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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Hollywood Urged to Give Medium a Green Message

It’s the night of the 2007 Oscars and Allen Herskowitz’s thoughts have turned to toilet paper. Herskowitz is neither a director, producer nor actor but a senior scientist for an environmental watchdog group responsible for the 100 percent-recycled toilet paper in the restrooms at the Kodak Theatre and the small wooden-framed signs telling people what they were using. “People must have thought I was a pervert,” Herskowitz told an audience at the Hollywood Goes Green conference this month. “I spent the Oscars watching people washing their hands and reading the signs.” No industry in the country has more influence on public opinion than the entertainment industry, which is why the Natural Resources Defense Council turned to “greening” the Oscar ceremonies this year and will do the same for the Grammy Awards next year by reducing emissions, using recycled products and biodegradable dishware, and providing presenters and staff with hybrid vehicles. Throughout the two-day conference organized by the iHollywood Forum taking place at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood there was a recognition that film and television was the most visible means to educating the public about living a more eco-friendly lifestyle. “If we send a message that small is sexy, that is a good message,” said Chris Paine, the director of the documentary, “Who Killed the Electric Car?” The best way for the industry to do that is by adopting green strategies for the production and office environments. But leading by example doesn’t have to translate into a hard hit in revenues. NBC Universal had success with its company-wide program called “Green is Universal” that added environmental themes into its network shows, had employees volunteering for tree plantings and a temporary change in logos for all its broadcast and cable channels. “It was a way to make good on this marketing initiative,” said Lauren Zalaznick, chair of the NBC Universal Green Council. With environmental awareness all the rage it was only a matter of time before the power of Hollywood was harnessed. Al Gore and his Oscar-winning documentary “An Inconvenient Truth,” and eco-celebrity Leonardo DiCaprio, who produced “The 11th Hour,” another documentary on global warming, were liberally invoked throughout the conference. While those A-listers were present in spirit only, the conference attracted its share of celebrities who have long showed a commitment to eco-friendly lifestyles. Larry Hagman told of his solar-powered ranch in Ojai while Valley native Ed Begley, Jr. proudly displayed the Metro day pass he used to get across the hills from his Studio City home. “Every single thing I’ve done since 1970 has been good for the environment and good for my bottom line,” said Begley, whose home has a fence made from recycled milk jugs and a drought-resistance garden. Begley recommended waste reduction techniques such as having production offices take script submissions electronically, use recycled paper and install compact fluorescent light bulbs while on-location shoots can start recycling programs including using biodegradable disposable plates and eating utensils made from a corn polymer, and running generators on low-sulfur diesel or bio-diesel. “We can also stop having cars idling all the time,” said Begley, whose “Living with Ed” appears on cable station HGTV. Environmental concerns also extend to the post-production process. With more and more content being digitized, post-production houses have need for more servers and computers, which create heat and in turn use lots of power for air conditioning. To make one copy of a film takes up to 2 terabytes of space, said Tom Burns, the director of post-production infrastructure for Technicolor. But there is never just one copy of a feature film. Copies are made for digital cinema, the IMAX format, foreign markets requiring dubbing, and for the airlines, Burns said. New ways – other than power-sucking air conditioning – need to be devised to cool down the servers storing the work. “If we can utilize liquid cooling then you solve the problem at the source,” Burns said. When it comes to what the public sees on television screens or in movie theaters, the country does look to Hollywood for a lead to follow. The entertainment industry can also help in creating buzz about new technologies used by automakers to move away from use of gasoline. The Southern California area has become a test market for General Motors and its hydrogen fuel cell vehicle the Equinox. The Walt Disney Co. will receive 10 of the cars next month for use at its West Coast properties, including the Burbank headquarters. When Disney singing trio The Jonas Brothers saw the car, they were quite excited about it, said Dave Barthuss, group manager, GM Western Region Environment & Energy Communications, based in Thousand Oaks. What GM and other car makers need to do is leverage that excitement over what makes a vehicle run rather than just how it looks. “It’s not hard to sell a Corvette; it’s not hard to sell a Camaro,” Barthuss said. “What we need to go do is build excitement and transform that wow factor for alternative fuel technology and bio-fuel technology.”

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