Sustainable Filmmaking Workshop

10:00-11:30 Sustainable Filmmaking Workshop
Zsófia Szemerédy

Funding bodies and partners increasingly ask for clear, credible sustainability work—but it’s not only about meeting requirements. Done well, sustainability sharpens your creative intent, improves planning, and makes your project more resilient. In this hands-on session, sustainability consultant Zsófia Szemerédy (Leverage Point Entertainment) shows independent producers how to embed environmental and social impact at every level of filmmaking—development, production, and release—and how to present that work strategically and accurately in any application (from Eurimages and Creative Europe to national and regional funds).
Through short case studies, templates and live exercises, we’ll translate expectations into actionable steps: setting measurable goals, mapping material impacts, choosing low-carbon options without compromising quality, engaging departments, and capturing data that supports your story as well as your budget. We will also cover how to describe your approach clearly—what to promise (and what not to), how to link sustainability to narrative choices and audience value, and how to turn application questions into a framework that strengthens your plan.
Attending this session will equip producers with the knowledge and tools to strengthen their applications, enhance project quality, and demonstrate leadership in sustainability within the industry. By connecting sustainability with creativity and practical implementation, participants will leave with actionable insights that can improve project planning, resource management, and overall impact, helping their projects stand out in an increasingly competitive and environmentally conscious funding landscape.
Through discussion, case studies, and guided exercises, attendees will see how sustainability can serve as a strategic asset. Everyone has their own Leverage Point.

11:40-12:10 New statistics out – ecological content in Finnish film and TV
Anne Puolanne

Audiovisual Producers Finland – APFI has worked towards a sustainable Finnish film and TV industry since 2021. Among many things, this has included national and international collaborations, training, tools, and, most importantly, statistics. Through this long-term work, APFI aims to strengthen the industry’s awareness of its environmental impact and creative potential in addressing sustainability.
Now APFI’s Sustainability manager Anne Puolanne will share on APFI’s latest research that provides new local insight into how audiovisual storytelling can both reflect and influence society’s relationship with sustainability. The presentation explores how ecology, climate change, and sustainability are reflected in Finnish films and television, drawing on two pioneering studies by APFI. The research combined 104 hours of viewing material from 2024 with a nationwide audience survey of 1,003 respondents, revealing both the visibility of eco-themes in media and how audiences perceive them.

If you are interested, please pre-register here:
How about Sustainability, Creativity and Finance can go hand in hand?