People come to Hollywood to "make it". Not me. The thought of me ugly crying on screen evokes a loud cackle more than a heart-string pull. I'm here to "make it" green, not make it big. They can't handle the truth! However, being in the city whose streets are paved with thousands of souls who come here for just that, I owe Hollywood at least one post on the "biz".
Last night I attended a mini panel discussion on sustainability in Los Angeles. One of the panelists was the Sustainability Specialist for Sony Pictures Entertainment. I was in love with her. While she was earning her Masters in Urban Sustainability, she did her field work at Sony (where she worked) and drafted & implemented a sustainability plan for their productions. Nobody puts sustainability in the corner! After she graduated, she got hired to be their sustainability guru. Making her an offer she couldn't refuse. Production based sustainability initiatives involve anything in the making of the movie/show: set design, costumes, filming, lighting, everything. Even implementing sustainable practices on screen: recycling cans, reusable containers, "green" cleaning products, etc. This sounded like an incredible job, I'll have what she's having.
While in complete adoration mode over her projects and seemingly glamorous life, she had me at hello, she showed us a promotional video about how Spiderman 2 was the greenest film Sony has ever produced:
That sure went ahead, made my day. Sustainability initiatives are unique to each industry just like they're unique to each person & city. Sony's initiatives (which have become common place among most major studios in Los Angeles) are not only turning a high consumption industry into a more environmental one, but are directly impacting the bottom line. Show me the money! Less water bottles on set, re-purposing materials for set design and costumes means that all of those materials saves them money and keeps that stuff out of landfills. Those scenes of giant warehouses full of old props that are just waiting for their next close up? Definitely real. Certainly cost efficient. Hugely sustainable.
Movies and TV reflect a lot about our current culture, but also influence it in a big way. Huston, I know that statement is a problem. Let's just acknowledge it for how big and generalized it is and move on... The Sustainability Specialist told us that the she spends a lot of time reading scripts so that on screen characters can normalize everyday sustainable practices. For instance, seeing a character recycle on screen, drinking out of their refillable water bottle, going to a big bulk store make it second nature in real life. The more we see them, the more we internalize and integrate them into our daily routine. If you build it, they will come. So here's to you film industry! You still have a ways to go, well, nobody's perfect, but you sure have "made it big" in my book! Here's looking at you, kid.
Stay Trashy!
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