On June 25th, at the newly opened Cafe de Ceuvel (where pillars of sustainability and innovative reuse are incorporated into all areas of business practice) the Green Film Making Project met with filmmakers from the Netherland’s Film Festival’s KORT! , and One Night Stand film programs, to discuss their progress on integrating sustainable approaches to their film sets. During the meeting, participants exchanged their experiences on introducing sustainability plans to their productions and sets: both the success stories, and the challenges. Marina Blok (Head of Drama, NTR ) and Renee van der Grinten ( Film Consultant for Documentary & Experimental Films, Dutch Film Fund) were also present to share with the participants their industry-based perspectives. And how exactly did it all go down? View photos from the event here on Facebook or, get the details here.
Green filmmaking as presented to the participants, gave them a reason to think about the ways in which their cinematic ideas, and sustainable production of these ideas, could go – hand in hand. With this as a point of departure, each production company attempted to take on a more sustainable approach through every facet of their film’s production; and each did so in their own way.
The verdict? Each production succeeded in getting their crews successfully involved in their respective sustainability plans. So much so, that crew members became active participants in contributing to the development of sustainability plans, while engaging in their set’s commitment to sustainable production. Regular contact and communication between crew members on these issues, contributed to this effective engagement.
Quality and Sustainability : they’re better together
VENFILM noticed that their crew members’ production choices were initially shaped by the cheapest option available, and this became a strong argument working on behalf of a vegetarian catering choice – nice! Of this idea Maarten van der Ven made it clear that cheaper, vegetarian catering: ” Doesn’t have to compromise quality. In our case, we chose a wonderful caterer.”
Print is Passé
Most participants agreed that many sustainable choices were effectively easy to apply on-set. This is especially true when trying to minimize paper use. For example, sets no longer need to print out as many copies of the call sheets as before. Everyone has a tablet or smartphone to which this information can be sent, and updated. For the next generation of filmmakers, this will be even further true. Participants at the progress meeting agreed that due to the increasing accessibility of emerging digital technologies, paper will soon be obsolete on sets altogether.
Sustainability Managers with an Effective Focus
Producer Gijs Kerbosch (producer from 100% Halal ) noted that after the progress meetings and workshops, crew members were always full of inspiration as well as drive. When on-set though, he found that this sense of motivation disappeared, as it got lost amoung the daily production issues. So, he decided to turn to experienced Eco Manager, Lynn Koppen for some assistance in executing the sustainable production plan. Lynn was Sustainability Manager for the production of “Malaguti Phantom”, where she was engaged in green filmmaking communications with the crew, while brainstorming on creative sustainable solutions, CO2 emissions from the production calculations, and practical green interventions on the set. Both Kerbosch and Koppen were very please with how the sustainable initiatives on their set panned out- with a designated Sustainability Manager in full gear. Lynn laid it out nice and clear for us: “If you have a Sustainability Manager on the set, sustainability is not a bonus responsibility of the producer who is already busy, but the focus of an extra and very dedicated crew member.”
Other production companies that participated in the progress meeting, though they were not mentioned above are: IJswater Films, il Luster and Pupkin Film.
The results of this thinking & sustainability action, as well as the green-produced films themselves, can be seen at the Dutch Film Festival 2014′s ‘KORT!’ film program. We will be there to share the findings of our 2014 Green Film Making Project with the film industry as well. It will be an evening to showcase the greening of the film industry in The Netherlands, and we are very much looking forward to it!
If you enjoyed this article, you will also like the following from our blog: Fact:Sustainable Filmmaking can save you thousands of Budget Dollars $$$ and Online:‘How to Green Your Film Production (so far)’ Guide