Earlier this week, a pilot workshop organized by indigenous-led climate organization Sacred Earth, in collaboration with the Indigenous Screen Office and Telefilm Canada, examined sustainable filmmaking and best practices used in the screen content industry.
Held online, the Nov. 25 workshop was attended by 87 industry professionals from across North America, including Indigenous, English and French speaking communities, as well as internationally, according to a Telefilm press release.
“Our new partnership with Sacred Earth, along with our longstanding collaboration with the Indigenous Screen Office, facilitated this first-of-its-kind pilot workshop on Indigenous sustainable practices,” said Julie Roy, executive director and CEO of Telefilm Canada, in the release. “Aligned with our Indigenous Reconciliation Plan to strengthen, expand, engage and learn through an Indigenous lens, Telefilm is committed to this transformative journey to drive real, lasting change for the sustainability, and future, of our creative sector.”
“Indigenous representation on the big screen has been pivotal in changing the narrative of our shared history in this country, but we must look at how Indigenous values are being embodied behind the camera to ensure the stories we are telling do not come at the expense of biodiversity or carbon emissions in our environment,” said Melina Laboucan-Massimo, executive director and founder of Sacred Earth, who led the three-hour virtual workshop on Monday.
“When we think of the film industry, we often think of entertainment or important stories that need to be told, but we don’t necessarily think of the impact the industry is having on the environment. The workshop was created to help filmmakers learn about best practices from an Indigenous lens to help lessen the negative impacts of film production,” Laboucan-Massimo added.
According to a fall 2023 report commissioned by Telefilm, Estimating the Carbon Footprint of Canada’s Audio-visual Sector: “Using a 3-year production volume averaged from Canadian Media Producers Association’s Profile reports, the total annual carbon footprint was estimated at 7,126 metric tonnes of CO2 equivalents (t CO2e) for Canadian Feature Film production, and 260,843 metric tonnes of CO2 equivalents (t CO2e) for Canadian TV Series which is equivalent to 1,669 and 61,087 homes’ energy use for a year, respectively.”
Sacred Earth, along with the Indigenous Screen Office and Telefilm Canada, are looking to conduct this workshop in 2025 after feedback and evaluation, according to Telefilm’s press release.
Image courtesy of Telefilm Canada
