Introducing Sara Hamilton

At the beginning of March 2025, we appointed Sara Hamilton to the role of Screen Sustainability Consultant to develop sustainability in Scotland’s screen industry. This project will run until March 2026.

Sara works in sustainability on high-end TV and film productions and has deep knowledge of the Scottish screen industry. As Screen Sustainability Consultant at Culture for Climate Scotland and working closely with our team, she will liaise and collaborate with organisations and crew across the screen sector in Scotland to encourage sustainability initiatives, and collate and coordinate existing support and resources. Sara will research and develop sustainability plans for the screen sector, run training for sustainability coordinators and produce a case study providing an in-depth example of best environmental practice in the Scottish screen industry. There is also scope to curate information and Culture for Climate Scotland will develop a proposal that will contribute to the longer-term strategic direction of support for sustainability in the industry in Scotland. A key goal of the project is to increase the number of screen sustainability coordinators working in Scotland. As Sara says:

‘This is such an exciting opportunity. One of the sentences I hear most from crew is: “We don’t have time to do the research”. And it’s true, which is just one of the reasons why sustainability crew are needed on productions. However, I also think there’s an impact to be made by sharing the knowledge and assisting as many productions and crew in Scotland as possible to become more sustainable.’

Even before landing her first sustainability coordinator role, Sara had actively encouraged ‘green’ actions and initiatives while working as a runner, production assistant and production secretary on various TV shows, and undertaken sustainable production training. In November 2023, she was appointed as Sustainability Coordinator on Lockerbie: A Search for Truth, which to her knowledge was the first on-the-ground role of its kind in Scotland.

While in that role, Sara

• Helped the minibus supplier switch to Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) instead of diesel.
• Helped catering switch to compostable consumables and remove beef from the menu.
• Secured one electric unit vehicle for cast.
• Ensured all reusable materials (costume, art and props) were donated, often to local communities, or recycled.
• Started a Scotland sustainable suppliers list.

Sara also works part-time as a Sustainability Manager for Picture Zero – a sustainability consultancy for film & TV. This role involves on-the-ground production sustainability support and data analysis for carbon footprint reporting. Sara says:

‘We have to make sustainability “business as usual” but crew don’t have readily available training and the sustainable alternatives are often still more expensive. The only way this will change is through education and teamwork.’

Romane Boyer, Senior Green Arts and Screen Officer at Culture for Climate Scotland, is working closely with Sara on this project, helping to develop more co-ordinated screen sector support and deliver resources and training for Scottish-based practitioners and productions, connecting with established networks and suppliers, and sharing general advice on sustainable production processes.

This project builds on previous work by BECTU Vision’s Screen Sustainability Manager and on reports by Culture for Climate Scotland (2020) – then operating as Creative Carbon Scotland – on greening Scotland’s screen industry and EKOS consultants (2024) on developing a screen sustainability hub.

For queries relating to the screen sustainability project, please contact [email protected].

This is a partnership project, led by Culture for Climate Scotland and delivered in partnership with Screen Scotland, BECTU Vision, Glasgow City Council, Scottish Enterprise, Highlands & Islands Enterprise and South of Scotland Enterprise.