From fossil fuel consumption in the transport fleet, to food waste and set materials recycling, the entertainment industry has a large carbon footprint, both during “the making of” and “mass consumption” of content.
This practical discussion will examine best practices for implementing the sustainability checklist on all sizes and types of production. We’ll discuss getting buy-in from your creative heads of department, executives, or crew, and strategies for engaging local communities. Our experts share their actionable and scalable advice on greening your productions while maintaining the bottom line.
Moderator:
Rachel Rusen Margolis | Chief Executive Officer & Film Commissioner, Manitoba Film
Panelists:
Lauren Grant | Producer, Clique Pictures
Clique Pictures is a vibrant film and television production company that focuses on working with underrepresented creative talent in front and behind the camera. Clique Pictures is in post-production on the features Sugar Daddy and The Retreat. Previously, Clique Pictures’ produced the features Riot Girls, Wet Bum and Picture Day, as well as the documentaries On the Line, Metamorphosis, and Traceable. She won a Canadian Screen Award for the short documentary Take a Walk on the Wildside and a Genie award for the residential school musical Savage. The Hollywood Reporter named Lauren one of 15 Talents to Watch. Lauren is an alumna of Trans-Atlantic Partners, Rotterdam Lab, Berlinale Talent Campus and the CFC Producer’s Lab.
J.J. Johnson | Executive Producer/Director, Sinking Ship
J.J. Johnson is the creative force and founding partner of Sinking Ship Entertainment. He is a three-time Emmy award-winning executive producer, three-time Emmy winning director, and Emmy-nominated writer, with international acclaim for over 15 series and 500 episode credits. He and Sinking Ship Entertainment are globally recognized for such successes as Endlings, Ghostwriter, Annedroids, Odd Squad and the Dino Dan and Dino Dana series.
Louise Pollard | Independent Producer & Sustainability Consultant
Louise Pollard is a Producer and Creator of Sex-Ed School a sixteen-part sex education web series for kids aged 9-12. She is a sustainability consultant at Shaftesbury, a former teacher and women’s health educator. Pollard is currently developing sustainability initiatives and spearheading best practices within Shaftesbury productions and the broader community.
With more than two decades of experience in education, Pollard brings a wealth of knowledge to health and wellbeing and, more recently, sustainability in the workplace. Since relocating from Melbourne, Australia, Pollard has worked in the film and TV industry for more than 10 years as an Independent Producer and in Business Affairs.
Alyson Richards | Writer, Producer, The Retreat
Alyson Richards produced the feature comedy DON’T TALK TO IRENE starring newcomer Michelle McLeod and Oscar-winner Geena Davis. The film premiered at TIFF and won both the audience and jury awards at the Austin Film Festival. Other films include the dark comedy GUIDANCE (TIFF, New York Times Critic Pic, Netflix) the feature documentary QUALITY BALLS (Hot Docs, Showtime, HBO Canada) and the short film DOCKING (Sundance, TIFF top 10). THE RETREAT (a queer thriller she also wrote) was selected for the prestigious NYC Writer’s Lab funded by Nicole Kidman and Meryl Streep and is currently in post-production set for a 2020 release.
