"Filmmaking must be completely reimagined.”
Are you a filmmaker on a limited budget looking for a more sustainable approach? You're not alone. The film industry faces a massive challenge. Fortunately, there are people like Noortje Post, project manager at Film For Future. She created a database with the best tips to make your film set greener. We spoke with her.
Many film professionals already recycle, use reusable water bottles, and travel by public transport. However, when it comes to life on a film set, there are often not enough resources available to make such sustainable choices. Why is that? And how do we change that—not just for large-scale productions but also for low-budget filmmakers?
As a brand-new collective, Film For Future has taken the Dutch film industry by storm. Many well-known Dutch actors have already joined their brand, and this year they won the CFAP-Award. The industry could no longer ignore them.
Founded by film producers Iris Otten and Laurette Schilling, the collective's main mission is to provide filmmakers and producers with the right tools and information to make film sets more sustainable. Motivated by their concerns about the climate crisis, they believe that in every aspect of filmmaking— from production to suppliers and from digital apps to behavioral change— there are many ways to make films in a more sustainable way.
Noortje Post, project manager at Film For Future, has set up a database where filmmakers can easily find tips on making their films more sustainable. Here is her advice.
The basics
A good start is half the battle: set sustainability goals in advance.
In sustainable film production, a lot can be done in the preparation phase. “In many (film) productions, the framework within which we work is somewhat outdated.” So, how can you build a more modern, sustainable framework for your production? “You can start by setting goals for yourself and your crew before you begin filming. Establishing these goals provides you with a stable, new framework to work within. And try to take an extra step—engage suppliers, for example, and see if you can help each other achieve your goals.”
New goals like these don’t have to be expensive. Just make sure they are realistic and achievable. And don’t forget to make it fun! If you can manage waste sustainably and recycle in a way that, for example, offsets emissions for five hours of filming, you could stick a note on the shared waste bin that says, "One full bin equals five hours of filming." These kinds of playful initiatives can motivate your crew to actually achieve these goals.
A good example? "Agree in advance to offset your ecological footprint no matter what. This way, you're not only compensating for your emissions—which is great—but also creating a financial incentive to keep emissions low."
Let's dive a little deeper into this. It’s very useful to implement this measure because it influences every action that follows. The larger your ecological footprint, the higher your production costs will be. This also encourages your entire crew to be more mindful and to hold each other accountable for certain actions that impact emissions. It then becomes a collective goal. For example, if Mark drives his SUV to the set, you might have to cut back on lighting or hard drives simply because his gas-guzzling car eats into the budget. If your team has agreed to offset your ecological footprint, it lowers the barrier for the crew to call Mark out on it. Traveling together helps keep costs down. Because let’s be honest: money talks, especially when you’re making a low-budget film.
Achieving goals? Appoint an eco-manager
Setting goals is great, but how do you maintain those good intentions? Noortje knows exactly how to ensure that expectations are met: "Hire an eco-manager or assign this role to one of your crew members. This person monitors sustainability goals and ensures they are achieved. With someone like this on board, there is always someone to correct you or remind the crew if the sustainability goals are not being met. This works best if the eco-manager is involved from the very beginning so they can help you set the goals."
"But also make sustainability one of the key topics during your crew meetings. Discuss each role within the crew and how each specific role can contribute to a greener production."
Influence of the writer
What can also help during the preparation phase is writing stories that are more sustainable to film. "Instead of using seven or eight different locations, use just two or three. This way, your crew and actors don’t have to travel as much, which is one of the easiest ways to reduce the emissions of your productions."
This is something very pragmatic that you can do as a writer, but you can also have a different impact on the content of your script. Noortje: “Dystopian films about climate change can be very effective in addressing an important issue, but they can also be demotivating and exhausting for an audience to watch. Instead, try writing hopeful stories.”
Writers or art directors can also choose to be more subtle. For example, show sustainable actions performed by characters in the film, rather than characters merely talking about them. ‘Write a scene where a character takes the train, someone eats a vegetarian meal or sees someone recycling. A good example where this worked was in the HBO hit series Succession. Here, a supporting character in the form of Uncle Ewan Roy says he wants to donate his entire estate to Greenpeace. According to a casestudy of Albert viewers went on the internet en masse to look up how they could do the same."
Work digital
Paper is one of the biggest polluters on film sets. Scripts, production instructions, everything is written on sheets of paper. This is wasteful because there are many (free) digital apps that do the same thing and can save on your paper usage. But there are other clever tricks that can help you.
Signing a document? Instead of printing, scanning and reprinting, use the preview mode on your computer. This allows you to easily add your digital signature to a document. For productivity and establishing a clear workflow, use Google Keep, Asana, Trello or Evernote, all apps with a free option. Notability and iAnnotate (not free) are apps made for drawing on a touchscreen. You can use them for your floor plans or storyboards. Writers can install Scriptation on their phone or tablet. That is an app that gives a clear overview to all crew members of the latest adaptations and changes to the script. This app is quite pricey, at $12.99 a month. Last but not least, for camera reports, you can use Zoelog an app that makes it easy to quickly send reports to your data manager, editor or production assistant.
And while software influence can make a big difference, reusing certain hardware can definitely help you too. Especially the way we handle hard drives. On many productions, these are often used only once, resulting in emissions waste and the use of precious materials. Reusing hard drives can be an absolute gamechanger! Make sure your insurance covers it and you clean the drives regularly to avoid wasting energy. Also remember that using a digital cloud to store files also takes up physical space and creates emissions. Minimise what you store on the cloud and set a shorter expiry date for downloadable files.
Evaluate: celebrate your successes!
It is essential for the industry that production teams get together after completing a production and talk about the production process. Noortje: "Ask yourself: How did we do it? Did we achieve the sustainability goals? If so, great, let's celebrate our successes and share them with the world! Not to brag about it, but to inspire and inform other film professionals about it. If not, why not? How can we improve next time? What should we have been more aware of?"
This is just the tip of the iceberg towards a greener future in filmmaking. But these tips can already help you as a (low-budget) filmmaker move forward and make your film set a little greener and more environmentally conscious than before. And if we all do that and make conscious choices and decisions, we will lift the whole industry to the next level. Visit the Film For Future database for more tips & tricks.
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