The irony of natural history enjoying a TV golden age while the wildlife it features enters a dark age was not lost on the panel at an RTS event on sustainable film-making in early December.
Natural history is “making huge amounts of money while its subject matter goes extinct” was the succinct summary of Tom Mustill, a producer/director and owner of Gripping Films, which makes campaigning, low-carbon films about the environment.
“No one takes a taxi without me knowing about it. Every little bit of movement gets tracked. I have a lot of spreadsheets and things are always being added, so I never take my eye off any of it.”
Alison Sill, a freelance production co-ordinator fresh from the set of BBC TV drama Guilt, filmed on location in Edinburgh, is bubbling with anecdotal evidence of just how much effort she and her team have put into hitting their sustainability targets.
Roser Canela-Mas, Industry Sustainability Manager, BAFTA / Albert, said that last year on average making an hour of TV in the UK was responsible for generating 9.2 tons of carbon.
This was equivalent to the annual carbon footprint of two UK households, she said, using gas and electricity.
Producing drama, which often involves filming overseas, had a greater impact – generating around 38 tons of carbon per hour.
