The TV and film industry’s carbon footprint has kept a low-profile – but not any more, says Aaron Matthews, industry sustainability manager at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts
Can our love affair with the moving image become sustainable?
Television content isn’t perhaps the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about sustainability. It is an intangible product that beams into our homes, and many viewers will have little consideration as to how it got there.
Watching television does have an environmental footprint, however, and when we consider powering everything from TV sets to satellites and even servers for video-on-demand, it is easy to see why.
But delving into the energy needs of the productions themselves – powering studios, running generators on location, building and disposing of sets, creating special effects, transporting and accommodating crews who are shooting all over the world – may get you thinking about the sustainability credentials of some of your best-loved programmes.
Considering the army of specialists needed to put media content together and the often-ephemeral nature of TV and film production companies, it’s no wonder that the media industry has been slow to embrace a vision of a sustainable future.
But the industry is making up for lost time, and has done so with a vengeance in the form of pan-industry collaboration – an unexpected approach, perhaps, given the fiercely competitive nature of the TV business. This collaboration takes the form of a sustainability think-tank, the British Academy for Film and Television Albert Consortium, which launched in 2011.
As a sustainable future benefits all, it should be no surprise that this industry collaboration has so far been led by an organisation that puts the public at the heart of all that they do; the BBC. Working alongside BAFTA, who act as the independent chair, they haveassembled a consortium of production companies and broadcasters to develop the tools, training, working practices and leadership needed to transition the industry towards a low-carbon future.
Since its formation, the consortium has launched a carbon calculator for TV production called Albert which now contains over 1,000 production carbon footprints on its database and which therefore boasts an unrivalled insight into the impact the industry has on the environment. Albert’s data reveals that the average carbon emissions produced by one hour’s-worth of on-screen telly to be 7.7 tonnes of CO2. That average falls in the middle of a wide-range of values; animation and archive shows are the most carbon-friendly, while international factual programmes and location-based dramas are their more profligate cousins.
In addition to Albert, the consortium has also launched Media Greenhouse, a site which offers tips, case studies and a suppliers list to production managers who are keen to manage the impact of the programmes they make. Quantifying sustainability for any product is difficult, but this is the consortium’s primary focus for 2014 – so keep your eyes peeled for something that does just that.
This paints a rather rosy picture of an industry that is measuring and managing its impact but there is still much work to be done. Working with businesses which rely heavily on freelance staff means progress can be slow. Yet through the consortium’s collaboration this issue is being addressed by 20 of the most relevant and influential people in the industry, including heads of production, chief operating officers, production executives, location managers and a couple of sustainability professionals thrown in for good measure.
Together the consortium is exploring how it will inform and educate an industry and its audience. BAFTA – a charity which rewards individuals with the ability to tell a good story – is well-placed to lead on this. The media industry is key to driving the sustainability agenda, because if we can’t put our faith in an industry with the ability to engage and educate like no other, then where?
- Contact Aaron Matthews on Twitter: @enviroARMy
