PGA Sustainability Task Force co-chair and Emmy-winning producer Lydia Dean Pilcher shares why setting clear sustainability goals at the start of a production is the only way to make them stick — and what that looks like in practice. Lydia co-developed the PGA's newly released Sustainability Tool Kit for Producers with Mari Jo Winkler and Clara George, also featured in this Best Of series.

Essential listening for producers and production managers ready to move beyond good intentions.

Full toolkit at producersguild.org/sustainability-tool-kit-for-producers

This is an excerpt of a previously released episode. Listen/watch the full episode!

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Z6i_4TgT-U

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4hyJgKeKGZuJLsC5nTGnT2?si=5b084d6661224110

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s1-e11-finding-collective-continuance-with-producer/id1753867919?i=1000669030714

Learn more about Lydia and the PGA Sustainability Toolkit

🔗 PGA Sustainability Tool Kit: sustainability.producersguild.org

🔗 Lydia Dean Pilcher on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lydia-dean-pilcher-23772046/ 🔗 Lydia Dean Pilcher on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lydiadeanpilcher/

🔗 Lydia Dean Pilcher website: https://www.ldpilcher.com/

Connect with our hosts:

🎙️ Zena Harris on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/zenaharris

🎙️ Mark Rabin on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/rabinmark

👉 SUBSCRIBE for more sustainability and clean energy content from inside the entertainment industry.

Mari Jo Winkler has been greening film productions since 2003. As executive producer of HBO's True Detective: Night Country, she made a decision that cut the show's carbon footprint by 2–3x: shoot in Iceland instead of Alaska — not just for the landscape, but for the geothermal grid.

In this excerpt from the NAB Excellence in Sustainability Awards, Mari Jo walks through exactly how she did it: scouting at -22° in Kotzebue, choosing Iceland for its 100% clean energy infrastructure, deploying 40+ EVs, and piloting a battery-powered generator that now lives permanently in Iceland. She also breaks down how the show's environmental themes — toxic mining, indigenous communities, climate justice — made it onto screen, not just into the production protocols.

What you'll learn:

— Why Iceland beat Alaska and Canada on both carbon and cost

— How a single conversation got a facility manager to purchase an EV battery generator for the production

— Why the carbon footprint in Iceland was 2–3x lower than a comparable US or Canadian shoot

— How HBO extended sustainability protocols all the way through marketing and the premiere

— What Mari Jo is calling for from the supply chain right now

Perfect for producers, production managers, sustainability coordinators, and anyone making the case for green production inside a major studio or streamer.

🔗 Mari Jo Winkler-Iofredda

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/boneduds/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mari-jo-winkler-254010177/

🔗 Green Production Guide: greenproductionguide.com

🎙️ Zena Harris on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/zenaharris

🎙️ Mark Rabin on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/rabinmark

This is an excerpt from a live session at the NAB Excellence in Sustainability Awards, April 2024. Watch/Listen to the full episode here:

🔗Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/nabshow-special-release-in-conversation-with-mari-jo/id1753867919?i=1000660156732&l=pt-BR

🔗 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1KHnegzzj3eVpqiY2JROo9?si=16c3c0634eea4e44

🔗 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwGkWxxhdRs

Clara George has spent over 30 years in film and television — moving from line producer to unit production manager and producer on US and Canadian productions — and she co-wrote the production sections of the PGA's newly released Sustainability Tool Kit for Producers. In this episode, she breaks down the concept she calls holistic budgeting: why the argument that sustainability costs more is almost always a failure to look at the full picture. From diesel generators carried for an entire shoot when you're on stage half the time, to location fees, cable runs, labor, and the hidden cost of a noisy generator on a residential street — Clara makes the case that productions are already spending the money. The question is where. A must-listen for producers, UPMs, and anyone who's ever been told clean energy is too expensive

What you'll learn:

— Why productions are not budgeted efficiently and what that actually costs

— How to calculate the real cost of a diesel generator vs. a battery system

— Why carrying generators for a full run of show when you're on stage 50% of the time is already wasteful

— What location goodwill is worth — and what you lose when a noisy generator costs you a location

— Why "sustainability costs more" almost always means "I don't want to do it"

— How to reframe the conversation from cost to decision-making

Perfect for producers, unit production managers, line producers, production coordinators, and anyone responsible for a production budget who wants to make the case for sustainable production practices.

Topics: sustainable film production, green production, holistic budgeting, production management, UPM, line producer, clean energy on set, battery vs generator, diesel generator alternative, PGA Sustainability Tool Kit, sustainable entertainment, film industry sustainability, production efficiency, carbon footprint film, Vancouver film production, US productions Canada

This is an excerpt of a previously released episode. Listen/watch the full episode!

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckgEidUTh4Y&feature=youtu.be

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0aZ5zLAEVM6DzKBM8Z1nGM?si=Bm9lY_2_RxGcYRbAfWyZ7g

Apple:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s1-e5-championing-sustainability-producer-clara-george/id1753867919?i=1000663777686

CONNECT WITH CLARA AND LEARN MORE ABOUT THE PGA SUSTAINABILITY TOOL. KIT:

🔗 PGA Sustainability Tool Kit: sustainability.producersguild.org

🔗 Clara George on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/clarageorge

CONNECT WITH ZENA AND MARK:

🎙️ Zena Harris on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/zenaharris

🎙️ Mark Rabin on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/rabinmark

👉 SUBSCRIBE for more sustainability and clean energy content from inside the entertainment industry.

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