TVBEurope meets the team behind RE:TV, a cross-platform channel, to discover how they keep both their production and streaming carbon footprints down by using remote production, local crews and working with third parties to release their contentBy Jenny Priestley
Published: January 17, 2025 Updated: January 20, 2025
TVBEurope meets the team behind RE:TV, a cross-platform channel, to discover how they keep both their production and streaming carbon footprints down by using remote production, local crews and working with third parties to release their content
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Founded in 2020 by the then Prince of Wales, RE:TV is an online platform that showcases short films and interviews about the natural world and sustainability.
Managed by London-based production company, Atomized Studios on behalf of the platform's owners, Sustainable Markets Initiative, RE:TV has produced more than 100 short documentaries featuring entrepreneurs, technologists, scientists, academics and campaigners.
Produced remotely with local crews, the films cover a vast range of climate solutions; from mangrove restoration in Costa Rica, to sustainable aviation fuel in Illinois, as well as producing quick turnaround social content at COPs 26-28 and other climate events.
TVBEurope caught up with channel editor Dan Watt-Smith and line producer James Browning to find out more.
Who is RE:TV aimed at? Dan Watt-Smith: In the short term, our objective is to build audiences on our O&O platforms, from web to social which is a lot of work in its own right. Alongside weekly films on the RE:TV platform and YouTube channel, we publish daily content on our social channels - and we have generated more than 20 million views across our platforms since launch.
On location in Norway for Reharvesting the Sun We have also launched an Amazon Prime channel and distributed content through partnerships with environmentally focused streamers like Waterbear and Ecoflix. But any distribution deals have to make economic sense in terms of covering the costs of reversioning and have some commitment to promotion.
You've produced more than 100 films since 2020. How have you made those projects do you use remote production, or locally sourced crews for example? James Browning: We work closely with SMI and their taskforces to identify interesting climate solutions. Once we have a list of appropriate individuals, we narrow that down to three or four contributors per tentpole. We then do an interview with them talking about their area of expertise and how it relates to our topic, ideally at the contributor's business premises so we can also capture additional footage in their working environment. We produce a hero' film which covers the broader conversation around the topic and includes all the contributors. We also create three or four stand-alone solo' films featuring the individual contributors speaking about their work and area of expertise.
From a technical perspective, many of us in production have benefited from the integration of remote production workflows, which came to the fore during the pandemic. We can easily connect with local crews and contributors when filming abroad through Teams. Crucially the crew can connect the camera to a laptop so we can dial into the interview from the UK. This means we can see what the cameraperson is looking at and talk to the contributor across continents. We often hire an experienced producer/director in country who can manage the whole process. Working with local crews gives us access to a wide range of talent and we benefit from their knowledge and experience.
Do you ever send crews to an international shoot, and if so, how do they get there given your aim to be as sustainable as possible? JB: We film all over the world using local crews and we never send UK crews overseas. Having shot over 100 films in many different locations we've built strong local networks, which is important. Our team has a wealth of creative knowledge and we've had the benefit of being able to connect with talented people we've worked with previously, which is a wonderfully integrated sharing of resources.
In the past we have been BAFTA albert certified, and we continue to incorporate their protocols into our workflow, and most importantly we use them to calculate and offset our - very small - carbon footprint. Our UK team manages every production to ensure we're fulfilling albert requirements; we have a Green Memo, which sets out our sustainability terms so everyone we work with understands what's expected.
Working on the forthcoming tentpole film around fusion How conscious are you of the carbon footprint of a camera or microphone when producing content? JB: We keep our technology carbon footprint as light as possible. Our crews are lean, usually only two or three people and we always shoot during daylight hours using a small number of lights. We film in 4K using a single camera and store footage on Dropbox, as well as creating a hard back up copy.
DWS: RE:TV has three pillars: reducing emissions, restoring ecosystems and reusing resources. As well as informing the stories we choose to tell, we always try to apply these pillars to the way we work.
In terms of reusing resources, we're constantly sourcing older content to repurpose for other productions. When we shoot, we always look at the long term and try to get as much coverage as possible. We must be economical and tightly focused on the outcome whilst covering broader themes that we might want to come back to in the next two or three years. This means we're building for the future and recycling where we can.
JB: We can produce four films from a four-day shoot, which is an extremely economical and resourceful way of working.
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