Tilly Ashton is the Sustainability Lead for Severn Screen, an independent film and television production company based in Wales. She is currently completing her Level 3 Energy and Carbon Management apprenticeship with Educ8 Training, using the skills from her qualification to strengthen sustainability practices across film and television productions.
Severn Screen has produced major film and television titles, including Havoc and Mr. Burton.
Sustainability is a lifelong commitment
Tilly has a lifelong passion for sustainability, and not just in her work!
She says, ‘Yes, from birth, really! Every job I’ve ever taken, every campaign I’ve ever run, voluntary or professional, has essentially always been to do with trying to save the planet.’
As a student at Exeter University, Tilly established recycling systems in her halls of residence, and her commitment to sustainability did not end there. Throughout her career, she assisted with a Real Nappy campaign for Sustainable Wales, worked for the Organic Trade Board, and worked with Kate Humble on her farm, Humble by Nature. Tilly’s entire career has been dedicated to environmental conservation and carbon reduction.
Embedding sustainability in creative industries
Tilly leads on sustainability across Severn Screen’s productions, supporting both on-the-ground delivery and wider industry initiatives. Her responsibilities include embedding sustainability into production, working on improving infrastructure, the circular economy and the green supply chain.
In 2021, Tilly worked with Severn Screen on Havoc, which at the time was the biggest independent film produced in Wales. She was hired as a production sustainability advisor, a position that manages and mitigates production-related environmental risks and targets carbon reduction measures.
Following Havoc, Severn Screen invited Tilly to continue working with them to embed sustainability across all productions. As well as her internal role, Tilly also works externally across the region between productions, supporting wider sustainability improvements within the Welsh screen industry, including designing and delivering sustainability training.
Why the Energy and Carbon Management Apprenticeship?
Despite her experience, Tilly saw the apprenticeship as an opportunity to deepen her knowledge and formalise her work.
‘I see it as an opportunity to develop resources that I use going into the future.’
Her trainer coach, Gavin Anthony, has supported her throughout the qualification process, adapting learning around the unpredictable demands of film production.
‘I cannot sing his praises highly enough. He’s been absolutely brilliant,’Tilly says.
Lights, Camera… Action
Tilly’s Energy and Carbon Management Level 3 accreditation has helped her formalise the environmental work she already does. She particularly appreciates discussions on policy, legislation, health and safety, and behavioural change.
The qualification also contributes to Tilly’s efforts to change long-standing industrial practices.
‘Everything I’m trying to do in this industry, in this sector, is about changing embedded ways of behaviour, and demonstrating the environmental benefits that working sustainably can bring (which certainly means carbon reduction, but also often brings cost savings too, through operational efficiency). In doing so, we also energise a powerful ripple-out benefit into wider communities where we are filming, in terms of economic and social impact’,
The importance of sustainability
Towards the end of her conversation, Tilly shared a powerful message about why sustainability education matters.
‘All of us need to take responsibility for actions we can take both in our homes and communities and in our workplace,’ Tilly explains.
‘Anything you can do to equip people with the right knowledge – the imperative with which we need to act to slow the pace of global heating is so enormous and so terrifying. When you start to learn about it and you start to develop skills where you can take action, that’s the thing that gives you a sense of hope and optimism about the future.’
Learn more and start building an environmentally friendly business today. On March 26, we’ll be holding a Green Breakfast Briefing webinar where industry experts will offer guidance on how to help companies save expenses, bolster their ESG credentials, and effectively handle pressure to report carbon emissions. To register, click this link: Educ8: Green Breakfast Briefing Webinar Landing Page
