Hollywood Goes Green?

Right

Just received an invitation to attend “Hollywood goes Green” event in a few weeks

This is an industry that is one of the most wasteful around, a typical movie shot on location involves a fleet of vehicles, most of them are larger and few carry more that one or two people getting to and from, not to mention generators and catering trucks, and of course all the crew and talent drive solo to and from, not much green there.

Then lets look at the waste from set building – on location entire towns are built as facades and then scrapped, even in the studio sets are built then scrapped - this is green?

And lets not talk about the sheer amounts of electrical power required for studio operations or render farms for CGI productions

So what is the agenda for this summit?

How to reduce consumption of resources?

How to use energy efficient lighting and reduce air conditioning and power? Don’t bet on it, you won’t see any CFL except as props on camera - this is an industry that considers a 1000 watt light bulb as the smallest instrument in the grip truck

How to minimize crew requirement during production? Don’t say that in front of a union member

There is a partial sentence discussing “…implementing environmentally sensitive practices in both day to day business operations, reducing reliance on nonrenewable energy sources…” and that’s the extent of practical “in-house” green for the industry

So what exactly is the main focus of the seminar?

Why, how to “…deliver persuasive environmental messages in film, TV, cable and music to influence consumer awareness” of course!

Panel topics include:

Pitching and financing Environmentally themed films

Green Marketing and Advertising for film and TV

On the Green Front, Pitching and financing Environmentally themed films
(yes, I know - but that’s what the invitation says)
Which reminds me, when does “The 11th Hour” hit the DVD market?
And how many acres of forest did the production lay waste to?

Special Events, Party Planning and travel
(very important subject for this crowd but I don’t see any green except for $’s)

To be fair, there are also topics on:

Fuel saving and energy efficient vehicles
(I can see it now - chase scenes where the good guys in a Prius run rings around the bad guys Hummer? – “Mr. Director, I’ve got a slight suspension of disbelief problem with this chase scene…”)

Reducing Energy Consumption and Renewable Resources (- this crowd? They might use recycled paper – as long as it has a stamp saying so and some bean counter may put in motion detectors on the lights so someone has to “prairie dog it” every time the motion sensor times out – or better yet, shut off the AC during a long weekend – without shutting down the server farm)