As of Jan. 1st 2015, Els Rientjes will be in full force as the first official Sustainability Manager for the Dutch film industry. Rientjes is committed to making the Dutch film industry more sustainable, and also has years of experience within the Dutch Television and Film Industry to draw from; as a Creative Producer at IDTV, Manager of TV Productions at Niehe/Stokvis, and most recently, as Creative Producer at Fu Works. Rientjes is looking forward to taking on sustainability within her new role: “I want to use my passion and knowledge of Film and Television, in order to make the sustainable innovation more accessible to film producers.” And the industry, is very lucky to have her. [photo: Michael Vervuurt]
As a result of this project, Dutch film professionals have grown to see the importance and benefit of sustainable film production – green filmmaking has truly ‘landed’ within the industry. Moving forward into 2015 however, the Green Film Making Project will continue forth in a new form. As of Jan. 1st 2015, the Netherlands Film Fund (one of the partners of the Green Film Making Project) will be facilitating the first official Sustainability Manager for the Dutch film industry: Els Rientjes. Rientjes will develop and support a structural framework, through which the whole of the industry can produce more sustainably.
In the coming years, she is committed to continuing the work that was started by the Green Film Making Project. Her years of applicable experience as both a producer of films and television programs, will most certainly guide her towards success in this new position.
Rientjes, who was presented to the industry during our masterclass ‘Green Filmmaking: The Future of Producing’ at the Dutch Film Festival, explained: “Within the film industry, professionals are forced to achieve their great ambitions, under high pressure and with little time. I see it as my mission then, to make the sustainable innovation easily accessible to these people. To inspire them to shift, so that together, we can really make some important changes on the sets”. She continued to add, “I have decided that I am going to focus strictly on all of the positive things that I see, because I truly feel this way too. From this point, I feel tremendously inspired and charged to take on the challenge – to convey the green filmmaking approach to the broader film industry.”
As Sustainability Manager, Rientjes will also share the relevant knowledge of sustainable innovation with international film industries, and their working professionals.
In her work, Rientjes will work closely with Jo Voet from the Ministry of Economic Affairs. Jo Voet has considerable experience in the field of sustainable innovation, and he will provide Rientjes with links to a diverse range of green businesses that she can draw from. With these connections, Rientjes can effectively generate partnerships and contracts with more sustainable facilities, greener companies, and environmentally conscious suppliers, on behalf of the film industry. Win, win, win!
With Els Rientjes on board, to harness innovation while moving the industry towards more sustainable production models, it’s going to be a great year of transformation for the Dutch film industry in 2015. We can’t wait to see how Els will continue “Taking the Film Industry Into the Future…”. In Els, and the promise of her work, there is so much to look forward to.
If you enjoyed this article, you will also like the following from our blog: Recap of NFF masterclass ‘Green Filmmaking: The Future of Producing’ , and Who’s Who: Thekla Reuten ( The Netherlands)