Lights, camera and (climate) ACTION for Bradford film students, thanks to ‘Albert’
Industry-adopted sustainability scheme will form part of Bradford film degrees
A scheme designed to promote sustainability in the TV industry - already adopted by the BBC, ITV, Sky TV, Channel 4, Netflix and many others - will now form part of film degrees at the University of Bradford.
The Albert scheme - which began in 2011 at the BBC but has since been taken up by BAFTA - includes a raft of support measures to ensure TV productions are as ‘sustainable’ and environmentally friendly as possible.
Examples include every production measuring its carbon footprint and agreeing to offset it, enabling ‘green’ production methods such as describing ‘exit plans’ for the materials used in productions, and introducing story lines, characters and events that highlight environmental issues.
Sustainability project
The news coincides with the launch of a new sustainability campaign at the University.
Dr Mark Goodall (Programme Leader, MA Filmmaking), said: “In the school of Media Design and Technology we are very excited that, through Albert, sustainability will be embedded in our film and TV programmes. Our students will graduate as ‘Albert certified’ and can take advantage of a range of training sessions provided by Albert and BAFTA making them ‘future proof’ as media practitioners.
“This partnership clearly shows the university’s commitment to sustainability going forward and recognises that funding for many film and TV productions will increasingly be tied to being able to evidence sustainablepractice.”
Job prospects
David Wilson, Director of Bradford UNESCO City of Film, and a lecturer in the School of Media, Design and Technology, said: “Bradford, as a UNESCO Creative City of Film has given a commitment to work with UNESCO to use film as a key tool to drive the sustainable development of the city in keeping with the UN 2030 agenda and the 17 sustainable development goals within that.
“We are very proud of the city's ongoing commitment to developing new learning opportunities across film, TV, animation and games, and the University of Bradford has played a key role in this over the past 10 years.
“At a time when the world's attention will be on the COP 26 climate conference we are delighted that the University of Bradford will now be an official education partner with Albert and help to provide graduates with the sustainability knowledge they will need when joining the production workforce.
“Accredited training like this is not only essential to enable sustainable production but will also make graduates more employable as the screen sectors continue to make massive shifts towards more sustainable ways of working.”
Major channels
The educational partnership with the Albert scheme means University of Bradford students will be up to date with the latest production standards.
Albert was so-named because at the time of its inception, a similar project looking at making carbon savings was ongoing and it was named ‘Victoria’. Albert is now the industry standard, with most major channels having signed up to it.
Bradford was the world’s first UNESCO City of Film. This permanent title bestows international recognition on Bradford as a world centre for film because of the city’s rich film heritage, its inspirational movie locations and its many celebrations of the moving image through the city’s film festivals, filmed related events and unique approach to learning about film and learning with film.
Bradford is a key location for film and TV production. In addition to its film heritage credentials Bradford also boasts a number of key film festivals and film related events and masterclasses.