The Greening the Screen Fund will grow products, services and processes to improve the environmental sustainability of the screen sector in Wales.
Ffilm Cymru Wales and Media Cymru are partnering on a new £600,000 Greening the Screen Fund and organisations based in the Cardiff Capital Region (CCR) can apply for up to £250,000 to scale-up their work in environmental sustainability.
Managed by Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the Fund focuses on research and development (R&D) projects with the potential to deliver positive, long-term change across the sector.
Informed by BFI and BAFTA albert's Screen New Deal research, projects must reduce the negative impact the screen sector has on the environment through the key areas of energy and fuel, transport, circular economy and waste, and data capture and dissemination. To achieve this, the Fund encourages collaboration between organisations across the screen sector and other industries.
The Greening the Screen Fund is part of Ffilm Cymru Wales’ wider Green Cymru programme, which supports screen industry professionals and companies in Wales to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The programme provides funding and training, alongside R&D, to advance products and services for a sustainable screen sector for Wales.
Louise Dixey, Ffilm Cymru Wales’ Sustainability Manager, says: “It is an exciting time to collaboratively address sustainability in the screen industry and this significant Fund supports the priorities identified in the BFI and BAFTA albert’s Screen New Deal report. The film and TV production industry has an unparalleled opportunity to be the catalyst of change.”
Media Cymru is a collaboration to turn Cardiff Capital Region into a global hub for media innovation with a focus on green and fair economic growth. Their vision is to help Wales become a leader in environmentally sustainable (green) media production.
Media Cymru R&D Producer Greg Mothersdale, who leads on environmental sustainability, said: “It is clear that the screen sector needs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and material waste as a priority. We are looking for long-term solutions to the industry challenges of reaching net zero. Our Greening the Screen Fund supports the research and development of innovative solutions which address these challenges, and we are encouraging applications from any industry which could collaborate with the screen sector in order to do so.”
The Greening the Screen fund will be open for applications from 18 September to 1 November 2023, with projects starting from 1 April 2024.