BAFTA reveals impacts of first year of Albert – the online carbon calculator now available for film as well as television production.
BFI leads UK-wide Sustainability Group and launches refreshed online resource, greeningfilm.com, to support the UK’s film community.
London, 13 November 2012: Some of the most influential figures from the film, television and games industries gathered on Monday 12 November at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) in London for a special event designed to explode the myth that sustainable production needs to be costly and impractical.
Senior executives from organisations including the BBC, ITV, Sky, Microsoft, Sony and Warner Bros. attended “Greening the Screen: taking steps to a sustainable future”. The event included a panel event led by actor and green campaigner Alistair McGowan plus keynote speeches from Kevin Price, Chief Operating Officer at BAFTA, who gave an update on the progress of Albert – the UK’s first carbon calculator for the film and television industry – a year after launch, and Tim Cagney, Deputy CEO of the BFI, who affirmed the BFI’s commitment to leading and co-ordinating a UK-wide sustainability strategy for all parts of the UK’s film sector.
 BAFTA/ Ed Miller
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Created by the BBC, Albert was officially launched in November 2011 as a free online tool (www.myalbert.co.uk) administered by BAFTA and run with the support of a cross-industry consortium consisting of television production houses and broadcasters: BBC, Boundless, Channel 4, Endemol, IMG, ITV, Kudos, Shine, Sky and Twofour. One year later, Albert has 800 registered users from over 50 television companies and has gathered data from 266 productions, totalling 1,297 hours of output.
Deputy CEO of the BFI, Tim Cagney outlined the various measures the BFI is embracing as part of its commitment to leading the adoption of sustainable practices within the film industry. The BFI is leading a UK-wide Sustainability Group made up of representatives from right across the film industry, including studios, trade organisations, national and regional partners. It has also undertaken a full audit of its own sustainable practices across every area of the organisation, from BFI National Archive facilities at Berkhamsted and the state-of-the-art, environmentally sustainable and architecturally pioneering film storage facility at Gaydon, Warwickshire, to BFI Southbank, and its HQ at London’s Stephen Street, and the BFI has adopted BS 8909, the British Standard for film industry sustainability it launched in Cannes in 2011. The BFI is now actively encouraging other film organisations to do the same.
During the event, Kevin Price, Chief Operating Officer at BAFTA, announced that Albert is now suitable for use by film as well as television productions, and revealed that data collected from Albert shows that the production of each hour of on-screen content is responsible for an average of 5.8 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. This is equivalent to the emissions of one UK citizen at work in one year. A report published to coincide with the event found that the most significant carbon impacts are associated with travel (38% of emissions) and the production office (30% of emissions). The findings from the first year will be benchmarked against future years to assess what improvements are being made.
The BFI has refreshed and updated the www.greeningfilm.com website, integrating the Albert carbon calculator. Greeningfilm.com is now the go-to online resource for film industry professionals who want to minimise negative environmental impacts, providing practical case studies, examples of best practice and signposting to a variety of key support services to make adoption of sustainable practices as simple and streamlined as possible.
 BAFTA/ Ed Miller
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 BAFTA/ Ed Miller
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The BFI has also convened and leads the industry-wide sustainability group, uniting organisations from every area of the film value chain to share best practice and coordinate activity in order to maximise benefit. Sustainability Group members include Pinewood, BAFTA, BECTU, the Cinema Exhibitors’ Association, Creative Skillset, the Mayor of London’s Office, National Screen Agencies, Directors UK, Film Export UK, Equity, the Production Guild, Film London and others, and the group welcomes and encourages new members who can bring new perspectives.
Kevin Price, Chief Operating Officer at BAFTA, said:
“As chair of the Albert consortium, BAFTA is delighted that the television production community, and now the film sector, have so enthusiastically engaged with this tool in its first year. The data captured so far has highlighted the key areas where the industry can work to reduce its carbon footprint, and will provide a useful benchmark from which to measure improvements over time. We look forward to continuing to support these companies in the pursuit of excellence, and to welcoming further engagement with Albert from the film, and also games, industries."
Tim Cagney, Deputy CEO of the BFI, said:
“The adoption of more sustainable business practices across the film industry is not just desirable; it is – now more than ever before – essential, and as yesterday’s event highlighted, adapting our approach to make our work more sustainable needn’t be an onerous task. The BFI as the UK’s lead organisation for film is absolutely committed to driving forward the sustainability agenda, which is why we are currently implementing a BS 8909 sustainability management system across our business, greeningfilm.com has become the go-to sustainability tool to support the UK film industry, and we are working closely with partners from across the sector in the film industry Sustainability Group.”
At , actor and green campaigner Alistair McGowan chaired a lively panel discussion with leading figures from film, TV and games, representing organisations including Warner Bros, the BBC, ITV, Sky, Microsoft and Sony. Speakers shared the latest thinking on sustainable production and examples of business practices that are low impact in terms of carbon, finance and time.
Environmental management consultancies Greenshoot and Eco Consultancy presented case studies that brought to life in practical terms how companies adopting BS 8909 – the comprehensive standard for ‘sustainability management’ in the film industry – can switch to more sustainable ways of working without setting unrealistic goals or creating unnecessary administrative burden.
Greenshoot’s Co-founder and Managing Director Melanie Dicks explained how BS 8909 was used during the production of , , and to help save money while minimising the impact of the productions on the local environment.
The conference was followed by a trade fair which showcased range of “green” products and services.
Greening the Screen Press Release (131.4 KB)
For further information, including a list of all speakers and trade fair exhibitors at “Greening the Screen” please contact:
BAFTA - Elizabeth Porter
Tel: 020 7010 0851 / Email: [email protected]
BAFTA - Hollie Rendall
Tel: 020 7010 0829 / Email: [email protected]
BFI – Emma Hewitt, Corporate and Industry Press Officer
Tel: 020 7173 3256 / Email: [email protected]
BFI – Judy Wells, Head of Press and PR
Tel: 020 7957 8919 / Email: [email protected]
About BAFTA
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is an independent charity that supports, develops and promotes the art forms of the moving image by identifying and rewarding excellence, inspiring practitioners and benefiting the public. In addition to its Awards ceremonies, BAFTA has a year-round Learning & Events programme that offers unique access to some of the world’s most inspiring talent through workshops, masterclasses, lectures and mentoring schemes, connecting with audiences of all ages and backgrounds across the UK, Los Angeles and New York. BAFTA relies on income from membership subscriptions, individual donations, trusts, foundations and corporate partnerships to support its ongoing outreach work. For further information, visit www.bafta.org. For BAFTA’s role in supporting sustainable production, including the Albert carbon calculator, visit: http
About Albert
Albert is the UK’s first free online carbon calculator designed to measure the environmental impact of the film and television production process. Created by the BBC, Albert was officially launched in November 2011 as a free online tool administered by BAFTA and run with the support of a cross-industry consortium consisting of some of the country’s biggest production houses and broadcasters: BBC, Boundless, Channel 4, Endemol, IMG, ITV, Kudos, Shine, Sky and Twofour. Albert aims to encourage production teams to take a practical approach to carbon reduction, and to provide the tools and support to move towards sustainable production. www.myalbert.co.uk
About the BFI
The BFI is the lead organisation for film in the UK with the ambition to create a flourishing film environment in which innovation, opportunity and creativity can thrive by:
- Connecting audiences to the widest choice of British and World cinema
- Preserving and restoring the most significant film collection in the world for today and future generations
- Championing emerging and world class film makers in the UK
- Investing in creative, distinctive and entertaining work
- Promoting British film and talent to the world
- Growing the next generation of film makers and audiences
The BFI is now a Government arm’s-length body and distributor of Lottery funds for film. The BFI serves a public role which covers the cultural, creative and economic aspects of film in the UK. It delivers this role:
- As the UK-wide organisation for film, a charity core funded by Government
- By providing Lottery and Government funds for film across the UK
- By working with partners to advance the position of film in the UK.
Founded in 1933, the BFI is a registered charity governed by Royal Charter.
The BFI Board of Governors is chaired by Greg Dyke.
About greeningfilm.com
- Content audited and updated to reflect BFI’s sustainability policy
- News/Events feed brought to the homepage
- New BFI Greening Film.com logo bottom right of every page
- ‘Green services’ renamed ‘Sustainable services’ and services list updated
- Sign up page amended – all signs up will be added to the BFI industry email
- Contact us page updated – encouragement for other partner / industry organisation to share their news/events/best practice through greeningfilm.com.
