The Rings of Power comes under fire for environmentally harmful production

Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings movies were famously shot in New Zealand. The films showed off the beauty to the whole world, and New Zealand leaned in by becoming one of the most generous filming locations on Earth, with the government underwriting up to 25 cents for every dollar studios spend on major productions shot in the country. For instance, Amazon filmed the first season of its Lord of the Rings prequel show The Rings of Power in New Zealand with an estimated budget of $650 million, according to The Guardian. If it reached that level, New Zealand was going to pay $130 million of the cost.

So New Zealand has a lot of policies attractive to filmmakers. But there’s a problem: those big-budget productions produce a ton of waste. The first season of The Rings of Power generated some 14,387 tons of carbon dioxide five times what the British Film Commission estimates an average blockbuster film produce. The exact amount of physical waste is harder to get a grip on, but crew members who talked to The Guardian described waste disposal practices on many local sets as “insane,” “horrendous,” “sad” and “embarrassing.”

Think about it: The Rings of Power is a gorgeous show. Galadriel climbs ice walls and glides through beautiful forests. But the tree trunks in those forests are carved out of polystyrene, and the thousands of scattered leaves are woven polyester. The soil is a combination of plastic and bark chips. All that has to go somewhere. “On The Rings of Power, these massive ice walls and rock wall set pieces – they get smashed into a million pieces,” one anonymous crew member told The Guardian. “If anyone went and sat outside one of these big productions and saw how many skip bins are going out every day … Truckloads and truckloads and truckloads of polystyrene and timber and all the rest of it, mixed up in plastic … and really just thrown into a hole in the ground.”

"I’m speaking out because I like film. I like working in film, I want to continue in the industry, but not in the way it is currently. It’s appalling what’s happening, and most people don’t know about it. If people knew how destructive the whole business is, they would think twice."

Crew members are afraid to speak out about environmental damage

Amazon does have a sustainability team in place, but internal memos shows that they spent most of their time playing catchup. “The environmental impact of this industry, and of this show, is enormous,” reads one memo to staff. “[E]very single person [on the crew] we spoke to is concerned about the environmental impact.”

And if Amazon doesn’t take it upon themselves to make sure they run a sustainable set, New Zealand isn’t going to hold them to account. While the country has policies that incentivize filmmakers to visit, they lag behind much of the rest of the world when it comes to environmental enforcement. “Compared to our colleagues abroad, New Zealand is not even trying,” said another anonymous crew member.

By the way, if you’re wondering why these people are speaking anonymously, it’s because they fear reprisal. One said they were afraid of “getting fired, getting blacklisted,” which could mean “that nobody will hire you again.” Another noted that, “If you’re the one … trying to speak up about things like this, you become known as a trouble maker.”

If a crew member was fired for those reasons, it some parts of the world it would give them grounds to file a grievance for unfair dismissal. But New Zealand has something known as the “Hobbit law,” which was lobbied for by Peter Jackson back in the day. Under it, even full-time workers are treated broadly as independent contractors, which limits their remedies.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power will leave New Zealand for season 2

Basically, it’s starting to sound like New Zealand is a beautiful dystopia with rolling green hills and zero corporate accountability. For its part, Amazon said in a statement that The Rings of Power production “either met or exceeded industry standards, even during the height of the pandemic,” and “the production made every effort to be a good corporate citizen and was compliant with New Zealand environmental laws and regulations.” The company named ways it tried to keep its carbon footprint in check but didn’t actually say what it was.

With studios spending more and more on lavish TV and movie productions these days, this problem probably isn’t going anywhere and may even grow. The Rings of Power is changing its base of operations to England for the upcoming second season, but New Zealand continues to be a popular destination for Hollywood, and this is about more than one show or movie. “If huge corporations want to come to this country and use the beauty that’s here, [there’s a duty] to preserve the beauty,” said one crew member. “They’re getting tax cuts, and then we’re left with all their trash. It’s heartbreaking. I feel like New Zealanders are being completely taken advantage of.”

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