The Directors Guild of Canada actively advocates for a more sustainable motion picture industry at both the National and District Council levels. In line with Canada's commitments under the Paris Accord, it is crucial that every industry and individual reduce the environmental impact of human activities. For the film industry, this involves lowering emissions from diesel generators and transportation fuels, minimizing waste while promoting circular economy practices, and rethinking common industry practices. 

The following outlines the work done by DGC BC, DGC National, and other industry organizations, and highlights resources available to create more sustainable productions.

• DGC BC Initiatives and Resources
• DGC National Resources
• Creative BC’s Reel Green™
• National Industry Resources
• International Industry Resources
• The Circular Economy
• Sustainability Training and Events

 

DGC BC Initiatives and Resources

DGC Green BC Committee
The DGC Green BC, formerly the DGC BC Sustainability Committee, was created in 2021 as the Sustainability and Climate Action Committee. Since its inception, all iterations of the commiteee, has been dedicated to providing opportunities and resources to greening BC sets. This has included hosting events to promote clean energy alternatives, demonstrate electric vehicle options, and lead caucus-specific discussions. Annabelle Wilczur, DGC BC Assistant Business Agent and Sustainability Lead, is the staff liaison for the committee and can be reached at awilczur@dgcbc.com. Members in Good Standing will be contacted via email with invitations to future events hosted by the DGC Green BC Committee. 

The list of DGC Green BC Committee Members can be found here.

DGC BC Sustainability Policy: Our mission, our vision, and our pledge to be sustainability leaders in our industry.

The Green Scene: Read about the key issues, obstacles and successes of sustainable production in BC in a blog series from Annabelle Wilczur, DGC BC Assistant Business Agent and Sustainability Lead. Articles are published every two weeks in the Ebulletin to Members and are added to the DGC BC Blog within the following week.

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DGC National Resources

DGCGreen.ca: DGC National’s excellent sustainability website for eco-friendly departmental tips. There are handy calculators to help you estimate carbon footprints in the transport and construction departments, plus webinars to view, articles to read, case studies and more. 

• DGC Green's Power Budgeting Tool includes a Carbon Emission Calculator to help budget for clean power and build a business case for reducing diesel generator use on set.
• DGC Green’s Materials Carbon Calculator helps navigate the carbon emission of different building materials used on set. Enter the size and weight of various materials to compare the impact.

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Creative BC’s Reel Green™

Founded in British Columbia in 2006, Reel Green™ is a strategic initiative of the BC Film Commission and is committed to empowering productions to adopt innovative sustainable practices. The Directors Guild of Canada, British Columbia District Council is a proud Reel Green™ partner and has been a supporter of the annual Reel Earth Day Challenge since its inception. For more information about Reel Green™ including its committees, partners, and strategic plan, visit reelgreen.ca/about. Other resources include:

• Green Vendor List - Find suppliers and vendors to the BC motion picture industry who make the effort to be ecologically sustainable.
• Grid Power Access Map - An interactive map of clean energy resources in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia.
• Information on Clean Energy and Municipal Incentive Programs
• Free Training Opportunities 

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National Industry Resources

Sustainable Entertainment Society: Lights, Camera, Eco-Action! The Sustainable Entertainment Society, in addition to being the home of the Sustainable Production Forum, provides a comprehensive guide to everything from books, courses and educational resources to climate storytelling, links to industry data, green vendors and videos to watch. 

• Catch up on the past editions by checking out SPF On Demand for recordings of past panels.

Greening the Screen - An Action Guide for Canadian Media Producers: Producing For The Planet Guide: Created by the Canadian coalition of producers, Producing for The Planet, outlines comprehensive strategies for producers to green their productions. 

The Climate Action Working Group Sustainable Directory: This working group brings together Unions, Guilds and Trade Associations from across Canada with the goal to accelerate climate action and sustainability across the motion picture industry. Here you’ll find a practical directory listing the sustainability contacts of partners across Canada, from ACTRA to the DGC to the WGC, along with other helpful resources.

Rolling Green: Quebec’s catalyst for a sustainable screen industry offers sustainability certification and a variety of tools and resources.

Ontario Green Screen: Hosted by Ontario Creates, this website offers best practice guides, toolkits, signage and other helpful resources for the motion picture industry.

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International Industry Resources

Sustainable Entertainment Alliance (formerly SPA): A consortium of leading entertainment industry studios and streamers (Disney, Netflix, Paramount, and more) dedicated to advancing sustainability education and lowering the industry’s environmental impact. There are valuable industry reports and climate storytelling resources, plus toolkit downloads for the PEACH carbon calculator and PEAR best practices checklist, signage, factsheets and a vast array of other sustainability resources. 

albert: Created by the UK’s BAFTA awards, albert is one of the world’s leading promoters of sustainability in the screen industries. Their site provides guides and toolkits on greening productions and creating climate content, in addition to industry case studies, albert certification, a free carbon calculator, and the signatories to their Climate Content Pledge.

Environmental Media Association (EMA): The EMA Green or Gold Seal is a certification system that recognizes excellence in sustainable production. The website is also home to a Talent Sustainability Rider and creative ideas for showing sustainability on screen.

The Creative Industries Pact: Launched in December 2019, the Pact has been signed by cultural organizations, schools and companies in creative industries around the world, pledging to work towards sustainability goals. DGC BC and DGC National are both signatories.

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The Circular Economy

In contrast to a typical linear economy which prioritizes manufacture, consumption and finally disposal, embracing a circular economy puts the emphasis on reusing and repurposing objects and materials to avoid them ending up in a landfill. Rather than endlessly extracting resources to fabricate new things and transport them to markets, only to throw them away, circularity extends their life and lowers greenhouse gas emissions by reducing the energy needed to create more manufacturing, transportation and disposal. 

The motion picture industry can strategize creative ways to cut the staggering waste it generates: from reusing sets and recycling the wood used, sourcing props and costumes from stock and rental houses rather than buying new, to donating leftover food and materials, there are several resources available to help productions curb excessive waste.

Keep It Green’s Material Reuse Warehouse: Don’t dump used set pieces, props, or costumes in the landfill! For less than the cost of garbage tipping, productions can pay to leave items in this sustainable lockup, located in Port Coquitlam. From here it is available for absolutely free to be used by other film and television productions, schools, community theatre groups, artists, and others. 

Keep it Green’s Food Donations List: Leftover food from catering and craft service doesn’t need to be thrown away--it can be donated legally to charities around the Lower Mainland to feed people in need. Some of these organizations are open 24-hours a day and will accept any food at any time, provided a production calls ahead.

Circular Marketplace (Facebook) by Reel Green™: This space can be used to list, sell, donate or source used material, props, set dec and more. 

Urbanjacks Wood Recycling: Fill a bin with dry used dimensional lumber waste – off-cuts, nails, screws, staples, glue, paint, no problem! Urbanjacks will collect it and transform it into ready-to-use premium lumber. 

Find Greater Vancouver Organizations Accepting Donations

• WISH Drop-In Centre Society - accepting clothing, winter wear, blankets, towels, accessories, toiletries, makeup, wigs, and books.
• North Shore Crisis Services Society - Good Stuff Connection accepting clothing and accessories.
• HomeStart Foundation - accepting furniture, electronics, appliances, and rugs.
• Helping Families in Need Society - accepting furniture, housewares, towels, linens, clothing, electronics, and appliances.
• Downtown Eastside Women's Centre - accepting clothing, toiletries, towels, blankets, and water bottles.
• Battered Women's Support Services - My Sister's Closet accepting clothing and accessories.
• Covenant House Vancouver - accepting food, clothing, toiletries, and water bottles.
• Habitat For Humanity Greater Vancouver - accepting building materials, appliances, furniture, lawn and garden, and home decor.

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Sustainability Training and Events

Reel Green™ Courses and Events: Offers Sustainable Production Training, Carbon Calculator Training, and Clean Energy Battery workshops.

Sustainable Production Forum: Occurs annually to offer panel discussions and workshops both in-person and virtually.

Hollywood Climate Summit: An annual hybrid conference, with high energt events and creative labs taking place in Los Angeles and online. The Hollywood Climate Summit is where the film community gets climate lit(erate) and builds relationships with thousands of other professionals who also care about social impact. 

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