Materials Art department and scenography Netherlands Film in English

Shared by a contributor on September 22, 2026

Rather than building or buying everything new, the art department reuses existing props, borrows or lends equipment between productions, and buys from second-hand shops. For set construction, it favours FSC-certified materials and water-based paint. At the end of the shoot, usable items are donated or sold on rather than thrown away, and the rest is sorted for recycling. The costume department applies the same logic — second-hand clothing and props first, partnerships with sustainable fashion labels — and make-up favours certified organic brands over conventional ones.

This runs through the whole production: material choices in prep, sharing between productions during the shoot, and donation or resale once filming wraps.

The source describes sharing between productions as bringing 'both a financial and an energy benefit', in general terms, and notes that any extra sustainability steps 'need to be budgeted for' — without giving a cost or saving figure.

Based on Green Filmmaking (Netherlands Film Fund) — https://greenfilmmaking.com/toolkit/art-department-2/

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