When we know that up to 50% of Netflix’s carbon footprint is attributable to the creation of its content (filming and post-production), we understand better why the pressure is put on the environmental impact of the audiovisual sector. In order to improve their record in this area, 106 companies in the sector – including the giants TF1, M6, Canal+ and France TV, but also Banijay, Newen and Mediawan – undertake to comply with eco-production specifications, and from 2023.
Members of the Ecoprod association, all undertake to reflect on the impact of their professions, and more particularly filming, whose carbon footprint is anything but anecdotal, between travel and accommodation for teams and actors in the four corners of the world.
“A producer who invests in a film immediately has budgetary issues in mind. He should now also have an idea of the environmental impact, he should put on green glasses, not just financial glasses”declares the general delegate of Ecoprod, Pervenche Beurier, whose words are echoed by The echoes.
A hundred criteria taken into account
Pointed in the right direction, the production teams who submit to it will have to fill out a form allowing them to quantify, over a grid taking into account dozens of parameters, the overall impact of their projects on the environment. The approach therefore goes beyond the simple calculation of the cost in CO2 equivalent of a film or a series episode, since practical points will be addressed such as the use of LED lighting, the sorting of waste or the use to “green” generators, but also more theoretical notions such as the training of production teams in eco-gestures.
At the end of this long questionnaire, it will be necessary to obtain at least 65% of the points to qualify for the Ecoprod label. For the time being, this is an initiative that does not include any binding obligation, but we suspect that certain aid or the interest of advertisers committed to ecological transition could be conditional on obtaining the said label, “which also makes it possible to value the work and efforts of the teams”assures Ecoprod.
And even without obtaining the label at the start, the production entities involved in the process will thus have an idea of the points on which they can improve.
At the same time, Ecoprod is currently having a carbon calculator approved by the CNC for the audiovisual sector. A tool that will be very useful to producers insofar as, from March 31, 2023, any request for financing sent to the CNC must be accompanied by a projection of its carbon footprint.