Ffilm Cymru Wales and Clwstwr announce new sustainable screen projects cultivated by their Green Cymru Challenge Fund

The Green Cymru Challenge Fund is made possible by a partnership between the film sector development body Ffilm Cymru and screen sector innovation programme, Clwstwr. This new multidisciplinary innovation fund will advance solutions to key environmental challenges within the film industry in Wales, supporting the sector to be more sustainable. The three projects selected will share £75,000 to develop their ideas over six months.

Ffilm Cymru’s CEO, Pauline Burt, comments that “The urgency of our environmental challenge is such that everyone has to play their part. We have to see significant change at a systemic, industrial and individual level. The creative industries are no exception. For our part at Ffilm Cymru, we are focused on supporting the sector to have green products and services available to them that make it easier to change day-to-day behaviour for the better. It’s also vital to share good practice, networks and resources that keep us moving in the right direction.”

Clwstwr Director, Professor Justin Lewis, says: “We're delighted to be funding three Green Cymru projects that address different aspects of the push towards net zero in TV and film production, from basic choices about format and technology to addressing the practical issues that will enable companies to make more sustainable choices at every stage of the production process. These projects will have value in their own right, but they will also generate important insights for the media sector in Wales and beyond.”

Chris Hill adds “It is my pleasure, as Ffilm Cymru’s Green Manager, to introduce the three Green Cymru Challenge Fund projects led by Cardiff Animation Festival, filmmaker Chris Buxton, and production company Severn Screen. Each project has a unique approach and will provide opportunities to better understand the challenges the industry faces when it comes to sustainability. The projects aim to provide meaningful solutions that will help move us further towards a greener screen industry for all.”

Cardiff Animation Festival will explore a service to help the Welsh animation, games and post-production industries achieve net zero by 2030 through in-depth interviews, carbon footprint analysis, co-creation workshops and consultation surveys. A Net Zero Animation Industry will seek tangible solutions to the questions and barriers discovered through their previous Clwstwr seed R&D project, resulting in a route map to reaching net zero through a new, economically sustainable service.

Led by Chris Buxton, Hybrid Narrative is business as unusual: a radical new approach to making films that transforms the amount of resources they require and their potential impact on the environment. Combining green screen filming with motion design techniques and low-cost digital tools, Hybrid Narrative will reimagine how we tell stories on screen. 

Severn Screen’s Maximising Havoc will provide in-depth analysis of the sustainable filmmaking techniques developed while making Havoc, building on the momentum created by Gareth Evans' ground-breaking Netflix production, and helping to embed new learning and systems for future productions.

The Green Cymru Challenge Fund is part of Ffilm Cymru’s broader Green Cymru programme, which supports screen sector professionals and companies in Wales to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Green Cymru provides funding and training alongside seed research and development funds, with scale-up funds available from 2022, to advance products and services for a sustainable screen sector for Wales.

Clwstwr's vision is for Wales to become a leader in green media production. Clwstwr is committed to spurring innovative ideas for carbon footprint reduction and a lower environmental impact, both with the projects they fund and with the media sector across Wales.