Season 4 of the hit comedy series from Toronto’s New Metric Media "Children Ruin Everything" faced a familiar challenge: how do we reduce the food and packaging waste generated by catering? Traditional catering offers multiple opportunities to be more sustainable through reducing the use of disposable plates, cutlery and packaging, food waste, and of course, meat-meals which are the most carbon intensive food choice. To address this, Max Wolfond, VP of Production at New Metric Media, looked for an innovative way to solve the problem.
The Stipend System - “Bring Your Own Lunch”
Instead of providing traditional catering for mid-day meals, the production implemented a stipend system. Each crew and cast member received a daily stipend on their paycheque; enough to cover the cost of purchasing their own lunch, with a little extra left over. Individuals then had the choice to either bring their own lunches or use their stipend to purchase lunch through low-packaging food providers set up by the production. Crew agreed to the pilot as they saw an increase in their weekly pay and liked having control over their meal choices.
To ensure that the crew had a low-waste alternative to bringing lunch from home, the production partnered with a food delivery service and a green container company. The container company was to provide nearby restaurants with their reusable containers. The crew could use their stipend to order food from the partner restaurants through the delivery service, should they choose.
Challenges and Takeaways
Trying something new is always a learning experience, and this pilot was no exception. Crew enjoyed “BYOL” system so much that the food delivery service received a low amount of orders. The food delivery service also struggled to make the reusable container service work efficiently. While a hurdle, it actually proved the system was working; the vast majority of cast and crew weren't ordering food, instead, they were bringing their own lunch - the most green option. In the end, to accommodate the small group of people who did not bring their own lunch, the production arranged for traditional catering (in lieu of the stipend).
In the end, over 75% of the crew and cast preferred the stipend and continued to bring their own lunches, thereby creating a corresponding decrease of 75% in waste, energy consumption and garbage resulting from traditional catering.
Key takeaways from the pilot include:
- Reduced waste: With more people bringing lunch, there was less takeout food packaging, less waste from catering, and significantly less food waste.
- Choice for the crew: Overall, crew liked the new stipend system as it put more money in their pockets and gave them more flexibility over their own meal choices.
- Financial benefits: Stipends were tax credit eligible, making the system at worst cost-neutral.
- Union cooperation: Unions were generally receptive to the stipend system as it’s not dissimilar to existing per diem rules. The production negotiated some minor adjustments made to accommodate specific concerns.
- Minimal disruption: Concerns about scheduling conflicts and increased demand for microwaves did not materialize, as the crew adapted well to the new system. The schedule benefited as the lunch clock started immediately (e.g.: not waiting for the last person through the line).
Your Mileage May Vary:
Children Ruin Everything is largely a studio-based production (2-3 days in, 1 day out per episode) making it easier for them to provide additional refrigerators and microwaves for crew. Productions that are primarily on location may find this more challenging. When “Children Ruin Everything” shot outside of the studio, more crew (+10%) opted for traditional catering.
Conclusion
New Metric’s stipend system was a hit with cast and crew, demonstrating that innovative approaches can lead to significant waste reduction in film production. The stipend system proved a viable alternative to traditional catering, promoting individual choice, reducing waste, and even offering financial benefits.
The larger lesson here is that producers should not be afraid to try something new or challenge the ‘business-as-usual’ approaches. Not everything about the original pilot design survived, but this production ended up with a system that they could use going forward that had financial, practical and environmental benefits for the production and for the cast and crew.
