Lights, Camera, Zero Waste: Building a Sustainable Film Studio

Leena Manro (: 00:00

Welcome to Up To So Good, the podcast that unlocks the secrets of creating a purpose-driven business so we can all make this world a better place. Come join the conversation. Hello and welcome to Up To So Good, the podcast that explores the purpose of business. I'm your host, Leena Manro. In today's conversation, we'll be talking to Beverley Dondale, who is the founder of Alpha Select Production Services. And her company is an incredibly unique one in that she works in film and TV, but also specifically tries to make productions more sustainable. She does this in a multitude of different ways. I mean, she takes the term out-of-box thinking to a whole new level, and she wears many, many hats in doing so. For example, not only are we talking about sustainability in that she'll buy a bunch of used location pieces and re-rent them, but she's also works in the realm of catering, how to make that more sustainable.

(: 00:53

She works in all the different pockets of film and TV that I think a lot of people probably take for granted although film and TV can be a huge source of waste and consumption. I feel like Beverley Dondale is one of the most inspiring women that I've ever met, actually. She is an entrepreneur through and through, but she's someone who's really been able to marry profits and purpose. She leans into purpose and she has not given up profits. So we hope you enjoy listening to this episode or watching this episode. It was a lot of fun to interview Beverley, and I found her to be super inspiring. I think you will too.

(: 01:25

Hello and welcome to Up To So Good, the podcast that explores the purpose of business. I'm excited about our topic today and our guest, Beverley Dondale, the CEO of Alpha Select Productions. Did I catch that right?

Beverley Dondale (: 01:38

Yeah.

Leena Manro (: 01:38

Okay.

Beverley Dondale (: 01:39

There's services at the end of that as well but-

Leena Manro (: 01:41

Alpha Select Production Services.

Beverley Dondale (: 01:43

Yeah.

Leena Manro (: 01:43

Got you. Okay, wonderful. Welcome to our show.

Beverley Dondale (: 01:45

Thank you.

Leena Manro (: 01:46

Thanks so much for joining us today. So let's talk about, your bio is very interesting because you're the CEO of Alpha Select Productions Services, and this company has been around for about 20 plus years.

Beverley Dondale (: 01:57

Yeah, that's right.

Leena Manro (: 01:58

Amazing. Let's talk about Alpha Select Production Services and what you guys do.

Beverley Dondale (: 02:02

Okay. Well, it started off 20 plus years ago because I was producing a couple of films, an MOW and a feature, and I just created the company because I needed to have a company that I could put everything under, and it kind of went from there. So I had been in film production and the film commission for years, and so I had a lot of connections and I just wanted to create a company that looked at crew in a different way, in a kinder way, looked at how we did production in a more sustainable way. And so that's kind of how it started. And then it snowballed as I was looking at starting a retrofit studio and decided that in 2011, 2010 in Victoria, it would've become a production office, and that's not what I was interested in, especially for the cost of the building. And then I started looking into going into studios and building studios. So it just kind of snowballed, but yeah.

Leena Manro (: 03:25

Amazing. So tell us, what is the main offering of Alpha Select Production Services?

Beverley Dondale (: 03:30

Well, right now, everything's really focused on the studio, and so it is ensuring that we can provide all services in a sustainable way. I am acquiring different companies so that I can ensure that there's no single use plastic. So that's one. I'm ensuring that we can deconstruct sets. I am going down next week to talk to a charity that I might take over so that we can deconstruct sets. And then the other thing is I really want our studio to be a place that we can attract amazing talent because of the way we treat people. So we're doing all sorts of apprenticeship training so that we can get back to the old way of doing film production, which is apprenticeship, where senior crew members take the time as they're doing production training others to do it in a, and I always want to say, a kinder way, because those times of people saying things as close to your face.

Leena Manro (: 04:45

And we've all seen it. I can't. [Inaudible 00:04:47].

Beverley Dondale (: 04:46

I know.

Leena Manro (: 04:47

Oh my gosh, it's so bad.

Beverley Dondale (: 04:50

I know. And spray on the face. So I want to change all of those things, and it's a slow process. Even when I'm thinking of deconstructing sets, a friend of mine sent a video of crew who were demolishing things at a wrap party.

Leena Manro (: 05:13

Oh, man.

Beverley Dondale (: 05:13

And so they were breaking all of these things.

Leena Manro (: 05:16

Oh, gosh.

Beverley Dondale (: 05:16

And I was like, "Oh yeah, right."

Leena Manro (: 05:18

And were they going to throw them in the landfill, that's how-

Beverley Dondale (: 05:20

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. And so I have bought a full location kit.

Leena Manro (: 05:27

Okay.

Beverley Dondale (: 05:28

I bought a full wardrobe kit, and I bought an entire office, a production office, because it was all going to the landfill. And I just thought, I just can't do that. And you know how the old style of pilfering, crew go in and they take all the best stuff and what they can't sell or they don't take the time to sell, goes to the landfill. And so I bought all these kits and then I started re-renting them and I thought, "Oh, this is easy." Now I was doing it from my home, so it was a little complicated, big trucks coming up. And so it was a little complicated, but I bought them for-

Leena Manro (: 06:10

How'd you have the storage at your home?

Beverley Dondale (: 06:12

I have a sunroom, like a big sunroom, and it ended up being a storage facility rather than... I bought 99 chairs that would've gone to the landfill, right?

Leena Manro (: 06:26

And then you were able to resell these things.

Beverley Dondale (: 06:29

Actually, re-rent them. Even better.

Leena Manro (: 06:30

What?

Beverley Dondale (: 06:30

Even better.

Leena Manro (: 06:32

Oh my gosh. She's got a great business model. And to set the stage for our listeners and viewers, and this is maybe something I take it for granted because the other part of my job is in the realm of film and TV, and I have been a show runner and director for a small Canadian show, Our Big Punjabi Family, we were on set shooting in Saskatchewan. And so for our viewers and our listeners, the film and TV world is vast. And there's many, many, many, many things required for a TV show or a movie. Things that many people, I think, take for granted.

(: 07:06

The sheer number of people who are on set and the things, for example, imagine creating a set in a studio. You create say a home. We thought about creating a set, but we ended up renting a house for our family, the family that was starring the show. But there are some shows that will make these giant sets filled with kitchens and couches and an office and blah, blah, blah. Anything. What happens when the show is done? Those sets get torn apart. And as you said, they're thrown into the landfill. That's just one tiny example of the waste created in film and TV and the mind-boggling number of services and departments. I mean, the call sheets were just stacked pages and pages long of all these different departments. So I got to say, from that perspective, I just want to set that stage because I'm not sure if people know the vast number of the requirements and the complexity of film and TV. So what you are doing, you have your hand in many of those departments, and that is incredible. It's a very difficult skill set to have.

Beverley Dondale (: 08:11

Yeah, yeah, it is. And I think kind of going back to your comment about what happens at the end of the use, that time of a useful set. So one of the businesses that I was telling you about is called ReUse People, and that is a company that deconstructs. And so what I have are our community, like thrift stores that are going to be for free, taking away all of the props and all of the things that are within the set. So you have the walls, which is wood and whatever else, right?

Leena Manro (: 08:58

Yes.

Beverley Dondale (: 08:58

But then you have inside whatever tables and chairs.

Leena Manro (: 09:02

Like a living room.

Beverley Dondale (: 09:03

Yeah.

Leena Manro (: 09:03

Couches, tables, chairs.

Beverley Dondale (: 09:05

And if they can't sell them, they go to the landfill. So what my-

Leena Manro (: 09:09

Which is incredible waste.

Beverley Dondale (: 09:11

It is. So what my goal is and why I'm either, if somebody else isn't doing it, I'm doing it.

Leena Manro (: 09:18

Amazing.

Beverley Dondale (: 09:19

So with the set deconstruction, it's also giving back to the community.

Leena Manro (: 09:26

Yes.

Beverley Dondale (: 09:27

And for me, that is such an incredible thing. And we're in Victoria, like Vancouver Island loves film. There really aren't any burned sets and burned locations because-

Leena Manro (: 09:39

Really? And for the audience, viewers, and listeners, because this podcast is meant for everyone. And so I know there's language we might take for granted.

Beverley Dondale (: 09:47

That's right. Yeah.

Leena Manro (: 09:47

A burned location is when imagine a location, a crew comes to your location, they rent your space. And often we rent, for example, our all-purpose studio for different film and TV sets, and they treat the owners of that location very badly, and the location is then burned because the owners of that location, they will never hire that film or TV crew again. So it's a very, very bad practice.

Beverley Dondale (: 10:11

And it's even somebody steps through the garden.

Leena Manro (: 10:14

Oh, yes, so can happen.

Beverley Dondale (: 10:15

And then they don't take care of the garden properly, right?

Leena Manro (: 10:16

Of course, yeah.

Beverley Dondale (: 10:17

And it's all of these little things. And a lot of this was really through experience of me working as a crew member and seeing so many things happening that I thought, "Yeah, that just takes a little bit of time. That doesn't take a lot of effort to change."

Leena Manro (: 10:36

So you're saying that there's, typically, there's no burned locations in Victoria?

Beverley Dondale (: 10:40

None.

Leena Manro (: 10:40

That's huge.

Beverley Dondale (: 10:41

It's gigantic.

Leena Manro (: 10:43

Because we rent the space all the time, and we rent other spaces. And it is, for the most part, I would say that the crews are pretty respectful, even in Vancouver. There's a different flavor, I felt in Saskatchewan, there's a warmth and a friendliness there that was so sweet. But we've had one production, and I mean, they weren't even that awful. I don't think that we would rent to them again.

Beverley Dondale (: 11:05

Yeah.

Leena Manro (: 11:05

They burned it. They burned the location.

Beverley Dondale (: 11:07

Yeah, exactly.

Leena Manro (: 11:07

Burn.

Beverley Dondale (: 11:08

Yeah, that's right. And I think that we have had, like Chinatown was burned for a few Vancouver people, and it took a few years to come back again.

Leena Manro (: 11:20

To build that trust.

Beverley Dondale (: 11:22

But on the whole, it's not quite the same. You don't have a list like you do in Vancouver of locations that they just go, "No, I don't want that anymore."

Leena Manro (: 11:31

Yeah.

Beverley Dondale (: 11:37

Going back to the giving back to the community, that really is the basis of ReUse People. And that's why I want that company because it's... And then linking it up with lots of sort of thrift stores, being able to have affordable wood for people who can't pay full. So you have somebody who is lower income that all of a sudden has an incredibly good selection of wood that they can buy for 60% off, right?

Leena Manro (: 12:20

That's so nice.

Beverley Dondale (: 12:22

And so that's the other thing that we're trying to do, but it's pretty a steep climb when you think that it's not that... We have to really start from the top down and ensure that what we're creating is something that is easy and that they can see the value for themselves.

Leena Manro (: 12:48

Absolutely.

Beverley Dondale (: 12:48

So for an example, by having a charity, it means that we can provide tax receipts to producers for the things that are taken away. They don't have hauling charges.

Leena Manro (: 13:02

Oh, I see.

Beverley Dondale (: 13:03

So all of a sudden there's no hauling charges. They get tax receipts. So it's not just tax credits.

Leena Manro (: 13:10

You make it easy. It's tax receipts.

Beverley Dondale (: 13:11

So that they can add to. So everything that I'm trying to do, and I've been working on the studio project since it evolved really to where it is now, kind of 2014, a long time.

Leena Manro (: 13:29

Oh, wow. 10 years.

Beverley Dondale (: 13:30

So when I started, everybody thought I was pretty nutty and thought it was impossible.

Leena Manro (: 13:37

I think it's amazing.

Beverley Dondale (: 13:37

It is. But if you think of Vancouver Island, we're thinking we're going for a total of six double sound stages.

Leena Manro (: 13:45

Oh my God. Okay. So to put in perspective, that's huge.

Beverley Dondale (: 13:50

Yes. They're like 32,000 square feet each.

Leena Manro (: 13:53

Six of those.

Beverley Dondale (: 13:54

Yeah, but we're doing it in phases.

Leena Manro (: 13:56

And then that's like I want the listeners and viewers to understand like that's where a lot of the TV shows sometimes are shot is in a sound stage, so that's totally a very normal thing, but it takes a lot of land to create something like that.

Beverley Dondale (: 14:11

It does. It does. So it took some time to get to Malahat, but I wanted to partner with Indigenous because I wanted this to be a Vancouver Island film studio. That's really what I wanted.

Leena Manro (: 14:28

And you were able to get 88 acres.

Beverley Dondale (: 14:30

I was able to get 80 acres with them.

Leena Manro (: 14:30

Oh, 80. Okay.

Beverley Dondale (: 14:33

So in partnership.

Leena Manro (: 14:35

Beautiful.

Beverley Dondale (: 14:35

Yeah. So my first meeting, because I just think it's fun. I went thinking that I was just going to meet one person, and I went and it was the administration, it was the council, it was the chief, and some elders. And I was scared. I was so shaky. But after that hour, hour and a half meeting, we were partners.

Leena Manro (: 14:57

What?

Beverley Dondale (: 14:57

And so that happened in 2015, and we've been partners ever since.

Leena Manro (: 15:02

Oh, wow.

Beverley Dondale (: 15:02

And out of, I think they say this more, I can't remember if it was seven or eight other companies that were trying to do the same thing. Not a studio, but building some form of business and partnership with them. And I was the only one left standing. So that just shows to me that they understood what I meant by partnership.

Leena Manro (: 15:26

Yes.

Beverley Dondale (: 15:27

They understood what I meant by sustainability and kindness. And whenever you're doing this kind of thing, it's always a climb because it's not a usual thing.

Leena Manro (: 15:40

No, it's not.

Beverley Dondale (: 15:41

And people often use the excuse of, "Well, it's fast-paced, money, money, money." But I am very much into that whole thing of people and planet first. And so looking for investors, it's people, planet first.

Leena Manro (: 15:59

And you found investors.

Beverley Dondale (: 16:03

We have some.

Leena Manro (: 16:03

It's amazing.

Beverley Dondale (: 16:04

And we have a couple of things that we still have to do, and Malahat is still getting water and sewer to the land. So there's a few things before everything can be finalized, but, yeah.

Leena Manro (: 16:16

Will this partnership help them get water and sewer even quicker? Is that-

Beverley Dondale (: 16:20

No. The way everything is set up now, if they know what they want, they can get it done pretty quickly because government is in a place now where they want to help.

Leena Manro (: 16:35

I see.

Beverley Dondale (: 16:36

And so infrastructure, that kind of thing, government will help do that kind of thing.

Leena Manro (: 16:41

Perhaps maybe just on Vancouver Island. I mean, that's the flavor there right now. That's the atmosphere?

Beverley Dondale (: 16:45

Yeah.

Leena Manro (: 16:45

Okay.

Beverley Dondale (: 16:45

It is, yeah.

Leena Manro (: 16:45

Interesting.

Beverley Dondale (: 16:46

And so they have 80 acres on reserve land. Well, they have more, they have a lot more, but we have 80 acres that we can use. And we're doing phase one first, which is two standalone production offices, one workshop, one double sound stage, and a warehouse and a 10 acre back lot.

Leena Manro (: 17:11

This is all going to be built.

Beverley Dondale (: 17:12

Yeah.

Leena Manro (: 17:13

Is it already built or in the process?

Beverley Dondale (: 17:13

No, no, no.

Leena Manro (: 17:13

Okay.

Beverley Dondale (: 17:16

They have to get water and sewer there first.

Leena Manro (: 17:18

Oh, I see, I see. Okay.

Beverley Dondale (: 17:19

And then the land still has to be cleared. And one of the things, initially when I was doing all this, I did not want to have a piece of land that wasn't already serviced because I didn't like the idea of cutting down trees.

Leena Manro (: 17:35

I agree with you.

Beverley Dondale (: 17:35

Right?

Leena Manro (: 17:35

Yes, yes.

Beverley Dondale (: 17:37

And so I really couldn't wrap my mind around that for years. I was always trying to find something in Victoria. I couldn't find anything that would work, that was not prohibitive as far as cost was concerned. But this is a piece of land that hasn't been built on, but it's been logged multiple times. So it's not old growth forest. And it provides revenue from Malahat nation.

Leena Manro (: 18:07

Okay, amazing.

Beverley Dondale (: 18:08

Which is really amazing. And they are just a creative, oh, they're just really fabulous to work for and with. I can't even say how happy I am that we are partners, because it's just been an amazing experience.

Leena Manro (: 18:30

Amazing. If only more production entities, corporations, services followed that path of working in partnership with our indigenous communities. That was actually a part that I wasn't really aware of. I didn't realize that was a big part of your work.

Beverley Dondale (: 18:31

It's huge.

Leena Manro (: 18:46

I was thinking about it more from the terms of the fact that you were doing a lot of the sustainability aspect: reusing, recycling, selling, things like that, because the waste that's created on set is tremendous. And so that in and of itself is pretty remarkable. But then to take it another level and to also work and partner with communities in a way that benefits them is so important. And so you're doing business in truly the right way.

Beverley Dondale (: 19:16

Thank you.

Leena Manro (: 19:18

And I love when you say people and planet first, but what do you say to those companies and groups that are struggling? That profit is just, it's so darn challenging at times. It feels that way when you put impact first. I mean, there's a reason why many of these businesses are non-profits, right?

Beverley Dondale (: 19:37

Yeah, absolutely. My vision has always stayed the same. My vision has never veered from the moment I started thinking about doing something on a larger scale. But my plan has changed.

Leena Manro (: 19:53

Okay.

Beverley Dondale (: 19:53

And I think that I want money. I am not going to pretend that I do not want money. I've been working, doing all of this using money from my own pocket, right?

Leena Manro (: 20:06

Okay.

Beverley Dondale (: 20:06

And so it's really important to realize that you have to make money. But I don't think that people and planet have to sit on the sideline while making money. I think what you have to do is to motivate people to do the right thing. That's what I think. You have to make everything easy, and you have to make it an absolute no-brainer. And I think with the studio, it really is saying, this is how we're going to do it.

Leena Manro (: 20:46

Yeah, I think so too. Studios are needed. They're necessary. Film production is a big part of British Columbia revenue. It's huge. And so they need to occupy some states. They need to go to some studio. So why wouldn't they go to one that's working in such a sustainable and ethical way? That makes sense. But have you always been profitable since you started this enterprise? Or were there times where you were kind of-

Beverley Dondale (: 21:11

Oh, no, absolutely not.

Leena Manro (: 21:12

Okay.

Beverley Dondale (: 21:12

No. No. I mean, seriously, when I say I'm using all of my own money, I'm using all of my own money to create all of these things.

Leena Manro (: 21:19

You know what? I can relate to that. I get that, yes.

Beverley Dondale (: 21:23

Absolutely. So no, no. But for an example, we have a new company called Alpha-Sharewares that is a company that provides reusable plates and cups and all of those things.

Leena Manro (: 21:34

For crafting.

Beverley Dondale (: 21:35

For catering.

Leena Manro (: 21:36

Or for catering.

Beverley Dondale (: 21:37

All of those things.

Leena Manro (: 21:37

And before you tell me more, I just want to let the audience know that is, again, going back to the complexity of film and TV, one other big aspect of just a department is actually catering. Because imagine you've got say, a hundred people on a set, and I'm averaging, sometimes it's more, a little less, 70 to 100 is average, right?

Beverley Dondale (: 21:56

Oh, that's average, yeah.

Leena Manro (: 21:57

And you need to feed them. You need to feed them three times a day. You need to feed them breakfast, lunch, dinner, plus snacks. And the different unions that are involved actually mandate the kind of times, the feeding times.

Beverley Dondale (: 22:07

Yes.

Leena Manro (: 22:09

So catering and food, that's big business. And it's also the potential for a lot of waste as well as potentially good sustainable practices depending on what you do. So that's setting the stage for the catering.

Beverley Dondale (: 22:21

That's right. I also want to add, and if you have 500 background people, you have to feed them too.

Leena Manro (: 22:29

Oh, yes. I forgot about them. I'm just thinking about, yes, the main cast and crew but-

Beverley Dondale (: 22:34

Yeah, I know but I just sort of, because they sit there and they have to snack while they're waiting for their moment.

Leena Manro (: 22:37

Sometimes they eat all the food, I mean.

Beverley Dondale (: 22:39

That's right.

Leena Manro (: 22:40

What else is there to do?

Beverley Dondale (: 22:41

Yeah, that's right. So that is something...

Leena Manro (: 22:46

So I'm sorry, you started enterprise that provides sustainable coverage?

Beverley Dondale (: 22:50

So you're not using single use anything.

Leena Manro (: 22:54

Oh, good.

Beverley Dondale (: 22:54

So even on location. So you have to have catering when you're filming in the woods.

Leena Manro (: 23:00

Yes.

Beverley Dondale (: 23:00

So instead of having even composting things, that still takes effort, it still means that it has to go in the right bin so that it can go in the right place. This is something where you can have containers, where you can have all of your food that you want on location, and you just put it in a bin and it goes to our wash facility and it gets cleaned and it gets reused again.

Leena Manro (: 23:31

So it's reusable.

Beverley Dondale (: 23:33

So instead of once, you get to use it a thousand times.

Leena Manro (: 23:36

Oh, nice.

Beverley Dondale (: 23:36

Now, when we were first looking at numbers, especially for Victoria, I was like, okay, well, we can do a pilot with coffee shops and restaurants. Well, I was like, okay, when you're selling them for 25 cents and it costs $20 an hour to have somebody wash those things, it's like, oh, that doesn't really work. So I think to answer the question, it's all about scale, I think. I think that when you have a company that is trying to do the right thing, but they're not making money, I think sometimes it's about scale and figuring out how you can do it so you can make that money. Because there's nothing inspiring about struggling. There's just nothing inspiring about that.

(: 24:34

And doing the right thing, doing the good thing becomes a real strain. And I think, so for reusable plates, for an example, it's all about scale. It's all about making sure that you can put enough out there so that you can pay for everything that you need, plus put money in your own pocket. And I think sometimes when... Because I've done this when I was young, because I think the first company I ever started, I would think it was 17, because people needed money. And I was like, "Huh, I can do something. Let's try to figure something out." But I didn't do any planning of it in the sense of looking at it so that we could all make money for the long term. Everything just was really lucky it fell in my lap. And so I did really well. I could pay for my university, I could travel.

Leena Manro (: 25:31

What were you doing?

Beverley Dondale (: 25:32

I had a cleaning company because I didn't even know how to clean. I went into a high school and said, "Hey, if I clean your floors for the summer and you like the job that I've done, would you hire me? And they just kind of looked at me like it was a nut. And they said, "Okay, sure." Because it was for free. And so I learned how to use all the buffering machines and then started hiring all my friends, and then it just snowballed. I was just really lucky.

Leena Manro (: 26:04

You're so inspiring. Oh my goodness. I don't know of any 17-year-olds. You're like, "I'm going to start cleaning and then hiring."

Beverley Dondale (: 26:10

Yeah.

Leena Manro (: 26:10

Okay. This is mind-boggling to me. How many companies have you started that are... How many have you started since you were 17? That's the first question.

Beverley Dondale (: 26:19

A cleaning, a painting, a vacation rental. And those are kind of the three big ones. And then recently a waste management company. So that's under the umbrella of Alpha, a Shareware and deconstruction.

Leena Manro (: 26:35

Okay. Wow. So six so far. Six just so far. But then you've also got the sound stages.

Beverley Dondale (: 26:40

So we have the studio, yeah.

Leena Manro (: 26:43

The studio. And that'll be a new company under Alpha, is that right?

Beverley Dondale (: 26:44

Yeah. Yeah. I think that that's probably where it's going to end up. I just want to be the person that is in there ensuring that the vision is intact. So handing it over to anybody-

Leena Manro (: 27:00

Got it. Makes sense.

Beverley Dondale (: 27:01

... means that all of the things that I'm talking about could potentially not happen.

Leena Manro (: 27:05

And I agree with what you said about the trickle down because the fish rots from the head. You've got to have very strong-

Beverley Dondale (: 27:11

Yeah, good one.

Leena Manro (: 27:11

... kind leadership. Well, because back a couple of years ago, I wrote and directed a TV show called Our Big Punjabi Family. Try to look for it, you might not be able to find it. I don't know. It aired on Omni in the fall of 2023. And we haven't produced a second season yet. But maybe, however, for me, that was the first foray into writing and directing a TV show as a show runner first time.

Beverley Dondale (: 27:11

Cool.

Leena Manro (: 27:36

And I had a director's mentor help me with some of the directing for the TV show because I've done tons of directing here. We do a lot of in-house training as well as promotional media and things like that. But a TV show is a very different beast.

Beverley Dondale (: 27:50

It is.

Leena Manro (: 27:50

And the director's mentor said to me when I was talking about wanting to ensure that there was collaboration and connecting with so-and-so, and he stopped me and he said and he was a lovely mentor, by the way. Right. Excellent. However, he did say, "Just keep in mind that film and TV is like this. It's like the military meets the patriarchy and now go be creative."

Beverley Dondale (: 28:14

Yeah.

Leena Manro (: 28:15

Terrible.

Beverley Dondale (: 28:16

Yeah. But it's so true.

Leena Manro (: 28:18

It's so true.

Beverley Dondale (: 28:18

It's so true.

Leena Manro (: 28:19

Again, for viewers and listeners who are not part of the film and TV world, this is truth that behind the scenes, it is dark. It's not kind. It's really, like you just said in the beginning of this episode, there's a person who's in front of you barking orders at you, and that's normal.

Beverley Dondale (: 28:37

It is.

Leena Manro (: 28:38

Which is insane. And so many other industries have evolved, but film and TV is the one place where people think it's okay to have a complete meltdown, swear at people, lose your shit. I swore. This one I need to. I don't usually swear.

Beverley Dondale (: 28:54

No, no, I think you do.

Leena Manro (: 28:54

But people do though.

Beverley Dondale (: 28:54

I think it's a must.

Leena Manro (: 28:56

It's a must to swear because when I stepped away from all that, because I've had my hand in it, and now of course being part of this beautiful community, we're a B Corp. We are... You know what? I'm not going to say we're fine. We're not even doing anything all that different. But we don't sit there and yell and scream and swear at people. That is not normal. Nobody wants to, that's just so gross.

Beverley Dondale (: 29:20

Yeah, it's so gross.

Leena Manro (: 29:21

Yeah, it is.

Beverley Dondale (: 29:22

It is.

Leena Manro (: 29:23

So if that's the nature of the industry, I mean, I think people are just trying to save themselves. They're not thinking about sustainability. They're not thinking about the planet. Everything has to shift.

Beverley Dondale (: 29:33

And I think that's why everything has to be handled so that it's easy. So it's packaged and easy and that they can see the benefit. Because really, productions always look at bottom line. So if you're looking at waste management for an example, you're reducing the hauling charges. There's so many ways, but you have to show how they're going to be saving money because that's what matters.

Leena Manro (: 30:02

The question then, how does kindness show up in the work you do?

Beverley Dondale (: 30:07

I think being respectful.

Leena Manro (: 30:09

Okay. You model that.

Beverley Dondale (: 30:10

Yeah. But I think it's going to be even more so with the studio. It's the kind of thing that, because there's a hierarchy in production, as you just said.

Leena Manro (: 30:23

Yes. Super strong hierarchy. Oh my gosh.

Beverley Dondale (: 30:25

And so somebody can step over something that is so easy to just pick up for themselves. And how I want it modeled is if you are a CEO, you're going to be picking up that. You're not going, "Hey PA-"

Leena Manro (: 30:40

That piece of garbage, exactly.

Beverley Dondale (: 30:40

"Pick that up."

Leena Manro (: 30:41

Exactly.

Beverley Dondale (: 30:42

And I think it's that simple. I think it's just ensuring that there's room for that. And I think by making things easy as far as sustainability is concerned, I think they can't really complain that it's going to take extra time because it's not. They can't say it's going to take extra money because it's not. And there's so many ways they're getting... And it's all in their budgets anyway. There's so many, I think, that really we need to have a 1% sustainability item line in a budget.

Leena Manro (: 31:17

That makes sense. You could just budget for it in the beginning. Makes sense.

Beverley Dondale (: 31:20

But if you're looking down the line and you're looking at hauling and all of those things, a lot of the things that we're doing, they have as an item in their budget anyway, it's just reallocating that money instead of going to the landfill.

Leena Manro (: 31:35

Oh, I see. Okay. Okay. Okay. So that money's already in the budget, but it's in a different place. The suggestion is reallocate it.

Beverley Dondale (: 31:41

Yes.

Leena Manro (: 31:41

That's so smart. That's so simple.

Beverley Dondale (: 31:43

Yeah, it is. But it's going to take a little bit of a twist to the mind to do that. And by creating these companies to go, okay, this is what you're saving. This is the additional thing you're getting by getting a tax receipt so that you can not... With all of the tax credits and everything else.

Leena Manro (: 32:04

And I feel like there's an opportunity for even viewers to get on board and demand more. Right?

Beverley Dondale (: 32:09

Absolutely.

Leena Manro (: 32:09

Don't watch shows that are... I don't know. It's almost like know the supply chain. If the television show is made A, unsustainably, unethically, or people are being yelled at on set, you can boycott that show. It's not that necessary.

Beverley Dondale (: 32:23

That's right.

Leena Manro (: 32:24

I mean, as much as I loved Game of Thrones, I did.

Beverley Dondale (: 32:24

I did.

Leena Manro (: 32:28

I didn't like the very last episode.

Beverley Dondale (: 32:29

No, I didn't either, but I love it.

Leena Manro (: 32:29

I don't mean to be a spoiler.

Beverley Dondale (: 32:29

I did too.

Leena Manro (: 32:33

But you know what? I mean, would I have walked away from something like that? Yeah. Why not? I mean, why not? Well, there's so much incredible entertainment choices out there, and knowing that there's actually... What if there's a supply chain that a production was made with kindness, kindness to the planet and to each other, that would be game-changing. And if we demanded that.

Beverley Dondale (: 32:50

And I think writers, think of a writer. So when you're writing a story, all of a sudden when you're thinking sustainably, all you have to have is compost bucket recycling.

Leena Manro (: 33:04

Yes.

Beverley Dondale (: 33:05

You're not going around having a plastic bottle in your hand. There's so many simple ways that a writer can do it.

Leena Manro (: 33:12

So you think in the story.

Beverley Dondale (: 33:13

Yeah.

Leena Manro (: 33:14

In the story.

Beverley Dondale (: 33:15

In a script. So when people are writing stories, they put in the story sustainable practices.

Leena Manro (: 33:15

Beautiful.

Beverley Dondale (: 33:24

It's just subtle.

Leena Manro (: 33:26

Yes. So beautiful.

Beverley Dondale (: 33:27

But the more people see that, the more often people are going to go, "Hey." They're going to notice.

Leena Manro (: 33:33

It normalizes it.

Beverley Dondale (: 33:33

Yeah. They're going to notice the plastic bottles. They're going to notice the throw away, right?

Leena Manro (: 33:38

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Beverley Dondale (: 33:40

So even for the waste management company, we are going to be providing water service so that, or even all of our taps are going to have filters because people go, "I don't want to have tap water. Well, I'm not going to fill up my water bottle with tap water," although we have really good tap water.

Leena Manro (: 34:01

We have amazing tap water, yeah.

Beverley Dondale (: 34:03

But they don't. So you put a filter or you have a refillable water tank, right?

Leena Manro (: 34:08

Perfect. Amazing.

Beverley Dondale (: 34:09

So there's just so many things that you can do that people who are viewing can demand. People who are writing stories can insert.

Leena Manro (: 34:20

I think in Game of Thrones, why didn't they just like, you know what? Have a storyline where they were composting some of the dragon poop or using it for organic fertilizer. They could have.

Beverley Dondale (: 34:31

Why didn't they?

Leena Manro (: 34:31

Why didn't they? Be composting Khaleesi or something like that. Okay. So maybe some of that a little far-fetched, but maybe not, maybe not. Like if they had in storylines, if we can embrace more practices that are friendlier to the earth and kinder to the planet and showcasing that. And as viewers voting with your time and voting with your energy and your dollars. And as people in the industry really embracing both sustainable practices on screen, off the screen, and kinder practices could change everything.

Beverley Dondale (: 35:04

Yeah, absolutely. Because if you can get crew who really do, I think, overall they don't want to, at wrap parties demolish everything. If we can get crew to look at it and go, "Oh, I can do that. I can recycle. I can play a role in this. They can feel good." And metrics are really important. So the other part of that is metrics. How much is a film production diverting from the landfill? And weight can be done, all of those things. So it's always showing the metrics of what we're doing and how we're doing it. And I'm a metrics girl.

Leena Manro (: 35:43

I love that.

Beverley Dondale (: 35:44

I love that, yeah.

Leena Manro (: 35:45

When you said you were crew, what were you as crew?

Beverley Dondale (: 35:47

I was, everything from-

Leena Manro (: 35:50

That makes sense.

Beverley Dondale (: 35:50

... a location PA. So that was my first one. And there's a story there, but we won't tell it. And then I went into the production office, and then I went into accounting. And then I have a graphic design background.

Leena Manro (: 36:03

Amazing.

Beverley Dondale (: 36:03

So I was in the art department as well.

Leena Manro (: 36:05

And that's again-

Beverley Dondale (: 36:06

And so I did clearances and product placement.

Leena Manro (: 36:09

And it's incredible in the film and TV industry, there are so many. I feel like there's thousands of different roles in different places. Okay, next question is, I'm going to run through this as...

Beverley Dondale (: 36:19

Trying to be short.

Leena Manro (: 36:21

Okay, I love what you said about things need to be to at scale, meaning that you just need sort of more of it, right, in order to be profitable?

Beverley Dondale (: 36:27

It depends. Sometimes it's a matter of numbers and sometimes it's a matter of price.

Leena Manro (: 36:33

Okay. Oh, yeah.

Beverley Dondale (: 36:35

So you're always looking at levers. So you're looking at levers of scale, so the number of things that you're doing, or it's the price. Because a lot of people, especially who want to do good undervalue themselves-

Leena Manro (: 36:35

They do.

Beverley Dondale (: 36:52

... and their products.

Leena Manro (: 36:52

Yes.

Beverley Dondale (: 36:53

And so those are the two levers that you play with.

Leena Manro (: 36:54

They stop being profitable for that. Yeah, that is so true. We've seen it in, even our industry is very services-based as well, and we've seen it in our industry. And then at the end of the day, it hits the bottom line in a very negative way.

Beverley Dondale (: 37:04

And especially if you're doing something new. And I always say, "Oh, I'm doing a pilot. I'm doing a pilot." So you charge less for a pilot, but if you say, pilot, it's a temporary thing.

Leena Manro (: 37:19

I love that.

Beverley Dondale (: 37:20

Right?

Leena Manro (: 37:20

I'm going to steal that one. Did you hear that, everyone? Pilot. Say pilot, when you're doing something new, say pilot, you can charge a little less. And then if that customer comes back, you charge them full price.

Beverley Dondale (: 37:29

Exactly.

Leena Manro (: 37:30

I love that one. Also, okay, as a services industry, there's not necessarily that reassurance that people are going to come back, that teams are going to be coming back. Do you have any recurring revenue sources? Have you created anything that no matter what will always...

Beverley Dondale (: 37:48

I think everything that I'm doing right now is new. So they're all being created right now.

Leena Manro (: 37:55

And they're all services more.

Beverley Dondale (: 37:56

And they're all services to help support the studio, but doing it so that we can show that there's merit to it. So we're starting in Victoria for an example.

Leena Manro (: 38:09

You're clearly a serial entrepreneur, which is amazing. Have you ever had a boss? No?

Beverley Dondale (: 38:17

Twice.

Leena Manro (: 38:17

Oh, yeah. Did it work out okay or not really?

Beverley Dondale (: 38:20

It works really well to begin with, because I work really hard. I don't have this concept of nine-to-five. So it always starts off really great because I'm doing everything that needs to be done, but it doesn't... I prefer to be my own boss.

Leena Manro (: 38:39

Love it.

Beverley Dondale (: 38:39

Because I'm just a little off beat. And I just kind of work all the time. And that's not a good idea.

Leena Manro (: 38:40

I know. We need... I don't know. I don't know.

Beverley Dondale (: 38:51

Yeah, you have to have balance. But I think if you have fun, I think-

Leena Manro (: 38:52

Agree.

Beverley Dondale (: 38:52

I think for me, I enjoy what I do and it gives me something to do all the time.

Leena Manro (: 38:59

And that's the last question, you just touched on it. It is like, okay, do you feel you're living your purpose?

Beverley Dondale (: 39:04

Yes, I do. And in fact, this is the first time in my entire life that I feel like I have a mission.

Leena Manro (: 39:13

Oh, wow.

Beverley Dondale (: 39:15

I've always done things because somebody needed something. So people were saying, "Oh, I want to make more than this." And I go, "Oh, I think we can do that." And then I figure something out. This time, despite a lot of ups and downs, and I can tell you there have been... I've actually gone to bed crying, but I wake up the next morning and I am not kidding going, "I've got a new plan. I know how I can do this."

Leena Manro (: 39:42

Oh, that's amazing.

Beverley Dondale (: 39:43

And I've never done that. My mom was actually really shocked by just how motivated I am, I just kind of am. I took philosophy and theology just because my parents are Christians. I wanted to study to make my own. I just kind of ambled through.

Leena Manro (: 40:01

Beautiful.

Beverley Dondale (: 40:02

But this is the first time that I stuck with something. And the vision, I'm telling you, the vision has not strayed from the first moment I thought about it. But the plan has completely done somersaults. And I think that's the thing about with entrepreneurs is you have to expect difficulty when you're-

Leena Manro (: 40:28

The ups and downs.

Beverley Dondale (: 40:29

You have to expect those challenges. And you have to be prepared to look at everything and see where things can be changed. And where you can learn and improve.

Leena Manro (: 40:41

And you have to be available to just pivot, pivot, pivot.

Beverley Dondale (: 40:44

Always.

Leena Manro (: 40:44

So your recommendation is if you're experiencing some of those downs, is just look at your plan, new plan, new plan.

Beverley Dondale (: 40:50

And look at your numbers. Always look at your numbers. I really think that numbers are absolutely key for anybody to be successful. And I think that, again, always think of levers, always sort of figure out how you can kind of navigate that balance of making sure that you're always thinking of the best in people and the planet.

Leena Manro (: 41:20

Yes.

Beverley Dondale (: 41:20

And you'll get there eventually. I didn't expect it to take as long as it did for myself.

Leena Manro (: 41:25

Oh, no. But it's great.

Beverley Dondale (: 41:27

Yeah. And the thing is-

Leena Manro (: 41:28

You stabilized right around what, 2014 you said? That's when it kind of...

Beverley Dondale (: 41:31

Yeah.

Leena Manro (: 41:31

That's great. 10 years of...

Beverley Dondale (: 41:33

Yeah, that's right. And I think when I talk to investors who deal with big numbers and they go, "What made you think that something just under $300 million would be an easy thing?" I'm like, "Oh. Yeah, good point."

Leena Manro (: 41:47

Yeah, you deal with those kind of numbers?

Beverley Dondale (: 41:53

Yeah. The whole thing is just under 300 million.

Leena Manro (: 41:54

Really? Hundreds of millions. And those are the kind of numbers that when people are talking to you about some of their productions, you're dealing with clients and such that are in those budgets.

Beverley Dondale (: 41:59

Yeah, no, no. I would say right now we're just doing what's easy, which is the productions that are coming to town because we don't-

Leena Manro (: 42:06

But remember, 1% of 300 million is 3 million.

Beverley Dondale (: 42:09

That's right. That's right. So it's 10 million below.

Leena Manro (: 42:12

Right. That's a great budget to be working with because you are B2B, your customers are a lot of people who are making those decisions in film and TV, and they are working with millions and millions of dollars of budget. So if they can support by putting 1% or even more, I mean, I think it's pretty sad that it's only 1%, but okay, fine. Say 1%, whether that's a million dollars or 10 million depending on how big the budget is. Or actually, I don't know the math, 10 million would be, it's insane. Okay. Be about a million or a little less or under that. That's an incredible amount of money towards putting rather than to just waste and hauling things off and throwing them into the landfill. Put that money towards sustainable and incredible solutions and put that money towards community. The business you have is very specific to film and TV, but your experiences can be used really for any business. Your advice can be used for any business. So thank you for that.

Beverley Dondale (: 43:08

Yes, yes.

Leena Manro (: 43:10

And what would you say then is in one sentence, the purpose of Alpha Select Production Services?

Beverley Dondale (: 43:16

Helping productions facilitate sustainable production on Vancouver Island.

Leena Manro (: 43:22

Love it. It doesn't sound super sexy.

Beverley Dondale (: 43:25

No, I'm not sexy.

Leena Manro (: 43:26

But it is. No, but it is. It's sexy. It's sexy to be sustainable. We need to make it sexy. It's phenomenal.

Beverley Dondale (: 43:34

And it's an exciting thing to be able-

Leena Manro (: 43:34

It is exciting.

Beverley Dondale (: 43:35

... to help Vancouver Island, to help individuals on Vancouver Island. And I'm telling you, partnering with Malahat Nation gives me goosebumps, literally.

Leena Manro (: 43:49

Me too. I'm absolutely astounded, blown away, and so, so excited for you and so impressed. And here at All Purpose, we are in service of all things that are uplifting people and planet, and we are always here if you ever want to continue the conversation in some way, shape, or form. I don't know. I'm so glad we got to meet you.

Beverley Dondale (: 44:11

Yeah, I'm glad to be here. It was fun.

Leena Manro (: 44:13

Are there any other words of advice you have to any of those in the entrepreneurs and service industry?

Beverley Dondale (: 44:20

No.

Leena Manro (: 44:20

You've got it all.

Beverley Dondale (: 44:21

I think, I'm always about numbers and levers and passion. And just do something that you're passionate about because that lift you up when others and things are dragging you down. So passion is really important, I think.

Leena Manro (: 44:38

Thank you.

Beverley Dondale (: 44:38

How's that?

Leena Manro (: 44:39

Oh, well, definitely. We've got to do this together. Do you want to sing with me? You know you want to.

Beverley Dondale (: 44:40

I don't.

Leena Manro (: 44:44

You do want to. Okay. Ready?

Beverley Dondale (: 44:44

Do it once.

Leena Manro (: 44:44

Okay.

Beverley Dondale (: 44:46

Do it once first.

Leena Manro (: 44:47

Okay. We're up to so good. Ready?

Beverley Dondale (: 44:47

Yeah, I can sing it.

Both (: 44:49

1, 2, 3. Up to so good.

Beverley Dondale (: 44:56

See, I'm flat.

Leena Manro (: 44:57

No, no, no.

Beverley Dondale (: 44:58

There we go.

Leena Manro (: 44:58

She was good. Well, that's all the time we have today. And I want to thank our guest, Beverley Dondale, the CEO of Alpha Select Production Services. I love that I can say that very quickly now.

Beverley Dondale (: 44:58

You do.

Leena Manro (: 45:07

It is a lot of words.

Beverley Dondale (: 45:08

There's a lot of words.

Leena Manro (: 45:10

It's an incredible organization. You're doing amazing things for the film and TV industry, and you're inspiring to all of us who are just in other businesses. We don't even have to be in film and TV. And so I really want to thank you for sharing your experiences and your advice for all businesses that are trying to do better for the people and for the planet, and still trying to be profitable. That's super important. Thank you so much for joining us, and thank you so much for your time.

Beverley Dondale (: 45:33

Yeah, thank you for having me.

Leena Manro (: 45:35

And I want to thank All Purpose as the producer of this podcast, and also J Pod Creations. Thank you. Well, that's all the time we have for today's show. Thank you so much for joining us. And if you've enjoyed the show, please subscribe, hit the like button or share an episode. And if you have any feedback, questions, or comments or show ideas, you can email us directly at hello@allpurpose.io. Thank you once again for joining us. We'll see you next time.