7 Useful Tips for Sustainable Film and Video Production

Sustainability is not only the focus of our film production in terms of content. Our entire workflow is also sustainable. Organization and technologies help us to achieve this. These 7 simple solutions might also be interesting for other agencies and clients.

We just had another contract signed paperless. Our client was surprised how easy it was for him, too. No printing, no ratification and no sending back by mail or scan. Resources saved again.

I ride my bike to work every morning. That’s easy to do in Berlin. None of our employees come to the studio by car. It would also seem strange to start the job with a large carbon footprint and then make films about solar energy, bioplastics and recycling.

Typically, tons of carbon dioxide are released for every video produced. There are the flights, car trips, generators, spotlights, catering and copies. With ecologically optimized planning, most of this can be avoided.

1. Preliminary meetings on the screen

We meet our customers in video conferences for preliminary discussions. Visiting locations beforehand would cause unnecessary mileage.

2. Clips from location

Every institution has talented staff who can shoot usable photos and videos of locations with their smartphones. We brief them carefully to get the necessary information about the situation on location with these shots.

3. Change edit live

In the video conferences, we can go into detail about the clips. We clarify with the clients what is important to us on the set. We also ask what we can’t see in the footage. Sometimes we ask for additional videos and photos.

During post-production, we can zoom into the editing program with the client via video conference and show live what effects alternative cuts have.

4 Regional shooting teams

Long journeys with the shooting vehicle are only an exception with us. We have experienced cameramen in all regions of Germany with whom we work routinely.

The individually assembled technology also comes from the region. The filming vehicles are economical in consumption, if possible electrically driven.

5. Director on the train

Only the director travels from Berlin and uses trains and public transport. This is not only environmentally friendly, but also efficient. In the ICE, I can work comfortably on the labtop, for example, update shooting schedules and send them electronically.

6. Paperless office

We hardly ever use paper. Every workstation has two large, energy-efficient monitors. We only process documents digitally and sign them as required.

7. LEDs and rechargeable batteries

Power-hungry spotlights were yesterday. Our current LED spotlights consume only a fraction. Thirsty generators for power generation on location have therefore disappeared. Now rechargeable batteries in all power classes do the job.

Enjoying coffee in a reusable cup is just one small episode in sustainable film production. But it, too, helps to reduce the ecological footprint. Start with our paperless briefing template now.