Whistler Film Festival 2017 – Reel Green Panel Re-cap

On Friday, December 1, 2017, Whistler Film Festival had a session on Reel Green, a program to enable the evolution and implementation of sustainable practices in the motion picture industry to contribute to the betterment of the world.

“Whistler has long been a supporter of sustainability through the Whistler Center for Sustainability and it’s great that the festival organizers included those sustainability ambitions in the Film Festival” said Zena Harris, Reel Green Program Manager and moderator at the Reel Green panel at WFF.

Joining Harris on the panel was, Julie Bernard, Manager Production Services, Provincial Film Commission at Creative BC, Linda Hay, Director, Special Projects, Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA), BC Producers Branch, Kendrie Upton, Executive Director, Directors Guild of Canada (DGC)-BC branch, and Pete Mitchell, President and Chief Operating Officer, Vancouver Film Studios.

Panelists recounted the early days of the Reel Green initiative and how this next wave came to be. Many months of strategic planning, stakeholder engagement and international collaboration have brought the program to where it is today. Priorities going forward are set on Education, Engagement, Communication and Tools, available for everyone in the BC motion picture industry.

“BC wants to make sustainability sexy and become the greenest production centre in the world” said Kendrie Upton, Executive Director Directors Guild of Canada – BC Branch.

Not cool to talk about Carbon?  Not so, we say! We are doing it in the Carbon Literacy course.  It is the first education piece to roll out with courses now set monthly through March for now.  

The panel also suggested that communicating good news stories about what’s happening locally is a way to inspire others to follow suit.

Finally, attention turned toward a resource we now have locally called Sustainable Lockup.  It’s a collaborative space run by Keep it Green Recycling and Green Spark Group to enable sustainable production.  In addition to the work conducted by these companies, it houses a material reuse centre, retail space, and food donation facilitation.

The panel discussion sparked questions and feedback by the audience on best practices, single use materials, and access to Reel Green programs (they’re free!).

Overall, it’s great to get the word out on Reel Green!