As part of NBC Universal’s Green Week, FilmInFocus presents a special Five in Focus in which filmmakers offers greener ways to make movies.
Get Connected
Hire a sustainability consultant and contact your local film commission to see if they have guides to help make the most ecologically friendly decisions for your pre/post and production. Several film commissions around the country have started green initiatives and you should encourage your local film commission to do the same. For example the NYC film commission has a special program called NYC Green Screen.
Locally Produced Food
Buy locally produced food. Not only will you reduce your production's ecological footprint, but you will also reduce the often unhealthy food products your crew is exposed to (and the crashes associated with high caffeine and sugar intake). By eating healthier food your crew will be more productive. For local options in NYC you can visit www.cenyc.org.
Trees
Show care towards trees, including street trees. Do not staple or attach anything to trees, and be careful when parking your vehicles. Street trees are an especially important part of creating sustainable urban environments. For more information please visit Millions Trees NYC.
Go Digital
Shoot digital. Bahrani’s three features, Man Push Cart, Chop Shop and Goodbye Solo, were shot on HD using tape stock. However, the new short film, Plastic Bag, was shot using digital cards only, thus further reducing waste and resources. Film is costly – both economically & ecologically. Celluloid was the first synthetic plastic to be developed in the mid-1800's. Tape stock is also wasteful. For the same reasons that we need to stop using plastic bags, we need to stop using other forms of plastic that stay in the environment for thousands of years & damage ecosystems.
Don’t Be Wasteful
Don't waste resources. Contact an organization that will rescue uneaten food items left over from productions or daily catering. City Harvest rescues food for New Yorkers in need. Donate old items (wardrobe, props, furniture, etc.) to a local thrift store like the Salvation Army or an organization like Build it Green NYC or Film Biz Recycling.
Born and raised in North Carolina, American writer/director Ramin Bahrani’s first feature film, Man Push Cart (2005) premiered at the Venice Film Festival, won over 10 international prizes, and was nominated for three Independent Spirit Awards (2007) including Best First Film. Chop Shop (2007), premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, and then screened at Toronto (2007) and Berlin (2008). Chop Shop won several prizes including the Acura "Someone to Watch" Independent Spirit Award (2008) for Bahrani. In 2009 the film was nominated for two Independent Spirit Awards, including Best Director. In 2008 Bahrani premiered his third film, Goodbye Solo, as an official selection of the Venice Film Festival and won the FIPRESCI international critics prize for Best Film. The film was called a “near-masterpiece” by A.O. Scott of the New York Times, and Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times hailed “Ramin Bahrani is the new great American director.” His latest film, a short subject titled Plastic Bag (2009), premiered as the opening night film of Corto Cortissimo in the Venice Film Festival where Bahrani was also on the jury for best first films. It later screened at Telluride and New York Film Festivals. The film features the voice of legendary filmmaker Werner Herzog and an original score from Kjartan Sveinsson of Sigur Rós. In early 2009 Bahrani was a recipient of the prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship and was also the subject of several international retrospectives including the MoMA in New York City, Harvard University, and the La Rochelle Film Festival in France. The Seattle Examiner recently proclaimed Bahrani as “the finest new director of the decade.”
I am happy to contribute these ideas to NBC Universal's Green Week with the help of sustainability consultant Jenni Jenkins, who co-authored and was the consultant on my short film Plastic Bag. Here is what she has recommended, citing specific resources for NYC filmmakers as examples:
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Pariah
Being Flynn
Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World
ParaNorman
Gnarr
Flashback Feb 13, 2010 
Inside Our Movies 
