Whether directing a low-budget short or a major Hollywood feature, the Director’s leadership can put a sustainability focus on production in a myriad of ways. 

A Director can set the tone by announcing the intention to be as environmentally conscious as possible – communicating this at the start of prep, on the first day of shooting, and later in post-shooting speaking engagements. Discussing with each department ways they can mitigate their ecological impact inspires action both behind the scenes and on screen. Can a picture vehicle be electric? Can the actors have dialog, actions, props and attitudes that reflect their awareness of the climate crisis we’re currently facing? 

A Director’s leadership can inspire the whole cast and crew to embrace sustainable actions, like going paperless, not wasting fuel with unnecessary runs, or needless heating and cooling of unused trailers and idling shuttles. If the Director encourages using cleaner power options like electric batteries, using LEDs or tying into the grid, chances are their vision will become reality and production can pare down their diesel generator usage. Sets can be designed and reused with circularity in mind rather than plowing it all into dumpsters and starting the next ones from scratch. 

Leading the way to sustainability doesn’t necessarily need to cost more money – in fact it sometimes saves money – it just might take a little encouragement from the top to get everyone on board. Never underestimate the impact one person – especially the Director – can have on a production’s adoption of greener practices. 

Calling action on change – one scene at a time!

Annabelle Wilczur
Assistant Business Agent and Sustainability Lead