March 11, 2025
Shaping Sustainability: How Film & TV’s Sustainability Department is Leading Change
As we enter 2025, Filming in England remain committed, as ever, to sustainable efforts across the industry. We continue to develop our sustainable Suppliers Directory whilst working to make our events more environmentally friendly.
At Filming in England, we believe that ongoing dialogue around sustainability is imperative – so as the industry works towards a more sustainable future, we chatted to Sustainability Coordinator Ashley Booth (CC: Emily & DIY SOS Season 34), to discuss the future of the department, and sustainability within the sector.
A transcription of the video can be found at the end of this article.
Although the sustainability department is relatively new, it plays a vital role shaping the future of, not just our industry, but the planet. As a result, several industry leaders such as the BFI and BAFTA albert continue to advocate for the role and study the developments within the industry.
“Everyone has an important role to play on a production to reduce its environmental impact, but the sustainability department is essential in supporting cast and crew to make the right decisions on set. The BFI is proud to be working with BAFTA albert and Screenskills to set occupational standards for dedicated sustainability roles on productions. We urgently need more skilled crew to fill these roles across the industry to make a real impact.”
Keir Powell-Lewis, Head of Environmental Sustainability for the BFI
“Sustainability Coordinators play a vital and rapidly growing role within the TV and film industry, helping productions navigate the challenges of reducing their environmental impact. As the need for sustainable practices grows, BAFTA albert is eager to see this role become more formalised and standardised within our industry, ensuring it offers a clear and rewarding career path for those passionate about sustainability.”
BAFTA albert
As mentioned in our Hidden Careers blog last month, when it comes to selecting a role in the industry, the wide range of choices can be overwhelming, and many departments initially seem to have higher entry barriers than they actually do. The Sustainability Department is one example. Commonly, people tend to believe one of two misconceptions: the Coordinator role revolves around managing recycling bins, or that a scientific background is required. Whilst a broad understanding of sustainability can be invaluable, there are many training opportunities for those looking to get a sense of the role and its responsibilities. The key requirement is not a background in the sciences, but a genuine passion for making a positive environmental impact in the industry.
One such training opportunity that was mentioned in our conversation was ScreenSkills modules surrounding sustainability which can be found here.
“From all our conversations with our industry working groups and other stakeholders, ScreenSkills fully appreciates and supports the increasing importance of dedicated sustainability roles on productions, as well as upskilling the entire workforce on the role everyone can play in reducing carbon emissions.
In 2024 we launched our introductory eLearning module to sustainability for the screen industries, developed in partnership with BAFTA albert and completed so far by over 3,500 professionals with over 93% satisfaction rating. This year we are currently collaborating with BAFTA albert and BFI to develop occupational standards and skills checklists to establish clear benchmarks for what sustainability coordinators and managers need to know and be able to do in their roles to best support productions’ efforts to reduce emissions. ScreenSkills will also look for future opportunities to run training based on this information to support professionals in these roles, working in continued partnership wherever we can, in order to maximise the uptake and impact.”
Tim Weiss, Director of Vocational Skills, ScreenSkills
The department plays a key role in decision-making across various areas, and it is imperative that Sustainability Coordinators join the production team as early as possible. By joining during the pre-production stage, Sustainability Coordinators can help guide the production into making more positive decisions on a wide variety of topics, such as selecting sustainable rental equipment, choosing appropriate fuels, and assessing carbon impacts, all the while, implementing positive change. However, this isn’t always the case, and many Sustainability Coordinators are brought in after pre-production, resulting in them trying to reduce impacts, and taking on a more reactive role, rather than having the time and ability to be proactive and drive positive change from the start.
The Sustainability Department’s impact extends beyond just behind-the-scenes work during production. When brought on earlier in the process, they can assist in editorial choices, such as consulting on sustainable image placement in the script – ranging from more overt dialogue to more subtle placement of sustainable props. This in turn can help audiences reflect on their own environmental impact, and inspire changes they can make in their day to day lives. BAFTA albert have a toolkit available for productions who wish to further increase editorial climate content visibility in their scripts.
The role has a broad impact across all departments, and as such, its responsibilities are equally wide-ranging. To be part of the Sustainability Department, you must possess a diverse skillset including, but not limited to, problem-solving, and effective communication. These skills are essential for negotiating with senior leadership and other departments to ensure that everyone is implementing the desired measures across the production cycle.
If you are interested in becoming part of the Sustainability Department (or any other department for that matter) Filming in England’s National Crew Directory can support your goals. If you’ve completed the relevant industry training, you can register as a Sustainability Coordinator to receive direct updates from our Crewing Team about relevant opportunities. This free service ensures that we match you with the right roles based on your expertise and availability when productions reach out to us.
Alongside our Crew Directory, we remain committed to ensuring every production has easy access to sustainable suppliers via our National Supplier Directory. Designed so that anyone can easily search for relevant suppliers and view their supporting environmental documents, the Directory can help those crew members and productions who want to make a meaningful change, but who may need assistance in finding the relevant companies to achieve their sustainable goals.
It’s completely understandable to feel the weight of the climate crisis, which can often lead to a sense of ‘functional freeze’ surrounding the issue. As an industry, we must approach this topic with consideration and compassion for those feeling this way. We should all strive to support our sustainability department to the best of our ability—whether that’s helping on set or engaging in free online training on the subject. The more educated the work force, the better equipped we’ll be to assist others who may be struggling with this issue, whilst also attributing to a net positive impact for society.
Sustainability Coordinators, and their department as a whole, are doing critical work that is beneficial to everyone inside and outside of the industry, but they need productions to take a more active and engaged approach in the planning and implementation of sustainable practices, regardless of the financial impact or other potential challenges. Whilst industry is moving towards a greener future, there’s always more we can do – we should never become complacent. Only by working together with the Sustainability Department can we achieve our goal of a carbon neutral economy. Therefore, it is essential we listen to and respect the voices of Sustainability Coordinators as they lead the industry towards these objectives.
Want to learn more? BAFTA albert offer training that is beneficial for those looking to enter the department, alongside workshops in that have been funded by the BFI National Lottery:
Sustainability Workshop: Feature Production
Sustainability Workshop: Documentary Production
Sustainability Workshop: Short Film Production
Sustainability Workshop: Stop Motion Animation
Please find a transcript of the video here.
