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Large-scale film and television productions are complex operations.
They move between locations, work long hours, and rely on extensive power infrastructure to keep cameras rolling, lights on, and crews moving. Traditionally, that has meant diesel generators. Reliable, familiar, and deeply embedded in how productions operate.
To meet the studio’s strict sustainability targets without slowing the crew down, they brought on Ryan Flanagan, a local production sustainability advisor. His goal was to find creative ways to eliminate or reduce fossil fuels by tracking generator usage and introducing green tech alternatives.
Here is how the strategic use of our Instagrid GO portable power units and a Voltstack 30k mobile battery energy storage system helped the crew of a major streaming production overcome logistical hurdles, protect the audio, and keep the air clean on set.
The Strategy: Touch, Trial, and Test
Film crews at a major streaming production of this scale are experts who have often relied on the same workflows for decades. The transition from diesel generators to battery power can be a hurdle at first. Rather than forcing the technology onto the electric department, Flanagan opted for a low-risk introduction.
"So my first approach was just to get their hands on these things so that they can learn how they work and learn what they're good at and then start from there."
By giving the crew access to the batteries during their downtime, they could tinker with the units and organically discover their advantages. Because the crew are the on-set experts, putting the gear directly in their hands empowered them to identify the most practical use cases for the technology.
Small Footprint, Big Impact: Instagrid GO on the Water
Filming on an island means spending a lot of time on boats. These setups are famously crowded, hot, and completely isolated from traditional power grids. If a department suddenly needed to power a small piece of equipment, there were no main lines to tie into.
"If you're the electric department and you're out at sea, far away from access to anything, and you've got your whole setup on the boat, and all of a sudden one of the departments asks for just a little bit of electricity, you can't attach that to the main line or anything. It doesn't exist. Just throw an Instagrid GO at them, it's the perfect solution to a problem like that."
The portable batteries eliminated the toxic diesel fumes that typically sit right in the crew’s faces, exacerbating seasickness in cramped boat cabins. Their completely silent operation also allowed the actors and the sound department at the major streaming production to work in confined spaces without worrying about generator noise ruining the takes.
Scaling Up: The Voltstack 30k in Caves and Techland
For heavy-duty power needs, the production utilized the Voltstack 30k, a large, trailer-mounted battery system. Because this shoot required constant movement between small towns, towing the large unit with a gas-powered truck initially posed a logistical balancing act for the transport crew.
However, the crew of the major streaming production quickly identified two key use cases where the Voltstack 30k became indispensable.
The first was a confined space cave shoot. Driving a diesel generator into this environment was not an option, as it would pose a severe health hazard due to trapped fumes. The crew solved this by parking the Voltstack 30k near the cave’s entrance and wiring lines inside, providing totally silent, breathable power for the entire setup.
"It's very easy to ruin the sound in a cave. And that breathability was so important because it's definitely not an option to use generators when you're working inside a cave."
The second major success was using the unit as a mobile power plant for the equipment hub, often called Techland.
"So whenever we were in a setup where there was a full-on Techland with all of our equipment trucks in a line or in a parking lot put together, the Voltstack was fantastic at powering those."
It efficiently handled the electrical load needed to charge camera truck batteries and run the various department semi-trucks simultaneously.
The Results: A Competitive Edge for Local Crews
Proving that green power is not fragile power is becoming increasingly vital for the local industry. Major streaming production companies arrive with established sustainability pledges, and meeting those targets is often a requirement for securing their business.”
Without sustainability, they weren’t able to reach those goals.”
By successfully integrating the Voltstack and Instagrid GO systems into the workflow, the production kept the lights on, the air clean, and the sets quiet. It demonstrated that crews and suppliers in Newfoundland and Labrador have the infrastructure to run large-scale sets cleanly, making the region even more competitive for future international projects.
