Emmerdale, COVID-19 and Sustainable Production
Emmerdale was the first Continuing Drama to return to filming post lockdown — this is how we combined our sustainability aims with the new Covid rules.
By Nader Mabadi, Senior Emmerdale Production Manager and the Albert team at BAFTA
Like all production teams, in continuing drama we’ve had to look for ways to get back to work quickly and safely while also producing the same standard of storyline that our audiences expect.
The Covid-19 recommendations published for film and TV companies rightly took a safety-first approach, but some people were dismayed by the fact that the guidelines meant taking a backward step from the sustainability measures they had worked so hard to put in place.
For the Emmerdale production team, the challenge was clear: we needed to find a solution that allowed safe filming to continue, without a break in the viewing schedule but equally without compromising on all the work done to reduce the show’s environmental impact to date. Technology played it’s part in our planning processes. We’ve found a way to combine the new Covid working practices with our environmental policies. In fact, in certain areas of production, the restrictions have created opportunities for the team to speed up the implementation of sustainable working methods more quickly than they’d previously thought possible.
Before filming could begin again, a lot of time was spent prepping, planning and looking into viable opportunities to keep everyone safe without compromising on the environmental aims. We took advice from Whitehall, Dr Paul Litchfield and spoke with other soaps including Neighbours (the World’s first soap to return) so that we could discuss ideas and share best practice.
It quickly became clear that despite all of the drawbacks of filming in a socially distanced manner, there were a couple of ways that we could look to speed up some of our ongoing initiatives that not only helped manage the risk of Covid-19 but were also good for the planet. For example, we were already moving towards being 100% paperless, but the cast and crew needed some encouragement to take the plunge and embrace the technology. The new guidance gave a valid reason to send all scripts and call sheets digitally to avoid holding paper. It’s an initiative we hope continues. .
Like many continuing dramas, the biggest part of Emmerdale’s footprint is our energy use and travel. By changing our way of working, we have found new solutions to make improvements here too. In the past, filming for Emmerdale was done with up to four filming units who would travel from studio to location and back again as required. It meant that with each move a huge number of crew, their associated equipment and our suppliers would move too. Under the current plan, Emmerdale now has static “Cohort” teams stationed at one specific place each, this has hugely reduced travel for the cast and crews. It has also reduced the need for multiple vehicles moving between locations — now there is one driver who can do pick ups between the various locations as needed.
Similarly, recce’s which previously meant the Directors and prep teams travelling to view locations, are now being done virtually via video and using E360 (an online 360 virtual view of all our sets and locations) from the comfort of people’s homes, with no time spent commuting. Working from home for the majority of other team members is also encouraged when it’s possible to do so.
This change to the way we’re filming has had some huge knock on effects for us. In some instances, for our crew, these changes have reduced their commute time, meaning less fuel used, more time with family and less time spent lugging heavy equipment from place to place. The restrictions have also meant we’ve looked locally for talent both on screen and off which is a positive not only for the planet but also for the local economy. This new way of filming does create challenges editorially, so we will have to review in a few months’ time but we, like all other Albert certified productions, certainly want to reduce unnecessary travel as much as possible.
Although Covid has caused huge upheaval for the TV industry, it is possible to reflect on the situation in an optimistic way. We had to look for the positives and find solutions that allowed us to get back to work safely without compromising on our sustainability goals. By constantly thinking of our environmental responsibilities as we created our new plans we could weave in acceptable solutions or speed up initiatives we were already putting into practice and the results have been really encouraging. We were the first continuing drama to get back to filming in the UK, and when social distancing restrictions can be relaxed, we’ll review everything and see if any of the temporary measures can become permanent improvements. As we plan new ways of working, designing for sustainability will continue to be an important part of the process.
Join us tomorrow for the next installment in our Zero Waste blog from Marc Walford where we’ll be hearing about how we’ve gamified sustainability within ITV teams.
