MEDIA RELEASE COURTESY OF: NEW NATIONAL GREEN SCREEN COMMITTEE

(NATIONAL) The Australian state and federal government screen agencies have announced a united environmental coalition for the national screen industry, with a genuine commitment to achieving more environmentally sustainable business practices in the industry from 2010.

The National Green Screen Committee, which has evolved from a Film Victoria initiative, will be dedicated to developing guidelines, resources and standards that will help transform all sectors of the screen industry into more environmentally responsible operators.
The agencies recognise that proactive, national leadership will encourage the Australian screen industry to strive for a more eco-friendly future, and that developing tools that can adapt to new environmental demands and facilitate change will help the industry achieve this goal.

The chief executive officers of the agencies involved, including Film Victoria, Screen Queensland, Northern Territory Film Office, Screen NSW, Screen Tasmania, ScreenWest, the South Australian Film Corporation, ScreenACT and Screen Australia, call on all sectors of the industry to embrace the challenge.

“We’re committed to this joint initiative, and to working together to tackle climate change and reduce the Australian screen industry’s environmental footprint. With its high profile the screen industry is in a good position to show leadership in this area, and a nationwide strategy for environmentally sustainable practices makes sense commercially, financially and socially.

“To demonstrate our commitment, each member of the Committee will analyse the environmental impact of their current organisational practices and make reductions.”

The Committee aims to develop a national implementation strategy and work plan to respond to the industry’s needs. It will:

• facilitate environmental audits of each sector to set benchmarks for the industry
• develop guides and toolkits to help the industry monitor and reduce its environmental impact
• coordinate information and training sessions at major screen related events and conferences
• make Green Screen research, reports and resources available to the industry.

The Committee looks forward to working with Australian screen practitioners to make a positive and substantive change within the industry.