FILM
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What are the Main Causes of Waste within the Film Industry? And What can Production do to Lower their Carbon Footprint?
UNIT 9
GDC YEAR 3
HONEY PRIESTNALL
TABLE OF C 03 FLATTAGE
02 PROPS
FOUNDATION
INTRODUCTION
01 04
CONTENTS. 07 CONCLUSION
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WARNER BROS
SONY PICTURE
BTS WASTAGE
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INTRO Film and Television. A global industry that made a revenue of £77 billion in 2022, and £26 billion at the worldwide box office. It is also an industry where one large production can produce 225 tons of scrap metal, 50 tons of wasted construction materials and set debris and 72 tons of food wastage, equalling a total of 347 tons of waste.
When I say fast fashion, we think of the amount of clothing that ends up in landfill every year, the same goes for food industries with questions around ethical sourcing, use of non renewable resources and wastage, yet the last thing that comes to my mind when someone talks about a new film being released is how much waste it would have generated pre, and post-production.
So how as an industry have they been so shielded from the global issue of sustainability?
Through this report, I want to uncover what is causing the industry to leave such a large carbon footprint and what solutions can/and are being put in place to ensure a cleaner future for film production.
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FOUNDATION Films and TV shows have always played a big role in our society, serving as a way to take a break from our lives and step into an imaginary world where we can connect with others, start a conversation, and enjoy the story. Personally, this is why I was so drawn to working within this industry, the glamour, the excitement, and the creativity that goes into it, but I thought to myself whilst working on a show, at what cost? Over the summer, I worked as a runner on an HBO TV show that was filmed at Leavesden Studios (home of Warner Brothers). Seeing these impressive sets being built across the whole studio got me thinking, what happens to all of this material once production wraps? Although this experience was my initial inspiration for my Unit 9 project, I also stopped to think about choosing a topic that I was not only passionate about,
but one that gave me enough information and resources to write about, (an issue I have come across in previous written assignments). From this, I decided to draw on previous inspirations I have used and ended up with the question: what are the main causes of waste within the film industry? And what can productions do to lower their carbon footprint? In my opinion, this topic links closely with consumerism and problem solving, two themes I associate a lot within my work, and most importantly presents multiple avenues of research, limiting the possibility of getting stuck when writing.
To ensure my essay flow’s and has structure, there are 3 main areas I have decided are affecting the amount of waste the most, and this is what I explore throughout this report. These include: 1. Flattage Wastage – the waste of wood and metal, 2 core materials used to build sets. 2. Props wastage – in recent years a shift in mentality has led to overbuying props and set decoration (in previous years, productions would rent from prop houses). 3. Behind the scenes wastage – waste that comes from cast and crew that is sometimes overlooked in the grand scheme of things but is arguably one of the biggest contributors to the industry’s growing footprint.
It would be easy for me to tell you the problems the industry faces, as they are similar to many others, (with their own set of challenges) however this is why I included the second part of my question, as a way to prove that there can be a cleaner future through providing solutions. Although I will show you the negative impacts, I will also show positive change that is coming from the growing need for accountability and climate friendly alternatives. This scrutiny is not only coming from the public, but also from within the industry, with a pressing need to do their part to look after our planet. I intend to do this through a series of references, from both production studios themselves and individual films, as well as 2 in-depth case study reports, outlining the biggest shifts the industry has seen to date.
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PROPS As part of my initial research, I conducted an interview with Karl Caffrey who was the line producer on Dr Strange: Multiverse, amongst many other productions, in which I asked what he thought was the solution to combat wastage, his answer was utilising smarter people, and smarter alternatives.
Sounds simple, but it’s true, props are one of the biggest problem areas for wastage, especially now with inflation continuously rising, prop houses can no longer afford the costs of storage, and productions don’t want to pay for it. Due to this, the old system of visiting a prop house, choosing the selection right for your production, and renting those items for however long you need them is a thing of the past. Not only caused by rising rates, but also with production budgets rising more than ever, a new buying over renting façade has taken over.
According to Karl, productions would rather source a cheaper item in Scotland and waste the fuel (and money) needed to travel and get it, than spend a little bit more for something more local. Not only does this contribute to the amount of CO2 emissions being put into the air by road users every day, but it contributes to the industry’s fast growing carbon footprint, when there are simple solutions.
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The waste of props is not only caused by an overbuying façade but is also determined by the type of film. Productions have found smarter ways of sourcing dressing props by buying from other productions or charity shops where the items can then be sold on again or re-donated.
However, historically movies based on prehistoric stories and sci-fi fiction have contributed a lot more wastage, due to the unique nature of the pieces. This means it’s hard to donate and it’s impossible for them to resell so most of it gets thrown into skips or kept as collectible items. The Jurassic Park/ World franchises have found more climate friendly solutions to these problems by sculpting their dinosaurs out of materials like silicon and fibreglass. These materials can be melted back down to their original form ensuring they can be sold on after production, limiting their waste significantly.
According to Karl, DC productions are implementing similar measures within their franchises, but are not entirely succeeding. The New York set from Dr Strange: The Multiverse that reportedly cost around £10 million to build was unfortunately unable to be sold on, so was torn down with most of the materials ending up in skips. However, they were able to sell on all the concrete, rail tracks and parts of the set dressing to the new Deadpool movie, but as this movie didn’t start straight away, it would’ve cost them more money in storing second hand set dressings than it would be to buy new ones. This meant a lot of items intending to be rebought, ultimately ended up being put into skips with almost identical new items being bought to replace them once filming was ready.
347t
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ON A FILM SET THE AVERAGE PRODUCTION WILL PRODUCE OF WASTE.
It’s a shame solutions like these are far and few between for core set materials like flattage. Flattage is all the core materials that make up a set, mostly consisting of metal, wiring and wood, usually the materials that get thrown away first. According to ENVPK, ‘on a film set the average production will produce 347 tons of waste, including a significant amount of waste directly from film sets’, but where does this waste go when filming wraps? Simple (and truthful) answer = IN A SKIP!!! Arguably the easiest flattage to avoid being wasted is wood. The majority of the time, pinewood is used by productions to build most of the base set because it’s easy to paint over and work with, is cost effective and is strong and durable. Strong and durable are the keywords here. If post-production construction crews took more care when tearing down sets, it would be easy for raw materials like wood to be sold on at discounted prices, saving it from landfill and saving future productions a lot of money. However, there are alternative uses for wood post-production, The Hangover: Part III had so much left-over wood that they donated it all to a local charity called ‘Habitat for Humanity’. Proving that the film industry can create a circular economy, the charity then went on to build housing projects using their donations. Similarly, a lot of DC comic productions, specifically Franchises will travel with ‘core set pieces’. Batman for example carries pieces for Gotham City with them to multiple filming locations, limiting the amount of flattage ending up in wastage. However, inevitably once these pieces are worn beyond repair they end up being thrown away and replaced by new ones.
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Unlike wood, metal and rigging material is harder to reuse and recycle, according to the TAG Group ‘Movies generate 225 tons of scrap metal’ equalling more than half of the overall waste produced according to the Producers Guild of America’s green report. Rigging materials are slightly trickier, serving as a singular lifetime product due to safety risks. To avoid this metal wiring going to waste, productions have started to think of future usage for these kinds of singular use products, reusing rigging and stunt wires by taking them apart and selling them on as new wires that can be used for general construction.
However, no one has really found a solid solution for the amount of large metal pieces ending up in landfill as a result of movie set deconstruction. These metals are detrimental to the environment, leaking toxins such as arsenic, lead and mercury that ultimately end up in the air reaching our food chain, poisoning soil and sometimes entering water where they heavily impact fish and other important marine life. In my opinion there are 2 solutions:
1. Construction managers need to do better post-production in tearing down sets to keep the integrity of these metals so they can be sold on. 2. Utilising companies like Scenery Salvage Scenery Salvage is one of a few companies that offers a full set removal service to the UK film and TV industry. Their business model relies on a production company paying a singular fee for transport costs, weight per ton and labour for offload, but disposing of materials cleanly making the whole postproduction process easier. They cover everything, crushing metals to be turned back into their raw state, turning plastics into pellets making them easier to dispose of and recovering reusable items from sets like doors and windows to hire or sell to other productions. In my opinion this method of disposal (although contributing to carbon emissions because of the machines used), will make a huge impact on the number of materials ending up in skips postproduction, but it does rely on production making room in their budget pre-production to afford this outsourcing removal company, and I’m not sure they’ll want to.
BTS WASTE
In my opinion the biggest problem, often overlooked by others, is waste that gathers behind the scenes, on set and specifically in production offices. During my interview with Karl I learnt that £10,000 is usually the amount put aside to buy a production office’s essentials (kitchen appliances like kettles and toasters and stationery). Unfortunately to stay within budget, this means that most of the time, these essentials are bought for cheap, overused, and worn-out during filming so are ultimately thrown away, just for the process to repeat over and over. In my opinion, if they were to focus more on sourcing more reliable (maybe more expensive) equipment that they know is going to last, they would be saving money on necessities and saving countless metal appliances from ending up in landfill.
This waste doesn’t just come from production offices either. On sets, there is a massive amount of wastage from single-use plastics and according to The Producers Guild of America’s green report, 1 production that lasts for a 60-day shoot, requires at least 39,000 water bottles for cast and crew. They use the example of Universal studios who make around 20 films a year, usually lasting a lot longer than 60-days, so you can imagine how many water bottles they are using every year!
So, my question is will there ever be a cleaner future for the film industry?.
Well, it would be naive of anyone to hope for a completely sustainable future for the industry, however production companies are definitely taking positive steps to actively make themselves more climate friendly, whilst reportedly saving a lot of money.
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A film that won a Green Seal award for environmental efforts and sustainable practices, and a perfect case study to show that there are cleaner methods that not only impact the environment but the production itself is The Amazing Spiderman 2. According to The Hollywood Reporter in an interview with Debbie Levin (EMA President), the film saved $400,000 by implementing sustainable practices, and hiring an eco-manager, during production, proving that;
SUSTAINABILITY ISN’T EXPENSIVE!
SONY As a company Sony Pictures are making every effort to make their practices ‘inspire a positive future for people and the planet in support of the Sustainable Development Goals’. Not only have they turned Spiderman into ‘EcoSpidey’ (a sustainable hero), but they have also used more of their films to promote sustainable practices to their audiences, setting an example to all production companies to do the same.
They used The Smurfs 2 movie to serve as a nationwide PSA campaign, partnering with the U.S Forest Service. The campaign targeted younger audiences, with an initiative to spend more time outside and ‘reconnect with nature’ as well as encouraging parents to ‘bluetify’ America with environmentally friendly activities.
They also used films like Peter Rabbit, The Angry Birds Movies 1 & 2, and Hotel Transylvania to spread the message of looking after our earth to younger generations, which is a clever and engaging way of linking much loved virtual characters to real life issues.
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An initiative more closely related to themes I have spoken about, is the new Sustainable Production Program, recently launched at Sony Pictures Networks India, proving a commitment to reinforcing their sustainable message in real life production scenarios. The program seems to be taking a realistic approach to sustainability, offering solutions that are easily actionable. These include: a complete ban on single use plastics like water bottles, which contribute so much to the overall wastage produced on a production, a mandatory waste segregation (using multiple different bins around studios), and a complete recycling policy.
As well as carbon accounting for electricity, fuel consumption and daily waste, sets themselves are reportedly using minimal resources of single use products and instead a ‘dedicated eco-trooper’ on set is finding more environmentally responsible alternatives, lowering their carbon footprint. Let’s hope this program can be continued to be carried out across all Sony Pictures studios and set strong examples for other Studios to do the same.
WARNER BROS An example of cleaner messaging and actions being carried out in the UK specifically comes from Warner Brothers sustainability promise, being carried out at Leavesden studios, (as well as their other studios over the world).
Their statement is ‘We are fully committed to promoting good sustainability practice, to reduce the environmental impact of our activities and to assist and encourage our clients and partners to do the same.’ Warner Brothers’ Discovery is definitely carrying out what they have promised! Unlike a lot of companies, they have recognised that climate change is a real threat to the world and have refined a strategy that improves ways to reduce emissions and manage climate risks they are responsible in producing.
They do this not only through promoting sustainable workplaces for ‘optimal efficiency, health and sustainability’, but implementing these through more sustainable productions. Their aim is to lessen their environmental footprint of any/ and all productions under the Warner Brothers name. To keep realistic goals and apply measures aimed to stick, they have identified 5 key areas including; fuel, electricity, materials, waste and reporting in order to lessen their environmental footprint.
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These values can be seen during production for season 2 of the show Ted Lasso. Production reportedly reduced their use of fossil fuels whilst increasing energy efficiency by using a lighting package. This consisted of: 80% LED lighting when filming on sound stages and using local power for generators that used 100% renewable energy. More closely related to my research, the construction department reduced the amount of material waste by reusing set materials found from previous productions to build their new sets, saving 17.6 tons of recycled materials from ending up in a skip. Finally, they also limited buying set decoration, and where possible prioritised renting props and furniture, so at the end of filming, they were able to give them back to prop houses, donate back to charity and avoid more waste ending up in landfill.
CONCLUSION As you can see, there are a lot of issues surrounding material waste within the film and TV industry, however it’s promising to see so many positive changes and climate friendly schemes being implemented by production giants. There are a lot of positive changes already starting to take place, however in my opinion there is one solution that the industry seems to overlook which could be the solution to all their issues. Creating a circular economy. We can see this being thought about slightly with examples like The Hangover and Dr Strange, however I don’t think that the industry has reached a place where avoiding waste is thought about before, during and after production. Once productions see the value in researching and sourcing responsible materials, buying second hand,
reusing materials from other productions, and investing in sustainable disposal methods when needed, they will not only see a reduction in their costs, but they will be doing their part for our planet. Needless to say, they’re on the right track, and I hope that efforts seen from Warner Brothers and Sony can inspire other production companies to do the same, presenting a united front to fighting climate change from inside the industry.
MAKE AND BUY
REDUCE COSTS
DO YOUR PART
REUSE OR RECYCLE
CONSUMPTION/ USE
LOWER THE FOOTPRINT
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REFERENCES Information:
Interviews Karl Caffrey – Line Producer Neal Callow – Production Designer Debbie Priestnall – Serious Stages International Company Pages Sony Pictures – A Greener World http://sonypicturesgreenerworld.com/ Sony Pictures – SPNI Launches Sustainable Production Program http://sonypicturesgreenerworld.com/index.php/ en/node/291 Warner Bros Discovery – Our Planet https://wbd.com/esg/our-planet/ Warner Bros Studio – Sustainability https://www.wbsl.com/studios/about/sustainability/ Birla Healthcare – Impact of Movies on Life https://birlahealthcare.com/impact-of-movies-onlife/#:~:text=Cinema%20is%20a%20fantastic%20 way,that%20influences%20the%20younger%20 generation. Acorn Waste Management https://www.acornwaste.co.uk/about-us/ Files Scenery Salvage PDF https://projects2014-2020.interregeurope.eu/ fileadmin/user_upload/tx_tevprojects/library/ file_1518691260.pdf Kyle Raymond Fitzpatrick (October 15, 2019)
Documentaries YouTube - Harry Potter Creating the World of Harry Potter Warner Bros (April 8, 2021) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cD5S1ZvBd-0 Articles FAMitchell – ‘Plywood Use in Film and Television’ Frances (September 14, 2017) https://famitchell.com.au/plywood-use-in-filmand-television/#:~:text=The%20heart%20of%20 most%20sets,held%20together%20by%20 wooden%20beams. The Hollywood Reporter – ‘The Amazing Spiderman 2’ Honoured for Environmental Efforts’ Alexa Girkout (April 4, 2014) https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movienews/amazing-spider-man-2-honored-692925/ Atmos Earth – ‘The Environmental Cost of Filmmaking’ Liana Demasi (August 26, 2021) https://atmos.earth/the-environmental-cost-offilmmaking/ BBC News – ‘What Hollywood is doing with props to cut waste’ Christine Ro (August 19, 2022) https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-62048067 TAG Group – ‘Reducing Waste, Saving Budgets’ (July 19, 2019) https://www.tag-group.com/film-and-media/blog/ film-and-media-reducing-waste-saving-budgets
Vice – ‘Behind Every Film Production is a Mess of Environmental Wreckage’ https://www.vice.com/en/article/3kxjvk/behindevery-film-production-is-a-mess-of-environmentalwreckage Forbes – ‘How Film Production is Becoming More Sustainable and Profitable’ Richard Whittington (February 28, 2022) https://www.forbes.com/sites/sap/2022/02/28/ how-film-production-is-becoming-more-sustainableand-profitable/ Los Angeles Times – ‘On Location: Greener Film Shoots can also Save Costs, Report says…’ Madelaine O’Leary (July 29, 2014) https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-ctonlocation-20140731-story.html Los Angeles Times – ‘Studios Donating Film Set Materials to Habitat for Humanity’ Richard Verrier (May 8, 2013) https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/ cotown/la-fi-ct-onlocation-habitat-20130508-story. html
Images: Title/ Back Page https://robinpiree.com/blog/film-studio Introduction https://newdawnfilm.com/how-to-stay-relevant-as-afilmmaker/ Foundation https://www.wbstudiotour.com/ Props https://247rubbishremoval.co.uk/film-wastecollection/ https://www.thesun.co.uk/tv/18813222/ everything-need-know-jurassic-world-dominion-dinosaur/ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-62048067 https://technosports.co.in/doctor-strange-multiverse-of-madness/ Flattage https://lamag.com/news/i-10-fire-downsizes-sustainable-movie-set-company https://setlighting.tumblr.com/post/151063840141/ cable-cable-cable https://earth911.com/home-garden/reducing-metal-waste/ https://www.thestage.co.uk/promoted-content/ sets-scenery-and-props
https://projects2014-2020.interregeurope.eu/ fileadmin/user_upload/tx_tevprojects/library/ file_1518691260.pdf https://weima.com/en/shredding-and-recyclingagriculture-film/ https://setlighting.tumblr.com/ post/149328997495/l-d https://www.beckhoff.com/en-gb/company/news/ efficient-execution-of-spectacular-film-scenes-andstunts-using-automation.html https://www.independent.co.uk/tech/amazonapple-electronic-waste-b1762150.html BTS Waste https://uwaterloo.ca/news/creating-carboncapture-technology-plastic-waste https://edition.cnn.com/2023/03/16/world/plasticwater-bottles-un-report-climate/index.html https://smartclick.ai/articles/how-artificialintelligence-is-used-in-the-film-industry/ Sony https://blog.playstation.com/2023/05/24/marvelsspider-man-2-gameplay-revealed/ https://www.rootsimple.com/2013/07/smurfsteam-up-with-us-forest-service/ https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_smurfs_2 https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/the-puerile-emptiness-of-peter-rabbit https://www.vox.com/2016/5/20/11707508/angry-birds-movie-review-trump
https://wearealbert.org/2021/03/11/how-locationone-tackles-on-set-waste-sustainably/ https://www.sportspromedia.com/news/sonypictures-networks-india-zee-entertainment-mergerpunit-goenka/?zephr_sso_ott=ZBmjXf https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/road-zero-sonypictures-networks-india-paves/ Warner Bros https://www.linkedin.com/posts/warnerbros.-studios-leavesden-limited_last-weekwe-had-the-pleasure-of-hosting-activity7120426173708279808-U54t/?trk=public_ profile_like_view https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/ted-lassoseason-2-trailer-release-date-1234955802/ https://thespool.net/reviews/tv/tv-recap-ted-lassoseason-2-finale/ https://sustainablefilm.green/sustainability-behindthe-lens/ https://deadline.com/2023/03/ted-lasso-season-3premiere-recap-interviews-spoilers-1235300425/ Conclusion https://filmustage.com/blog/unraveling-the-typicalexpenditures-involved-in-creating-a-film/