The Boy That Never Was

As an RTE and Screen Ireland funded project The Boy That Never Was tracked their Irish carbon footprint using the Albert Carbon Calculator. This was a co-production between Ireland and Morocco and it was unfortunately not possible to accurately track the Moroccan side of the shoot so this case study will focus on the measures that were put in place in Ireland.

Focusing on implementing one key sustainable measure per job is the best way to introduce more sustainable practices into the industry. Trying to do everything at once can be extremely overwhelming but building up sustainable alternatives over several years can bring about a significant change across the industry.

On this production we decided to have an electric unit car for the first time. As we are often in difficult and remote locations without access to charging points this has previously been a risky endeavour but not anymore thanks to improved battery lives.

Boy Goes Electric

A huge amount of a production’s fuel consumption is for ground transport. Every production will have multiple cast and crew pick ups every day. Unit bases and standby trucks have to move location every day. The Prop Runaround truck will be driving all over the country for collections.

Movies on the Move have used HVO fuel in the generators at unit base and for standby trucks and unit cars in the past but we wanted to take it a step further on this production and finally have an electric unit car.

One of the main hindrances to using electric cars for film has been the battery life but the model that we had can drive between 460 880km on one charge. This is more than enough to last a day’s filming. The car was charged at our transport captain’s house overnight or from a HVO powered generator at unit base if it needed to be topped up.

Communication with Crew

Getting the crew involved in making the production sustainable is so important as it is everyone making changes in their own departments that ultimately makes the biggest impact.

Production dictating to crew what they should be doing rarely creates any imaginative sustainable solutions which is why we promote and support crew who come up with their own creative alternatives to make their departments more environmentally friendly.

Green Memo

On 'Boy' we are dedicated to making this as sustainable a production as possible. We will be taking part in BAFTA's Albert Sustainable Production Scheme. Albert is an indie and broadcaster backed project that provides the film and television industry with the necessary expertise to promote sustainability.

What to expect:

• HVO fuels used where possible.
• Electric Unit Car
• Digital signatures.
• Paperless Accounts and Production Offices.
• No single-use plastics.
• Eco-friendly cleaning products.
• More vegetarian and vegan options for catering.
• Hybrid hire cars.
• Recycling and compost systems.
• Repurposing items on wrap and donating to charities and local organisations.
• Booking eco taxis.
• Using LED lights where possible.
• Prioritising second-hand and rented items rather than buying new ones.

But will it be fun?

So much fun! We know that everyone is busy working to bring this series to life so our aim is to show the cast and crew that sustainability doesn't have to be a burden but that it's surprising how much difference one person can make. 

Each week we will be awarding a prize to the Green Employee of the Week for whoever has made the most effort to be sustainable! 

There will also be a weekly Green Newsletter highlighting what everyone on the production is doing to be more environmentally friendly. 

We would love suggestions on how to make Boy even more sustainable so please let production know any ideas you have or if you are already doing anything within your department to reduce your carbon footprint. 

Green Employee of the Week

Every week on The Boy That Never Was we would award one crew member Green Employee of The Week.

Our First Assistant Director , Ciara McIlraith won the prize for walking to work whenever we were in a city centre location.

Our Sound Mixer, Dan Birch was awarded for having a solar powered sound van! This means he can work out of his sound van relying solely on the sun to power all of his equipment.

Hugh Connell, our Production Assistant, received the final award for cycling and getting the dart to Bray every day to come to work. He parked his car at the office so that he could use it for his work during the day but he availed of public transport for his commute.

Sustainable Costumes

COSTUME DESIGNERS STOCK

By far the most sustainable element of the department comes from the availability of the Costume Designer’s stock hired out to the job. The majority of the characters had their wardrobes supplemented from the stock, while certain day players were fully dressed from it.

While the extras are advised on what to bring in, inevitably the Costume team have to provide additional costume, jackets and coats for on-the-day changes, specific uniforms etc. The vast majority of this came from the Costume Designer’s stock. The availability of the stock also saves in labour and travel costs as it means less has to be sourced and shopped for.

CHARITY AND VINTAGE SHOPPING 

Where possible, the Costume team have sourced from vintage and charity shops. The need for repeats of certain costumes, uniforms, general availability of stock and certain key character requirements mean that this is not always a possibility, but vintage and charity shops were sources of pieces for the lead male character.

Stock no longer needed is donated to charity shops, along with hangers, towels, blankets, etc if not absorbed into the costume kit. Furthermore, shopping bags accumulated over the course of the production, where not used for returns or for the costume sale, are donated to charity shops.

COSTUME HIRE

A small amount of costumes were hired from the Abbey costume house.

The pregnancy bump for our lead character was a hire.

WARDROBE KIT

Both the designer and the supervisor bring a large wardrobe kit from job to job.

This comprises of rails, keepwarms, towels, blankets, umbrellas, hangers, general supplies for the everyday running of the department, etc., which means that these do not need to be purchased or disposed of at the end of the production.

Garment bags are biodegradable, shoe bags are re-usable and any necessary plastic bags, etc are reused where possible.

Sustainable Set Dec

Nearly all of the props on the Irish leg of the shoot were rented so there were very few purchases from the Set Dec department.

Rentals and making use of organisations like Prop 360 which is a new contemporary Prop House in Ireland established by Set Decorators is a fantastic way of cutting down the amount of waste a production generates.

All of the props sourced in Morocco were bought by crew members at the end of the job. The prop house for The Boy That Never Was shared a building with the Moonflower Murders prop house and quite a number of our props were sourced from the Moonflower Murders prop sale.

The Production Buyer and Set Decorator also borrowed quite a few of the props from The Boy That Never Was for their next job meaning that things got to be reused on another set.

Circular Economy

Productions have become much better in recent years at sharing resources and selling on equipment to one another at the end of a job. 

In 2022 we bought a lot of stationery and office furniture for The Doll Factory from The Pope’s Exorcist which had wrapped shortly before we went into prep. The following summer all the equipment and stationary that The Doll Factory had accumulated was sold to The Watchers.

The Boy That Never Was then availed of the office supplies and furniture which had been purchased for The Watchers and meant that we did not have to buy anything new on this production. We already had two years worth of equipment which saved departments like Costume having to put in their usual IKEA orders as we already had all the shelving, tables and lamps that they might need. It also saved time and fuel as the trainees did not have to spend the first week of prep driving around shopping for office kit.

At the end of The Boy That Never Was all the stationery and equipment was placed in storage for Subotica Film’s next project so that another production team can save time, money and resources.

Most productions now sell any items bought for the job to the crew at a 50% reduction. This is a great way to ensure nothing is wasted or skipped and the items are usually in very good condition as they have only been used for a few months. The crew auctions can often become quite heated with everyone bidding on the same items.

The WhatsApp group for the Production and Accounts Guild has also become a great place to sell on office equipment, stationery and other appliances and furniture at the end of a job. Just as one production wraps another production is usually prepping nearby. Sharing resources benefits everyone financially and also prevents the amount of items a production has to purchase new.

Sustainability can often be viewed as something else a production has to add to the list of things to do and it is often seen as costly. However, sharing equipment is a very easy way to reduce waste and it saves a production team both time and money.