M+E Daily

The media and entertainment industry is making strides in meeting its sustainability targets and significant improvements have been made in the past year thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Katy Murdoch, Albert sustainability project manager at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA).

M&E sustainability represents a “really positive story” now, she said Feb. 25, at the start of the session “Sustainability in Media & Entertainment” at the Content Workflow Management Forum, “M&E’s Premiere Localisation Event.”

“Please imagine an optimistic, transformative TV industry at a time of climate crisis and the COVID pandemic,” she told viewers, noting Albert is an M&E industry-funded project for sustainable production.

“We drive action towards sustainable production and also on-screen climate messaging,” she said, explaining: “We are a small but optimistic team. We believe that the creative industries offer the greatest opportunity to mobilise positive action for the planet.”

Albert uses a “two-pronged approach,” she noted. On one hand, “we help the screen industries to reduce their environmental and climate change impact – their carbon footprint,” she said. But it is also about audience engagement – “recognising the unique position our industry is in to inspire audiences to take … sustainable action,” she told viewers.

The Climate Emergency

In addition to the ongoing pandemic, “we’re also in a climate emergency” and it can have an even greater impact on our health, economics and security, Murdoch said.

People in some regions of the world are already being displaced by climate change and don’t have the means like the U.S. does to overcome the challenges that have been created, she said. What has become clear is that regions that have contributed the least to climate change are “bearing the brunt” of its impact so far, she noted, adding this is something that the M&E industry needs to start reflecting more in news and documentaries.

“We are in an emergency,” according to Murdoch, pointing to data showing that, in 2018, climate change-related factors displaced over 16 million people and experts believe that, by 2050, that could grow to 200 million people.

What We Need to Do

COVID has caused the M&E industry to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions largely because of the significant decrease in travel we have seen in the past year, Murdoch said.

There are three key things that we need to do to avert a four-degree warmer world: Halve our emissions over the next 10 years (by 2030), halve them again by 2040, and reach net zero by 2050, she told viewers. U.K. legislation is addressing that goal, she noted.

“Our industry, although not the biggest emitter compared to say construction, [is] not going to be exempt from having to meet these targets,” she told viewers. “So we need to get together and sort our house out.”

And even little things can have an impact. The M&E industry can take small steps to build towards a more sustainable production and supply chain environment, she said, pointing at ways it can reduce its “toeprints” when it comes to the use of water bottles, paper and batteries.

The industry’s carbon footprint is larger, especially when it comes to travel, she pointed out, quizzing viewers by asking which type of production has the largest impact on carbon footprint: Location-based factual; location and studio-based drama; outside broadcasting/events; and studio-based entertainment shows.

The answer was dramas, largely because they involve a lot of shooting but only a small amount of shooting is done on any given day, she explained.

While TV dramas have by far the largest footprint, however, international factual programming also have a large footprint due to all the travel involved in them, she noted.

But BAFTA and the Albert project are not saying we should stop making those programs, she stressed. After all, those programs can have a positive impact on society, she noted. Albert instead assists those productions to reduce their footprints and works with them to put messaging on-screen when possible, she explained.

It has become mandatory among U.K. broadcasters including the BBC for productions to do an Albert carbon footprint report, she went on to say.

Albert is also increasingly engaging in tentpole film productions, which have a huge carbon footprint, she pointed out, noting the average tentpole film production generates 2,840 tons of carbon dioxide.

Albert also launched a Screen New Deal to work with the film sector to decrease its carbon footprint, she said, noting it’s already doing whole carbon footprint analyses of regions starting with Wales, Yorkshire and Northern Ireland. It’s also rolling out a studio sustainability progress report, starting with Sony Pictures Entertainment. Albert’s Sustainable Production Certification aims to: Promote action to reduce environmental impacts, promote action to engage the supply chains, and promote mitigation of remaining impacts, she said.

A Sports Procurement Campaign has also been started to reduce emissions in sports broadcasting, she noted.

Positive Steps But More Work to Do

Although the M&E industry has been “hard hit” by COVID, it’s been able to make sustainability strides through the shift to remote filming, a reduction in travel for filming and meetings, digital scripts and a reduction in paper, Murdoch said. The use of local crews is also a conversation that can be had now, she noted.

“Over the last year, we’ve actually seen a mass reduction in the carbon footprints of productions,” even when comparing the prior season of a show to its current season, she said.
But there is more work that can be done. Three big things you can do to clean your own house, she said, are:

• Switch to a renewable energy supplier.
• Reduce your domestic flying and use low carbon forms of transport when possible when you have to travel.
• Think about the reduction of materials and reuse materials when possible.

The Content Workflow Management Forum was produced by MESA, the Audio Business Continuity Alliance, Content Localisation Council, Smart Content Council, and the Hollywood IT Society, with sponsorship by Iyuno Media Group, Richey May Technology Solutions, Whip Media Group, Deluxe, Digital Nirvana, Meta, Vubiquity, EIDR, Keywords Studios, Los Angeles Duplication & Broadcasting, Nexus TV, OOONA, Signiant and Titles-On.