Justifying Sustainability Costs to Budget-Focused Producers - Any Advice?

Hey everyone,

I'm Miguel Santos, a drone operator, and I've been kicking around an idea for a passion project. It's a short doc about local environmental initiatives, and naturally, I want the production itself to be as sustainable as possible. I usually fly my ALEXA Mini or a C70 on the drone, so I'm used to good gear.

My problem is, how do you even begin to justify the upfront costs to a really budget-conscious producer? I'm talking about things like hiring a dedicated eco-manager, or even just swapping out older, power-hungry HMIs for something like SkyPanel S60-Cs across the board. I know in the long run it saves money on power, and there's the PR aspect, but producers often see those initial line items and balk. I've tried framing it as 'future savings' but it usually just gets a polite nod.

Has anyone had success making this pitch? What's the best way to present the value of these sustainability investments without immediately getting shut down?