Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/7010
t he green movement is no longer new to Hollywood and it is growing in other areas as well. Using refillable water bottles and cutting down on paper is now commonplace. The next step has to be cutting down on waste across the board. Re-using or donating sets helps, as does employ- ing electronic prepro books and working with e-waste companies when getting rid of old media and gear. Getting green has never been easier. Over the past year, companies have been popping up all over the country to help make the transition to green stress-free and affordable for our industry. Everyone interviewed for this piece agrees that the more you do it, the more it will become second nature and the faster change will be implemented. A big part of that implementation means working together for the common good and sharing best practices. B O N N I E G O L D FA R B For Bonnie Goldfarb, co-founder/executive producer of Santa Monica's Har vest Films (www.har vestfilms.com), green is not only a way of life, it's how she's trying to run her business. And her business is commercial production. She sees many ways to be environmentally conscious, but real- izes shoots that last only a few days are limited in how far they can go with their efforts. "The commercial industry needs to address our footprint because we expend so much energy into a finite amount of film or product, and we work so quickly," she says."Fea- tures and TV crews are on the road for months at a time and have the ability to put up solar base camps, for example." Other exam- ples are carpooling, hybrid cars and no plastic water bottles. Just like many others in the industr y, Har vest has reusable water bottles on set. Goldfarb estimates that any commercial production uses about 15 to 20 cases of water per day, so having filling stations and re-usable water bottles on set is something ever y production company can do with minimal effor t. "Paper and water bottles is a no–brainer," she says. "We have to make it easy and affordable for all production companies." The changes don't have to be difficult to make. She offers up prepro books as an example. "We don't print them; we have been working in a flash-drive world for years now. Our clients like being able to say we didn't print a ream of paper to get through a production meeting. We are all sitting with laptops anyway. Here's a flash drive; they are reusable!" Aside from cutting down on the obvious, Harvest Films is leading the charge in identifying and quantifying its carbon footprint through an average production day. They are working with a company called Carbon Reduction Ser vices (www.carbonreductionservices.com). "They review your production and analyze your mileage, your use of gas, diesels, heat from lights… there are a number of factors involved in a production and they will take each of the factors and analyze through formulas carbon usage for any given production. Paul Blagbrough, manag- ing partner of CRS, is an amazing brain who has these calculations all figured out." In turn, Harvest takes that amount of expenditure and provides its corporate clients will the ability to offset the carbon usage by buying cer tified credits that will in turn be used for planting trees and other environmentally conscious prac- tices. "So those credits will used to offset the carbon usage on any film day in ad- vertising," she explains. Certified credits are fully tax deductible, which provides an even bigger incentive for clients. Goldfarb, a long-time member of the AICP board, has been working with Michael Moore, who runs Raleigh Studios, and Bill Sewell from WireDrive."Not only have we begun to modify people's behavior in the commercial industry, we now have to make it easy for the companies to use these strategies and get them going." Moore and Goldfarb have been strategizing on how to manufacture affordable products so that these green ideas can be implemented everywhere. "The key here is to have ever y commercial production company par ticipate. It's not enough to have just one or two of us in the mix. Green supplies can become part of production supplies, just like walkies, coolers, etc." In addition to working with the AICP, Goldfarb is involved in Street Lights (www.streetlights.org), a non-profit job training, job placement and mentoring pro- gram that allows kids from low-income neighborhoods to get experience working on shoots. "Rather than create something new again, I had this idea talking to Dorothy Taylor, the founder of Streelights, which involves Streelights kids being our 'green PAs, and that the training Streelights provides can include green practices." The idea is if you are already training them, train them with the environment in mind. "If you are a production company and mandated by hiring a Street Lights person, then that PA could already know the water drill — you don't need to hire another person."This notion helps the affordability for a company. "There isn't anybody in our business that doesn't want to participate," explains Goldfarb." The challenge is they can't find the time or they don't have the re- sources, so we just have to make it simple for them. I am par t of a ver y active group of people in the commercial industr y vying for change to make us, our agencies, and our corporate clients greener and more responsible." And that change is happening; things that were hard to get a year ago are now common, like bio-diesel for generators. L A U R E N S E L M A N When Lauren Selman of Reel Green Media was at UC Berkeley, she did a study on the environmental impact of film production while getting her Bachelor of Sci- ence in conser vation research management and a BA in Theatre Performance Study. "When it came time to jump into some research, I said why not combine the two, because by the look of it, we have a significant environmental impact." She interviewed over 300 members of the industry, from set constructors to studios execs to environmental people and craft support. Her goal was to start a conversation about what can be done on the ground and what can be done with environmental and administrative policy to start the green conversation. "I turned my paper in and my advisor dared me to make it into a company." And that is exactly what she did. Within four months of graduation Selman formed Reel Green Media (www.reelgreenmedia.com). There was a lot of trial and error at the star t, learning from her mistakes. "It's like what Samuel Beckett wrote," shares Selman. "'Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter.Try again. Fail again. Fail better,' and eventually you will find a working system." The now three-years-old Reel Green Media works with companies, produc- tions, studios and vendors by suggesting sustainable models that will promote a cultural shift, so it's not just one green set, it's a way to work. "If someone defines green as just getting rid of water bottles, that's what green will mean, but if we are creative we then have an opportunity to define what green means for production. It is limitless. From composting to alternative energy to sourcing sustainable mate- rials, we are essentially at a turning point where we can tackle different areas of your business in itself and even save some green while doing it." www.postmagazine.com February 2010 • Post 27 Harvest Films' Bonnie Goldfarb: Using refillable water bottles is just one of many ways to lead the charge.