It all starts with you. Take the lead.
The PGA is committed to bringing about more sustainable production throughout our industry and has been in the forefront of this effort for more than a decade. As producers, members of the PGA are in leadership roles with the capacity to bring about significant progress when it comes to shifting attitudes around sustainability and making sustainable practices commonplace on set.
Producers establish priorities and set the tone on a project from development to release. Our responsibilities carry through every aspect of production. We have the leadership capacity to prioritize sustainability at each stage by weaving it into the storyline and daily activity on set just as we have led the way in many other past efforts that helped our industry evolve.
Given the global climate crisis, adhering to sustainability guidelines is as important as following safety and harassment guidelines. A producer can not only advocate for sustainable production practices that minimize human and environmental harm, they can make it happen. You can help cast and crew agree on achievable goals knowing that every effort can make a positive difference, from waste reduction to lessening the carbon footprint, and in every department from transportation to wardrobe.
This tool kit offers steps to consider taking on your productions. Don’t let overwhelm keep you from making these shifts. Be ambitious with your goals, but do not get discouraged if you encounter challenges. Don’t let overwhelm keep you from making the most basic shifts towards sustainability.
Do what is feasible within your budget and timeframe. Better yet, build these considerations into your budget and schedule from the very beginning of a project’s life cycle, which is well before the first day of production.
PRE-PRODUCTION
Leadership
Be clear about the production’s sustainability goals. Engage with cast and crew and be open to collaboration. Look for opportunities to educate and exchange information.
Messaging early and often is a key to success. Regularly circulate updates with cast and crew about successes and the impact of initiatives that have been put into place.
Speaking up from the start—whether by email, during a meeting, or an announcement on set—can empower cast and crew to make small changes that add up.
Discuss a commitment to sustainability with everyone on your producing team. Reducing environmental impact can be done without compromising the production. Information in the Resources can help back this up.
Let the crew know you value sustainable choices and support making a plan that is actionable for every department. Ask stage managers and department heads what the biggest challenge is to make their work more eco-friendly. Identify equitable adjustments. Even small changes can have a big impact, but change should not fall on the shoulders of just one or two HODs.
Planning
Often, a “green” solution can make someone’s job easier, generate goodwill among communities while on location, and result in cost savings.
Refer to the Resources section to learn about areas that can inform a sustainability plan including clean energy, waste management, paperless production, food donations, recycling and composting, and elimination of single-use plastics, especially water bottles. Detailed action to take in each of these categories is below.
Plan to hire and purchase locally. Every cast or crew member that is flown in from out of town carries a huge carbon footprint. Every item from a big box store that was manufactured across the globe has a larger footprint than something sourced locally.
Staff Support
If you’re working with a studio, chances are they have a sustainability office. Connect with them to learn about the assistance they offer. Some studios may have requirements that the sustainability office can guide you through. UPMs, LPs, and ADs should be included in these discussions.
If you aren’t working with a studio, or your studio does not have a sustainability office, consider consulting with a sustainable production services provider like Earth Angel or Green Spark Group.
Hiring a sustainability supervisor can ensure the integrity of sustainability initiatives, support best practices across departments, manage clean energy infrastructure, and communicate goals and progress on your production, which can be a big morale booster. Discuss making this a line item in your budget.
If a sustainability supervisor is not in the budget, engage departments to appoint one person to be a liaison with production on accomplishing sustainability goals and reporting back to production.
Engage the Accounting Department to track in accordance with the Carbon Calculator in the Green Production Guide.
PRODUCTION AND POST-PRODUCTION
On Screen
Encourage your director and producing team to read existing sustainability on-screen tip sheets. (See “Climate Storytelling Resources” in the Resources section.) In addition to taking advantage of these resources, complete your own evaluation of the script for climate storytelling opportunities.
Look for opportunities to represent and normalize clean energy by integrating it into storylines, character roles and identities (e.g., researcher, clean energy business owner), and visual imagery (e.g., energy efficient windows and solar panels on a character’s home, characters driving EVs).
Talk with your teams about what can be done to demonstrate sustainability on screen. Opportunities include props, set decoration, picture vehicles, and background action. How can characters be seen routinely practicing sustainability fundamentals? (Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.)
Employ reusable water beverage containers and reusable shopping bags. Avoid the use of all single-use plastics on camera. Show bikes and scooters alongside EVs.
Clean Energy / Powering the Set
Choose to transition away from diesel generators and towards cleaner energy, including electric. Add clean power to your sustainability when putting it together in pre-production. Clean energy options may be new to many on your crew, but they will soon be the order of business for our industry.
The Emissions/Cost Optimizer (tutorial here) is a user-friendly Excel sheet to help calculate the emissions and cost of diesel generators versus cleaner power. Seeing the numbers is often the best argument for change. Clean energy can be equal to or even lower in price than traditional methods.
After you’ve run the numbers, help your team agree on the total number of emissions you’ll allow for the production.
Collaborate with your DP, UPM, and locations team on clean energy sources tailored to your unique production. Consider grid-ties, battery stacks, right-sizing generators, solar power, and renewable diesel, available in New York, Los Angeles and the UK.
If diesel generators can’t be substituted, right-size them. Diesel generators often run at less than 20% capacity, where they burn the least efficiently. That racks up costs for fuel and the environment.
Plan to use LED lighting, and encourage turning off lighting setups & translights when not in use.
Design, Materials & Re-Use
Work with the Production Designer, DP, and the rest of your producing team to encourage reuse (also known as circularity) and the re-purposing of sets.
Make a plan during pre-production for overall re-use in production, art direction, construction, costume design, set dressing and props. Build in time at the end of production for sets, props, materials, and costumes to be donated to local non-profit organizations such as schools, theater groups, and shelters.
Empower your art department to design and build for reuse and/or donation.
Support efforts by your design teams and department heads to use sustainable materials.
Waste Management
Encourage teams to place visual reminders around the office and workspaces to remind staff and crew to reduce, recycle and reuse. Make it easy to comply in the office, on set and on location by having clearly marked bins.
Encourage the Office, Locations, Craft Service and Catering departments to create a responsible waste management plan that includes office and on-set recycling and composting. More than half of all landfill methane (an even more potent greenhouse gas than CO2) is produced by food waste.
Find a local garbage hauler who supports your waste management plan. Ask the garbage hauler to supply a diversion report.
In addition to composting, recycling and trash, encourage the set-up of department-specific bins; for example, fabric recycling and donation bins in the costume department, or battery recycling.
Catering/Craft Service
One of the most impactful ways an individual can reduce their carbon footprint is by adopting a plant-based diet. Choices made during production can gently nudge cast and crew in this direction. Plan to reduce or eliminate red meat from catering, provide plant-based options, and serve sustainably sourced fish and chicken. Check out DefaultVeg, an initiative gaining traction in many industries.
Request the use of washable plates, glassware and cutlery wherever possible. As a second choice, provide only compostable dishware and cutlery.
Talk to catering about sizing portions appropriately to avoid food waste and have a plan for local food donations for leftovers. Organizations like Every Day Action safely, swiftly and legally rescue left-over catered meals and deliver them to those in need.
If you purchase a “treat truck” for your cast and crew, look into electric trucks serving food in compostable or reusable containers with portions sized to diminish food waste.
Go Paperless & Plastic Free
Use paperless software for digital distribution, start paperwork and accounting documents. Examples of script organization software include Scriptation and PDFExpert.
Implement a “print on demand” policy for documents such as location scout schedules, art department floor plans, menus, shooting schedules and sides. Use recycled content paper whenever possible.
Ask Prop and AD teams to avoid using single-use plastic on-screen.
Encourage people to bring their own water bottles. Plan to provide water bottle-filling stations in all areas on and offset. Reusable, plant-based (and compostable!) water bottles are readily available. Examples include S’wheat Bottle (wheat husk-based) and Join The Pipe (sugar cane husk-based).
If single-use water is unavoidable, use aluminum-canned or boxed water. Consider smaller single-use containers to reduce water waste when someone leaves a bottle half-drunk.
Trailer, Travel, Living & Carbon Offsets
Lead by example and refrain from flying privately. Private jet travel is the most polluting single action any production can engage in. Aircraft release CO2 as well as nitrogen oxide, which contributes twice as much to global warming as fuel CO2. Flying premium is more polluting than economy by using a greater amount of space for fewer passengers.
Solar-powered trailers are available in most cities that have a steady level of production.
If someone is entitled to a single trailer, request a two or three-compartment trailer over a solo one. Shared trailers reduce generator pollution in base camp and make company moves cleaner.
Be aware of energy use. Ask that people let transport and/or AD department know when they will be in their trailer so power only runs when the trailer is in use. Let them know it’s okay to heat or cool close to your arrival, not round the clock.
Request small or mid-size (not SUV) electric or hybrid vehicles when renting cars or booking personal drivers.
Ask drivers to refrain from idling to minimize exhaust emissions and save fuel. Plan to have warming and cooling stations available for drivers in extreme weather.
Consider train travel over commercial flights.
Reduce pre-production travel CO2 by utilizing video conferencing over flying and driving. Consolidate meetings, scouts and casting sessions.
Look for hotel accommodations with sustainable practices including clean energy, water conservation, and eco-conscious waste collection. For long-term hotel stays, ask that the rooms be serviced less frequently.
Consider remote post-production when possible for editing, looping, mixing, scoring, etc.
Use a carbon calculator (see Resources) to estimate your production’s emissions and purchase carbon offsets for unavoidably high emissions. These credits invest in ways to increase in carbon storage (e.g., planting new trees and restoring natural habitats) or subsidize biogas, solar and wind power projects for vulnerable communities impacted by climate change.
Many airlines offer carbon offsets for plane tickets at approximately $10-20 per ton of CO2 equivalents.
Build Community
Learn about environmental concerns in the areas where you’re shooting. Assess ways to dial back your production’s pollution and waste for these communities.
Foster goodwill with the people who live where you’re visiting. Engage in a community give-back program such as tree planting, food drives, or time volunteering.
Crew Gifts
T-shirts, sweatshirts, hats and other forms of “fast fashion” result in a high level of carbon emissions for products that often end up in landfills. Consider making a donation in honor of your crew to an environmental organization local to your shoot location(s). Or, give gifts that support local businesses such as restaurants, spas, museums and other experiences.
Publicity, Marketing, Festivals and Appearances
At the top of an interview or public presentation, consider addressing the urgency of climate change and share the good news that we can all do something to help. Emphasize the sustainable practices you put into place on your production.
In planning promotional tours, discuss with your studio how many flights, hotels, and drivers will be involved in the promotional tour. Request the elimination of single-use water bottles. Request EV/Hybrid vehicles for transportation and an anti-idling policy.
Encourage the publicity/marketing team to look through a sustainability lens when thinking about materials used in the promotion, including posters, billboards, displays and premiere tickets.