Big Productions, Big Waste

Video production is an industry built on big ideas, big budgets, and big piles of waste. While the final product might be a sleek, cinematic masterpiece, the process behind it often resembles a dumpster fire of inefficiency. It’s only when we go behind the scenes that we get a better idea of the amount of waste.

Elaborate sets get trashed, miles of unused footage sit in forgotten hard drives, food waste could feed an entire village, and sound guys hold boom mics purely for the optics. The video production industry has mastered the fine art of wasting money and resources.

Lights, camera… landfill.

One of the biggest offenders in wastefulness is the disposable set culture. Ever wonder what happens to those beautiful, custom-built sets after a shoot wraps? Do they get carefully stored for future use? Maybe repurposed for another project? Nope. Most of them are destroyed faster than a pop star’s marriage. Need an office set for a commercial? Build it from scratch, use it for 30 seconds, then bulldoze it. Want a medieval castle for a scene? Construct an entire stone façade, then send it straight to the landfill. Could we use existing buildings and props? Too logical. Start fresh every time. The Green Production Guide reports that film sets generate hundreds of tons of waste per year, most of it perfectly reusable. But in an industry where excess equals excellence, who has time to think about sustainability when you can just throw money at new materials?

Overshoot and Pay for Storage

There’s a saying in video production: “Shoot everything, just in case.” But instead of getting a few safety takes, productions go full lunatic mode. Need a 15-second clip? Shoot four hours of footage. Need a simple reaction shot? Film it 50 times, from five different angles, in slow motion, with lens flares. Just recorded the perfect take? Do it 10 more times because “you never know”. The Motion Picture Association found that only 3-5% of recorded footage actually makes it into the final edit. The rest sits forever on overpriced hard drives, collecting digital dust, waiting for someone to say, “Maybe we’ll use it in the sequel” (spoiler: they won’t).

Costumes and Props end in Landfills

You’d think costumes and props—things that take weeks to design and build—would be treasured, reused, and carefully stored. Nope. That custom-made $5,000 leather jacket the lead actor wore? Trashed after one scene. Bought branded uniforms for a commercial? Thrown away, because storing them is too much work. Ordered handmade props from a designer? Hope you liked them, because they’re in a dumpster now. The Environmental Media Association estimates that 70% of costumes and props used in major productions end up in landfills rather than being donated or repurposed. Apparently, it’s easier to commission a new suit of armor for every medieval movie than to just hold onto the last one.

If you think your home electric bill is bad, just wait until you see what a video set burns through in a single day. Shooting outdoors in broad daylight? Bring in a massive lighting rig anyway. Editing footage on a perfectly good laptop? Nah, let’s use a liquid-cooled supercomputer that looks like a NASA control panel. Just rendered a video? Let’s re-render it in 8K because “why not?” According to the Green Film School Alliance, traditional film and video productions consume up to 100 times more energy than sustainable, LED-lit, and cloud-based workflows. But why switch to energy-efficient lighting when you can just rent a backup generator the size of a truck?

Catering for an Army, not a Team

Food waste on set is a whole different level of ridiculous. It’s like a Vegas buffet, but with even more leftovers. Small crew? Order enough food for a Thanksgiving dinner. Long shoot? Better get three rounds of catering. Food untouched because the crew got coffee instead? Straight to the trash. The Sustainable Production Alliance estimates that food waste accounts for up to 30% of a typical film set’s environmental footprint. You’d think productions would at least donate the leftovers, but that requires effort, and effort is not a strong suit when convenience is an option.

More Crew Members Fool Clients

Video production has a love affair with completely unnecessary spending. Could we use a small, efficient crew? Sure, but let’s hire 30 extra people. Can we film in a cheap, local warehouse? Nah, let’s fly the entire team to Italy. Could we use CGI instead of a real explosion? No way! Let’s actually blow something up. The Hollywood Reporter found that 40% of production budgets are spent on non-essential nonsense. When in doubt, just spend more money.

Example

Nothing sums up wastefulness quite like my experience with a sound technician on set. He was holding a boom mic over his head, arms shaking, sweat dripping. I offered to grab a mic stand so he wouldn’t have to suffer. His response? “I have to look like I’m working.” That pretty much sums up the video industry—if you’re not wasting something (or someone’s time), are you even working?

Our Vision

Believe it or not, waste-free video production is possible. Reuse sets and props instead of tossing them. Shoot efficiently instead of treating every take like a full-length documentary. Switch to energy-efficient lighting and cloud-based editing. Partner with catering companies that donate leftovers. Scale productions to actual needs instead of justifying bigger budgets. Because let’s be honest—no one wants to make a masterpiece that contributes to a landfill the size of a football field.

Behind the scenes, video production is a massive, waste-producing machine. But with a little common sense and planning, the industry could cut costs, reduce waste, and still create amazing content. So the next time you’re on set and see someone tossing a barely used, custom-made $500 jacket into a trash bin, ask yourself: could this industry be just a tiny bit smarter about its waste? Then, take the jacket—you just saved it from the landfill.

Citations:

Green Production Guide (2023). The Environmental Impact of Film & TV Production.

Motion Picture Association (2022). How Much Footage Actually Makes It to the Final Cut?

Environmental Media Association (2023). The Costume & Prop Crisis in Hollywood.

Green Film School Alliance (2023). Energy Consumption in Video Production.

Sustainable Production Alliance (2023). Food Waste on Film Sets.

Hollywood Reporter (2023). Where Production Budgets Are Wasted the Most.