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The film industry wants to go eco

Two. On average, this is how many minutes of a series or movie are shot during the entire shooting day. In addition to a horrendous sum of money, it takes a lot of light, water, fuel and other materials. Albert comes to the rescue and wants to convince the filmmakers to go eco.

Who or what is Albert? It is a project co-founded by the British Film Academy (BAFTA) to reduce the carbon footprint of large-scale productions and to encourage filmmakers to promote sustainable development through their channels. The originators conduct trainings, during which they make creators aware of ecology and climate change and above all, they give tips on what can be changed to save not only raw materials used in production, but also money. So far they have cooperated with the BBC, ITV, Warner Bros and have just signed a contract with British Netflix.

Raw materials used on the set. Cameras, computers and lights used to shoot specific scenes are only a fraction of the electricity consumed on the set: there are also strong lights in the changing rooms and, above all, the energy that powers computers during post-production (editing a 20-minute series takes around a week). Transport plays an important role in productions recorded in several locations. Film crews fly from place to place, consuming hectoliters of fuel, and productions that do not need to travel so much are not better - they often use an excessive number of cars, which emit additional exhaust gases. Food served by cate

ring is often in plastic packaging, which additionally adds tons of plastic into circulation. In addition, it is common practice to throw out costumes and props in the garbage.

What to do to reduce resource consumption on the set?

It turns out that you can implement simple steps to reduce the carbon footprint of your movie productions and also save money. In the series "Dark Heart", ITV Studios hired actors from London, which eliminated air travel, and the creators of the British-French "Informer" put on travel by rail, thanks to which they saved about 37 000 pounds. The team of the fourth season of production of "Poldark" managed to reduce the carbon footprint by 40.6% only by changing the lighting (using LEDs) and engaging in the production of local extras, producers or lighting specialists (previously the crew was „imported” from other cities).

The creators of "Peaky Blinders" turned out to be the most ecological so far. In addition to hiring local workers and changing lighting, they rented props and costumes, giving them a second life. The "Victoria" series - popular in Great Britain - has reduced its carbon footprint by 70%, incl. by switching from generators to mains power and persuading its employees to ride in one car (carpooling).

Other productions have implemented, among other things, the use of catering from local food suppliers, hybrid or electric cars, and the widespread use of biodegradable cookware and reusable bottles. Albert gives special certificates to the products that follow their guidelines and evaluates them appropriately (from 1 to 3 stars) according to the progress in the field of sustainable development.

You may find more information about Alberta here: http://wearealbert.org/

(...) "Poldark" managed to reduce the carbon footprint by 40.6% (...)