Ashima Aggarwal| B15138|ISDCS |

, 2015

SUSTAINABILITY IN
MOTION PICTURE
INDUSTRY

This paper explores the issue of sustainability in the motion industry i.e. the film
and the television industry and presents the current scenario of sustainability
practices and measures to attain them. Film and television industry has been a
major source of air and land pollution and by various examples it has been shown
that by adopting environment friendly techniques, the business can be made not
only sustainable but also profitable. By using the example of the movie Amazing
Spiderman 2, different areas of improvement and their cost benefits have been
analyzed.
Keywordsmotion industry; sustainability; pollution;

INTRODUCTION
Consumption of motion pictures and television programming is a low involvement
affair and the final consumer seldom thinks of the impact these industries have on
the environment. The final consumption in particular, be it via electronic media or
traditional media, is not a high impact activity as far as the environment is
concerned. Behind the scene, however, are sources of air pollution, greenhouse gas
emissions,
solid
waste
generation
and
high
energy
consumption.
As the focus on production value is increasing, so is the impact of the industry on
the environment. Not being a traditional industry, there are no strict regulations in
place either. Thus, the onus of being planet conscious lies on the individual players.
The impact of the industry, awareness and efforts made towards sustainability by
various productions and the need for a policy have been discussed in this
paper.Hollywood and Bollywood, two major industries in this area cause significant
amount of pollution in various forms.

AIR POLLUTION BY MOVIE INDUSTRY

There are two kinds of sources of pollution: pollutants that are directly emitted into
the atmosphere, known as primary pollutants. The source of activity contributing to
pollution is known in their case. The second class of pollutants is the secondary
pollutants, for which the source of activity is unknown. Secondary pollutants mainly
give rise to particulates in the environment.
Approximately 140,000 tons of pollutants of air such as dioxides of elements like
sulphur and nitrogen (SO2 and NO2), carbon monoxide (CO), and particulate matter
are released by Hollywood in a year [2,3]. Trucks, blazing down cars or other
pyrotechnic effects, generators and set demolition are the sources, usually local in
nature. A small portion of it is generated outside the region at the remote power
plants. The use of vehicles in the television and film and television business for local
transportation results in the release of emissions in the operation area directly.
According to a report by UCLA Institute of the Environment [1] , in Los Angeles, the
movie industrys pollution was clearly higher than that of four standard industries
namely: the aerospace sector, semiconductor industry, hotel industry and apparel
manufacturing houses [1].
GREEN HOUSE GAS EMISSIONS
On comparison of the production of common greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide
and methane, the report by UCLA Institute of the Environment [1] ranked the film
industry second, behind aerospace sector.
On comparing the greenhouse gas emissions in terms of CO2 equivalents for
various industries, in California, about 8,400,000 metric tons was the amount
generated by the film and television industry. Hotel sector and the apparel

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manufacturing sector released about 9,000,000 metric tons each, 11,700,000 for
the aerospace sector, for semiconductor industry 16,200,000 while the petroleum
refining sector released 33,400,000 metric tons [1]. Due to the heavy dependency
of the film industry on the use of transport and consumption of energy like use of air
conditioners and generators in its normal operations, along with the sheer size of
this industry in California and Los Angeles, in spite of the size of the industry being
the smallest of all the sector examined, the emissions of greenhouse gases are of
the same magnitude as the rest of the sectors [1].

LAND POLLUTION
Demolition of sets generates a large amount of waste like wood, polystyrene blocks.
Also concrete, lumber and structural steel is left as waste after the set has been
destroyed. These materials pose a serious disposal problem and give rise to land
pollution. Though most of the films are digitally produced, yet a huge amount of film
stock is generated everyday which is extremely hazardous to the environment. The
use of plastic bottles on the operation area and the leftover food is another form of
waste which is produced and creates a problem of dumping.

MITIGATION STRATEGIES
REDUCTION IN USE OF PLASTIC
Eliminating the use of plastic bottles will lead to huge savings, both economic and
environment. One of the major use of plastic is in the form of water bottles. Plastic
bottles can be banned on the sets only when there is a huge effort from the top
management to design a relevant company policy to decrease its use on the sets.
The following are some of the strategies which can followed to decrease the
dependency on plastic bottles:
Communication
The company policy of banning plastic bottles should be communicated beforehand
by the management to everyone so they are well prepared and carry their own
bottles to sets.
Buy bottles of good quality
The crew is more likely to use a bottle throughout the shoot if the quality is good
and it is durable. It is also preferred to make the bottles can be made more portable
by attaching caribinersis. The reuse of any bottle is increased if the quality meets
certain desired specifications and standards. Hence, investment should be done to
obtain bottles of such quality.
Restrict the use of logos

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The use of logos on the bottles make them a unique product, hence there is a lesser
probability of crew members using a bottle for practical purposes if the item has the
logo of the project stamped.
Setting up water stations
Water stations should be set up at various locations on the sets, at the catering
area, in the holding area stations set up on set and at base site. Filters can be
installed on tap faucets in offices as well as at studio, as it eliminates the rental fees
of water dispenser leading to higher saving of money. The cost of setting up water
stations is significantly less in the long run as compared to provision of water
bottles every day for the crew and staff of the production house.
COMPOSTING
With the coming up of green productions and stress on practicing environmental
friendly measures, it is a common practice in offices and on sets to do composting.
As an alternative to winding up in a landfill, food waste and compostable dishware
can be converted into soil rich in nutrients by collecting them in compostable sacks
and processing it in an industrial composting factory. A reduction in hauling
expenses by 30% as a result of reduction in waste stream of the company can be
achieved through composting [4].

COMPOSTED

FEATURE FILM

Gods Behaving Badly

Premium Rush
The Dictator
Noah

AMOUNT

2 10,425 lbs
5,675 lbs
7 tons (14,142 lbs)
23 tons (46,500lbs)

Table 1: Composting data for various feature films [4]

CONSTRUCTION DEBRIS
One of the biggest potential moneymakers is the debris left after demolition of sets.
Wood, scenic paint, concrete glass, metal etc. are some of the materials that can be
recovered and also cashed in on when appropriately inventoried and managed.
Hence, a huge saving in costs can be achieved after proper disposal of the material
left after demolition of a film or a TV set.
The success story of Noah, a production of Paramount Pictures is inspirational in this
regard. Allocco Metal Recycling recycled and recouped 100% of the steel used in the

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film. Approximately 450,000lbs of the steel generated in $45,000 revenue for the
production house [4].
RECYCLING: PROPS, SET DRESSING, WARDROBE, FILM STOCK
These are left in excessive amounts after the wrapping up of any production as they
are required in large amounts during the shooting of any film or TV show. They can
be reused instead of dumping these items away in a dumpster. If the wardrobe
(non-hero clothing only) of a large studio feature film is donated, the production can
earn approximately $250,000 in revenues [4]. Film stocks in countries like China are
used as a filling for sleeping bags and even parkas after shredding.
The television show 30 Rock had assets from its 7 seasons to dispose. NBC donated
set materials, props and wardrobes worth a million dollars to other shows of the
production house instead of throwing them into a dumpster. They saved nearly
$20,000 in waste hauling expenses by donating 10.7 tons of excess material to Film
Biz Recycling [4].

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AMAZING SPIDERMAN 2: A BUSINESS CASE

The movie has established standards which other film and TV production houses
should emulate in order to make motion picture industry on the whole more
sustainable and adopt environmental friendly practices. This also leads to a cost
saving for the productions which in turn drives them to achieve greater profit
margins. A few areas where the film mitigated costs are discussed:
In the history of Sony Pictures, Amazing Spiderman 2 is claimed to be the
most eco-friendly film and has grabbed the attention of publications like The
Hollywood Reporter. Altogether, the film has saved an estimated $400,000 by
employing sustainable practices [16].
A total of 5% of waste hauling expenses, amounting to $4,732 was saved by
efforts taken to recycle and compost. Moreover, selling of 49.7 tons of
construction and set decoration resources to other TV shows and film
productions which constituted about $47,215 worth in savings [4].
Approximately $205,000 worth of construction material which was in excess
and set decoration material left after the wrapping up of the film was sold to
other production houses. An additional tax-deductible donations amounting
to $120,000 were made to reuse centers like Film Biz Recycling (New York),
Materials for the Arts (New York) and Build it Green (California) [4].
By employing 1,320 batteries less, the film saved $1,450 additionally [4].
Brite Shot, which is a new innovation in LED lighting, was used on the sets of
Amazing Spider Man 2 and it not only saves energy, but also has other
superior features like reduced cooling costs, saving on man power and no
gels requirement for special effects[4].
The movie not only earned a carbon neutral certification but also donated
6,000 meals to community shelters and achieved a 52% waste diversion
proportion from landfills [16].

CONCLUSION
The film and television sector contributes significantly to pollution in the form of air,
land and emission of greenhouse gases. While a number of mitigation strategies
have been undertaken by Hollywood projects like emphasizing on recycling and
composting of leftover materials, Bollywood clearly has a long way to go in
employing sustainable practices. Greater importance should be placed on recycling
digital devices and use of bio-diesel should be promoted. Measures are needed to
increase reuse of equipment like 3D glasses and film trailers. It is clearly indicated
by the data stated in the article that by adopting environmental friendly practices,
the industry can be made not only sustainable, but it also makes it profitable by
reduction in costs. Hence, the government should also encourage such measures by

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the industry or production houses by provision of suitable incentives which

promotes sustainability in the motion pictures industry.

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