Hollywood jumps on 'green' bandwagon

2010-08-12 18:24

Los Angeles – Television and movie makers have no excuse for not jumping on the "green" movement bandwagon. A new website with resources on everything from recycling sets to cruelty-free mascara makes it simple to do so.

The Producers Guild of America on Wednesday unveiled Greenproductionguide.com – a database of environmentally-friendly products and services from vendors across the US.

The move is the latest push in Hollywood's efforts to clean up its "green" act, after being criticised several years ago for skyrocketing energy bills from lights and cameras, and tossing movie sets in the dumpster when shooting wraps up.

Greenproductionguide.com is backed by funding from Walt Disney, Fox, NBC Universal, Sony Pictures Entertainment and Warner Bros, and features more than 1 500 listings.

PGA president emeritus Marshall Herskovitz thanked the studios for their support for the initiative, saying it has "the ability to affect tangible change and advance sustainable solutions".

The website allows users to select from a wide array of categories – from food and beverages, to wood and paint vendors – and to narrow results by states and cities.

It includes organisations that help producers donate set pieces to other productions, and has a "Best Practices" page, which suggests alternate ways of going about everyday production tasks, such as purchasing cruelty-free make-up, hair and personal care products.

Lipstick and mascara aside, the Green Production Guides also provides a downloadable "Carbon Calculator" that measures and the carbon emissions generated by filming TV shows and movies and gives tip on how to reduce them.

The new website is part of another campaign launched by PGA last year, PGAGreen.org, which aims at providing the film and media industry with resources to become more environmentally conscious.

- Reuters