MEMBER SPOTLIGHT: JEFF HARVEY
Jeff Harvey is helping to empower film workers to use more clean energy on set. As a lead facilitator for IATSE 891’s Clean Battery Workshops, he provides technical knowledge and practical steps for expanding sustainable practices in the industry. We shine a spotlight on his journey into film, what he loves most about being a Union member, his push for better safety and training as chair of the Lighting Department for 17 years, and his hopes for the future of the industry and sustainable production.
“Make it go dark,” said the director, and with that order, Jeff Harvey’s skills for problem-solving and expertise as a lighting technician were put to the test.
The film crew had been given access to all the storefronts in the seaside heritage town of Steveston, BC. The scene they were about to film for Godzilla required complete darkness, and Jeff had found a way to make all the storefront lights turn off at the same time with the flick of a switch. He was given what seemed like an impossible task, so when it actually worked, there were audible exclaims of disbelief from those around when all of Steveston went dark.
“I was standing there with the director of photography, the gaffer, and the director on set. We're right on the harbour of Steveston. I get asked ‘Can you turn this all off?’ I said, “Yeah, but you need to understand that from that point there where you see light, to behind me here at the cannery, it's all going to go black.”
“And they all kind of chuckled at me like I was a lunatic. I said, ‘No, no, you better tell everybody to stop work for a minute, because it’s going to go dark quick.’ So I tell our board operator to make it go black. He says, ‘Are you sure?’ And I say, ‘Evidently I have to prove the point.’ He goes ‘Okay, here we go,’ and he hit the magic button and the whole place went black. And all I heard from the director was, ‘Oh ****! He did it!’ It was awesome.”
It’s just one of the many thrills Jeff has had working in BC’s film industry, with dozens of credits as a lighting technician for major productions such as Bates Motel, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, Man of Steel, and Snow Falling On Cedars. He describes the film community as one filled with people who tend to think outside of the box, and that’s what drew him in.
“I get hyper-focused,” he says, “and that's probably what makes a lot of us good at our jobs, because we’re not quite normal. We're always on the edge of something. A lot of us think outside of the box. There's not really a standard formula for making film and television. It’s not like putting together an Amazon box. It's like putting together something that has 12 sides and it's not really square and kind of has circles, but somehow, we put it together in a pretty good package.”
Jeff has been an IATSE 891 member since 1994, former chair of the Lighting Department for 17 years, and now leads the Clean Battery Workshops offered to film workers to empower them with the knowledge to incorporate more clean energy on set. He sheds light on who to work with to get access to clean energy technology, and how to advocate for expanding sustainable practices in the industry.
As a proud union member for 30 years, he describes IATSE 891 as a community like no other.
“We're very diverse, because we’re a craft union. We have such a broad mandate as a Union. We have a very interesting click happening, which is awesome. It binds our community together like no other community you'll ever find.”
Creative competitiveness among people working hard to excel at their craft is not unusual in the industry, but for Jeff, that’s balanced by a deep care unionized workers have for each other.
“We as a Union are a collective of a bunch of misfits that all love each other. We all strive to outdo each other because we're brothers and sisters. We can't help ourselves, but at the same time, if we trip and fall, we pick each other up. We work hard, but the sport of working together is so much fun.”
ADVOCATING FOR SAFER & MORE SUSTAINABLE SETS
Before working in film, Jeff was an electrician working in construction. He says transitioning onto unionized film sets provided better community, camaraderie, and good pay. His technical skills and experience as an electrician were highly valuable, not just for powering creativity on set, but for knowing how to keep fellow workers safe.
“There were not a lot of electricians working in film in BC in the 1990s when I started, and it was kind of shocking for a man like myself, who was a fully qualified electrician, to see how some things would be set up. I’d say, ‘You guys can't do some of the things you're doing,’ and they’d tell me, ‘We do it all the time.’ And I’d let people know that we're not going do it like that. It's unsafe.”
Improving safety and expanding access to training would become a big part of Jeff’s focus as a Union member and leader. Through joining committees, sharing safety concerns, and advocating for fellow workers, he helped the Union, industry partners, and government work together to outline safety protocols for working with electricity on set. Jeff played a key role in the work that would result in Actsafe Safety Bulletin #23: Working with Lighting Systems and Other Electrical Equipment.
“I was the guy in the background who could lend the technical knowledge to some of the discussions. That’s been my role more than anything. I wasn't there to be the leader of the pack. I was there to support the leaders who were more film technicians than electricians.”
It was more than his technical knowledge, however, that left an impression. Jeff’s grounded approach to solving problems and advocacy for fellow workers gave him a reputation as someone people could rely on. This trust and reputation led to department members electing Jeff as Lighting chair for a span of 17 years, in vote of confidence after vote of confidence.
These days, Jeff is considered the person to talk to for anyone with questions about using clean energy for filming. He’s been getting plenty of calls from people in the industry asking for advice on clean energy, but he’ll insist all he knows comes from other people in the industry also passionate about taking on new challenges. It’s what he’s learned from others that inspires him to teach and spread knowledge.
“It sounds like I do a lot, but I do a lot with a whole bunch of support at the end of the day,” he says.
CALL TO ACTION TO EXPAND COLLABORATION ON GREEN ENERGY
The industry still relies heavily on diesel generators, but the use of clean technology is expanding, and Jeff is one of the key people in BC with the technical and industry knowledge making it happen.
On Virgin River, Jeff has been pivotal to the production expanding the use of clean energy on set.
“I became the logistics coordinator that looked for all the ways we could not use a diesel generator. My goal was to not use diesel generators as much as possible and I was reasonably successful in season 5.”
Reliance on diesel generators to power lighting equipment, trailers and catering means a single feature film can spew on average an estimated 2,840 tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere – an amount that would take a forest the size of three Stanley Parks an entire year to absorb. The fluid nature of large-scale productions makes it hard to always accurately estimate the amount of power needed, and filming locations don’t always make recharging electric batteries easy.
Clean energy infrastructure is slowly expanding, with the City of Vancouver last year unveiling three new clean energy kiosks in Northeast False Creek that allow film crews to plug in to the city’s hydroelectric grid for power. This follows work by BC’s film community and Creative BC to develop a Grid Power Access Map that shows existing tie-in power sources in the Lower Mainland.
Jeff’s success on Virgin River encouraged the production to keep trying new things and follow his lead on how to reduce emissions. By season 6, the production decided to trial using two five-ton electric trucks and rely on only electric batteries for all filming needs outside of the circus.
“I now have people calling me and saying how can I get this to work on my production? How can I get my gaffer on board? How can I get my production on board? There's a bunch of tools out there we can offer them and I tell them to start off slow. Bring in a small battery on the road to do all of your incidentals, as I call them - your monitors, your sound cart, different things around the circus area. They go, ‘Really? It'll run all day?’ I say, ‘I promise you.’ And I’ve heard people who have tried it now ask, ‘Why did we not have this ten years ago?’”
Jeff makes the argument that by using clean energy, productions can not only reduce emissions, but reduce backlash from neighbourhoods breathing in diesel fumes, save on costs for cable, and make filming in sensitive locations easier. The logistics can be challenging to figure out, but Jeff is someone who likes a good challenge and knows there are others in the industry who do too, especially when the benefits are worth it.
“It actually costs about the same or less at the end of the day, and your environmental impact has greatly reduced and your community impact is negligible.”
The Union has been actively seeking to expand collaboration on the use of green energy in film and television production. The Clean Battery Workshops that Jeff helps to facilitate are run and organized by the Office of the Business Representative and co-hosted alongside industry partners such as Reel Green™, MBS Equipment Co., Bridge Studios, and DGC BC. Four workshops have been held since 2022, with more planned for the future.
The workshops give film workers the knowledge and resources to use electric batteries and grid tie-ins whenever possible rather than diesel generators, putting IATSE 891’s Lighting/Electrics department at the forefront of green film production in BC. Participants get hands-on time with the electric batteries and learn about strategies for expanding the use of clean energy, including financial incentives offered across Metro Vancouver.
Jeff would like to see even more work done to share and promote clean energy technology in the industry.
“I would really like to see the industry continue to embrace green energy and to support the companies that supply us with this equipment,” says Jeff. “I would like to see them find better ways to cooperate with each other.”
Studios sharing their charging stations and access to clean power could make a big difference in reducing the industry’s carbon footprint, says Jeff, who emphasizes that challenges that seem daunting can be solved when people work together.
BC’s unionized film industry embodies that lesson, he says, by showing what’s possible through collective power. He envisions a future where workers recognize that by sticking together, they can demand positive changes and continue to make the seemingly impossible happen.
“Our technicians across the board, pick any department, we have some of the best, and we have the awards to prove it. Go back ten years ago, when the Union was even half of what it is now, and we were pulling out Emmy nominations for major awards for work we've done here. That was all based on a tiny little group of people up here that made it all happen. The director had a vision and brought it to us and said, make this, and you know what? We did it. Nobody else did. We the workers did it together.”
Interested in learning more about the Clean Battery Workshops co-hosted by IATSE 891? Email Assistant Business Rep. Jennifer McNeil at abr@iatse.com.
Read more 891 Member Spotlights here! Help shine a light on other 891 members making BC’s motion picture community a great place to work. Email spotlight suggestions to communications@iatse.com and visit Ourwork.ca for more on the benefits of joining the Union.
