It is the duty of private industry to lead the charge in establishing a carbon neutral footprint in all of their endeavors. Careful planning and implementation of existing technologies can allow forward thinking companies to effectively deliver an environmentally-friendly service in all of its channels.
Film and video production industries are certainly not immune to this requirement, with so-called “tentpole” productions averaging at almost 3,500 metric tonnes of carbon produced during their typical lifespan. Carbon production is calculated across housing/accomodation, air travel, fuel and utilities.
For a blockbuster production this equates to roughly 33 metric tons per shooting day. This is the equivalent to driving 759,000 miles in an average car. When considered in this way the figures are just insane. Therefore, production has an important role to play going forward in a hopefully greener future, but how can a behemoth of carbon output tame its ways?
A hugely important first step is mapping. Film productions traditionally have not mapped out their carbon footprint, and even less, publicized the results. To discern the impact of a project we must first understand the base level.
Much like history, if one ignores the actions of the past, one is destined to repeat them.
Mapping carbon output is a strenuous task, and we have created a role for larger productions to cater to this. The CIM (Carbon Impact Manager) . The CIM occupies a role in production that oversees all energy outputs, whether created on set, in office, or through a third party or vendor.
Once the carbon-based environmental output is calculated, steps must be taken to mitigate and minimize this quantity. Every little helps, from changing fuel and oil types in combustion engines to switching out typical polystyrene food trays for biodegradable units and introducing personal drinking containers as opposed to plastic water bottles (a film production can produce thousands of empty water bottles per shoot).
Every department can impact the carbon-output of film production and the responsibility lies with each member of the team, over the last few year we have encouraged active debate and suggestions on how to best reduce waste and have lead us to introducing new units, assets and equipment to help the team deliver on a carbon-neutral future.
The process can be summarized with 3 R’s: Revise, Reduce, Renew.
Introducing new working practices to this ever-changing profession is imperative to prolong its activities and output for the future. We may certainly be biased in our perspective but a world without film is not a world we wish to see!
If you’d like to discuss how your film or media production can better impact the world in which we live, contact us today.
CereProds LLC is a film production services company based in Puerto Rico, catering to PR and her islands and the broader Caribbean.