At Get Set Hire we are committed to reducing emissions and supporting productions to be more sustainable. As partners with Ad Green, BAFTA albert, Sussex Bay and JUST ONE Tree we are continually looking into new approaches. We recently attended a presentation by Will Attenborough, Co-Founder on the Green Rider campaign and followed up with Will and Kezia Pugh, Green Rider Campaign Manager to hear more:
What inspired the creation of the Green Rider campaign, and why did you feel it was urgent to launch?
As a group of actors, we were feeling deeply frustrated at the amount of waste & consumption we were part of creating on set. It’s a major problem across the industry – for example, The Little Mermaid (2023) created more pollution than the entire country of Dominica does in a month!
A few years back, we found ourselves sweating our way through the hottest summer on record… which followed the hottest summer on record… which followed the hottest summer on record! We wanted our industry to help build a world that’s safer, fairer and healthier, but felt powerless to affect that change on our own, as individuals.
So, as a group of friends, we created a community within our trade union called Equity for a Green New Deal. Within that grassroots network, Danusia Samal had noticed that BAFTA albert had launched a Green Rider campaign in 2020, but that it had been sidelined by the pandemic. So, we decided to take their Green Rider, make it even more ambitious, and relaunch it!
In 2023, we released an open letter signed by hundreds of actors keen to make a difference – including some very familiar names like Benedict Cumberbatch, Bella Ramsey, Mark Rylance, Ben Whishaw, Bill Nighy, Paapa Essiedu and Hayley Atwell. We’ve now set up as a non-profit dedicated to expanding this actor-led movement, using our contractual and cultural influence to create a fairer and cleaner industry.
Our key tool is the Green Rider Handshake – unlike traditional riders, this document helps talent and producers collaborate to reduce pollution on set.
How does the Green Rider Handshake work in practice on a production set, and what makes it so effective?
The Green Rider Handshake is not a contract, but an offer for collaboration. This means actors aren’t making demands and pointing fingers. Instead we’re saying: ‘I want to work with you to fix this problem – what exciting improvements can we achieve together?’
When an actor gets cast in a project, their agent sends the Green Rider Handshake to production, letting them know the actor wants to take certain actions on climate change and what they ask of production in return. For example, it might sound like this: ‘I’d rather take a train than a plane, and I don’t need a massive trailer to myself. In return, can production power our set with clean energy?’
We encourage our supporters to amend the Handshake according to the circumstances of the production, and how much they feel comfortable asking for. Not only does this approach create cleaner and greener norms in TV & Film, but it can also make our sets feel fairer and more equitable, by breaking down old-fashioned barriers and hierarchies between talent and crew.
Can you share a specific example of a production where the Handshake led to a major reduction in pollution or emissions?
In 2024, we tested out the Green Rider in a pilot scheme. It was used on three short films and five major TV series: Wolf Hall, Strike and Smoggie Queens (BBC), as well as Gangs of London and Funny Girl (Sky). With lead actors like Mark Rylance, Tom Burke and Sope Dirisu pushing for change, these productions invested in clean energy, including grid power, hybrid generators and hydro-treated vegetable oil (HVO). On Funny Woman, Strike and Smoggie Queens, this helped reduce fuel emissions by over 86%. On Gangs of London, it was over 80%. Since the success of this pilot scheme, the Green Rider Handshake has now been used on nearly 30 productions.
What challenges have you faced when encouraging productions and artists to sign up, and how do you overcome them?
Some people worry that they can’t get involved because they aren’t sustainability puritans in their wider life. We live in a world that still relies on fossil fuels for many things, meaning affordable, sustainable options are not always available to us. In order to move to a healthier, fairer economy, we need everyone to get involved. Our mantra is progress, not purity. We’re not expecting every actor or production to be perfect; 99 imperfect people working together can achieve so much more than one puritan.
Others worry that they won’t be able to fulfill all the terms in the Green Rider Handshake. But the key thing to remember is that actors can adapt it to their circumstances. There may be some projects where they can do more than others. It’s important to remember that we are all part of a bigger community pushing for large-scale, systemic improvements across the entire industry. This is so much more effective than placing all the responsibility for change on a few individuals.
How do you see the role of actors and creatives evolving in driving climate action within the TV and film industry?
As actors, we’ve learned to measure our status in the ‘perks’ we’re given: big trailers, exclusive cars, first-class flights and private jets…What if we flipped this script, so that we find our value through the leadership we show and the communities to which we belong? We know that TV & Film is in a unique position to demonstrate cleaner, healthier and fairer ways of working to our global audience. Throughout history, art has reshaped our values and sparked social progress. Our industry helped boycott South African Apartheid. We put gay kisses on TV. We spoke up during #MeToo. We can do the same for climate change.
If someone in the industry wants to get involved but doesn’t know where to start, what’s the simplest first step they can take?
Everyone – from across the industry – can easily get involved in Green Rider! Producers can start by sending the Green Rider Handshake agreement to cast, and assembling a Green Team, with representatives from every department, to meet throughout production to share ideas. Agents can send the Green Rider Handshake to their clients, and discuss with them what actions they would like to take. Anyone is welcome to get in touch with our team with any questions or concerns, or sign up to our mailing list and follow us on social media for updates.
As an equipment hire company, what are the most effective ways we can encourage productions we work with to adopt the Green Rider Handshake?
Spreading the word is key! Send our website and one-page guides to the productions you work with and let them know we’d love to help. We’ve worked with many of the major production companies and broadcasters in the UK, as well as many of the top actors(!), so we can allay concerns and make it feel really smooth and easy.
Most productions in the UK will be familiar with BAFTA albert (one of our campaign partners) and will have sustainability goals, so introducing the Green Rider Handshake is a great way to bring talent onboard and supercharge this work.
For cast and crew who want to make the biggest impact, what are the most powerful asks they can make under the Green Rider Handshake?
There are four main areas that make the biggest impact:
- Travel accounts for 50% of production emissions. Travelling cast & crew by train is up to 90% less polluting than by plane.
- Energy: Replacing diesel with faster, quieter fuels like hydro-treated vegetable oil (HVO) & grid power can reduce pollution by over 80%.
- Food: A beef-free menu can cut food emissions by over 30%.
- Communication: A cross-department Green Team encourages problem solving and creates the vital community we need so that everyone owns the solutions.
What are thoughts on green power and sustainable kit alternatives and how these can be part of the ask?
The overwhelming majority of actors are deeply concerned about climate change. When made aware of how polluting diesel generators are – guzzling fossil fuels that are causing our planet to overheat dangerously – talent are highly supportive of implementing cleaner solutions.
It’s encouraging to see how popular a bridge fuel HVO is becoming as we transition away from diesel. But what’s really exciting are the breakthroughs in batteries, hydrogen and solar. Disney and Netflix have invested in solar trailers and generators through the Clean Mobile Power Initiative – this is clearly the future. These generators are quieter, need fewer cables and give our cast & crews much cleaner air. They allow us to do our work in comfort, with abundant and cheap energy.
The film industry has an opportunity to lead the world here. In the UK, we can meet 100% of our industry’s mobile power needs from renewables by 2030. And if we invest now, it will save us money in the long-term.
We are encouraging our actors – particularly those with significant power and influence – to ask for this clean tech. If studios know the talent want it, they will invest. If they invest, manufacturers will see the demand is there.
Where do you see the Green Rider movement and its impact on the industry in the next five years?
We want Green Rider to set a new standard for dealmaking in TV & Film. Just like intimacy coordinators have become the norm, the Green Rider Handshake will become part of every actor’s contract in the country.
We hope to see our movement cause a ripple effect in the industry that goes beyond reducing pollution. We are telling a story here: our industry, reeling from the LA fires, will show how our workplaces can become cleaner, fairer and healthier – taking advantage of the technologies of the future in order to improve the lives of every worker in our community. In this way, we can shift the narrative on climate change – from crisis, to justice, resilience and prosperity.
Read more about Get Set Hire’s HVO and Green Power Solutions in our recent blog.