The Producers Guild of America has unveiled a new sustainability initiative aimed at helping producers make environmentally friendly decisions about film and television sets.
The PGA’s new Sustainability Toolkit, launched Wednesday, provides guidance on how producers can make environmentally impactful decisions in their development and production operations while staying on budget (or even under it). Created in collaboration with multiple business groups, the toolkit offers key tips on producing to reduce emissions, ideas on climate-focused storytelling, and tips on how to talk to troubled Hollywood figures about sustainability goals.
Producer Mary Jo Winkler (True Detective, J: The last man), co-chair of the PGA’s Sustainability Task Force, says the toolkit aims to educate all guild members about sustainable choices they can make on set.
“The PGA was like, ‘Listen, we need to do something for all the other people who are producing and don’t necessarily have protocols from a big studio,’” Winkler says. “Most studios and broadcast companies have checklists and protocols. We felt we needed to educate a whole other faction of the PGA and make sure all the bases were covered.”
Adds co-chair Lydia Dean Belcher (producer). Queen of Katwe), with the resource that the PGA is trying to support producers who are just starting their sustainability efforts. “There are a lot of lessons we’ve learned” over the years, she says. “So how can we do that? [communicate] Are these lessons for people who are just coming to this conversation for the first time?
The production section of the toolkit was developed and written by PGA Sustainability Task Force member Clara George (Witches), while the storytelling section was written by Belcher alongside Abby Rabinowitz and Jesse Cate of the Global Rise: Stories for the Future initiative.
During production, the toolkit calls for cutting fuel (and spending) through solutions such as investing in electric vehicles, asking departments to reduce vehicle idling and finding alternatives to diesel generators, such as using solar-powered base camps or accessing grid power.
The toolkit notes that costumes, props, props and building sections may reduce waste and help achieve the final result by renting or purchasing used materials and reusing materials when possible. The guide says recycling and composting doesn’t have to be a big deal. With all these suggestions, the source offers advice on “building the business case” with stakeholders to convince them to come on board.
On the storytelling front, the toolkit outlines how to find stories that can benefit from climate experts, how to build worlds and characters that connect with audiences, and how to reach and influence diverse viewers with environmentally salient stories.
Meanwhile, the Communications Guide offers producers tips on how to communicate their sustainability goals to writers, directors, department heads and crews. Are you considering replacing your diesel generators with more sustainable options? Try holding a power planning meeting with production, site, transportation and lighting management departments to brainstorm ways to access the grid or use batteries within budget, the toolkit advises.
The toolkit arrives as more entertainment unions and their local residents form sustainability committees, says Belcher, who had just returned from speaking with members of IATSE Local 600 in Atlanta when she spoke to THR.
As leaders on set, producers are positioned to capitalize on this interest and turn it into a new standard for the industry, the PGA believes. “We were hearing from members, ‘How are you talking about this? What are you saying?'” Winkler recalls. “The great thing about this toolkit is that it meets you where you are. You don’t have to be an expert.”
