About PGA’s Sustainability Tool Kit

This tool kit guides producers on the ways in which sustainability makes good business sense and how to work with cast and crew to make it happen. Whether you’re just getting started or ready to go deeper, there’s something for every film, television, and emerging media producer.

PGA’s Commitment to Sustainability

On Sets and On Screen

The Producers Guild of America has been a leading advocate for sustainability in the entertainment industry for more than 16 years. Over this time, PGA has worked and continues to be at the forefront of organizing climate educational programs for production and storytelling; mentorship around set protocols for decarbonization strategies; and a wide variety of sustainability panels, workshops, and trainings for members and the entertainment industry. This work happens in collaborations across film festivals, industry conferences, international partnerships, multi-stakeholder engagements, and PGA publications (such as Produced By magazine) and communication outlets.

In 2010, the Producers Guild collaborated with studio partners (now known as the Sustainable Entertainment Alliance) to create the Green Production Guide, the tool kit designed to reduce the film, television and streaming industry’s carbon footprint and environmental impact.

PGA represented entertainment industry efforts in Paris at COP 21. Leading into the United Nations’ COP26 climate summit, PGA issued a “call to action” to our industry to transition to clean energy to reduce emissions by 50% by 2030, and accelerate climate action to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. PGA currently participates in the UNFCCC Entertainment & Culture for Climate Action – Film and Television (ECCA).

Since the mid-2000s, Producers Guild members and other guild and union members, particularly on the east coast, had been meeting informally. This led to the Producers Guild and the Writers Guild joining efforts to create the WGA/PGA Climate Storytelling Working Group in 2021.

In 2023, PGA convened the first meeting of members and staff from guilds and unions nationwide interested in collaboration around sustainability. The Inter-Guild and Union Sustainability Alliance was formed and now comprises 20 organizations. As Clean Energy continued to be a top priority in our collaboration, a second inter-guild group subsequently formed—the Inter-Guild and Union Clean Energy Working Group.

Inter-Guild and Union Sustainability Alliance

The Producers Guild of America is a member of the Inter-Guild and Union Sustainability Alliance along with the Directors Guild of America, Directors Guild of Canada, IATSE and several of its locals, SAG-AFTRA, the Teamsters’ Motion Picture and Theatrical Trade Division, the Writers Guild of America West and Writers Guild of America East.

Principal Contributors to the Tool Kit

PGA’s Sustainability Tool Kit is comprised of two principal sections, Production and Storytelling, plus a resource library and communication guides to assist producers in breaking down the who/what/where/when and how to engage in discussions with creative collaborators, crew, cast, financiers, facilities and vendors about sustainability.

The Production sections were developed by Clara George, an award-winning television producer and renowned champion for sustainable production. She is a member of the PGA’s Sustainability Task Force and its Clean Energy Working Group.

The Storytelling sections were developed by Global Rise: Stories for the Future, a company that works with creatives across media to examine the interdisciplinary role of science, humanities, and imagination in crafting rich climate narratives to shift policy and culture. Principals include: Lydia Dean Pilcher, chair of PGA’s Sustainability Task Force and cultural strategist, educator, two-time Emmy-winning, and Oscar-nominated producer of over 40 feature films and series with many auteur directors; Jessie Keyt, a writer, film scholar, international story consultant, and Associate Arts Professor and Head of Screenwriting at NYU Tisch School of the Arts; and Abby Rabinowitz, a STEM communications expert, climate journalist and writing director for NYU Tandon School of Engineering.

Special thanks to Mari Jo Winkler, chair of PGA’s Sustainability Task Force, and members of the Inter-Guild and Union Sustainability Alliance for providing valuable input and review throughout this process. Their feedback ensures this tool kit incorporates some of the best practices and strategies used by those making film and television today.

Additional Resources

Resources created by the following organizations are referenced in this tool kit:

• DGC Green (Directors Guild of Canada)
• Harmony Labs
• NRDC’s Rewrite the Future
• Rare Entertainment Lab
• Reel Green at Creative BC
• Sustainable Entertainment Alliance