Sustainable Production: Indie Film Spotlight
The Sustainable Production panel will give independent filmmakers practical tools and resources for making their productions more sustainable. The panel is geared towards emerging filmmakers, low-to-mid-budget independents, and later-career professionals looking to deepen their sustainable practices.
Academics, filmmakers, and other experts who specialize in sustainable production across the US and UK will share their experiences navigating sustainable production practices. Filmmakers will walk away with concrete, scalable, and actionable steps to implement sustainability on their productions.
Featured Speakers:
Moderator: Shira Gans (Senior Executive Director of Policy + Programs, MOME)
Maya Wallis Echeverri (representing So Long, Goodbye)
Cheryl Slean (representing There Will Come Soft Rains)
Stephanie Dawson (CFF advisory board, PGA Green member)
Harry Winer (Co-founder, Green Film School Alliance, Arts Professor, NYU, 2026 CFF Jury member)
Speaker Bios:
Shira Gans: Shira is the Senior Executive Director of Policy + Programs at the NYC Mayor’s Office of Media & Entertainment, where she leads the city’s strategy to support the music industry. She created and produces New York Music Month, the city’s official music festival held each June, and has spearheaded initiatives including a $10 million fund for women-led creative projects, the first Mayor’s Office of Nightlife, a new music industry degree at Brooklyn College, a public high school career pathway in music, and New York City’s $6 million investment in Power Station at BerkleeNYC. She also directs NYC Film Green, helping film and television productions reduce their environmental impact. Previously, Shira worked to advance equity through roles at the NYC Department of Consumer Affairs, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the Manhattan Borough President’s Office, and the NYC Mayor’s Office of Management and Budget. She has been featured in Variety’s New York Women’s Impact Report, named a 40 Under 40 Rising Star by City & State, and recognized as a Climate Leader by Forbes. She is a Professional Member of the Recording Academy's New York Chapter and serves on the advisory boards of several initiatives at the intersection of music and equity. Shira holds a Master of Public Policy from the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and a Bachelor of Arts from Wesleyan University.
Maya Wallis Echeverri: Maya is a Colombian Director/Producer, living in England. She is passionate about climate fiction as a tool to change hearts and minds, and about making the way we tell these stories more sustainable. Maya also works at Picture Zero, where she specializes in providing sustainability support for scripted feature films and HETV.
Cheryl Slean: Cheryl is a writer/director/producer of film, theater and fiction and a seasoned champion of climate representation in entertainment. She currently leads the US program for Climate Spring, a film & tv development fund and consultancy, and previously led Sustainability Creative at Netflix, providing education and content support across a wide variety of films, series and games, as well as co-chairing the Content Working Group of the Sustainable Entertainment Alliance. Prior to that, she co-founded NRDC’s Rewrite the Future climate in entertainment program, and co-created and produced VisionLA Climate Action Arts, a multidisciplinary arts festival responding to the climate crisis.
Stephanie Dawson: Stephanie is a producer, line producer, and production manager for narrative, unscripted, and branded content with over 17 years of experience. Her recent credits include MAKING SHAKESPEARE: THE FIRST FOLIO (2023, PBS), DOWN WITH THE KING (2021), MAYA & HER LOVER (2020), DEREK DELGAUDIO’S IN & OF ITSELF (Hulu), and HOUSE HUNTERS INTERNATIONAL (HGTV). She is currently a producer for the show Great Performances, which airs nationally on PBS from the WNET Group in New York city. She is producing the forthcoming feature film THE RHODORA which she co-wrote with director Maria Matteoli (THE WINE OF SUMMER). She is producing alongside Trevite Willis (CARGO). In March of 2022, Dawson was inducted to the Full Sail University Hall of Fame. Stephanie is a founding member of the non-profit Women Independent Producers and a Climate Reality Leader. Dawson was previously a co-chair of the Producers Guild of America Green Committee and continues to work within and across the industry to increase climate storytelling.
Harry Winer: Harry is a director, producer, and writer with over 35 years of experience in film and television. He directed the motion pictures SpaceCamp, House Arrest, Riot, and Damaged Care. In addition, he has directed, produced, and/or written over 25 films, miniseries, and television pilots and created over 60 hours of series television. As President of Smash Media, Inc., Winer produces motion pictures including the international theatrical co-productions The Singer, starring Jean Reno and Lali Espósito; The Doorman, starring Jean Reno and Ruby Rose; and The Expatriate, starring Aaron Eckhart and Olga Kurylenko, in addition to films for television including Perfect Match and A Bramble House Christmas. Current films in pre-production include The Dome. Winer is an Arts Professor in the Kanbar Institute of Film and Television at NYU and serves on the Executive Board of the Green Film School Alliance.
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