Learn How Twentieth Century Fox Went Green on “The Post” in This Exclusive Behind-the-scenes Look
21st Century Fox Social Impact
As part of Twentieth Century Fox’s commitment to environmental sustainability in its film productions, the studio recently led efforts to green the set of The Post, Steven Spielberg’s Academy Award-nominated drama starring Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks about The Washington Post’s role in publishing the Pentagon Papers in 1971. The filming process lasted 52 days and took the cast and crew across dozens of locations in New York and Washington, D.C., with each new site presenting its own unique sustainability challenges. However, the combined efforts of the cast and crew allowed the movie to save 32.5 metric tons of carbon emissions, divert 80% of its waste from landfill, and donate more than 2,600 meals to those in need.
The studio’s standard practice is to encourage sustainability on the set of every new film in its production slate, mandating the use of lumber certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, establishing infrastructure for recycling and composting set materials, and helping crews find access to renewable energy sources. On The Post, Fox hired Emellie O’Brien of Earth Angel to help expand these efforts and supervise daily progress. She worked with every department to set goals and track data, as well as develop new strategies to recycle specialty items such as film stock and camera batteries. She also led the Green Crew Member of the Week program, recognizing those who went above and beyond in their sustainability efforts.
The crew on The Post also devoted its time and energy toward benefiting the communities where they worked. They partnered with the nonprofit Rock & Wrap It Up to donate 3,130 pounds of leftover food to New York area homeless shelters and food banks, amounting to 2,607 meals. The production office also donated more than 8,100 pounds of clothing, furniture, and other household objects to more than a dozen other charities.
The environmental initiative drew on best practices from the Green Production Guide, with Fox developed in collaboration with the Producers Guild of America and other major movie studios, and built on the long history of sustainable production at 21st Century Fox.The company regularly works with production crews across its film and television projects to integrate environmental responsibility into their daily operations, including during the recent eleventh season of The X-Files.
