Film industry becoming increasingly sustainable, Galway film fleadh hears

Sustainability in the Irish film industry has made progress over the last two years, according to industry adviser Alex DeValera.

Ms DeValera, a sustainability adviser to the film industry, was speaking at a greening our industry event in Galway, organised by Screen Ireland and Screen Greening as part of this week’s film festival.

From the rise in HVO generators on set, to the protection of biodiversity while filming outdoors, a wide range of themes was discussed by the speakers who highlighted the main challenges in trying to reach the goal of a “greener” film industry within the next two or three decades.

Sustainability adviser Stan Nangle, who collected data and worked with numerous productions, underlined the importance of getting funding from the industry main stakeholders.

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He sees the excessive use of diesel vehicles – vans, trucks and everything else used to move equipment and people on set – as one of the main issue, and believes the use of HVO power generators can be a good intermediate solution.

Mr Nangle said electric vehicles should be the ultimate goal and that’s why significant funding is needed.

“Productions like Netflix and Disney have set very high standards when it comes to sustainability,” he said, “But minor productions need to find a way to follow the same path.”

Ms DeValera believes that sustainability is a lot about communications. “You can’t work with productions and put sustainability as a burden for them. You have to hear their points of view and then try to engage them,” she said.

“Talking to each department can make us understand from them what are the main barriers for a sustainable production,” she added, “and then we can face them together.”

She said she’s very satisfied by the increasing positive engagement with sustainability. “I was on a commercial set, and they explained what brought them to use two power generators for lights that particular day, instead of one. Some years ago, they wouldn’t have been bothered.”

Other panellists confirmed this shift in engagement, which has to include all areas of film production: reusing costumes and sets, avoiding using aeroplanes, and repairing broken equipment instead of buying new.

Minister for Tourism, Culture and Arts, Catherine Martin TD, introduced the event, saying that “the best way to tackle climate anxiety is action”. She said she believes arts and culture sector workers can lead on this matter.

Speaking to The Irish Times, Ms DeValera added that “sustainability needs to budgeted for as part of film production itself, and budgeting needs to be planned in advance”.

She also believes that these themes need to be highlighted at early stages, in film schools and colleges, while a lot can also be learned from industry “veterans”.

“We are used to believe that there is a generational divide over sustainability importance,” she explains.

“I believe the key to engage the oldest and most experienced workers is letting them know that their knowledge matters and can be used to reach sustainable goals. I know about sustainability practices, but I wouldn’t know about electric facilities as much as an electrician does.”