CASE STUDY: INDEPENDENT FILMS / LEO BURNETT / ARIEL
Me and my trusty pinboard!
Back in November I worked on an Ariel's new 'Clean Like New' spot at Independent Films, shooting 1 day at Dukes Island Studios and then 2 days on location. First things first, I taught my producer, Adam Saward, how to sign the PIBS electronically – life changing stuff! All you need to do is convert the document to a PDF and then annotate & sign using Preview – it’s such a great time and paper saver. To learn how to do this yourself have a read here.
At Dukes Island Studios, we able to do the following:
No bottled water on set – we used their water cooler and people brought in their own bottle or used compostable cups
We recycled our Nespresso pods (click here for signage) and used the fab AdGreen Island Studios mugs
Almost zero printing - I had my trusty pin board with me to pin up copies of the callsheet (just the front page, cast & crew sections), schedule, storyboard and wifi code for everyone to view. Other than that, I gave out about 5 copies of the schedule and 1 callsheet for the runners to use for radios – hoorah!
I set up a bucket for the sparks to collect the used croc clips, which were then sent back to Panalux to be reused (again, click here for the signage)
In terms of re-homing items, we had a couple of wins... Firstly, we had purchased five white wardrobe rails for the job, but Independent Films already had rails at the office so didn’t have a use for them. However I was able to shift them pretty quickly via Production Support Group on Facebook to a couple of fellow production managers in need! We’d also had to buy a new washing machine which was used once on the shoot day. I'd checked out the Rehome Your Leftovers page on the AdGreen site and had got in touch with a local charity who will take 2nd hand white goods, but in the end one of the crew members took the machine home that day, and made a donation to charity instead.
The following week we were on location, and this was the first trial run using Quantum Waste for our waste & recycling collection and I’m very pleased to say it was a complete success! We had two bin stations set up – one by the tea table and catering (we had drop off hot boxes) and one by location. Number 1 rule of recycling: always have two bins together, never apart, and NO stray bins... So, at each bin station, there were two bins where waste was separated into food waste and everything else. So simple! The collection process was also seamless: we even got a notification when they had collected the rubbish. Click here to read more about Quantum Waste.
As well as this, we were able to the usuals like encouraging crew to bring their own reusable water bottles and thermoses as well as limit the amount of paperwork on set. Something I find helpful personally is Notability – an app which everyone could benefit from! I import a copy of the callsheet and schedule into the app via my computer, which then syncs with my phone so I always have a copy to hand (or as a crew member, you can save the documents straight from the callsheet email on your phone into the app). To read about other things everyone can do on set click here.
To help you on your shoot, check out our resources section, with tips for production teams, agency staff and crew. If you're UK based and working directly in production or creative, you can also attend one of our training sessions. Our FAQ section covers various topics from waste reduction to offsetting. If you'd like to help inspire others by sharing your innovative sustainable production solutions, get in touch. Just 3 or 4 points and a few images is enough for us to put together a case study.
