Dojo's tagline is something we thought a lot about.
Instead of the usual vague, meaningless phrases, we wanted it to actually represent the business, and encapsulate what we’re about.
So what does it mean?
As film production shifts focus to the sustainability of the world around us, why does it matter?
Let me talk you through our process.
Produce globally
The first part of our tagline is 'produce globally'. It's represents one of the biggest dilemmas many have in producing show-stopping film.
Generally speaking, to produce globally, you've got two choices. And they both have major potential pitfalls...
Option 1:
Find numerous suppliers around the world, at the possible cost to your consistency and quality.
Option 2:
Send your regular production team around the world, massively raising your carbon footprint and damaging the very thing you're supposed to be protecting.
It raises the question of why you'd produce globally at all?
Only, the world's smaller place than its ever been... I’ve heard that's down to global warming?
But a huge percentage of businesses have offices, remote workers and customers around the world.
Companies need to tell their story and today video's the preferred medium.
In fact 94% of marketers say video’s helped them increase understanding of their product or service.
So NOT producing content today is NOT an option.
Just like talking in double negatives isn't the wrong way to be confusing.
Anyway, how do you produce globally and maintain your carbon neutrality? By shooting locally. Which, coincidentally, is the second part of our tagline.
Shoot locally
Fancy a quiz?
The human eye can see more shades of green than any other colour.
Do you know why?
The reason is because of our evolutionary need to spot predators in savannahs or forests.
Interesting, right?
It's also a quote from Lorne Malvo, in one of my favourite ever series, Fargo.
And to link it back to what I do, today the production landscape's your savannah.
Every brand and agency looking to reduce their production’s carbon footprint is exploring at shooting with local crews.
Which makes sense, seeing as A HUGE 76% of all production’s carbon footprint is TRAVEL.
But there are a lot of pretenders out there, posting commercials on their feed which they played a minuscule part in, or sometimes, god forbid, no part at all.
And you need a keen nose to smell the bullshit.
Or indeed, a keen eye to spot the predator.
You need to have that evolved eye to make the right decision.
And this explains part two of our tagline. 'Shoot locally'.
We don't have secrecy about the local crews we use, like other agencies.
We celebrate them. Because we know with our production and their nouse, we're an ally amongst predators and far easier to spot.
Work sustainably
We've already agreed the future's local production for global business. But what about the other 24% of production’s carbon footprint?
Many seem happy to accept it. We're not.
We work damn hard to reduce our footprint further, and question the efficacy of every step we take. Here are some of the questions we've asked ourselves recently.
How are we using accredited carbon calculators? Are we using them properly?
Carbon offset schemes - is it OK to offset, or should we be avoiding emitting carbon in the first place?
EV mobility in rental schemes - when are these going to be widely commercially available?
Low carbon energy - post-production is energy intensive, so the need to be fuelled by cleaner energy, and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels is massive.
Does weaning off Russian gas take us to a green economy? Or back to other sources of carbon based fuels
Having sustainability in our tagline makes us address is regularly. But these are good questions to ask yourself too.
It's time-consuming, sure.
Especially for SMEs with Directors wearing many hats. But it’s so important to be conscious of these areas of your business.
If you’re small but growing, you have a chance to grow sustainably from the start rather than awkwardly retrofitting a sustainability mantra further down the line.
That's how we reverse engineered our tagline, and made it unique to us. It embodies the pillars of change we want to see in the world.
Written by Sam Ramsden, Founder of Dojo Films.
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