CASE STUDY: TANAMI'S BACON BAP FREE SHOOT FOR SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT
After hearing about Edinburgh-based Tanami's all-veggie shoot, we just had to get in touch for a few more details on the steps they took to make their Scottish Government TVC as sustainable as possible. Their latest film encourages 18-49-year-olds to roll up their sleeves for the covid jab (or jag, if you're a fellow Scot!). Jemma Goba, Tanami's Managing Partner, tells us more...
Inspired by the completion of AdGreen’s sustainable production training, it was decided at virtual Tanami Towers that changes needed to be implemented immediately. We wanted to make a noticeable change on set that would signal our desire to do better, in an effort to somewhat reduce the negative environmental impacts of production.
As well as continuing to use local crew where possible and limiting travel and accommodation requirements as standard, we decided to ask our local catering company Rock Salt to provide only vegetarian options for breakfast and lunch. We were surprised at the positive feedback we received from crew, cast and client. It was quite an intense filming day and the vegetarian catering and healthy snacks meant energy levels were consistent – we usually dread the 3pm slump! AdGreen has calculated that by going veggie, the Tanami team removed 1169.8 kg (or 1.17 tonnes) of CO2e from their overall footprint, going from 1,267.2 kg for beef-based meals, down to only 97.4 kg for vegetarian ones*. And, if the meals had all been vegan, a further 30kg could've been saved.
The food served was as seasonal and local as it could be. Covid restrictions meant that serving buffet-style wasn't possible so instead, all food packaging was compostable (Vegware), from plates to napkins, cups to cutlery. And of course, we had recycling bins dotted all over the studio for other waste too. As a next step, we have decided to make sure food waste bins are also provided on future shoots, and we will continue to encourage crew to bring their own coffee cups and water bottles - a reminder to do so is on every call sheet.
The second area of focus for us was the art department. This particular production called for a number of sets to be built with substantial props and set dressing requirements. We worked with talented Production Designer Andy Drummond, who ensured everything was sourced and disposed of with sustainability front of mind. For example, any boxes from deliveries were recycled. Rather than put any props or materials into landfill, Andy listed them online as freebies. We also had to buy quite a lot of paint for this job, lots of tester samples. Andy’s wife works in a school, so she took the leftover paint for the kids – the rest was taken to the recycling centre.
In terms of wardrobe, many of the items were second-hand from charity shops and our stylist Matt even dyed some of the clothes himself. At the end of our shoots, we give a lot of clothes to charity as standard.
"We still have a long way to go of course but we want to keep improving; making small steps to do better on every shoot is our collective priority. The training from AdGreen was invaluable."
If you're producing content in Scotland then chat with your caterers about using Vegware's Close the Loop system which takes clients’ used Vegware and food waste for commercial composting. In under 12 weeks catering ‘waste’ is turned into high-grade compost that helps feed future crops.
*Based on breakfast and lunch for 32 heads per day, for 2 days, and using the albert tool to calculate 'vegetarian' meals vs 'meat - beef' meals. If vegan, the total carbon for 128 meals would've been 67.6 kg.
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.
