Ryan Doucette is the manager of transportation compliance for Warner Bros. Studio Operations, Canada, and while that title might not immediately bring to mind a job at the forefront of the studio’s efforts at creating ever more sustainable productions, that’s precisely where Doucette finds himself.

“This is probably not as exciting as talking to a cinematographer,” Doucette joked when we spoke, “but it’s really important, and it’s not something we have a choice about.”

Doucette was part of the team that helped Warner Bros. Television’s popular series Kung Fu implement renewable diesel into the production of season three in an effort to make positive impacts on the series’ carbon footprint. More productions at Warner Bros. are gearing up to follow Kung Fu‘s lead, with both the economics making increasing sense and the moral and ethical responsibilities becoming ever more apparent.

Read the interview with Ryan Doucette on The Credits. 

Diesel fuel is a leading contributor to overall greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by the motion picture industry.  As British Columbia works toward substantial GHG emissions reductions by 2030, the motion picture industry can support these goals by utilizing clean alternatives to diesel fuel where available.

 

The Benefits of Clean Energy

Clean energy incentives offered by industry partners encourage productions to consider environmentally conscious alternatives to diesel generators.  In addition to tangible benefits such as savings on the cost of fuel and labour, making the switch demonstrates the film industry’s commitment to environmentally friendly solutions.  The benefits to this include:

 

City of Vancouver | Clean Energy Incentive

City of Vancouver introduced their Clean Energy Incentive in 2020.  Productions that can demonstrate they eliminated at least one diesel generator with clean power can take advantage of a 50% discount on their daily permit fee.  The incentive has been well received by industry with a number of productions eligible for the discount.

To further support their incentive, the city is developing a power kiosk network that will expand access for industry to grid power tie-ins.  The first kiosks are expected to open in the second half of 2022, and the city aims to have a power kiosk within 10 minutes of any film location in the city over the next five years.

 

 

Metro Vancouver | Clean Energy Discount

Metro Vancouver launched their clean energy discount at the beginning of 2022.  The discount is available to crews filming in Metro Vancouver regional parks and properties.  Similar to City of Vancouver, productions must show they replaced at least one diesel generator with a clean power alternative.  Clean power alternatives include a grid power tie-in, battery technology, or other non-fossil-fuel sources of energy.  Eligible productions can access a $500 per day discount for up to two days for a total of up to $1,000 discount.

 

 

How to Source Clean Energy Alternatives

The Grid Power Access Map is an interactive tool designed to share the availability of grid power tie-in sources in the Lower Mainland.  Crew can search the map by address to find clean power options available near their filming and parking locations.  The map also identifies high priority locations for clean power infrastructure – sites that frequently support filming or circus parking.  The map is updated regularly with new properties sourced by industry.  Crew and location representatives can submit new tie-in locations directly through a form on the map to be vetted and added.

The Green Vendor List was developed to highlight businesses that demonstrate sustainable operations and practices.  The list includes several studio facilities and equipment vendors who offer green solutions.  Every business has been vetted by Reel Green™ and given a sustainability rating.

 

 

For more information about work being done in B.C. to support clean energy solutions, learn about the Clean Energy Committee.

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The music video for Desiree Dawson‘s Meet You At the Light, directed by Alexander Farah, just won the Grand Jury Winner for Best Music Video at SXSW. This was the only Canadian shortlisted project. The award winning video depicts the relationship between a young woman and her father, played by real-life father-daughter duo Ishaval Gill and Kamaldevinder Gill, as the family moves through their grief following his loss.

There was some fierce competition, Tyler The Creator, Dua Lipa and Lil Nas X to name a few, but in the end it was a humble video and story that won the juries over. “Without a single detail wasted, we were all moved to tears by this powerful story from a first-time music video director.” the SXSW jury said. Farah spent a lot of time working with the actors in pre-production and describes the story being a love letter to the eldest daughter every brown family “I’m so proud of being able to uplift our amazing musician, cast, and crew on this project — to collectively share these wins like a little family feels incredibly special.”

The music video was a co-production between Wallop Film and Dunya Media and was produced by the talented duo Kashif Pasta and Shyam Valera. The producer’s distinct cultural lens was pivotal in lifting this vision from the page to the big screen.

“BIPOC filmmakers are pushed to put on a mask in order to build and survive a career. It is, in a word, exhausting. For Meet You at the Light we really made zero compromises around representation, gathering a team of talented artists to pull back the curtain on slices of life in a South Asian Canadian family. It’s hard to explain how much it means to win this award for the project where the masks came off.” Kashif Pasta Shyam Valera, said, “This project was a labour of love from every single person on the team. Everyone brought an incredible amount of love, respect and talent to this project from the very beginning. The goal from the start was to make it feel as authentic as possible, from the set dec to our real father and daughter leads, who fully let go and brought so much to this project.”

“The partnership with Wallop and Dunya was magical and a no-brainer. With Wallop Film’s breadth of experience and Dunya’s focus on authenticity it felt like the perfect match to bring this video to life.” Martin Glegg, Executive Producer

 

 

Full credits:
Director: Alexander Farah
Cinematographer: Farhad Ghaderi
Produced by: Shyam Valera, Kashif Pasta
Exec. Producers: Katherine Koniecki, Martin Glegg
Production Co: Wallop Film, Dunya Media
Casting: Kara Eide, CSA and Kris Woznesensky, CSA
Production Designer: Charlie Hannah
Art Direction: Mona Fani
1st AD: Tamara Black
1st AC: Mikael Bidard
2nd AC: Soloman Chiniquay, John Fleming
Steadicam Op: Peter Park
Gaffer: Terrance Azzuolo, Michael Yeung
Grip: Ron Okinawa
Wardrobe Stylists: Madison Cannell, Pooja Patel
Hair/Makeup Artists: Charmi Khetia, Aratrika Das
Production Assistant: Kevin Kim
Sound Design/Mix: Eugenio Battaglia
Colourist: Sam Gilling
Film Scan: Peter Hagge at FilmhouseVFX Support: Lucas Hrubizna

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