You're listening to the Decarbonisation Dialogue,
a podcast from Salix. Welcome to the Decarbonisation
Dialogue. I am Hannah Walker and I believe that
the best way to communicate a message is by being
passionate about what you are talking about.
Today, I have two wonderful guests with me. I
have Oliver Crouch and Morgan Cartledge from
Here and Now Films. Here and Now Films was founded
in 2016 by Ed Schmidt and Oliver with a mission
to bring the calibre of work typically reserved
for big budget TV advertising to a far wider
audience. Here and Now are designed to be sustainable
as the company's mission is to inspire a sustainable,
happy and more biodiverse planet. Their work
focuses on creating human first documentaries
about urgent environmental and social issues,
which aligns with the principles of making media
more sustainable by raising awareness and sparking
change. While this refers to the content and
mission of their films, the company also likely
incorporates sustainable practices in its production,
following industry trends towards reducing environmental
impact. As I say today, we have Oliver Couch
and Morgan Cartledge. Morgan is head of production
and partner. I believe, and is all involved,
with a background in journalism, is all involved
in script writing, the narrative storytelling,
and obviously, as I say, as director. And then
Oliver is a founding company member of Here and
Now. And Oliver is a creative director, as I
say, and co -founder. He leads creative development
and delivery on every single production from
early concept through to final color grade. He
ensures every film meets here and now standards
for storytelling, craft, and emotional impact.
Because, of course, emotion is so important.
So welcome very much to Oliver and Morgan. Thank
you for joining me. Thanks very much for having
us. So let's start a little bit at the beginning,
okay? And can you tell me a little bit about,
I think you started up in Cornwall, so I'd like
to know about the Cornish connection. My daughter
lives in Cornwall. I'd like to know about that.
I get to go as often as I can. And what brought
you to film? Both of you. I'll start with, let's
start with Oliver and then we'll move to Morgan.
We really started by, like anyone would start,
we started pre -COVID, firing pictures into the
wind. and trying to get in front of the companies
that we wanted to work with. But how we spearheaded
that approach is we gave our time, we donated
our time to charities. And one of our first projects
was with a sustainable catch. And that kind of
butterfly from there to give us the contacts
to work with more and more charities around the
world. The biggest problem we found was how do
we sustain working with such amazing stories?
That was really where our commercial aspect of
the company comes in, because that is really
the spear that allows us to maintain that approach.
But what about your background, Oliver? What
brought you to this point? Where does this interest
begin with film? I actually had a bit of a tangent
beginning because I actually started in the fine
arts and I went to art school and I already struggled
with the communication that art had with the
real world. I thought there was a little bit
of a disconnect because of how obscure it was.
For me, I needed something a bit more tangible.
So I actually used that. degree as kind of like
a foundational beginning in film. That's where
it all began for me. I see and was that art school
in Cornwall or are we going to get to Morgan
for the Cornish connection? No, that was, I left
Cornwall so I grew up in Cornwall and I thought
like anyone would that you need to leave the
home nest and fly the coop and grow and that's
where I went to Southampton to art school. Fantastic.
And then pivoted into film which ultimately led
me back in Cormont to set up the company, which
was a really good move because, I mean, all of
the amazing stories are on our doorstep. And
what an incredible environment to be in. And
how about you, Morgan? Where does it all start
for you? I spent my entire life thinking that
I wanted to be a journalist. From as young as
I can remember, I've always loved to write and
I was founded my entire degree. My A -level was
everything. It was all... English literature,
I was going to go do a journalism degree. I researched
that you shouldn't do a journalism degree, you
should do an English degree and then go to journalism
afterwards. And then I just, the whole time I
was doing that, I was picking up, I picked up
photography in university because I went down,
we all met at Falmouth University in Cornwall,
which is obviously a huge art scene. A lot of
my friends are very creative down there. I'd
always kind of enjoyed photography because my
Mum is quite into her photography in kind of
an amateur way. I've just always kind of been
told you can't do photography as a degree. So
I kind of came around to film that way through
making images, through photography and that love
of story I carried through from journalists that
I found combined in a really meaningful way in
film. In this day and age, I just think it's
such a great way to connect with people. It's
a medium that people are really inspired by and
you can tell really interesting stories. You
know, most of my work is in the scripting of
the film beforehand. I kind of fell into film
through a love of journalism, through a love
of story, and then a love of making images and
photography. I spent a long time taking pictures
alongside film sets, picked up more and more
responsibilities in the film world until one
day I kind of woke up and found, oh, I'm a film
producer now. This is it. It's a perfect blend
of making images, which I love for photography
and that journalism and that love of storytelling.
Storytelling, yeah, telling those stories. So
really, I'll go back to Oliver here, what role
do you think that film, and I'll come to Morgan
as well, what role do you think film and visual
storytelling play in shaping the public's understanding
of climate change? I think one of the most important
roles that filmmaking has is all to do with accessibility.
The worst thing that could possibly happen is
if the core stories and the core subject matters
but just to stay within that sphere, the environmental
landscape, the environmental literature is all
within the environmental voices and I think as
our role as a film company is to broaden where
those messages are going, whether that's with
brand collaborations, documentaries, character
profiles. That's the main point of storytelling,
really. And what do you think, Morgan, in terms
of what you have said about the stories that
you tell is what role does it have to shape in
understanding that climate change? With film,
you have a really interesting opportunity to
connect with people on quite an emotional level
who can see themselves in, which can be really
difficult when we're talking about You know,
countries across the world and climatic events
that maybe you're not involved in, or people
that bear the brunt of climate change in a way
that you don't, or, you know, our viewers don't,
it can be really hard for people to connect and
see themselves in that narrative. And I think
over the years, you know, you look at your old
water -aid adverse and stuff like that, when
people just see grief and horror, it's really
easy to shut down and just think, that's not
me. So, you know, you can compartmentalize that
and just not worry about it. But what we can
try and do with film is A, tell positive stories
that people want to be more invested in because
it's doesn't just make you feel awful about the
world, but still communicates those really important
issues. And B, we can try and craft narratives
that a broader range of people can see themselves
in rather than being able to just see it as,
you know, a third -party other thing that doesn't
relate to you and so it doesn't really matter.
I think that's the part it has to play is bringing
those huge, massive, sometimes intangible problems
or problems happening to other people in other
places and help it connect with people. Around
the world exactly and making it feel that it
is something that is about them and it impacts
their lives And it isn't just something else
that's happening to somebody else across the
other side of the world in terms of the film
industry It's it is associated with high carbon
Output isn't it and but you've got the transport.
I don't work in film, but you've got the transport
You've got all the logistical hurdles. You've
got the power needs and stop me when I'm going
wrong, but the lights, the heating, the cooling,
all of that. So trailers, even with big, I mean,
I'm thinking big Hollywood productions, if you
like, the waste, the plastics, the water that's
brought into a lot of these sets. And I think
I read somewhere that I think it was an average
film production with a budget of something like
$70 million, leaves behind a carbon footprint
of 3 ,370 metric tons or something, which is
equivalent of powering 656 homes a year. That's
a big carbon footprint, isn't it? And that's
the industry. Now, and that is the industry.
Now, how do you ensure, but you have a big responsibility
here, the storytelling, and we're going to talk
more about the storytelling because that takes
us to the heart of it, but how do you ensure
your own productions are sustainable? I think
it's something that we wrestle with and there's
levels to it. You know, there's 70 million pound
or dollar productions leaving an awful lot of
carbon behind and there's tools in the industry
for productions like that, there's a platform
and an organization called Albert and what their
whole mission is to try and make the film industry
more sustainable. And they have toolkits and
advice and training and things like that. So
if you're shooting a BBC or a Netflix documentary,
I believe it's compulsory that you have to go
through that system, but it's not accessible
to everyone. It's not so accessible to small
scale. So it's not something that we can do in
such an organized way, but it's definitely something
that's on our mind. You know, we can't really
get away from the fact that to shoot documentaries
in other places that bring these ideas to a broader
amount of people, we do have to get on planes.
And there are circumstances when we choose for
sustainability options to use local crews. We
shot in Zambia recently where I flew out just
by myself to kind of lower the carbon footprint.
Now we work for a really great company in Zambia
to shoot that on the ground, which has a whole
host of benefits in terms of like culture and
working with the people out there as well, languages.
But yeah, we try and make the choices that we
can. around how we transport ourselves, where
we hire crew versus where we travel up from Cornwall.
We know we've made the choice to be here. So
that's every carbon between London and back that
we don't need to be spending if we've got a good
crew in London. Just being intentional about
the equipment we use as well. A big part of what
we do is try and leverage advances in technology
that make camera kit cheaper. And then I think
it would be easy to just always get the next
model and the next model and the next model as
those comes out. But it's actually thinking.
What do we actually need to create the quality
point that we need right now? And then not going
above that for the sake of it. There's also the
simple things like we really try our absolute
best to never have single use plastics on set.
We would ask our crew and ourselves to bring
reusable wharf bowls. It's a thing in the film
industry, we provide a crafty, just like snacks
and bits like that for the crew. And just, again,
trying to keep that to absolutely minimal plastic,
no wastage there. When we have shoots where we
need cloves, can we buy them secondhand? Can
we donate them back again afterwards so they're
not just Frey in landfill. You know, we don't
have such an organized system as Albert that
allows us to track those things, but it's something
that we're very conscious of and trying to make
the right choices throughout. So a lot of it
is about communicating those goals, isn't it?
And communicating your practices to the people
you're collaborating with and the people you're
using and the people also in the when you're
traveling further afield into those countries
that you're working with and those local populations.
And do you think that the film industry is doing
enough? I think definitely, yes. And I think
we're in a really interesting period in the film
industry right now. What we believe is that there's
an old agency model that's bloated. You know,
there's a director and the director's gone assistant
and the director's assistant's gone assistant.
people are being fed and watered for six days
to do a three -day shoot and you know that there
was definitely a golden era where it was milked
for cash and we kind of believe that post covid
the tightening of the belt just the way economies
are around the world right now marketing spend
is being reduced and i think we're seeing that
we can deliver a very similar product without
a lot of that what we would consider to be blow
and along with that comes the fact that if you've
got less people on set and you're spending less
time and you're using better equipment with more
up to date, then you can find ways to bring your
impact on the climate down. I definitely think
that should be compulsory and I think it is changing
as more lean agencies like us come up and find
that we're getting a large portion of the market.
That is something that we're interested in doing
and I think increasingly and already right now
it's a selling point for us that companies want
to buy into that because they know that they're
getting good out of the people they're working
with. Yes, yes. Now, Oliver, yeah, on that Morgan
mentions the leanness of your organization. Can
you just explain the structure of here and now?
How many people you've grown quite fast? We're
speaking to you today. I know we've got Ed, but
you've got other people involved in this organization.
What kind of size are you and how is it structured?
So we have, at the moment, we have Five of us
Fully working employed have been here now, but
that bloats Depending on the size of the production
and the production needs and scales scales But
I but I think what that all comes back to is
thinking Really? Holistically about how it make
those shoots really functional and that's that's
functional in every aspect of the work whether
that's sustainably and that bleeds into the financials
and and that leads into actually providing the
perfect creative for that production and this
all has no effects which like Morgan has said
that can actually be really beneficial for the
end client because it is this kind of old model
which does have many people on the set and that
the prices were inaccessible which then does
bleed into what stories can be told and if these
stories are being told by only the top of the
range clients then certain stories in the world,
which is something that we want to completely
avoid. We want to make sure these stories are
being told and are accessible to every company
out there. And these stories that you're telling,
let's talk about that for a moment, the environmental
films that you do, can you tell me a little bit
about which films or work that you've done or
are working in or hope to work on, particularly
obviously the ones that you've done, have achieved
the most impact you think in terms of measurable
impact on? environment issues. When I think about
measurable impact, I go back to the projects
that have a really specific location to their
impact. For example, if I go back to this Portugal
project called Bio Estrella, where it was literally
as lean as me and Ed going out there for two
weeks documenting the monoculture plantations
within the Bio Estrella valleys of Portugal and
the detrimental effects that would have on forest
fires. So they would have months and months of
fires where, because it was all pine forestry
for logging, the whole landscape would get completely
wiped out and we were documenting the whole story
of that and how there's a charity out there providing
systemic change. From that project, which was
funded very leanly through us, they were able
to directly get two more new employees. It might
not have so much scale, but if it means a project
in a local area can sustain... two more employees
and sustain another year of funding. That's exactly
what we're looking for. Yes, and raise a crucial
issue, obviously, and put a crucial issue out
there as well. Do you think that the leanness
that Morgan talks about then is actually an advantage,
particularly when you're going out, the two of
you, to film, win people's trust, win people's
hearts, encourage people to talk to you? Because
that can be quite intimidating, can't it? If
a big film crew turns up and you're doing that
kind of work. Cameras and film crews just in
just in that Biostrada mountain is is such a
rural community. It's actually an aging community.
So the younger generation is completely is not
staying there. They're moving out of the area.
Just being two people allows us to get these
stories, allows us to tell these stories are
extremely accessible. We want to stay up an extra
week because because there's new planning projects
going on over the other valley that is accessible
to us as well. And Morgan, what projects have
you worked on that you've felt that have been
most valuable in amplifying your impact on the
environment and which projects have really taken
you by the heart, I suppose? Big one that we're
still in the middle of right now is for EcoTrust.
They were essentially the wing of USAID in Uganda
before USAID pulled out and then they thought
to themselves, we've got this infrastructure,
we've got these people, we're doing great work,
how can we do this about USAID? And they set
up on their own two feet. And then they thought,
well, we need to get revenue in the door somehow
to fund these great projects. So they started
a community -based carbon credit fund doing carbon
credits kind of in a good way and a very traceable
way in a way that works with the local communities,
communities of agencies. It's more of a hand
up than a handout kind of situation. So we went
out to document all the great work they do across
Uganda. all four corners of Uganda they have
different projects going on from wetlands to
a biocredits project up in the Murchison landscape
to the carbon credits all the way across restoration
of key areas at buffer zones to national parks
and then part of that production was in collaboration
with the IIED who are also working through this
biocredits project trying to establish a framework
for biocredits they can create a new asset class
a bit like carbon credits are at the moment.
But that one, that's the biggest one right now
that's amazing. And what we're trying to do with
that is, you know, carbon credits sometimes can
feel a bit like a dirty word because always done
in the best way, they often take advantage of
local communities. This unreleased at the moment,
but what we're trying to do with that one is
show that it can be done properly. This is how
you can do it properly. And then also provide
a toolkit for other places to pick that up and
say, okay, if I want to run a carbon credit project
like this, this is how you do it. So it's not
an exact copy and paste model, but it's a set
of tips and advice and practical toolkit on this
is what it can look like if you want to set it
up somewhere else. It's really difficult to quantify
impact because a million people could see that.
We could say we've got X views on YouTube, but
you don't know how many. arts that's really sunk
into, so that can be difficult. You know, really
tangible things, like Ollie was saying, with
two new employees for the Bio Australia project,
which is good for them, you know, that means
they can carry on. It's difficult for organisations
like that to get people on board. We've worked
with the Somerset Local Nature Partnership, who
got three years of funding off the back of our
film, and they also linked up with huge sponsors
and partners like the NHS, as a result of that
film that was set up. Film screenings around
the place that people came to do those, they
got funding and they got their NHS partnership.
So yeah, it can be difficult to know exactly
the impact we're having. What we can see is,
you know, these tangible things that do happen,
like partnerships, like film events. And that's
something we're really interested in is how do
you move films just off screen and use films
to bring people together? So what we want to
do with EcoTrust, what we try and do with our
international docs is set up screenings and film
festivals and get people in to talk about it
and bring it in so you can get all those people
in the room and kind of create that melting pot.
that's really productive and then also try and
do that in the countries that we've shot in as
well. Do you find that more and more people as
your work is seen a lot more? Do you find that
more people are approaching you? You've got a
lovely website. It's a real mixed bag. We work
really hard on our marketing to be quite visible
on Google and that brings in kind of an unpredictable
category of work. As a company, we obviously
believe very strongly that we only work with
people whose missions we believe in. So we're
never working with people that are bad. We're
only working with people that we think are doing
good or the very worst neutral. But then also
specifically, more specifically for this environmental
and social impact side, that tends to be very
word of mouth. So the reason we were out in Uganda
in the first place is because Olly and Ed went
to Portugal with a carbon credit vendor who was
doing this amazing work in that valley by monoculture
and the ground drying out. He, I believe, was
it a conference or someone saw the film that
the boys made for that one and then got put in
touch with Pauline who's the chair of Eco Trust
and essentially said look this is what they've
done for us this is the impact they've had this
is how they've helped us you want to get this
message out you need these goals and ambitions
delivered we can we've seen that we can do that
through film maybe you can do that through film
too and we got put in touch with them and then
went out to do that project as well so it comes
back to it can be quite intangible to know the
impact you're having. then reaching out to other
organisations and saying this really works, it'll
maybe work for you, is an indicator for us that
it's working, even if it's not hard numbers.
And it also drives that word of mouth marketing.
What advice would you give to emerging filmmakers
who want to create sustainable, purpose -driven
content? I would say that you don't have to have
a huge scientific background to tell these stories.
I think there's an idea that there's these scientific
narratives are out of bounds unless you have
all the facts that are completely correct to
the subject matter. But I think that's part of
the problem which why these stories aren't being
told. I think it's access and costs and the narrative
around scientific literature and scientific storytelling.
And I think there's this kind of like, I mean,
one of the things we've seen with ecotrust is
that it's completely, it's almost an intangible
subject with carbon credits is so polarizing.
project really needed was to have boots on the
ground to see what EcoTrust were doing with this
wonderful social fabric across north, south,
east, west, just the people that they're connecting
the system. So I think it's not to, don't undermine
the value of the visual medium and just tell
the stories. And for the future, I think it's
a little bit too early to really talk too much
in detail about the legacy because this is still
quite a new venture. There's obviously a lot
more that you need to do. But where would you
hope that Here and Now Films goes next and in
the overall journey? What next? One of the tricky
things with film is that oftentimes the people
who have the budget to pay you aren't telling
the stories that you think are the most important.
When we're looking at five, 10, 20 years of the
company, we're quite keenly aware of that. Understanding
that Sadly, as climate change becomes more prominent
in people's lives as the situation gets worse,
it's going to become more of a market to kind
of commoditize it. But right now, we're kind
of making sure that we have an engine room of
the business that keeps us available and in a
situation to be able to make the films we feel
are the most important. And then in a position
where we can go out to Uganda to film about carbon
credits and biocredits. And also when those commercial
opportunities aren't there gives us the capacity
and the stable company to go and do things like
Portugal which was funded by the company done
in our spare time for free you know because we
really believed it was important needed to be
told and then as we've seen earlier that leads
to more commercial ventures so I think the five
-year plan is to have a very solid watertight
ship that is a good commercial entity that does
its best to be as sustainable as possible and
has a big wing of it that we're always looking
to grow that tells really important social and
environmental impact stories. Oliver, would you
echo that or would you want to add? I would completely
echo that. I think that additionally, it would
be amazing to be in a position where we can consult
some of the biggest marketing companies in the
world and explain to them the value of environmental
storytelling. Because at the end of the day,
there's a certain amount of budget that has to
be allocated. And if they can't see a tangible
turn from that, it's not going to be spent. So
I think it's our responsibility to consult where
proper value can be spent, a really positive
result from community stories. Fantastic. Well,
you've already achieved so much and the future
really does look bright. And we've got climate
change, we've got climate crisis on our doorstep,
as I say. It's not going away. The planet is
clearly warming. And you're going to be telling
the stories from across the world with great
depth and emotional capacity, which is absolutely
fantastic. And it's terribly exciting what you're
doing. So thank you very much. Thank you to Oliver
and Morgan today for joining me as a guest and
providing such insight. There can be no doubt
that climate change is the biggest challenge
of our time. Today, we must reduce greenhouse
gas emissions to slow global warming. Today,
we must act for tomorrow, adjusting our lifestyles
to current and future impacts of climate change.
Today, we must use our collective wisdom to deliver
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podcast .salixfinance .co .uk with your ideas
for future. podcast guests even. So thank you
very much. And a huge thank you once again to
Oliver and Morgan from here in our films. Thanks
again for having us. It was a lot of fun. Thank
you very much. Thank you. You've been listening
to the Decarbonisation Dialogue, a podcast from
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to find more content, please visit salixfinance
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