By Sidney Coles, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter CAPITAL DAILY

Vancouver IslandB次元官网网址檚 film industry is about to enter a new stage with a major film studio complex on Malahat Nation territory.

Construction on the $242-million new carbon-neutral, zero-waste movie complex, to be built near an industrial park on the western shores of Saanich Inlet, is expected to begin toward the end of the year.

It will be built in three phases, with the first to include two sound stages, a workshop, and a pair of production offices.

B次元官网网址岯次元官网网址滻 want this to be a film studio that people want to work at and come to for $100-200 million productions,B次元官网网址� Beverley Dondale, founder and CEO of Victoria-based production company Alpha Select Production Services, said.

B次元官网网址淚 want this to be a hub for Indigenous and domestic film production.B次元官网网址�

Vancouver Island, unlike other film production hubs in B.C., has moderate weather to allow crews to work throughout the year. As a result, the new Island film studio has the potential to make a real economic impact on the south Island economy.

B次元官网网址淚 want the studio to create a thriving, innovative circular economy,B次元官网网址� Dondale said.

The regionB次元官网网址檚 economic prospects look good but film studiosB次元官网网址� environmental impacts arenB次元官网网址檛 always positive. Films with budgets of $70 million produce an average of 2,840 tonnes of CO2 per production. That amount of CO2 takes 3,700 acres of forest to absorb the equivalent in a year. Film studios and directors are working to be more sustainable.

Dondale hopes to take a page from She-Hulk director Kat CoiroB次元官网网址檚 sustainability playbook.

Coiro, who recently filmed The Spiderwick Chronicles for Disney+ in Vancouver, has been working for years, not only to reduce waste on her production sites but to ensure the depictions of making better environmental choices for her audiences. No crew or characters in her TV or film productions use single-use plastics or non-recyclable take-out containers.

B次元官网网址淲e want to eliminate single-use plastics and to re-useable containers by working with organizations like the Nulla Project,B次元官网网址� Dondale said.

The Nulla Project is a Victoria headquartered company that provides reusable (washable) cups, containers, and coffee mugs service to organizations or events across Vancouver Island.

Victoria theatre costume and set designers take note:

B次元官网网址淚 want creatives repairing textiles, reusing, and donating costumes to local theatres. We want our construction materials to be reused or donated to other productions and to the community,B次元官网网址� Dondale said.

For Malahat Nation, getting ready to house such a project on its territory is significant.

B次元官网网址淭o get a project of this scale going in a region where we donB次元官网网址檛 have a lot of infrastructure to start withB次元官网网址攊tB次元官网网址檚 meant building water infrastructure, wastewater infrastructure, power, communications infrastructure and also making sure the right transportation networks are ready to make things work here,B次元官网网址� said Malahat Nation CAO Josh Handysides.

Dondale first conceived the project in 2010 and approached the Coast Salish Indigenous community with her proposal to build on an 85-acre (34 ha-) site. Maple Reinders Constructors Ltd. has been retained to develop it.

Alpha Select is hoping the project obtains a Certified B Corp designation, which means the studio meets specific performance requirements across environmental, social, and governance policies. Dondale said for her, the designation is about production.

B次元官网网址淧ublic transparency, posting yearly impact reportsB次元官网网址�-this instills confidence that we are not just `greenwashingB次元官网网址� by having policies and procedures in place so things donB次元官网网址檛 slip between the cracks.B次元官网网址�

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