UGFTV Chair Ezra Sacks spoke with ATVP students Nina Farmer, Zoe Marie Jiminez, Marlena Lerner, Colin Sevely-Ortiz, and Rachel Silverman about sustainable producing and the Environmental Media Association Green Seal.
Composting & Recycling Setup On Set
Ezra Sacks: First, I’d like to ask how you decided to make your Advanced Television productions sustainable?
Rachel Silverman (‘21, Executive Producer for Noa’s Arc): Our professor, Harry Winer, is very passionate about sustainability, which was refreshing because that isn’t discussed a lot in other classes. It was an exciting opportunity he gave us. I am so thrilled that he pushed us to do this, because I think if it weren’t so important to Harry, I don’t think we would have been as diligent about it.
Colin Sevely-Ortiz (‘22, Director for Humanized): Yes it was really important to have Harry’s leadership in class, while we were going through two relatively new processes– trying to make our production sustainable, and also producing within COVID-19 regulations.
Ezra: For those who don’t know, what does it mean for a production to be sustainably produced?
Marlena Lerner (‘22, Director of Noa’s Arc): It mainly means producing as little waste as possible. A major factor of that is the reduction of single-use plastics. At first, it seemed like a roadblock, but when we actually got to set it didn’t impact the seamlessness of production. Across three 3-day weekends for 2 productions with about 20 people on set, we saved about 380 water bottles at no cost to us.
Zoë Marie Jimenez (‘22, Eco Rep for Noa’s Arc): I think that’s a really good point that sustainability should be seamless in terms of implementation into the production; the word sustainable means not only being responsible to our planet, but also is it accessible and actually possible to implement these actions to cut down on energy, plastic, etc. Can we keep it going? Can it become a normal thing on not just our set, but everywhere, in every type of life? A set can cause a lot of waste which many of us don’t even realize. I feel like by cutting down waste on set, we can see how it’s much more possible to cut down on waste everywhere else in other aspects of your daily life.
Nina Farmer (‘22, Producer and Eco Rep of Noa’s Arc): I didn’t even know there was a whole field for sustainability on set until this semester. It was quite interesting to learn about and to take on the task to help within our industry, which is a very wasteful industry. It was exciting to learn how to be low waste, low energy, and contribute to helping prevent climate change in our own ways and on our own sets. As Eco Rep, I researched how we could organize and sort waste during our lunch break, and I would create these little flyers – it’s a big learning curve for a lot of people to know how to sort waste. I created cute educational posters with pictures so it was clear what type of item goes into what bin. Thankfully, we were able to get compostable items when we did have single-use items so that if we did throw something away, it would be composted rather than going into landfills. On set, I emphasized composting first, then recycling, then throwing away in the trash bins, because that’s the order of how much energy is used when waste is sorted. I also sent reminders to bring the reusable utensils we had provided for the crew and cast.
Ezra: I was interested to learn about the details of what goes into sustainable production, like reusable utensils. I also thought it was interesting that you took public transportation as opposed to cars or trucks. How did you come up with that idea?
Rachel: Every step of the way, we were thinking about how we could make the set more sustainable. At first, it was a big learning curve, because it wasn’t something any of us were really familiar with. As we continued through pre-production and production, the questions became a constant part of our process: are we being the most sustainable that we can be? Are we preserving the most energy we can? At first, it felt a bit forced, because we had to adjust to that approach. The further we got, we developed a sense of pride and ownership over the importance of this mission, to create the least waste possible with our productions. So the choice about using public transportation was in tune with everything else we were doing; it wouldn’t make sense to buy all of these reusable utensils but then take seven cars to get to set. That would be counterintuitive to what we wanted to accomplish. It was a holistic approach.
Ezra: Now that you’ve all had this experience, do you believe that sustainable film production is an achievable goal?
Nina: Definitely. I am bringing this approach to another project I am currently working on for another class. With the ATVP project and with the production I’m currently working on, everybody has been so enthusiastic about trying to make a difference. I think if we let more people know about what we’re doing with sustainability, more people will care and try to incorporate sustainable practices on their sets. It is a big learning curve, but once you are familiar with the approach, it’s not that difficult to maintain a sustainable set. Hopefully, more and more productions become sustainable.
Ezra: You alluded to the enthusiasm of your ATVP professor and how you were encouraged to make your productions sustainable. Do you think that other teachers or the department as a whole should move towards requiring sustainable production?
Rachel: Yes, 100%. At first, we were overwhelmed by the level of responsibility and cognizance it took to do this, but that was because it was the first time in our college careers that this approach was being implemented. It should be a standard – it should be assumed that we are all doing the very most that we can to be sustainable. Once I got over the learning curve, I was so grateful that our professor empowered us to make our productions sustainable. Climate change is so looming, and I know so much of what’s needed is systemic change and things that are so outside of our individual control, and personally, I feel very powerless about it. If sustainable production became the norm at UGFTV, we could really set a standard for sustainable productions and show others that it’s possible. If we teach students that this is important and doable, then we will bring this approach with us to the professional field.
Ezra: What were the biggest surprises you experienced in regards to the sustainable production effort?
Marlena: I was surprised to see how sustainable initiatives can pay off. In this world of incentives, I think it’s important to note the time and money that you can save by incorporating these sustainable practices. By carpooling and public transit, that’s money saved by not having to pay for gas or rental vehicles. Reusable water bottles means you aren’t buying giant packages of plastic water bottles. There are so many companies that would love to partner with sets that have sustainable materials – they want their products featured. Many of the films we’re making have these moral messages that we’re sending, but then we’re creating a negative impact with our production practices. It’s almost hypocritical. It felt very refreshing to follow through on our morals with real actions.
Colin: One thing that I found surprising is how hard it is to find a large recycling bin. One of the biggest problems on set was that we would have all of this waste organized, but nowhere to legally dump it. We figured it out as things went on, but at the beginning, it was certainly a wake-up call for us to realize that this wouldn’t be as easy as we thought it was going to be. After the first weekend on set, we realized we had to prepare more and continue thinking about how we could continue to make the set better for the following weekend and beyond. I agree with Marlena’s point – as filmmakers, we offer these inspiring messages about change, but our sets have enormous carbon emissions. It’s something we can’t ignore. As much as we want to share stories, there won’t be stories to share if we don’t have a plant to live on that’s sustainable for life. Sometimes people will prioritize the fictional world they want to create with their story over the reality of what our production practices are doing to the world. It feels like there’s a barrier between the message filmmakers are trying to tell and the reality of living the message in our production practices.
Zoë: Colin makes a really good point about recycling facilities. Composting is one of the best things you can do for our planet; it brings life and nutrients back into our soil, it cuts down on emissions, it stops filling up our landfills… But every weekend, it was incredibly difficult to find a composting site. There are so few in the world. It’s so shocking when you have this whole idea in your head about how to be green but then you hit these roadblocks. I think we all went into this thinking that we knew how to be sustainable– bring your hydro flask and don’t use too much plastic– but bigger things like composting should be more commonplace. At the NYU dining halls, you have to compost. It’s a very commonplace thing in a setting like that. To your question of if other faculty members should implement this, I really think that if everyone was on the same page and enthusiastic about sustainable production practices, they would become the norm. I agree that we have a responsibility as filmmakers to follow through from A to Z.
Ezra: Do you have any tips for students interested in producing their projects sustainably?
Rachel: I think the biggest thing was having specific people on the team dedicated to sustainable production. Everyone on the project has tons of responsibilities. If we didn’t have point people responsible for this, it would have been impossible. It shouldn’t be an add-on; it should be a core part of production planning. Having a team responsible for sustainability, even if they also have other jobs, is really valuable. Sustainability should be a part of all production decisions. Factor it into how you choose your location, where you rent your equipment from, who you work with, and so on. We picked all of our locations and then realized that some didn’t have compost facilities nearby. If we had considered composting facilities as a factor in choosing our locations, it would have been really helpful.
Colin: I would also note that you should never assume people already know about what needs to happen for sustainability. You can have people who know about day-to-day sustainable practices for their own lives but don’t see how it can inform production practices on set. On set there is so much to do, and stress is so high, you can’t expect people to instinctively know how to incorporate sustainable practices. You can sit down with your entire crew and explain all the specifics of what makes a set sustainable. What does this mean, and how can we be a part of it? At the start of every set on Humanized, we had a team meeting where we explained the process for sorting waste, encouraged people to use reusable water bottles, and so on. It’s important to remind folks throughout the process, but you also don’t want to make people feel less than or talked down to. At a certain point, you have to understand that it’s hard to be doing your own job with the added responsibility of running a green production – it’s not just the Eco Rep’s job at that point, it’s everyone’s job and there is a lot of personal responsibility. I think it really needs to be treated as the production’s responsibility, rather than just a bunch of individual people’s responsibilities.
Ezra: You all have done this now and individually you may be moving on to other productions and bringing this sustainable approach with you to those productions. Have your classmates heard about your sustainable productions, and do you get the sense that there’s a growing interest in sustainable producing?
Marlena: After we did our promo, I had an industry professional reach out to me asking about our Eco Rep and how the process worked. I told them about the EMA Green Seal process and they were really interested to learn more about the Seal for their own projects.
Ezra: Can you tell me about the green production handbook and the EMA Green Seal?
Zoe: Yes, there is a Green Production Handbook provided by the Green Film School Alliance. It guides you through what it means to be sustainable. It’s a large spreadsheet that lists out exactly what you can do to make your set more sustainable. It counts up points for you, for example: if you plan to cut down on the amount of hot lights and use LED instead, you can get a check mark for that. The point system incentivizes you – planning for it and getting a check mark for it gives you momentum. The handbook gives you a line-by-line list of what you can do, and it also helps you realize that some of these green production actions may also be cost-saving. For example, using LEDs on set instead of lights hooked up to a generator will lower your electricity bill and the cost of renting a generator. You go through each line of the Green Production Guide and it breaks it up by department – costume, makeup, camera production, etc– and by the end, if you have at least 50 points, you receive the seal. We ended up with 54 points so we exceeded what we needed. The handbook provides links to useful resources, for example, where to get eco-friendly makeup or how to source wood responsibly. There are so many little things we never would have thought of and the guide helped us realize.
Ezra: Can you tell me about the university partners you worked with?
Rachel: NYU’s Office of Sustainability helped us identify resources and potential partners for our productions. The office was incredibly helpful– they came to our class and told us about all of these resources they could help us with for sustainability. Learning about this in my final semester, I really wished I had been aware of this sooner. They helped source us free reusable utensils, water bottles, and more. They gave us the resources and told us exactly who to contact; all we had to do was ask. There are grants through the Office of Sustainability that students could apply for with these sorts of projects.
Sydney Kim, Maddy Higdon, Benjy Berkowitz, Keaton Mykleby
Ezra: To wrap up our conversation, I’d like to hear each of you what being involved in this effort means to you personally.
Colin: It means a lot that we are part of a school and had a professor that gave us a grid to work with in order to do this. I’m a Gen Z kid and a lot of the time it feels like we spend our days screaming at the void, trying to get people to pay attention to the horrible thing that we’re all pretending is not a thing. I’m from L.A., from the coast, and it feels hopeless a lot of the time. It means a lot to know that one of my prodiuctions was one of NYU’s first big steps towards a green production initiative. It gives me hope. The fact that other people are interested and are asking us about it makes me see that the future of the film industry is brighter, more conscious, and more caring about the world that we inhabit.
Nina: I believe that creating awareness, optimism, and hopefulness is very essential. With any systemic issue, you have to let people know about it. If they don’t know about it, they’re going to be more overwhelming and unwilling. If we’re showing that we’re able to do it on set and it’s not that hard, they will realize how manageable it is. Climate change is terrifying, and if we can do something in our own work to address it, to make a change, I am hopeful that other people are going to follow.
Zoë: Overall, it was really cool to be at the forefront of something like this, to be able to work through it and learn as we go, and to shape how other productions can figure out how to do this in the future. It was really special. The idea that we can make it cool to be sustainable is awesome – after we posted about the Green Seal, people were really excited about it and interested. That’s the best way to get people to turn their minds about what we actually can do to fight climate change and find solutions. If we combat negative media and catastrophic media with what we’re actually doing, and not focusing on what the fate could be but making our own destinies, that’s really beautiful. I hope other people can share the momentum of the excitement that is creating a sustainable production and bringing those sustainable practices into everyday life.
Marlena: In addition to what I said earlier about holding our production practices to the same moral standards as are in the stories we tell, I think what it means to be sustainable is making it the new normal. We were imposing changes on people, and there were a lot of jokes about it, like “oh, these bamboo knives can’t cut at all.” I think a part of making this effective is making it something that people take really seriously as a standard, rather than just a bell and whistle on a film set. It’s so easy for us to just turn off that part of our brain that takes us seriously because we don’t see the repercussions physically. I have full confidence that t through imposing these practices in educational productions, it will become the new normal.
Rachel: I think a lot of us are very aware of what is going on with our planet right now and it’s easy to feel very hopeless and powerless. This was a tangible way of doing something that makes an impact, not just on our production but for future productions and therefore hopefully for the planet. It was a series of small steps. It gave me a lot of hope that this can become the new normal and that even for the people who don’t have as easy of a time adjusting to all of these changes, it can happen. In such a short amount of time, we were able to make this into a major priority for our projects. I think people will see that it’s so doable and rewarding. It isn’t difficult, you just have to treat it as a necessity and view it as an opportunity rather than a challenge. I am so grateful that we had this opportunity.
Ezra: Thank you so much for joining me for this conversation. I come away really feeling how all of you take pride in having accomplished this; it’s really inspiring.