Bottle Yard and BAFTA Albert Showcase Sustainability in Busan

Another great connection forged through the UNESCO Creative Cities Network! Earlier this month, Katherine Nash (pictured), The Bottle Yard’s Head of Studios , was invited to Bristol’s fellow UNESCO City of Film Busan to partake in the Busan Forum, part of Busan International Film Festival.

The Bottle Yard’s TBY2 Studios is the highest performing facility in the 2025/26 BAFTA Albert Studio Sustainability Standard, rated Outstanding with an overall score of 97%, the highest of all 31 global participants. Katherine delivered a keynote speech and contributed to a panel discussion about sustainability in the film and TV sector, referencing the achievements of the Studios as a global case study.

She was joined by BAFTA Albert Managing Director Matt Scarff, who shared the 15-year journey of BAFTA Albert, the leading UK screen industry organisation for environmental sustainability in television and film, who spoke about how by working together, the screen industry can drive forward global environmental change for the better.

Katherine shares highlights from her trip in this guest blog.

It was an honour to be invited, alongside BAFTA Albert’s amazing Matt Scarff, to travel to Busan UNESCO City of Film. As well as presenting to the conference, together we met with sector leaders, local government officials and the Busan Film Commission, to share learnings from our fields and advocate for sustainable working practices in the sector.

I had the pleasure of attending the Asian Contents & Film Market and touring the Content Korea Lab Busan where the Busan Games Hub is located, taking learnings from how these establishments provide valuable sector support for emerging and scaling creative tech businesses.

I was fascinated and humbled by the deep film culture that has been curated in Busan –Bristol’s fellow UNESCO City of Film – through years of sector investment and strategic government support. From the establishment of the Korean Film Council and other national screen sector governing bodies that support a well-resourced Busan City of Film team, to long term financial support for film & TV production and ‘CreaTech’ businesses, the screen eco-system is rich and at an exciting phase, with new studios opening next year.

It was an absolute pleasure to play a small part in developing that ecosystem further, with hopefully many more conversations ahead to support adoption of sustainable practices within studios and production workflows in different territories.

Opportunities like this don’t come around often, and on a personal level, I was fortunate enough to be able to extend the trip to take a personal holiday with my husband and children. As a family with two busy full time working parents, travelling in such a beautiful country together was an incredible cultural experience for us all.

Thank you to the Busan Forum team for the invitation to showcase the work of The Bottle Yard Studios and for being such generous and welcoming hosts. We were proud to contribute to your important conversation.