Happy Earth Day and National Canadian Film Day!
Very happy to launch The Sustainable Act today with the first official episode on how to make your independent films more sustainable!
The motion picture industry has a huge impact on our planet and climate, due to all the natural resources we consume and greenhouse gases produced. Productions and studios around the world are taking more actions towards reducing their carbon emissions.
However, sustainability isn't often talked or discussed about on lower budget productions, whether it be student films or indie films. I wanted to start this conversation and bring more attention to the smaller productions and offer resources and tips for filmmakers on they can reduce their footprint!
I was so lucky to have 3 incredible people in the industry join me for a discussion and offer their wisdom with me. Watch the video below! And check out more information on the guest speakers, links and resources and more info below!
Special Guests:
Jennifer Sandoval:
Sustainability Consultant, Green Spark Group, Vancouver, BC
Jennifer has been working with productions on every scale to help aid in reducing their overall waste, by strategizing, workshopping, educating and actively helping cast and crew members. She works with Green Spark Group, a consulting group that has been working with productions all around North America. Jennifer is one of the most passionate and inspiring people I have had the pleasure of knowing and getting to work with. Her dedication to her work and life is infectious and I'm so glad she was able to chat with me for this video!
Alyssa Kostello:
Indie Filmmaker, Writer and Sustainability Producer on "Zero", Vancouver, BC
Alyssa is a superstar in my eyes. Striving to go completely zero waste on her short film, that focused on a zero-waste serial killer, was the talk of the town, because of how inspiring her actions and efforts were! She continues to participate in discussions in the industry and how indie film community can be more involved with sustainable production. Alyssa let me in on her process, funding, challenges and success she's had with her short film going green!
Zero is currently going through a festival run, however you can check out the film's BTS series that discussed more of their efforts here!
Ilze Millere
Indie Writer and Director, Elementi Media, South England
Ilze is someone I connected with over social media when we found out about each other's continous efforts to make our indie films more sustainable. It felt like we knew each other forever when we started talking! Ilze chatted with me regarding her experiences going green on her short film Quadratura and feature Limerence and what her current challenges and rewards were behind that. Ilze is so inspiring and runs a blog called ZeroSet, sharing stories on sustainable filmmaking in the indie community. So lucky to have Ilze part of this episode!!
The Host:
Smiely Khurana
Indie Filmmaker and Producer, Sustainability Consultant, Vancouver, BC
Smiely is an indie filmmaker who began her sustainable production journey while still in film school, starting discussions around how to approach waste management and traditional standards on jobs, in the classroom. Ever since, Smiely started engaging and working in the industry alongside other professionals, learning what she can do to help push the industry to be more sustainable. She's named Reel Green Ambassador by Creative BC, had the pleasure of interning with Green Spark Group, teach sustainability workshops at her university to students, as well as at an industry event. Earlier this year, Smiely was hired to work with Netflix, as part of their new initiative, to oversee sustainability on a production in Vancouver.
Resources and Links:
Thank you so much for watching and reading! I hope this gave you some direction or inspiration if you are a filmmaker that's interested in going more green on your next production.
Stay tuned for more episodes! We are planning to launch a podcast soon with videos to accompany. We'll be discussing more topics about film, sustainability and wellness! Stay tuned via our social media channels and subscribe to our website to be the first one to know when a new episode is out!
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To a sustainable future!
THE SUSTAINABLE ACT
WITH SMIELY KHURANA