Climate protection behind the camera

As government leaders met at COP22 in Marrakech, Morocco to prevent a rise in global temperatures above two degrees Celsius through the global implementation of the Paris Agreement, representatives of the European Film/TV Industry met at the 1st Sustainability Production Workshop held in Hamburg on November 7–8 to discuss common strategies to lower carbon emissions from audiovisual productions.

 

Organized by Green Film Shooting in collaboration with the BBC’s Sustainability Manager, Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein, as well as with the BAFTA albert consortium, participants from six different countries discussed measures to green the audiovisual industry.  The workshop was attended by representatives from broadcasters TF1 and WDR, Bavaria Film studio, Letterbox, film funds such as Trentino, Copenhagen as well a Eurimages, the European Cinema Support Fund by the Council of Europe.

 

Although Film/TV production is not as polluting as the energy or automobile manufacturing industries, the level of energy consumption in media production is enormous. According to the British BAFTA albert consortium, the production of one feature film generates up to 1,000 tons of carbon emissions. At the BBC, which is the largest worldwide broadcaster, the carbon footprint of production activities adds up to 200,000 tons of carbon emissions per year, which can be reduced by as much as a twenty-five percent when the sustainable use of resources has been taken into consideration.

 

p1010451In France, a green action plan was implemented by Ecoprod, a consortium of broadcasters, film funds, and environmental organizations, which is providing the audiovisual industry with tools and metrics to limit carbon emissions. Instead of heavily polluting diesel generators, Film/TV teams can instead access energy directly from the power grid because the local energy provider installed electrical tie-in stations at five hundred popular filming locations throughout Paris. In Germany, environmentally friendly Film/TV productions have been awarded Green Shooting Card certifications by Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein since 2011. The next goal the European working group has in mind is the development of common standards.

 

 

Participants at the Sustainability Production Workshop in Hamburg:

From left to right: Pierre Gernet (Eurimages), Richard Smith (Sustainability Manager der BBC), Birgit Heidsiek (Green Film Shooting), Aaron Matthews (BAFTA albert consortium), Maaike Salverda (NTR), Jochen Korth (WDR), Diane Driessen (NPO), Maria Würth (MFG), Marcus Kreuz (Letterbox), Jeremy Mathieu (BAFTA albert consortium), Luca Ferrario (Trentinio Film Fund), Ina Hößler (Bavaria Film); Front: Christiane Dopp (Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein), Phil Skolle (La Rochelle Sup De Co Business School), Catherine Puiseux (TF1)

Photos: © Green Film Shooting

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