GREEN TEAM (Clockwise from top) Neal Romanek, Lisa Howe and April Sotomayor are helping Albert decarbonise film and TV
to a 100% renewable power supplier – a new Studio Sustainability Standard, plus an international licensing partnership with Sustainable Screens Australia (SSA) that will localise the calculator for the Australian market, as well as enabling the creation of bespoke standards of certification processes using the Albert toolkit. Albert has also announced a BFI partnership, confirming an intention to expand its reach in film. Neal Romanek, Albert’s head of communications and events (and, of course, former editor-in-chief of FEED !), says adoption has involved “primarily broadcasters until recently – that’s to be expected as broadcast is huge in the UK. But now there’s a chance to train film teams to use the calculator and work on sustainability.” The BFI partnership builds on previous collaborations, says Albert project manager Lisa Howe. “Our priorities are to work with the BFI to help embed sustainable practices within both its film production and development funds, while equipping filmmakers with knowledge to make informed creative and practical choices on their films.”
From 2014, the organisation has offered a certification process (leading to a one-, two- or three- star certificate) as a way to reward productions for not only measuring their environmental impact, but taking active steps to reduce it. Productions that complete certification are also given use of the Albert Sustainable Production logo on their credits. Highlighting the initial role of Albert in ‘raising carbon and sustainability literacy across the industry,’ Albert’s head of industry sustainability, April Sotomayor, says the last 12 years have witnessed “an evolved sophistication of the offering, including the carbon calculator, certification, training and affiliate programmes that can allow smaller production companies who lack the resources of larger companies to benefit, too. Also emerging has been a call to action for content creators, helping them do what they do best – storytelling – with the addition of climate and sustainability aspects.” Among the recent developments are the introduction of the Creative Energy Project – which supports productions by helping them switch
As will be clear from this article, the work of TV- and film-focused environmental organisation Albert has been influential both within and beyond its UK base. Originating as a BBC project in 2011, Albert was soon adopted by Bafta. Since then, the use of its carbon calculator – which allows a production to calculate its predicted total carbon footprint – has become increasingly prevalent. OFFICIATING SUSTAINABILITY
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