North Sea Screen Partners recently hosted a seminar in Gothenburg to focus on issues of green initiatives and the film industry. It was an opportunity for knowledge sharing on how the film industry can best deal with incorporating environmentally and sustainability friendly practices and objectives, with particular reference to two UK-based projects – Greenshoot and Screen South.
Melanie Dicks, opened proceedings by outlining how Greenshoot had been helping UK productions become more sustainable over the last three years. The most recent films include Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows and Anna Karenina. The key sustainability implementations set by Greenshoot include; a minimum 90% recycling policy of all waste produced, utilisation of ethical suppliers and robust carbon auditing. Like any new working practice the adoption rate can be slow, but an essential part of the whole process is crew education as well as buy-in from the very top, producer or talent, that will then have the authority to pass down through all crew.
The other area discussed was the BS 8909, a British Standard for Sustainable Filming. Greenshoot were involved in trialing this management system that gives a framework for productions to implement sustainable best practice. The hope is that this will eventually become an international standard and mandatory globally – which was of huge interest to the European audience.
Also speaking was Jo Nolan, CEO of Screen South. Jo shared best-practice on environmentally friendly filming and discussed Screen South’s soon-to-be-launched Green Initiative project. This will be a fund with support from the European Union that enables productions to increase their budget if they follow the standard and checklist for Green Screen.
