B is for Benefit
With Vancouver Film Studios leading the way, we have dedicated ourselves to becoming a better business; for our employees, our customers, and the rest of the world.
But what does that even mean, to be a better business? We're on a mission to find out exactly what that is, and being a Certified B Corporation is part of that mission.
How We're Doing It
Here's just a few of the things we're doing to promote a healthy workplace, community, and world! Want to see more? Check out our full B Lab assessment with Vancouver Film Studios here.
SUPPORTING
OUR
EMPLOYEES
- Provide a living wage -
- Promote from within -
- Health benefits -
- Cross-skills training and facilitate for external professional development opportunities -
- Incentives for health & wellness activities -
- Paying our employees a living wage -
- Providing cross-skills training -
- Promoting from within -
- Offering incentives for health & wellness initiatives -
- Dispensing health benefits -
- RRSP Matching -
- Paid parental leave -
-Tuition reimbursement -
SUPPORTING
OUR
ENVIRONMENT
- Provide a living wage -
- Promote from within -
- Health benefits -
- Mandatory Carbon Literacy training for all of our employees -
- Carbon neutral since 2008! -
- Community Garden for all employees to use -
- Donating and sponsoring various eco-minded initiatives and charities (ex. REEL Green Earth Day, Still Creek Streamkeepers, & the Sustainable Production Forum)
- Incentives for health & wellness activities -
- Learn about more of our sustainability initiatives on our Sustainability Page -
- Cross-skills training and facilitate for external professional development opportunities -
-Tuition reimbursement -
SUPPORTING
OUR
COMMUNITY
- Provide a living wage -
- Promote from within -
- Health benefits -
- Cross-skills training and facilitate for external professional development opportunities -
- Incentives for health & wellness activities -
- Paid days off for staff to use for volunteering -
- Amended our recruiting process to conduct unbiased hiring -
- Sponsering local film festivals and production companies (ex. Crazy 8s, UBC POV, Primary Imaging, & COJAX Industries) -
- Donating and sponsoring various community initiatives and charities (ex. Vancouver General Hospital, Take A Hike Foundation, Collingwood Neighbourhood House) -
- Donating gear to schools with film programs in need -
-Tuition reimbursement -
Carbon Neutrality
Since 2008, we've proudly been a carbon neutral company.
Fuel consumption, particularly from generator use is the most wasteful element of film production. We decided in 2022 to look at the generator diesel usage from the productions we support and see just how wasteful it was. As you can see from our Impact Report, the usage of the generators alone last year emitted more CO2 into the atmosphere than the entirety of the rest of our company operations combined! This information will allow us to have more impactful conversations with our customers about how we can reduce this moving forward. We need to do better and work harder as an industry to find more sustainable solutions.
In 2022 we decided to support the Great Bear Rainforest project with Climate Smart. This project is located in the North and Central-Mid Coast and Haida Gwaii region of BC. This offset project supporters preserving ecologically and culturally rich landscapes and supports job creation in the area. For more information please see their website.
We believe we have a responsibility improve our environment and we are working hard to reduce the impact our industry has on it.
As a division of Vancouver Film Studios, we are following their example in making sustainability not only a core value within our business , but one of our top priorities. To that end, we have implemented multiple initiatives throughout all departments in our office and warehouse and are striving daily to become more environmentally and socially responsible.
In 2021, we officially became a Certified B Corporation™. As part of the B Corp certification process, we amended our legal governing documents requiring our Company to balance both profit and purpose. What this means is that we have put in place positive core practices beyond what is required by regulations, including an emphasis on the betterment of our environment.
Our Commitment
How we do it
-
How do I get a quote?The best way to get a quote is to email your list of gear requirements to rentals@pacificbacklot.com. Don’t forget to include the name of your production company (if applicable), show name, pick-up date and time, shoot dates and drop off date and time. You can also give us a shout at 604.453.5070 or click on our "Get a Quote" link in the menu bar above!
-
What do I need in order to rent equipment?First time customers will be asked to fill out our standard terms and conditions, credit card authorization and production information forms. All orders with a replacement cost of over $5,000.00 will need to have insurance. If the replacement cost is less than the $5K limit, we will accept a pre-authorization from your credit card. First time customers will also need to pay for the rental before the equipment leaves the warehouse.
-
What type of payment do you accept?We accept debit, cash or credit card for short-term rentals, but do not accept e-transfers.
-
Where do I get insurance and what does it have to cover?The quickest and easiest way to get insurance is with Front Row Insurance or Gear Policy. Your insurance should be no less than the replacement cost of the gear quoted and you need $5 million liability. It is always recommended to add another 10 to 20% above replacement cost as orders tend to change before final load out and those changes may bring the replacement cost up. Your insurance should be made out to Pacific Backlot Services Ltd. 3500 Cornett Road, Vancouver B.C, V5M 2H5. The insured should be a legal name or entity. Coverage for gear should be under misc. rented equipment and if you are renting a vehicle it should also include vehicle aggregate coverage at $150k per vehicle.
-
Do you rent camera or sound equipment?No, our inventory consists of lighting, grip, and lifts.
-
Do you sell equipment?We only offer rental equipment.
-
Do you offer lift certification training?At the moment, we are only able to offer lift certification training to productions currently renting our lifts.
-
Are you open on weekends?We are open Monday to Friday 8am to 5pm and closed on weekends and all Canadian statutory holidays. If you’re doing a weekend shoot, gear can be picked up on Friday and returned on Monday. You can also ask our Rental Coordinators about accessing one of our After-Hours Containers. Remember, any day you are picking up gear, we recommend you give yourself enough time to look over and load up. If you are not finished your load out by 5pm, you are subject to extra fees.
-
Do you facetweet or instabook?If we have supported your show in any way, shape, or form, please don’t hesitate to send us any photos we can share to our Branding Coordinator; Sarah Mauracher, at smauracher@pacificbacklot.com. Be sure to include your production info and any tagging guidelines! You can even tag @pacificbacklot and #wevegotyourback in your stories and posts so we can repost them on our page. Help us share pictures of our gear in action on YOUR production!
-
Do you rent vehicles? What are the requirements?Yes! PBS has a 5 ton for rental as well as a variety of packages- just check out our Trucks page for more information on what we have to offer. Requirements for renting are a valid driver’s license and a signed vehicle rental agreement. PBS also offers secure 24/7 accessible parking for all our rented vehicles. We only rent trucks to customers renting out our gear; we do not rent trucks on their own. If you do decide to rent one of our vehicles, you must have insurance covering damage to or loss of each vehicle in the amount of at least $150k, payable to Pacific Backlot.
What you can do as a production
Have we inspired you to try and make your sets greener? There are many ways you can reduce your carbon footprint. The following are just a few small ways you can help out:
- Hire craft services and catering services that use compostable containers, cutlery and plates. Encourage your cast and crew to bring their own reusable containers.
-Reduce or even ban plastic water bottles from set. (Set dec will also thank you for the reduction in empty bottles they have to clear from the set!)
-Rent LEDs instead of tungsten.
-Donate your props and set pieces to a reuse it centre like Keep it Green.
-Use recycling bins instead of garbage cans. Removing garbage cans will encourage (force) people to reduce their garbage.
-Encourage your production members to attend a Carbon Literacy Training session (its free!).
-Save and reuse or recycle old costumes or props/set pieces.
-Donate anything useful that you don't need to schools or microbudget productions.
-And...we might be a little biased on this one... RENT instead of buying!
Interested in learning more?
Check out the Vancouver Film Studios website for more info on our Sustainability initiatives.