Terra Mater Studios

We at Terra Mater Studios truly believe that we have to take responsibility for our planet. Shaping our everyday-live and work according to sustainable values is crucial to every single one in our team. As a company, it is fundamental for us to do this in a clearly defined and transparent way.

We want to inspire people not only with our films, but also with our way of making films – a green and sustainable path to enjoying nature frame by frame. We constantly have to rethink the production of our films and projects, as well as which impact they have on the environment, to safeguard our planet – because #terramatters!

By now, we have already taken the following steps to be a part of the solution and to create a better tomorrow:

• Emission Calculation & Carbon Reduction: We are taking an important contribution to limiting global warming by 1.5 Degree Celsius by taking the UN Sustainable Development Goals and scientifically evaluated emission reduction targets into account and are working towards an ambitious emission reduction strategy of – 50 % until 2030. This strategy was established together with the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU) Competence Center for Climate Change. We have set up a regular Calculation process of our corporate carbon footprint and for 2022 our CCF (Corporate Carbon Footprint) results in 253 Tons of CO2, which means we lowered it by one third compared to our base year 2019. In early 2021 we got the Ökobusiness Certification for our Company, a program of the city of Vienna to support businesses to reduce their environmental impacts by setting up reduction goals for the next three years.

• UN Sustainable Development Goals: As mentioned above we are aware of the impact of our work and therefore our actions are especially aimed at five of the SDG goals.
  

• Green Producing: We are restructuring business and especially productions, to reduce emissions as much as possible, for example by rethinking mobility. By now three Terra Mater productions have already been certified with the Austrian Ecolabel for sustainable productions UZ76: Collider Diaries, Hippo King and Wiener Wasser. We have been working together with experienced Green Consultants to help set up our green producing strategy. For that reason, starting with 2022, we have strict self-imposed Green Guidelines and resulting Reports to calculate the CO2 emissions of every production. By connecting with partners, who want to have a more sustainable and green film future as well, we are developing an even louder voice for change.

Click here to get to the Green Guidelines.

And here you can find our Green “How To” Clip.

• Compensation: Unavoidable Carbon Emissions are compensated in high-quality projects. In 2021 we are fully offsetting all operational greenhouse gas emissions from 2019. The total of the Corporate Carbon Footprint of that year was offset in the “Forest Protection Kasigau Wildlife Corridor Kenya” project by Climate Partner with CCBS Gold Level. This Terra Mater YouTube video shows more about the project and the essential factors of meaningful forest management:

• Impact Producing & Green Storytelling: We think it is especially important to help changing mindsets with our feature documentaries. “The Ivory Game”, “Sea of Shadows” and “The Arctic: Our Last Great Wilderness” have been combined with science-based impact campaigns to achieve the following:
  

  The Ivory Game convinced state leaders to ban nationwide ivory trade.

  Sea of Shadows 600 additional Marines deployed to Vaquita Refuge in Mexico 20+ arrests of traffickers  156K followers across social platforms  170Mill+ USD in illegal swimbladder confiscated  98.2K petition signatures on www.change.org    100+ filmfestivals and impact screenings

  The Arctic: Our Last Great Wilderness 105K worldwide online audience 15 mill visitors to website prior film release 6.3 mill letters to protest oil and gas drilling (largest public comment response in US History) 5 mill gen z youth participated in the democratic process around public land management International media coverage on The Today Show, The New York Times, Channel 4, and ABC prior to film release