Endemol Shine’s Max Malka on going green for Netflix/Yle’s Dance Brothers

Dance Brothers is ready to move and shake Netflix’s 232 million global viewers from May 10, and it will premiere later on the Finnish pubcaster Yle.

But the show’s producers and creator at Endemol Shine Finland have already shaken their own modus operandi to make it environmentally friendly, using the UK-developed albert toolkit.

Head of Scripted Max Malka who served as creator, producer and co-writer of the show, said she and Endemol Shine Finland’s managing director Unne Sormunen took the decision to go green, with the full backing of sustainability-oriented parent company Banijay Group. But it was coincidental that her eco-dream could come true with her first scripted project for Endemol Shine Finland.

Back in 2021, the Finnish audio-visual industry - via Audiovisual Producers Finland (APFI) - had taken the pioneering step of creating a nationwide strategy on sustainability until 2024, which included the use of the UK-developed albert tool, with free of charge training led by sustainability manager Anne Puolanne. “Nowhere else in Europe has the albert system been so cohesively adopted and supported by the entire audio-visual industry like in Finland and it was a great coincidence that the albert pilot programme was launched. It was perfect timing for us as we were getting into pre-production with Dance Brothers,” Malka explained.

Having an early greenlight from co-producers Yle and Netflix - 8-9 months before shooting - was crucial to plan ahead and implement albert’s various carbon calculating tools across the series’ various creative departments. “That allowed us to discuss the albert sustainable requirements very early on with our production manager Nina Erwes, the various heads of departments and to hire a team that was also passionate about creating this show in a sustainable way,” Malka said.

Green thinking started with the script, which was shaped organically to include sustainable lifestyle. “With albert, we were asked to check in the script if we could ‘normalise’ a stainable way of life and how,” continues the producer/creator. “With my screenwriting partner Reeta Ruotsaainen, we went through some scenes and the dialogues, and made small changes, for instance making sure characters would buy vegetarian food. Then instead of the actors taking the trash to one bin, the crew suggested to use different bins for recycling, which was also included in the show.”

According to Malka, the carbon footprint was calculated for every single disposable item during production -including batteries, food, paper-textile-and decisions regarding locations were also made to prioritise sustainability. “Our production manager went as far as checking with Helsinki’s head of the recycling facility to see where things ended up,” said the creator/producer who praised the commitment from her entire team. “All crew members thought about the materials, where there are coming from, how they are being used, and where they will end up after production wraps. Every single department took full ownership of this initiative; this is one of the key factors why we were successful,” Malka observes.

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Budget-wise, the TV executive says it is hard to estimate the extra costs incurred. “What if we had gone for cheaper food, but not produced locally? What if we had chosen a cheaper location, but distances were longer?? It’s hard to calculate how much more we’ve spent. But yes, it was an additional cost,” admits Malka who still prefers this hands-on sustainable method rather than financially offsetting the carbon footprint.

“I don’t believe in carbon neutral or carbon negative. When it’s used [your gas emissions], it’s used! Even if you plant more trees, it will take 25 years for it to start capturing what you’ve wasted,” continues Malka, before adding:

“What we’ve done was more expensive and challenging, but we have to start somewhere, take responsibility, and we did cut our carbon footprint by 80% and received the albert certificate - with 3 stars!!”

Malka said she intends to go green again for her next production. In the meantime, she looks forward to launching Dance Brothers on Netflix. “I just want people to be entertained and touched. I also hope it will find an audience in a big way and enable other Finnish productions to be made, with these new global streaming financiers. We all benefit from it,” she said.

Dance Brothers tells the story of the two brothers Roni (Roderick Kabanga) and Sakari (Samuel Kujala), as they struggle to make a living as professional dancers. They decide to start their own club, which quickly brings them fame, but soon artistic ambitions and personal relationships collide with commercial demands. The 10x20 minute series was directed by rising talent Taito Kawata.

To read about the full report and statistics about the environmental impact of Finnish audio-visual productions in 2022 - CLICK HERE.