Sustainability on the Red Carpet
As one of the world’s most influential film festivals and a Canadian cultural icon, the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is uniquely positioned to help shape a more sustainable future for film and film festivals.
Photo: Adobe stock image
Introducing TIFF: The Market
This year’s Festival, September 10 -20, shone a new spotlight on advancing sustainability with the launch of TIFF: The Market, a new industry marketplace designed to convene film professionals, creators, financiers, and decision-makers from around the world. Because the Market brings together many of the organizations shaping the future of film, it offers an ideal platform to demonstrate sustainability leadership, advance industry dialogue, and share practical approaches the sector can adopt.
Photo: Q+P team at the Market
In the lead-up to the launch, TIFF engaged Quinn+Partners (Q+P) to help embed sustainability into the design and delivery of the Market from the start. Over the last 18 months, that work has evolved from strategy development to implementation, helping translate sustainability ambitions into actions across both the Market and the Festival. Among these actions:
measuring TIFF’s climate impact
developing trainings for TIFF employees
providing guidance to help Market exhibitors make more sustainable choices around materials, travel and catering
That commitment to sustainability was on display at the Market's Summit, where Q+P, as TIFF’s Official Sustainability Partner for the 2026 Festival, moderated a panel titled “Sustainable Stories, Sustainable Industry: Sustainability Practices for Film.” Speakers from across the film value chain explored how sustainability considerations are influencing everything from production and operations to funding and distribution.
Looking to other sectors for green examples
The discussion highlighted that the film industry does not need to chart its sustainability journey alone. Panellists drew parallels to other sectors, from integrated design in green buildings to embodied carbon in construction, demonstrating how proven approaches and lessons learned elsewhere can help accelerate progress in film. This includes applying these lessons to the design, construction, and disposal of production sets, where opportunities to reduce material consumption and increase reuse remain largely untapped.
Photo: Q+P Market panel, September 10, 2026
Sustainability as a new business imperative
Funders, broadcasters, and industry organizations are introducing sustainability requirements and evaluation criteria, signalling a shift from voluntary action toward more formal expectations across the film sector. Importantly, panellists emphasized that starting from scratch isn’t always necessary for organizations. Thanks to a growing ecosystem of practical tools, guidance, and collaborative initiatives, making the move from ambition to action is easier than ever:
sustainability checklists used by funders during project development
training programs that equip on-set sustainability champions
carbon measurement tools that help productions measure their carbon footprint and identify actions with the greatest impact and opportunities to reduce emissions
As sustainability continues to gain traction across the global film industry, TIFF and the broader Canadian film sector are well positioned to help shape emerging best practices and demonstrate what leadership can look like in practice.
Wardah Zaman, Manager at Q+P, contributed to this article.
