Database

“Directing: The Director’s Guide to Sustainability” (November 2025) is a practical guide by Ecoprod aimed at directors and filmmakers committed to reducing their production’s environmental footprint. It’s part of Ecoprod’s broader collection of role-specific sustainability guides (alongside its screenwriting, post-production/VFX, and animation guides), focusing on how a director’s artistic and technical choices — on set, in collaboration with department heads — can help lower a production’s carbon and resource impact without compromising creative vision.

Published by Ecoprod (March 2026), this Sustainability Guide for Screenwriting Professionals is a practical resource for scriptwriters, creative producers, and script consultants who want to anticipate green production choices at the writing stage and address environmental themes in their storylines. It’s structured in two parts: the first explores how screenwriting decisions (locations, natural settings, sets/props, special effects like rain/snow/explosions) shape a production’s environmental footprint, encouraging early collaboration with green production coordinators and environmental script breakdowns; the second focuses on storytelling itself — how to represent environmental transformations, rethink “desirable” lifestyles, portray nature and biodiversity, build well-rounded activist/eco-conscious characters, and use subtle “nudge”/planet-placement techniques — drawing on contributions from numerous French and international initiatives (Climate Spring, BAFTA Albert, Nouvelle Séquence, Imagine 2050, etc.). It closes with an appendix of 50 concrete eco-friendly situations to weave into scripts.

CST (Commission supérieure technique de l’image et du son), founded in 1944, is France’s oldest association of film and audiovisual technicians, built around three missions: sharing best practices and contributing to technical/international standards, providing technical support to professionals (e.g. advising cinemas on NF S 27 001/27 100 standards), and serving as a shared hub for exchange across the sector. Through its accredited training centre, it also runs a dedicated ecological transition training cycle, offering professional certifications (CCP) in eco-responsible digital production, eco-responsible location/production management, and environmental impact awareness in film distribution.

The Guide pour une captation sportive éco-responsable is a practical guide published by Ecoprod in partnership with Sport 1.5, with support from France’s Ministry of Sports. Ecoprod is the association founded by Canal+, CST, Film Paris Région, France Télévisions, TF1, and Audiens, backed by the CNC. The guide offers 50 recommendations to reduce the environmental footprint of sports broadcasting productions, organised into 8 sector-wide recommendations and 8 detailed thematic fact sheets: power supply, crew/team travel, long-distance filming (helicopters, drones), technical equipment/OB vans, transmission & digital data, sets & TV studios, catering/accommodation, and on-screen behaviour change. Each section combines carbon-footprint data (from France.tv Sport, AMP VISUAL TV, Paris 2024, etc.), real case studies, and actionable recommendations, consistently linking back to Ecoprod’s carbon calculator Carbon’Clap. It also includes model contractual clauses for rights-holders’ and broadcasters’ specifications.

Cartouch’Verte is a French association acting as an experimentation lab and promoter of good practices in eco-responsible animation film design and production. Based at the Pôle de l’image animée in La Cartoucherie de Bourg-lès-Valence, it supports and guides all industry stakeholders in transitioning toward more sustainable production methods, operating both locally and nationally. It’s notably a co-creator (with Ecoprod and AnimFrance) of the Guide de l’Animation Éco-Responsable.

Carbulator is a carbon footprint calculator built specifically for the animation industry, developed by AnimFrance with technical support from the CNC and funding from PROCIREP, SPI, and Magelis. Launched in France in March 2025, it became the only carbon calculator accredited by the CNC within months, and now has over 400 active users and 100+ completed carbon assessments. Its distinctive methodology combines two levels of measurement: the carbon footprint of studios as permanent infrastructure, and the footprint of individual productions (which often span several years and multiple locations) — an approach tailored to animation’s specific production model, unlike live-action calculators.

Green Animation is a global industry collaboration promoting sustainable practices in animation, jointly launched by Ecoprod, Green Film, and CineRegio (the European network of regional film funds), alongside CEE Animation, Animation Scotland, and several regional film funds (ALCA, Catalonia Film Commission-ICEC, EC1 Łódź, Film London, Film Paris Region, Screen Scotland, Trentino Film Commission, Viken Filmsenter). Its first output is the Green Animation Guide, the first international reference guide for sustainable practices in animation, unveiled at the Annecy International Animation Film Market (Mifa). It builds on and expands the 2023 French guide (Ecoprod/La Cartouch’Verte/AnimFrance) into an international resource, drawing on input from 100+ animation professionals worldwide. It covers the full animation pipeline (2D and 3D) — green coordination, energy, IT infrastructure, workflows, equipment, mobility, and waste management — offering peer-driven, actionable recommendations and a shared vocabulary to enable cooperation across countries and production systems. Beyond the guide, the initiative is working toward shared global standards: a dedicated international working group (launching summer 2025) is developing verifiable, adaptable criteria intended to form the basis of a scalable, White Label-style certification scheme for animation studios of all sizes — flexible enough to account for differing production capacities and cultural contexts. The criteria will be open to public consultation and beta testing by late 2025, and stakeholders are invited to sign a Statement for European Sustainability Standards in Animation.

The Guide de l’Animation Éco-Responsable (“Sustainable Animation Guide”) is a free, collaborative resource created for the 2D/3D animation industry, jointly led by Ecoprod and La Cartouch’Verte, in partnership with AnimFrance, Magélis, and Auvergne Rhône-Alpes In Motion, drawing on input from a large number of member studios and sector experts. The guide aims to raise awareness among professionals, help them understand the main sources of greenhouse gas emissions in animation production, and offer practical solutions for studios to plan their ecological transition. It contains around 60 fact sheets covering 150 concrete actions, each tagged by target role (authors, producers, technical artists, studio directors, IT managers) and classified by ecological and financial impact. It covers the full scope of animation production—infrastructure and workflows as well as studio life more broadly (facilities, work organisation, travel, staff training, food, communication, merchandising). Described as a first version meant to be enriched over time by professional feedback and by data from AnimFrance’s upcoming carbon calculator (Carbulator), the guide was coordinated and written by Frédérique Cauvin-Doumic (Lallumette), with contributions from dozens of studios and industry figures.

Les Toiles Vertes” (“The Green Canvases”) is a French association/collective bringing together 700+ technicians and professionals from the film and audiovisual sector who are committed to environmental and societal transition in their craft. Founded on the belief that individual actions on set aren’t enough, the collective’s purpose is to unite forces, foster cooperation among like-minded professionals, deploy collective actions, and provide mutual support to amplify the industry’s push toward a more sustainable, responsible cinema. Membership is grassroots and open via a sign-up form, anchored around a shared manifesto for professionals who want to align their work with their environmental convictions.

RESSAC (Réseau des Structures de Réemploi Culturel) is a French national network connecting “ressourceries” (resource centers/reuse hubs), materials libraries, and third-places dedicated to the reuse and circular economy of materials in the cultural and event sector (sets, scenography, technical/AV equipment). Emerging from the live performance and events sector in the early 2010s, its members share hands-on, field-based expertise and support the creation and development of new circular-economy structures, coordinating exceptional material flows at a national level. The site’s centerpiece is an interactive map of the cultural circular economy, built with Leaflet/OpenStreetMap, that geolocates the network’s member structures across France. It’s designed as a practical matchmaking tool: production companies or artists needing materials for a new project, wanting to donate/reuse materials, or seeking support with their CSR approach can browse the map to find and connect with the nearest partner ressourcerie or reuse structure — helping reduce waste and single-use material consumption in cultural productions.

The PRIME RSE+ is a financial incentive scheme by France’s CNC, in effect since September 2025 (3 years), offering a flat automatic grant of €28,000 to fiction productions (features, unitary works, series) that comply with Level 2 (26 mandatory actions) of the AFNOR SPEC 2308 referential — France’s national responsible production standard covering both environmental and social/governance (RSE) criteria. The referential was developed by the CNC and Ministry of Culture with AFNOR and 130+ industry professionals (Ecoprod being a key contributor), and productions must undergo independent certification by AFNOR Certification to access the grant.

“Cinéma & Durabilité” is a Belgian participatory project (2023–2025) led by Hors Champ, the federation of film and audiovisual professions, in partnership with CINECOLAB, SCAM, SACD, Elles Font Des Films, Hub Brussels, ARRF, and UPFF, with support from the Centre du Cinéma. Born from film technicians’ need to address sustainability through a social justice lens, it combined an industry-wide survey with 8 participatory workshops (2024–2025) to produce a shared eco-responsible charter, department-specific practice checklists, and a map of barriers and levers for action across the sector.

Baltic Green Film Initiative (BGFI) is a regional sustainability platform and network founded by Estonian producer Olga Hartšuk (Nafta Films / Mureel), advancing environmentally sustainable audiovisual production across Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. It offers green production consultancy and practical guidance across the full production cycle—from early planning through shooting and reporting—working closely with leading European green consultants to bring international expertise and tested practices into the Baltic region. Beyond environmental support, BGFI also connects productions with local occupational health and safety experts, helping international and local crews navigate safety requirements specific to the region.

BFTP (Bæredygtig Film- & TV-Produktion) is Denmark’s national platform for the green transition of the film and TV industry, run by Vision Denmark (project lead: Caroline Gjerulff). It brings together practical knowledge, advice, and inspiration organised around 7 focus areas (sustainable planning, energy saving, transport & accommodation, catering, materials, waste sorting, communication) and 10 department-specific guides (makeup, production, post-production, costume, camera & lighting, etc.). The platform also hosts regular training events and networking meetings for green/eco managers, and publishes “Grønne Stemmer” (Green Voices), a portrait series featuring industry professionals driving sustainability efforts.

Green Rider is an actor-led movement (launched in August 2023) working to shift the TV and film industry toward fairer, healthier, and more sustainable working practices, using talent’s contractual and cultural influence rather than institutional mandates. Its core tool is the Green Handshake, a conversation-starter document (not a contract) backed by Equity, BAFTA Albert, and WGGB, which lays out concrete actions that actors, directors, writers, and productions can agree to together—covering things like reduced flights/transport, less wasteful trailers, and more collaborative on-set practices. It has been used by high-profile artists (Benedict Cumberbatch, Olivia Colman, Mark Rylance, etc.) on productions like The Capture, Wolf Hall, and Gangs of London, reportedly cutting on-set pollution by up to 80% on over 50 productions. Beyond the Handshake itself, the site offers email templates, department-specific action documents, a feedback form, and links to funding/support organisations.