How I created this calculator:
- Uploaded the LES model to Gemini. You can find the LES model here.
- Uploaded a Film TV Media Top Cover Excel sheet. You can find one here.
I prompted Gemini to apply the LES model, then integrate the sustainable production value chain and cost factors from the Top Cover sheet to design an app that allows a production to enter critical data. The app is a basic model that you can use for free. The calculator will not remember your data input or outcome.
Disclaimer: This is a work in progress, but it can be considered a prototype where AI synthesizes a framework, like the LES model, with a standard industry top cover sheet and cost factors to arrive at a custom-made sustainability calculator.
Using the LES model combined with AI, a production can develop its own tailor-made sustainability app. The user is required to evaluate each cost factor in the app regarding sustainability based on project activity on a scale from 0–10. A score of 5 equals the default minimum sustainability standard. For this to work, the user must have a basic understanding of sustainability practices. The sustainable production value chain in the link above can help create that understanding.
Albert and the Green Production Guide offer valuable tools that can be used in conjuntion with this app to arrive at a reliable LES score. For example a positive Albert or Green Production Guide evaluation can justify a score of 5 or higher in the corresponding LES category. For more details review the case stuides in the research paper.
It is tempting and easy to cheat with this calculator, which will only be of use if the production team has a sincere wish to be sustainable. This app generates a LES score that gives a reasonable indication of how sustainable a production really is only when reliable data is entered to the best knowledge of the user.
The calculator will then arrive at the LES or sustainability score: < 5 (not sustainable) or > 5 (sustainable). The calculator will also calculate the budget if you add known costs.