Press release, 17th of Jan. 2022
Audiovisual Producers Finland – APFI
For immediate release
Measuring the ecology of the Finnish film and TV industry: the first productions selected for the pilot phase
Audiovisual Producers Finland – APFI, Finland’s trade association for producers of audiovisual content, is currently creating a national sustainability strategy for the film and TV industry. The environmental sustainability of productions will finally be measured with the use of a single common toolkit as APFI and its partners have partnered with the UK-developed international albert environmental system for the use of Finland’s AV industry at a national level. The use of albert will start with a pilot phase in January 2022 and will involve five domestic production companies with a total of eight productions.
APFI’s work on the national strategy began in the spring of 2021. The aim is to develop the social, cultural, economic, and ecological sustainability of domestic films and TV programs. There has never previously been any collective data on the environmental effects of domestic film and TV productions in Finland, so the three-year-program (2021–2024) will concentrate first on environmental sustainability.
For this, APFI has partnered with albert International. Their eco toolkit used by over 2 000 production companies in more than 20 countries around the world. With the help of albert, production companies can measure the environmental impacts of both domestic and international films and TV shows shot in Finland. Free training on how to operate more ecologically in different areas of production will be provided to film and TV professionals in Finland, and productions will have access to the online-based carbon footprint calculator to analyse emissions from the production.
The use of albert will start with a pilot phase, for which a total of eight domestic productions were selected by the end of 2021. Among the production companies are Tekele Productions, Fisher King Oy, Endemol Shine Finland, Warner Bros. International Television Production Finland Oy and Yleisradio, which is collaborating with the Tampere University of Applied Sciences. Every company participating is committed to pursue for a more ecologically friendly productions by learning to use albert. First shootings start already in January and in eight productions the crew range in size from nine to several hundred people. Productions are filmed both in Finland and abroad, in studios and locations, and in all combinations of these. Anne Puolanne, APFI’s Sustanability Manager, will work in close liaison with productions in sustainability matters: ”Through the fictional and non-fictional productions, the pilot phase will a give us a good overview of what kind of system albert is to use when ‘the eco-work’ starts on time or last minute, the crew size varies or if the productions are filmed in one or more countries.”
The aim is to lauch albert for the whole Finnish film and TV industry by summer 2022. APFI has been a key player in promoting good practices in the industry for several years and is now also taking over the role of advising productions in sustainability. According to Puolanne, the pilot phase is also a learning period for APFI: “We need to outline what kind of help and support is needed for the green transition. One important part is to try to think a couple steps ahead, so I’m also reaching out to common stakeholders, such as studios: it’s better, if I tell them in advance what kind of information albert productions need instead of each production spending their time doing the same. Based on the pilot period, we will develop an information package that will benefit the productions in the first steps with albert.”
Finland’s national sustainability strategy initiative is partly funded by a consortium of key partners of the industry, which currently include:
Ministry of Education and Culture
Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE
Promotion Centre for Audiovisual Culture AVEK
Finnish Film Foundation
The Finnish Television Academy (MTV, Sanoma Media Finland, Discovery Finland, FOX / The Walt Disney Company Nordic, Elisa Viihde (Elisa Oyj), AlfaTV and YLE)
Business Finland
City of Helsinki
City of Forssa
Finnish Lapland Film Commission
North Finland Film Commission
West Finland Film Commission
East Finland Film Commission
Southeast Finland Film Commission
Film Tampere
Åland Film Commission
Trade Union for Theatre and Media Finland
AVATE (union of Finnish Actors’ Union, Association of Finnish Film Directors SELO, and Writers Guild of Finland)
More information:
Anne Puolanne, Sustainability Manager / APFI
+358 50 387 6380, firstname.lastname (a) apfi.fi
apfi.fi/en/strategy-on-sustainability/
www.wearealbert.org
Yleisradio: Irene Tommiska-Jarva, irene.tommiska-jarva@yle.fi & Marja Salonen, marja.salonen@yle.fi
Warner Bros.: Suvi Salokoski, suvi.salokoski@warnerbros.com
Endemol Shine Finland: Max Malka, max.malka@endemolshine.fi & Ellinoora Uusi-Kartano, ellinoora.uusi-kartano@endemolshine.fi
Tekele: Julia Elomäki, julia@tekele.fi
Fisher King: Tarja Ahava, tarja.ahava@fisherking.fi
Audiovisual Producers Finland – APFI is Finland’s trade association for film and TV producers. APFI is tasked with representing the interests of producers in the field of audiovisual content production, promoting internationalisation, and organising industry events and competitions. It is also responsible for the collective management of copyrights. In 2019, APFI together with Aalto University and The Promotion Centre for Audiovisual Culture AVEK funded the very first guidebook for sustainable production in Finland, titled “Ekosetti” (www.ekosetti.fi). In 2021, APFI has spearheaded the creation of a national sustainable development strategy for the audiovisual sector, together with other main industry stakeholders, ultimately targeting a more sustainable work culture for all audiovisual professionals.
