A sustainability report runs to a hundred pages or more, and few people read it through. More companies now make a video that covers the year's essentials in three minutes, for the sustainability section of the website, shareholder meetings, investor briefings, supplier conferences and hiring pages. Most companies already hold the material: photos of volunteer days, energy-saving equipment at the plant, training sessions, the charts in the report. It needs shaping into a structured film. Chipscat handles post-production and motion graphics. We don't film.
Choosing content from the report
The video isn't the report read aloud. Three minutes holds three or four subjects. Principles for choosing:
- Pick items with concrete action and numbers. "We care about the environment" has no picture. "Solar panels on the plant roof" has a picture and a figure.
- At least one each for environment, social and governance, without forcing equal weight. Lead with what your stakeholders care about most.
- Progress and targets. What was achieved this year and what comes next.
- People. The staff responsible, those who benefit, a commitment from senior management, each a short statement.
Turning data into pictures
ESG videos carry many numbers; put them all on title cards and it looks like a slide deck. Common approaches:
- One number per frame, large, with a clear unit and year.
- Animated charts for trends, such as emissions falling or renewable share rising year on year.
- If an abstract figure is turned into a relatable comparison, the conversion must be correct and confirmed by your team.
- Chart styles consistent with the report, in brand colours.
Material you can use
- Photos and video of company activities: beach clean-ups, tree planting, volunteering, donations, staff events.
- Equipment at plants and offices: solar panels, wastewater treatment, before-and-after energy improvements.
- Product and process footage.
- Interviews with managers and staff. A phone in a quiet meeting room is enough; see recording clear audio without a microphone.
- The report's charts and design files.
For organising material, see the corporate video materials checklist.
Avoiding greenwashing: principles for production
Sustainability claims draw attention from regulators and investors, and every sentence in the video may be examined. We don't advise on regulation or disclosure standards; accuracy is for your sustainability and legal teams to confirm. In production, these points are worth keeping to:
- Only data and statements you have supplied and confirmed, never strengthened in the wording.
- Figures shown with year, scope and unit, matching the report.
- No unrelated stock scenery implying something the company didn't do, such as a forest it has no connection with.
- AI-generated scenes used only to explain a concept, never to depict actual results, and labelled as platforms require; see labelling AI-generated video.
- Targets and achieved results shown separately.
Versions
- Full version: three to four minutes, for the website, shareholder meetings and investor briefings.
- Highlight: 60 seconds, for social media and event openings.
- Topic clips: one per subject, 15 to 30 seconds.
- Other languages: for overseas investors, customers and rating bodies; see multilingual versions of a corporate video.
The video usually has to be ready for the report's release or the shareholder meeting. Several departments will need to approve the content, so build review time into the schedule; see getting a corporate video through internal approval. Other business video types are in commercial video editing for businesses.
FAQ
We have little video, mostly photos and the report. Is that enough?
Yes. The video would lean on motion graphics, with photos and a few statements from managers or staff. See making a photo video that doesn't look like a slideshow.
Can it be updated every year?
Yes. Set the structure and chart style in year one, then replace data and footage each year; see re-editing an old video.
Can you write the script for us?
What you supply can be shaped into a script of suitable structure and length for video. The facts and figures must come from you and be confirmed by you.
