Carnival Films, Sky, NBCUniversal International Studios and Creative England, in association with BASE (The British Association for Screen Entertainment), have come together to create and launch an important new resource to help UK productions improve their environmental impact, in conjunction with the BAFTA Albert certification.
The easy-to-use toolkit is now hosted and available to download from Creative England’s Filming in England website, and is suitable for any production, regardless of size or genre.
Developed in response to research that revealed the carbon use of the average production per one-hour of content was equivalent to the carbon used by three average-sized family homes for a whole year, this comprehensive toolkit full of information and recommendations will aid UK productions in their efforts to reduce emissions in order to contain global warming and preserve natural habitats.
The guidance included in the free-to-download kit encourages partners to adhere to key principles of sustainable production, including working with suppliers who are committed to net zero carbon emissions, measuring and tracking the impact of each individual production, and sharing individual learnings to continue to advocate for change, and lead the industry towards a more sustainable production landscape.
Jo Finon, Manager of Responsible Production at Sky Sports and Charlotte Ashby, Head of Production at Carnival Film and Television who worked together on the toolkit, approached Creative England and Base about making this resource available to the wider industry in order to reinforce the work of Albert, to encourage the production community to make this a priority, and to help production companies, producers and production teams to set their productions in the wider context of the climate emergency and to guide good decision-making from the early stages of each production.
From development through planning, pre-production, production, wrap and post, the kit also includes advice about training and awareness, cleaner air initiatives, the use of recyclable and renewable materials, minimising landfill, greening transport, removing single-use-plastics from productions and conscious consumption, from catering to coffee.
Creative England’s Filming in England team offer free comprehensive production support to feature film and high-end-TV, and are on hand to help at every stage of production, from early feasibility to post. Recognising the importance of protecting the environment, the toolkit now sits within the ‘Planning Your Shoot’ resource centre on the Filming in England website, which launched in October 2020 as an essential resource for productions looking to film in England.
Hayley Armstrong, Head of Production Services, Creative England, commented, “We are delighted to work in partnership with NBCUniversal International Studios, Carnival Films, Sky and BASE to bring further guidance to as many productions as possible, to support them in embracing best practises and to take sustainable responsibility seriously, from the earliest development stages through to post-production. It’s essential for us to work with industry as well as national bodies like BAFTA Albert and our funding partner BFI to affect real change and reduce our industry’s carbon footprint, especially as production levels across the country remain high. Providing immediate access to information, guidance and resources will encourage more productions to achieve the Albert sustainable production certification.”
Liz Bales, Chief Executive of BASE, added, “We welcome the opportunity to work alongside our industry colleagues at NBCUniversal International Studios, Sky, Carnival and Creative England to amplify the vital importance of sustainable productions. This is a practical initiative that provides real leadership and demonstrates the value of a collective and experienced response to a shared challenge. I have no doubt that this toolkit will help the community of UK production be better, harnessing the authentic passion of key figures in the industry to effect real change for the common good.”
The launch of the toolkit will be followed by a virtual panel discussion in the Autumn, where a host of experts will speak to their own efforts to improve sustainability, featuring case-studies of UK productions in all genres as they move towards more sustainable models. The details of the session will be announced in BASE LINE in the coming weeks, including links on how to view and attend.
The toolkit is available to download now at https://www.filminginengland.co.uk/sustainable-production-practices/. Once you have downloaded or used the resource, please do share your company logo with [email protected] and [email protected] for inclusion on the master document.
