The typical movie viewer these days is fairly aware of what goes on behind the scenes of a film, whether be it through watching DVD extras, or specials on TV. But whether eco-minded or not, what most people may not realize while watching this month’s new blockbuster, is the amount of waste, consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions that result from its production. No DVD bonus features are going to include an exposé featurette entitled “How The Making of this Film Harmed Your Environment” after all (though wouldn’t that be inspiring). While there are certainly green-themed movies and documentaries out there that have inspired and drawn attention to environmental issues (who hasn’t heard of An Inconvenient Truth?), viewers need to realize that a green film means much more than just its theme.

 

Increasingly over the last decade, and even more so in the last few years, the methods used during the entire process of creating a film have begun to be analyzed in terms of their impact on the environment. The result does not paint a green picture. Having first hand experience working in film and TV for the last five years in various capacities, I’m all too aware of this truth. Whether on set for HBO’s Flight of the Conchords, or a Campbell’s Soup commercial, I have witnessed and taken part in the wastefulness that results from an industry that has not instilled environmentally friendly practices from the get go. On any given show, we send dumpster after dumpster full of usable building materials to the landfill because that is the quickest and cheapest way we have known to break down a set. Then we thoughtlessly toss our water bottles and scrape all of our food waste into the trash as well. While I may enjoy the excessive craft service and catering on set as much as the next crew member, when you think about how much unnecessary food and packaging waste is generated, and the unsustainable purchasing choices that were made to begin with, it starts to not taste as good. And these are merely two of many unsavory practices…

 

I began to think there must be a better way. But without resources tailored to work with the fast paced, demanding film industry, it is difficult to operate any differently. Fortunately, as in so many other industries these days, there is a growing movement to “green up” film productions’ act. This means adjusting current practices to reduce consumption, waste, and greenhouse gas emissions, as well as developing resources and green guidelines to enable and aid with these adjustments. I am currently working in Austin to do just that, where spreading the word and starting a dialogue is an integral part of this mission. In my blogs to come, I’ll discuss the how-to’s of filming green, weigh the obstacles faced, and consider, if not answer the questions “Why bother?” and “Why Austin?” While this is just the beginning, and green filmmaking currently remains a grassroots effort to clean up productions’ act, it is my hope we will reach the point where eco-friendly practices are standard and we won’t even have to use the phrase “green film” – that is unless we’re talking about it’s color.