Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
, 2015
SUSTAINABILITY IN
MOTION PICTURE
INDUSTRY
This paper explores the issue of sustainability in the motion industry i.e. the film
and the television industry and presents the current scenario of sustainability
practices and measures to attain them. Film and television industry has been a
major source of air and land pollution and by various examples it has been shown
that by adopting environment friendly techniques, the business can be made not
only sustainable but also profitable. By using the example of the movie Amazing
Spiderman 2, different areas of improvement and their cost benefits have been
analyzed.
Keywordsmotion industry; sustainability; pollution;
INTRODUCTION
Consumption of motion pictures and television programming is a low involvement
affair and the final consumer seldom thinks of the impact these industries have on
the environment. The final consumption in particular, be it via electronic media or
traditional media, is not a high impact activity as far as the environment is
concerned. Behind the scene, however, are sources of air pollution, greenhouse gas
emissions,
solid
waste
generation
and
high
energy
consumption.
As the focus on production value is increasing, so is the impact of the industry on
the environment. Not being a traditional industry, there are no strict regulations in
place either. Thus, the onus of being planet conscious lies on the individual players.
The impact of the industry, awareness and efforts made towards sustainability by
various productions and the need for a policy have been discussed in this
paper.Hollywood and Bollywood, two major industries in this area cause significant
amount of pollution in various forms.
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manufacturing sector released about 9,000,000 metric tons each, 11,700,000 for
the aerospace sector, for semiconductor industry 16,200,000 while the petroleum
refining sector released 33,400,000 metric tons [1]. Due to the heavy dependency
of the film industry on the use of transport and consumption of energy like use of air
conditioners and generators in its normal operations, along with the sheer size of
this industry in California and Los Angeles, in spite of the size of the industry being
the smallest of all the sector examined, the emissions of greenhouse gases are of
the same magnitude as the rest of the sectors [1].
LAND POLLUTION
Demolition of sets generates a large amount of waste like wood, polystyrene blocks.
Also concrete, lumber and structural steel is left as waste after the set has been
destroyed. These materials pose a serious disposal problem and give rise to land
pollution. Though most of the films are digitally produced, yet a huge amount of film
stock is generated everyday which is extremely hazardous to the environment. The
use of plastic bottles on the operation area and the leftover food is another form of
waste which is produced and creates a problem of dumping.
MITIGATION STRATEGIES
REDUCTION IN USE OF PLASTIC
Eliminating the use of plastic bottles will lead to huge savings, both economic and
environment. One of the major use of plastic is in the form of water bottles. Plastic
bottles can be banned on the sets only when there is a huge effort from the top
management to design a relevant company policy to decrease its use on the sets.
The following are some of the strategies which can followed to decrease the
dependency on plastic bottles:
Communication
The company policy of banning plastic bottles should be communicated beforehand
by the management to everyone so they are well prepared and carry their own
bottles to sets.
Buy bottles of good quality
The crew is more likely to use a bottle throughout the shoot if the quality is good
and it is durable. It is also preferred to make the bottles can be made more portable
by attaching caribinersis. The reuse of any bottle is increased if the quality meets
certain desired specifications and standards. Hence, investment should be done to
obtain bottles of such quality.
Restrict the use of logos
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The use of logos on the bottles make them a unique product, hence there is a lesser
probability of crew members using a bottle for practical purposes if the item has the
logo of the project stamped.
Setting up water stations
Water stations should be set up at various locations on the sets, at the catering
area, in the holding area stations set up on set and at base site. Filters can be
installed on tap faucets in offices as well as at studio, as it eliminates the rental fees
of water dispenser leading to higher saving of money. The cost of setting up water
stations is significantly less in the long run as compared to provision of water
bottles every day for the crew and staff of the production house.
COMPOSTING
With the coming up of green productions and stress on practicing environmental
friendly measures, it is a common practice in offices and on sets to do composting.
As an alternative to winding up in a landfill, food waste and compostable dishware
can be converted into soil rich in nutrients by collecting them in compostable sacks
and processing it in an industrial composting factory. A reduction in hauling
expenses by 30% as a result of reduction in waste stream of the company can be
achieved through composting [4].
COMPOSTED
FEATURE FILM
AMOUNT
2 10,425 lbs
5,675 lbs
7 tons (14,142 lbs)
23 tons (46,500lbs)
PAGE 3
film. Approximately 450,000lbs of the steel generated in $45,000 revenue for the
production house [4].
RECYCLING: PROPS, SET DRESSING, WARDROBE, FILM STOCK
These are left in excessive amounts after the wrapping up of any production as they
are required in large amounts during the shooting of any film or TV show. They can
be reused instead of dumping these items away in a dumpster. If the wardrobe
(non-hero clothing only) of a large studio feature film is donated, the production can
earn approximately $250,000 in revenues [4]. Film stocks in countries like China are
used as a filling for sleeping bags and even parkas after shredding.
The television show 30 Rock had assets from its 7 seasons to dispose. NBC donated
set materials, props and wardrobes worth a million dollars to other shows of the
production house instead of throwing them into a dumpster. They saved nearly
$20,000 in waste hauling expenses by donating 10.7 tons of excess material to Film
Biz Recycling [4].
PAGE 4
CONCLUSION
The film and television sector contributes significantly to pollution in the form of air,
land and emission of greenhouse gases. While a number of mitigation strategies
have been undertaken by Hollywood projects like emphasizing on recycling and
composting of leftover materials, Bollywood clearly has a long way to go in
employing sustainable practices. Greater importance should be placed on recycling
digital devices and use of bio-diesel should be promoted. Measures are needed to
increase reuse of equipment like 3D glasses and film trailers. It is clearly indicated
by the data stated in the article that by adopting environmental friendly practices,
the industry can be made not only sustainable, but it also makes it profitable by
reduction in costs. Hence, the government should also encourage such measures by
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