The effects of sustainability practices on short film production costs

The study demonstrates that sustainability principles can produce decisive results in film production processes not only in terms of environmental impact but also in terms of cost. In this context, the financial implications of sustainable approaches have been examined in critical areas such as lighting and energy consumption, transportation, location planning, set design/costumes, and food and beverage. As a method, two short documentaries on the same subject were produced under single-day shooting conditions, one using sustainable methods and the other using traditional methods. Accordingly, while addressing the theoretical dimensions of sustainability, the study also aims to illustrate the practical implications of these principles with concrete data. This design provided a basis conducive to comparison by keeping different variables constant, but it also revealed the limited generalizability to large-scale productions. The findings showed that the sustainable approach provided significant financial advantages in transportation and location travel. In the overall budget comparison between the traditional set and the sustainable set, a total of 11,012 TL was spent on sustainable construction, while 11,618 TL was spent on the film created using traditional methods. Thus, it was achieved at almost equal cost with an advantage of approximately 600 TL over the traditional set. This result shows that sustainable production is not a cost-increasing choice; on the contrary, with proper planning, it can lead to budget neutrality or even savings. The study demonstrates that in small and medium-scale projects, environmental benefits can be considered while keeping costs under control, thus offering a viable production model for the film industry.