PGA Green Best Practices: A Note to Producers

The basic principles behind "greening" a production include conserving fuel and energy, avoiding toxins and pollution, saving water and preventing landfill waste, to name a few. Implementing those principles on a film set, where daily life is fast-paced and filled with bright lights and extravagant scenery, can be tricky.

Many environmentally harmful behaviors happen when we don’t know, can’t find, or simply don’t have time for the better option. The key is to identify priorities and challenges before production begins.

• Make the commitment, and engage the filmmakers and funders—whether studio or independent—in the conversation early
• Set achievable goals for yourself and the team, and lead by example.
• Call a meeting with the producing team (Line Producer, UPM and Supervisors) to discuss the sustainability plan and to determine how to best communicate it to department heads at point of hire.
• Hire a green steward to help cast and crew implement sustainability practices. His or her responsibilities should include:

1. locating low-impact vendors and products made with greener materials
2. circulating educational information and resources.
3. meeting with individual departments to help them achieve their goals.
4. monitoring waste diversion strategies and results.

• Hold a pre-production meeting with department heads to announce the sustainability plan, to introduce the green steward. Solicit input from department heads regarding ways to make their department greener.
• Hold a kick-off meeting with cast and crew to communicate green goals and strategies for the production
• Include green updates in weekly production meetings. Consider doing a mid-point evaluation: compute progress statistics and share lessons learned to keep crew engaged and to re-energize the team.
• Have your green steward keep thorough notes and progress reports to email to cast and crew periodically throughout production and after wrap.
• Familiarize yourself with the carbon calculator at www.greenproductionguide.com, and consider measuring and offsetting your carbon footprint at the end of your production. (For more information, see Section 12.)

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