure all key departments understand the production’s environmental goals and provide support so the team can deliver on them. Support production and key departments in understanding the cost implications and subsequent savings of green production activity. I found creating a Production Positive Environmental Actions budget, tracking these costs and savings, was extremely useful and delighted to say we saved a substantial amount of money on this production by adopting green practices too.
What kind of conversations should the producer be having with a crew?
The main thing is to communicate, make sure everyone knows the sustainable production activities taking place to help create a green production and allow flexibility in your goals to allow for the smooth running of the production and implementing of environmental procedures. Along with our film's production information we sent out a green memo to the cast & crew before the shoot which lists the production's environmental goals and is a great way to make everyone aware and also have as a reference to help achieve your aim in creating a green production.
There are many great organisations that can provide support and guidance to producers and filmmakers. As well as ALBERT there is EMA//Environmental Media Association https://www.green4ema.org and Green Screen https://www.green-screen.org.uk all offering great tips and advice on measuring your carbon footprint and making your production greener.
At Festival Formula we urge you to have as much of a relaxing break as possible. The holidays are a good time to reflect and connect. Perhaps a greener production is the new year’s resolution you’ve been looking for in 2023 and beyond.
A huge thank you to Emma Westwood for sharing her green film production experience with us. Not all heroes wear capes. Check out Emma and Annette’s short film This Little Girl Website & Social Media Links:
www.thislittlegirlfilm.com | Instagram @thislittlegirlfilm | Twitter @LittleGirlFilm
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