Mallorca’s green film strategy

With as many as 400 shooting days a year, Mallorca is in high demand as a location for national and international film, TV, and commercial productions as well as for photo shoots. Hollywood star Anne Hathaway has been filming the U.S. comedy The Hustle on the verdant Mediterranean island. Many international productions, ranging from the thriller series The Night Manager by Academy Award-winning Director Susanne Bier to myriad commercials, have been shot in Mallorca. Scouts and location managers are attracted by its huge variety of locations, ranging from beautiful beaches and ancient buildings to natural resorts and mountains.

 

While supporting productions that apply for permits to access these locations, the Mallorca Film Commission (MFC) also wants to ensure that the environment will not be harmed. Therefore, the institution of green measures will become an essential part of a local incentive program which will favor participating producers by providing them with expedited application processing and reduced fees for shooting permits in protected natural areas. Together with the Balearic Environmen- tal Ministry and the Costal Agency Authority, the MFC is preparing a program on the sustainable management of film production in environmentally-protected areas.

 

 

This program will be published as a User’s Guide and as an App, both of which will geo-locate
all sensitive areas with ex- tensive information about avoiding harm to the ecological system, including the flora and fauna. The Guide and App will be available free of charge to both local and international producers who are shooting on the island, and it will make it easy for them to obtain filming permits; provided, however, that they adhere to the Guide’s procedures.

 

The MFC has been introducing producers to sustainability measures in film production ever since it began operations. Together with the regional producers’ association, the MFC has been organizing a series of workshops on green film production. First, local producers and representatives of the regional Ministry for the Environment were brought together to discuss the requirements and rules. Another workshop presented approaches to the sustainable management of energy, waste, plastic, and building materials on the film set. Together with the association of local food producers of the Balearic Islands, the MFC offered a catering workshop.

 

Various local production and service companies have already adopted green production practices. One of them is 247, a production company that has developed the “24/7 App”, a digital workflow solution for film crews. Palma Pictures, the biggest Mallorca-based production company for film, TV, and photography in Spain, has been awarded an ISO 14001 and EMAS certification. Besides a company-sponsored Environment Day, meatless Fridays, and the re-use of props and set pieces, it also operates a costume rental house. The Local Production Company also follows best practices to reduce its carbon footprint.

 

As part of a wider program undertaken by the Mallorca Island’s Council to harmonize the in- teraction of economy, culture, and natural sur- roundings, the MFC will create a Green Card for producers and filmmakers, which will grant them certain advantages and benefits for observing green guidelines
on their shoots.

 

Photos: ©Silvia Acedo/FMT

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