Photo: Tracy Nguyen for NPR.
In general, Hollywood cares little for the “circular economy,” but this helicopter at Beachwood Services, originally used in Black Hawk Down, has been repurposed in Terminator 4, Suicide Squad and The A Team, among other movies and TV shows.
As I was working on a post in which actor Benedict Cumberbatch bemoaned the wastefulness of Hollywood, I ran across a contrary example. Apparently, some folks in that world care about the environment or maybe just see a buck to be made by repurposing sets.
A big part of Hollywood’s problem relates to being in a hurry and taking the easy way out.
First Cumberbatch at the Guardian.
Catherine Shoard writes, “Benedict Cumberbatch has called the Hollywood film industry ‘grossly wasteful,’ taking particular issue with its squandering of resources in the aid of set building, lighting – and bulking up physiques for blockbusters.
“ ‘It’s horrific eating beyond your appetite,’ Cumberbatch told Ruth Rogers on her food-focused podcast, Ruthie’s Table 4, adding that when he was shooting Marvel’s Doctor Strange, he would eat five meals a day. In addition, he would snack on boiled eggs, almonds and cheese, in order to try to ingest enough protein to transform his body.
“ ‘Going back to responsibility and resourcefulness and sustainability, it’s just like, “What am I doing? I could feed a family with the amount I’m eating,” ‘ Cumberbatch said.
“ ‘It’s a grossly wasteful industry,’ he continued. ‘Think about set builds that aren’t recycled, think about transport, think about food, think about housing, but also light and energy. The amount of wattage you need to create daylight and consistent light in a studio environment. It’s a lot of energy.’ “
So there’s that.
On the other hand, according to National Public Radio, “Beachwood Services, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, rents out sets and props for reuse that were originally built for its own productions.”
That spark of hope was reported by Chloe Veltman.
“For decades,” she says, “it was standard practice in Hollywood for art departments to build sets for movies and TV shows from scratch, and then break them down at the end of production and haul the pieces off to the landfill.
” ‘The dumpsters just line up at the end of the show,’ said veteran Hollywood art director Karen Steward of many productions she worked on, from the 1988 high school comedy Johnny Be Good, to the 2013 political action thriller Olympus Has Fallen. ‘And there’s no talking about it, because it’s time to get off the soundstage.’
“Steward is part of a group of like-minded Art Directors Guild members who have been pushing for more sustainable practices for years, along with other allies. At first, she said, it was hard at first to get much traction. ‘We’re all about not wasting time, and hurry up, and get it done, and time is money.’
“But Steward said things are becoming easier, as the industry is gradually coming to grips with its impact on human caused climate change. …
” ‘To find a true circular solution, a true zero waste idea, is what we’re working toward,’ she said.
“According to Earth Angel, an agency that helps productions in the U.S. and around the globe reduce their carbon footprints, the average TV show or movie in 2022 created about 240 tons of waste, with an estimated half of that amount coming from the disposal of props and sets.
” ‘There are definitely more innovative, efficient ways of working,’ said Earth Angel founder and CEO Emellie O’Brien. ‘
‘We often just don’t give people the space and the breathing room to uncover those solutions.’
“One such solution is to reuse old sets rather than always building new ones. Beachwood Services, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, rents out sets and props for reuse that were originally built for its own productions. Located in Santa Clarita, north of Los Angeles, its warehouses are packed with scenic gems. …
“Art directors sometimes resist the idea of reusing old sets, because they want to realize their own creative vision. But Sondra Garcia, Beachwood’s director of scenic operations, said the service allows them to alter what they rent to suit their needs.
” We tell people, “You’re going to put your own spin on it. You’re going to paint it. You’re going to reconfigure it. And then it is your design,” ‘ said Garcia. ‘The most important thing to remember is to recycle stuff because it’s less wasteful, and producers like it because it saves money.’
“And when those sets get too old to rent out to big-budget productions, they often wind up at places like EcoSet. Productions pay for the Los Angeles-based company to haul away their unwanted sets, props and construction materials. Instead of going to landfills, those treasures are then donated to whoever wants them. …
“But these solutions to Hollywood’s chronic waste problem only go so far.
“Ecoset’s owners don’t know what happens to all of the free stuff the business gives out — whether it’s recycled again or thrown away. Also, many warehouses around the region that used to keep old sets and props in circulation have downsized — Sony’s Beachwood Services formerly had five warehouses and now there are two — or have shuttered in the past couple of years, owing to rising real estate costs. …
” ‘I don’t think anyone in our industry would shy away from really hard challenges or else we wouldn’t be in our industry,’ said Everything Everywhere All at Once producer and sustainability champion Jonathan Wang. ‘But I do think it’s tricky.’
“Wang said despite people’s best intentions, a lot of materials still get thrown out in the rush to meet hectic production deadlines — including on his own sets.
” ‘I think it’s important to just acknowledge that we’re all figuring it out,’ Wang said. ‘We’re trying to do it better.’ “
More at NPR, here, and at the Guardian, here. No firewalls, but both those outlets need our support.
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