In today’s Finshots, we tell you how films leave their carbon footprint and what they’re doing or can do to clean it up.
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The Story
What do you need to make a film?
Well, sure, you need a production house, a great writer, director, actors and all the other crew members who keep the wheels and reels turning. And of course, there’s the camera assistant — the one who claps the film slate before every take, right after the director yells, “Lights, camera, action!”
Sidebar: In case you didn’t know that black film slate is called a clapperboard.
But what if we changed that last line to something like, “Lights, camera, carbon!”?
Because the reality is that filmmaking pollutes massively. Depending on the scale of their production, a film can emit anywhere between 390 and 3,300 tonnes of CO2 equivalent.1 Big-budget blockbusters like Oppenheimer or Barbie sit right at the top of that range. And that’s a big deal because those emissions could power over 650 homes in the US for an entire year. It would also take about 3,700 acres of forest to absorb that much CO2 at the same time.2
So where do all these emissions come from, you ask?
If you actually circle back to the first question — what do you need to make a film? — and dig a little deeper, you’ll realise that you need power, tons of it, to fuel all the generators and lights. You’ll need realistic sets and props, many of which end up as waste. And of course transportation that moves the cast and crew to various locations, often across countries. In fact, over half of a film’s carbon emissions come from transportation alone. Oh, and don’t forget, some of those big-name actors prefer private jets!
When you think about it, the fossil fuel, fashion and transportation industries are some of the world’s top polluters. And when you combine them all, you’ve got almost everything you need to make a film.
But does that mean you can’t make a film without contributing to all these emissions?
Well, maybe not. Because here’s the thing. While the film industry’s carbon footprint isn’t something we talk about much, it’s a massive problem. But the good news is that it isn’t shying away from the fact that it’s been a major polluter. And it is putting in efforts to reduce, or even eliminate, the carbon emissions involved in entertaining you and me.
We could start with the basics or fuel and transportation. Look, about 30% of the fuel used in filmmaking goes into powering massive generators for lighting and heating. But things are starting to change. Some production houses are turning to recycled fuel made from used cooking oil or even battery-powered generators that run on renewable energy.3 When combined with traditional sources, these alternatives help reduce emissions. Sure, it’s something many industries are doing, but there’s something unique to filmmaking that could make an even bigger difference — the filming location.
According to studies by The Sustainable Production Alliance (SPA), a consortium of the world’s leading film, television and streaming companies, the place where you film matters. For example, a 1-hour scripted drama filmed in Los Angeles emits around 40 tonnes of CO2. In New York, that number jumps to 70 tonnes, and in Atlanta, it soars to 140 tonnes. If you’re wondering why, it’s because it depends on how much fossil fuel makes up for a region’s power source or energy grid. So, by just choosing and shifting to locations with greener energy grids, filmmakers can cut emissions significantly. It’s like reducing the annual emissions of 30 fossil-fuel-powered cars down to just 9.
Another way to reduce emissions is by cutting down on travel. Technology plays a huge role here, with innovations like extended reality, motion capture and 3D world-building allowing filmmakers to create entire virtual worlds without leaving the studio. This approach, called virtual production, can slash carbon emissions by 20-50% compared to traditional methods.4
Then there’s the issue of waste. After filming wraps, most sets end up in the trash. Props may be rented or reused. But the plywood sets only get used until they’re too small to be of any use, and then they’re thrown away. Many sets are also coated with environmentally harmful materials like plaster of Paris. Even smaller details, like the confetti used in celebratory scenes or songs, add up. To put things in perspective, 50 kg of plastic confetti can easily end up in the ocean after filming. And that’s not exactly a glamorous look for the industry.
But there are solutions. Take The Peasants, a 2023 Polish film, for example. It was Poland's official entry for this year’s Academy Awards. Its filming began as a live-action feature, with real actors performing in front of a green screen.5 But then, over 100 oil painters hand-painted each frame, which was later animated using a stop-motion-like technique. To make it more eco-friendly, the production used cardboard instead of wood for on-site sets wherever necessary. And that was better for the environment as cardboard not only requires fewer materials, but it’s also lighter and easier to recycle.
Even big productions have come on board. The Amazing Spider-Man 2, released a decade ago, was praised for its sustainability efforts. The production team saved 1,93,000 disposable plastic water bottles by reusing and recycling and cut waste going to landfills by more than half. The wardrobe department even started a recycling program, sourcing textiles from farmers’ markets and recovering over 49 tonnes of materials for donation or reuse. All these efforts not only helped the environment but also saved the production more than $400,000!
And it’s not just Hollywood taking steps to address its climate impact. Back in 2015, the Indian film Aisa Yeh Jahaan, directed by Biswajeet Bora, made history as India’s first carbon-neutral film.6
The story itself revolves around the protagonist and his family’s vacation to Assam, where his daughter learns the value of trees and worries about Mumbai’s future. But the film didn’t just talk about nature, it also nurtured it by putting its screenplay into practice.
Bora teamed up with the Centre for Environmental Research and Education (CERE), a Mumbai-based group focused on sustainability, to ensure that his film left no carbon footprint. They calculated its greenhouse gas emissions by accounting for things like air and road travel, set construction, catering and hotel stays. Then, by using scientific emission factors, CERE estimated the film’s carbon output to be around 80 tonnes of CO2 equivalent. And to offset this, the team planted 560 indigenous trees across Mumbai and Assam.
The idea was simple — remove as much carbon from the atmosphere as the film produced.
And that sort of set an important example for the rest of the industry. If you can’t completely eliminate emissions right away, you can at least offset them in some way.
But here’s the catch. There’s little independent oversight of how much films emit. Reporting is voluntary, and most of the data comes from production companies themselves, often in press releases or climate-impact disclosures for Hollywood at least.7 No outside watch dogs are calling out greenwashing or films lying about the carbon footprint they leave behind. And that makes it tough to verify what’s true and what’s just good whipped up PR (public relations).
So, maybe it’s time for the Academy Awards to introduce a new Oscar category for the “Most Environmentally Responsible Film”?
Who knows, this might just be the nudge the industry needs to get production houses vying for the spotlight, not just in making great films, but in cutting down their carbon footprint too.
Until then… the lights, camera and carbon are still rolling. What do you think could set it back to lights, camera, action!?
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Story Sources: Time [1], Forbes [2], BBC [3], Outlook Business [4], The Hollywood Reporter [5] [7], One Earth [6]
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