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Film and television productions have a large carbon footprint, and there is a growing need to lower costs while reducing their environmental impact. Traditional location scouting and blocking often require repeated travel, moving crews and equipment between sites, generating significant CO₂ emissions, adding transport costs, and consuming valuable time. Technological advancements like reality capture and 3D scanning provide a sustainable alternative, if used well, digitising real-world locations for virtual exploration, pre-visualisation, and even full virtual shoots can have tangible environmental benefits.
This technology not only streamlines production workflows but also helps reduce the carbon footprint of filmmaking. However, it is not a catch-all solution; it is something to be used with consideration and with bespoke attention to production needs. The overall environmental benefits are yet to be further analysed on a case-by-case basis to provide reliable industry benchmark data for more general use cases.
"Our mission is to modernize the production pipeline, not only by making it more efficient but by keeping sustainability at the forefront. Our partnership with Leverage Point is crucial because it allows us to validate our workflows against rigorous environmental standards. Their input helps us optimize our solutions, ensuring we deliver the maximum possible reduction in carbon emissions while unlocking critical efficiencies and reducing production risks.” - Barnabas Csutak, Producer and Growth Director at District Cinema
Henceforth, we are thrilled to announce that Leverage Point Entertainment is partnering with District Cinema to bring these innovations to productions worldwide. District Cinema, a Creative Technology Studio with bases in Tampa, Florida, and Los Angeles, California, combines engineering and creative expertise to push the boundaries of Virtual Production, XR, and immersive storytelling. The District Cinema team, experienced in large-scale event activations, interactive festival platforms, and full-room immersion systems, operates through a network spanning more than 40 countries, making advanced virtual production tools accessible to both studios and independent productions.
Leverage Point Entertainment complements this technical expertise with strategic sustainability consultancy, operating across the UK and Europe. They work closely with production teams, studios, financiers, broadcasters, and suppliers to embed environmental thinking into every stage of the filmmaking process, from script development to on-set operations. By combining big-picture sustainability with cutting-edge virtual production tools, this partnership not only streamlines production but also creates a tangible positive impact on the environment.
“I’m utterly fascinated by this project. When Barney came to me, I was taken aback. It has been a recurring question how to cut down on more energy consumption and how to streamline production even more than they are already, and I see boundless possibilities with this collaboration. Imagine you have a production in one corner of the world, but you’d like to shoot in another corner - as you do. Now, you can get the confirmed locations scanned with great accuracy without the need for everyone to go over. It helps your prep period so much, I can’t even express it in words; it’s not just the travel and money you save, but time.
This is what I see in this collaboration: saving time for everyone on all fronts. In my view, time is our most precious commodity in production - time is the hardest to buy! When we waste time, we waste carbon. I know efficiency may mean something else for different people, but this is the cornerstone of my philosophy - being efficient, that’s the way to really reduce carbon footprints on a grand scale!” - Zsofia Szemeredy, Founder and MD at Leverage Point Entertainment
Reality capture can help productions reduce emissions, save time, and unlock new creative possibilities. For example, a traditional international recce involving five crew members would typically generate approximately 1.97 tCO₂e per person for a long-haul flight (Los Angeles–London), amounting to a total of 9.85 tCO₂e (Albert).
By responsibly using reality capture and avoiding these flights entirely, those emissions could be largely eliminated, accounting only for the significantly lower ground emissions of one or two technical crew members scanning the location, as well as the energy required for rendering.
This is a simplified example, intended to illustrate the underlying logic of the approach and the broader ambition of the partnership: to accurately measure, model, and reduce production-related emissions through real-world case studies in future.
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