A green initiative will be pitched to producers at the CFTPA Prime Time in Ottawa conference later this month, according to Minds Eye Pictures’ Kevin DeWalt, cochair of the CFTPA’s recently formed green committee.

Producers who attend the eco-friendly panel session (Feb. 21) will be introduced to ‘green productions’ case studies and practices, as well as a tool kit.

‘It is a full kit for producers, offering guidelines for each department on a film set,’ DeWalt tells Playback, noting that initiatives will include a voluntary set of guidelines that the committee hopes the industry will adopt.

The new CFTPA green team is cochaired by Vancouver’s Trish Dolman (Screen Siren Pictures), who will moderate the panel, called ‘The Need to Go Green in the Production Sector.’

Panelists will include Gordon Hardwick, manager of community affairs at the BC Film Commission (and its Reel Green BC initiative) and Mary Young Leckie of Toronto-based Screen Door, which used eco-friendly practices on the new CBC hockey drama MVP.

Dolman says this initiative is an important first step. ‘We now have a green policy for the CFTPA board, and the next step is to ensure similar best practices are adopted by the wider industry,’ she says.

The session will spotlight the efforts of Vancouver producer Brian Hamilton of Omni Film Productions on the CTV drama series Robson Arms.

Robson cast and crew were encouraged to carpool or take public transit to the Vancouver set. The reward for each green transit effort was a ballot in a draw for a brand new commuter bike and other prizes. Emissions were also reduced by using a hybrid vehicle and bio-diesel in the production’s generator. They also printed everything double-sided on recycled paper.

The Robson Arms shoot also cleaned up craft services with reusable plates and cutlery, with significant and measurable results.

‘We had eight fewer garbage bags per day to take to the landfill as a result of doing away with plastic forks and plates, and had reduced the number of disposable water bottles used to five per day from the 100 prior to giving cast and crew members recyclable water bottles,’ explains Hamilton.

The producer has been cycling to production sets for 15 years himself. ‘The production industry is a major consumer of resources, and our industry should adopt more ways of treading lightly on the Earth,’ says Hamilton.

CFTPA president and CEO Guy Mayson notes that offensive production practices are often linked to tight production deadlines and pressures to deliver on time and under budget, however, ‘the need to be green is now definitely on producers’ radars.’

-With files from Cheryl Binning