Sustainable Production: The Small Changes That Make a Big Difference with Sara Conlon
Sara Conlon is the production director at JustSo. She has been working in production for 16 years, beginning her career in television and film production, and has been with JustSo for 13 years.
LBB> Can you tell us about your own personal journey when it comes to getting involved in sustainable production - how did you get started and where has that journey taken you?
Sara> I have been working in production for sixteen years now, starting my career in television and film production - before starting at JustSo in 2011. I can’t say that there was as much importance put on sustainable production when I was starting my career - the film sets I worked on definitely didn’t care about single use plastic or food waste..!
I then moved to JustSo and am very proud to work for a B corp studio who has been pushing sustainable production since 2014. We have tried to make as many changes as we can, no matter how small, we know that they can make a huge difference.
LBB> Speaking generally, how do you tend to approach assessing and minimising the footprint of the productions you are involved in and is this something that is built into your processes?
Sara> Absolutely - at the start of any project we build in an allocation for offsetting carbon emissions into every budget. A percentage based on the overall cost and production needs.
We will enter all the details known at the start of a project into the Adgreen Carbon Calculator to measure our potential production emissions at that point. Once we have initial reporting, we can then look into measures we can put in place and identify opportunities to reduce emissions.
Internally we have a green production checklist - a document to help our production team make sure the plan is clear from the start.
LBB> What are the conversations that clients are having with you about their desire to reduce the carbon footprint and environmental impact of their content production?
Sara> We offer each client the chance to receive a sustainability impact report at the end of every project. This impact report can give clients a breakdown of the approximate carbon footprint measure of the production. We look at the measure used for filming locations, travel & transport, materials, disposal and post production.
We like to show clients what small changes can be done that can lead to a bigger impact. For example; by serving 48 vegan/vegetarian meals we saved 115.91kg of carbon which equates to charging 14,100 smartphones!
Overall, we find that our clients understand our JustSo values and want to make positive impacts on the environment through their work.
LBB> What have you been finding are the most useful tools, resources and partners for reducing environmental impact/carbon footprint of productions?
Sara> We mainly work with AdGreen - as well as the carbon calculator tool we also have taken part in their training sessions and use their AdGreen guides as additional resources.
We use great companies such as Quantum waste to collect our waste and either compost or recycle at least 90% of it or Vegware who offer a range of plant-based compostable catering disposables.
Luckily we also just have a very sustainable conscious team at JustSo - we have an open forum for staff members to come forward with articles they may have read or ideas they would like to propose to make our processes more efficient.
LBB> How is sustainability being built into your training and development for members of the production team?
Sara> The first lesson is awareness. It’s a changing world and we have to move with how quickly the environment is changing. I think it's great that in 2024 environmental awareness is now just automatic rather than having to teach and explain.
We keep on top of the priorities and disseminate the updates and procedures through the company. From a production team point of view, everyone takes part in the adgreen training modules before being on set.
We also have the same system when working with freelancers. We make sure our values are kept up with whoever we are working with and they are aware of our policies whilst working with us.
LBB> Because of remote production and the impact of transporting people and kit, I guess most sustainable production conversations are limited to live action, but what are the challenges and opportunities on the VFX and animation front?
Sara> Luckily we do most post production in house at JustSo, so we can monitor our energy consumption but on the odd occasion we do work with external companies we like to make sure they have sustainable practices in place. From using energy efficient hardware and running on renewable energy where possible. Asking if they have relationships with green energy providers.
We mainly work from a cloud based edit system and remote working - allowing us to work with post production teams across the world and save carbon footprint on travel.
From a general studio point of view we make sure to track our energy usage using LED lighting, energy-efficient HVAC systems, and we implement recycling throughout every area.
LBB> Looking more broadly than carbon footprint, what are the other ways that production can be more sustainable?
Sara> I think just by being aware. The first thing that comes to mind is me checking in on my team. How are they feeling and how hard they have been working - are they close to burnout with long hours? That's not sustainable or a way of working we want to encourage as a company.
Are our freelancers happy and doing the best job they can do? Are we making sure we are not asking them to walk into stressful situations made by last minute client requests?
Protecting our staff and extended family of freelancers as much as possible. No good will come from not being aware of how people are feeling and how hard they are working for us.
LBB> To what extent is the social or community impact of a production an important part of the sustainability conversation?
Sara> It’s hugely important that we consider the social and community impact of a production. We have a corporate social responsibility to make sure what we are doing benefits those around us.
The social or community impact of production plays a pivotal role in the sustainability conversation. By addressing issues related to equity, engagement, economic development, cultural preservation, health outcomes, and long-term viability, stakeholders can create more holistic approaches to sustainability that benefit both people and the planet.
A good example of us keeping this in mind is on a large scale project we worked on in 2023. The client was a major food retailer and we had to shoot product as well as talent with the product. It meant a huge amount of food would be needed but not necessarily used. With a company police of zero waste - we looked for local food banks and homeless shelters that we could bring the majority of the food to after we wrapped. Anywhere that we could help, we looked to.
LBB> Can you share some examples of projects you’ve worked on where you feel that the carbon footprint and sustainability were tackled in interesting or effective ways?
Sara> Sure - in 2020 we worked on a series for the Olympic Channel called ‘Winter Tracks’. By remote filming we saw an 80% reduction in carbon emissions.
This year we have worked on a social impact project for Lego and again by remote filming (wherever possible!), we reduced CO2 emissions by 91.75%.
Smaller, easy changes that we have found effective are; reducing all plastic on set, using canned water instead of plastic water bottles and switching to vegan/vegetarian food on set. We have a no paper rule and every document is digital.
We try to encourage crew to travel together or in one vehicle rather than all driving to set. We reuse and donate props, materials and art work.
LBB> What advice would you give to anyone working in production, whether for a production company, agency or brand, who is struggling to get buy-in from their clients and colleagues on sustainable production?
Sara> I think we need to accept that being a sustainable company is no longer a want, it is now a need. We can all start and encourage small steps as it will make a difference.
If we all work together now we will be able to be more aligned to the goals of reducing carbon emissions and also making some really good content for longer without destroying the planet…the dream!
