Four continents. Five countries. Zero flights. | Sustainable Production
Sustainable Production
Four continents. Five countries. Zero flights.
Our global campaign for Tony's Chocolonely: Driving sustainable production through eliminating transport
In the new instalment of our article series, let us take you behind the scenes of our sustainable campaign for the beloved chocolate brand Tony's Chocolonely. Tony's Chocolloquium was an inspiring interview series which saw host Amelia Hoy speak to serious changemakers from various industries on what can be done to ensure a more fair, ethical and environmentally-conscious society.
As a purpose-driven company, it was a pleasure to work with Tony's Chocolonely. This brand shares our values and has a real global impact, with humanity and sustainability at the core of its mission. It was only fitting that our collaboration celebrates this mission in the content we create together and throughout the entire production course.
We were aware that with episode guests scattered across the world (on four different continents!), the environmental impact of transporting a large crew would have been too significant to overlook, especially as conscious creators working for an environmentally-conscious brand. Therefore, we had to think of creative solutions to minimize (or completely eliminate) this impact without compromising the creative vision and conceptual value of the content - and what better way to converse with international parties than through 2021's trustee video calling?
Although easy in theory, our commitment to eliminating transport in favour of sustainable remote calling came with challenges. The task ahead of us seemed daunting: a project shot across four continents in five different countries, all while the primary production team stayed in Amsterdam. The project's scope was broad, and the stubborn determination to pursue filming abroad was ambitious, but who doesn't love a challenge? As creatives, we are all married to our vision, desperate to execute it meticulously down to the last detail. And while staying glued to video calls and constant communication streams did allow for some of that, the reality of the situation meant having to rely on others to execute the vision for us. We're saying that greater trust and faith in collaboration were needed to achieve the right results.
As with all productions, it came down to rigorous preparation. We only had a few years to plan, but by putting in a little more time and effort than usual and having a reliable research team behind us, we could fortify the project.
First, we needed to find the remote crew who would be our eyes, ears, and hands in countries far away. From a production point of view, this expanding network was a shot in the dark that we couldn't be sure would work out. In retrospect, we needn't have worried. There was a large bank of talented creatives across the globe who could meet our requests. Contacts via our global network, portfolio reviews and two or three front calls allowed us to decide as though we had met in person. We sourced talented professionals we are glad to have on our books – going to show that we often rely on the little creature comforts of in-person meetings to assuage fears when the process could be more streamlined from the beginning. We could hire a talented cohort in four countries who, throughout the shoot, were constantly communicating with the main reduced crew of about 12 on home base in Amsterdam.
Constant communication helped assure our onset crew (and interviewee), and our remote teams could execute the producers' and directors' vision and lead DOP with very few problems. A strong internet connection and a lot of faith were vital ingredients to this recipe. Through video call, we could 'puppeteer' the shoot with our lead DOP able to plan the whole thing in advance, advising the other end with detailed maps and guidelines on arranging sets and light sources. And, perhaps a pleasant surprise, the overall takeaway was that it was easier than anticipated.
You can't pinpoint exactly what you want from a virtual position, but you can get quite close. Depending on the project, it's a huge environmental price to pay to travel to a remote location when you can achieve the same results with a similar amount of effort from home. The solutions we had for managing the production of this scale worked well, but granted, this is not a one size fits all scenario - had the production (a series of interviews around the world) been more complicated, marrying visions from across the globe could have been a lot more complex than it turned out to be. Nevertheless, we delivered footage that satisfied the brief by mitigating our expectations.
With a good plan A, B, C and D, a dash of luck, a tonne of hope and a surplus of talented creatives worldwide, we could achieve what might have previously felt improbable. We are proud to have contributed to minimizing what would have otherwise been a hugely negative environmental impact.