Cut costs and carbon by having a green production
In 2009, I helped found Greenshoot, a social enterprise that has so far helped over 100 productions be more sustainable. Whether your budget is 10k or £100m the result we give is the same - carbon and costs are cut.
To aid this, with the help of our partners at the BFI and Film London we launched Green Screen. This is an innovative online environmental production programme that provides an entry level guide on how to take the first steps to having a more sustainable shoot. It is a simple programme for productions to set up in prep, where they choose a small number of simple environmental strategies.
Who’s used us and why?
Green Screen gives productions a huge amount of tips and information, department by department, to give every crew member an insight into how they can do their bit. A basic element of Green Screen is a crew memo that appears on the 1st day’s call sheet stating what the producer’s environmental ambitions are for that production. If all crew know what is expected, then they can all do their (little) bit.
Ultimately, a sustainability programme is only really effective if everyone engages. This means the motivation has to come from the top.
Previous productions who have benefited from adopting environmental strategies include The Theory of Everything, which saved £2,671 on waste management, and 45 Years which saved £1,341 on water. And these are just some of the benefits they gained from our help, cutting carbon tons and saving the environment at the same time.
The cost benefits of going green are a persuasive factor for those that need it, sometimes more so than the ethical motivation (but it can also be helpful that once certified, the Green Screen Environmental Stamp can be used to promote your green credentials).
The Theory of Everything, The World’s End, 45 years. Click here to see our full case studies.
What kind of things can you action now?
- Use water coolers and canisters for crew hydration to save up to 50% of your water costs over using plastic water bottles, whilst at the same time reducing waste.
- Avoid letting vehicles idle while shooting in London. As well as releasing harmful gases from petrol, many boroughs will slap an on the spot fine if you are caught.
- Avoid using polystyrene in catering, as it’s not only non-biodegradable but also carcinogenic. Instead, you can use reusable containers or paper plates that can be recycled.
Reusable water containers & leftover food donated to charity
What can we help you with?
Asset Donations:
One strategy that has become increasingly popular is asset donations - items left over on wrap that have struggled to find a home. Props, clothing, food have often been thrown away simply because it was nobodies job to place them.
Greenshoot have become a conduit between productions and charities and schools. On The Theory of Everything, 60 bags of unwanted clothes were donated through us to a homeless charity in west London. Two weeks later, the coat Eddie Redmayne wore in the film was keeping a homeless man warm.
By signing up to Green Screen, productions can use our resources to organise their donations. In doing this you will immediately save money on removal costs because the charity will collect from you, and more importantly, somebody less fortunate will benefit from what previously would have been classified as waste.
Discounts:
What we can further provide you with is specially negotiated industry discount rates for ethical suppliers such as vegware.com.
There are reams of things we can help you with to save costs and help the environment in one go. If you or your production company has any questions/ comments, please do get in touch: paul@greenshoot.com
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Greenshoot Training
With the support of the BFI and Creative Skillset we run a 1 day green production training course for runners keen to understand the art of being a Green Runner. This crew role is becoming increasingly poplar as more productions embrace a green programme. It's a course open to all, no matter how little production experience.
There is also a half day course for producer’s, line producers and production managers.
Click here to find out more.
Paul Evans
Paul co-founded Greenshoot and is involved in all aspects of the company. He's also an award winning advertising creative director and scriptwriter. You can contact him here.
