The inconvenient truth about film and television production is that ‘we are operating in a very disposable industry.’

That’s from Mary Young Leckie, the Screen Door executive producer who tried to shoot season one of her new MVP series ‘as green as possible.’

Another inconvenient truth is that this industry is still using rainforest wood (aka lauan) to build sets, because it is cheaper and easier to paint.

‘The Philippines, Thailand and Malaysia have already been significantly deforested due to the demand for tropical plywood,’ according to the California watchdog group Environmental Media Association, which has a green checklist for producers (reprinted on p. 19).

‘Now, by all accounts, the ancient forests in Indonesia – from which most of our industry’s sets are built – will be gone by the end of the decade,’ notes the EMA website, which reads like the missing film industry chapter from Al Gore’s groundbreaking environmental documentary An Inconvenient Truth.

‘The demand for timber is driving unsustainable and illegal logging around the world, fueling a rate of deforestation unprecedented in Earth’s history,’ the EMA site continues. ‘During the past 20 years, on a global level, we lose an acre of rainforest every second of every hour of every day. Not only do these forests act as the lungs of the planet, but are our link to crucial biodiversity.’ Take a deep breath.

Facts like that sound overwhelming for any industry, and the long list of crimes against the environment in the film industry can be discouraging.

Pressures to deliver on time and under budget take precedence over eco-friendly practices on most shoots. So, like other polluting industries, cost takes much of the blame.

Credit must be given, however, to pioneering individual producers from both Canada and the U.S. who are taking action to reduce the carbon footprint of their own productions.

It will undoubtedly be public pressure that forces studios, broadcasters and governments to affect change in the world’s most visible industry, but in the meantime, there are producers outlined in this – Playback’s inaugural Green Report – who are taking individual action.

And Canada’s three major production centers – B.C., Ontario and Quebec – each have green screen initiatives at government and/or grassroots levels. They, too, are developing voluntary checklists for producers.

There are no eco-friendly ‘rules’ in showbiz, but Ontario has a new public-private-sector consortium called the Green Screen Alliance, which will be looking to kick-start voluntary programs and incentives when it’s fully up and running. Meanwhile, one of its members – the upcoming Filmport megastudio in Toronto – has made a green commitment that would set a new precedent for studios in Canada (see story, p. 17).

On the Pacific coast, Reel Green BC has plans for its own checklist and a host of other initiatives, including the introduction of ‘permanent hydro power drops’ in Vancouver, replacing some generators and reducing carbon dioxide emissions (see story, p. 16).

These are steps in the right direction, and many more plans are underway. Nonetheless, at this point in time, real progress is still being measured project by project.

‘Grassroots’ sounds like an odd term to use when talking about a US$125-million production such as The Incredible Hulk, but its producer Gale Anne Hurd and star Edward Norton arranged and attended preliminary production meetings to ensure their Marvel Studios feature would be eco-friendly enough to pass EMA’s checklist, even when shooting at Toronto Film Studios last year (see story, p. 18).

What emerged from all the research for this report is that individual producers can make a difference, and now is the time.

-With files from Marc Glassman