Our Values
Our company is small, but we think we can still make a big impact.
In all of our actions and decisions, we want our values to shine through, and we hope to work with couples, clients, and companies who feel the same way. We want our films and the way we do business to have a positive impact on our community.
While there’s so much we want to do, right now we’re focusing on three commitments:
1. Doing Business in a Sustainable Way
We want to leave this planet better than we found it, and even though our company is small, our footprint still makes a difference. This means we:
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Every year we track and calculate our carbon emissions, including our travel and heating and powering our home office. We offset these emissions with Gold Standard offsets. To read more about this, check out our annual report at the bottom of this page.
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Therefore, we:
-Deliver films digitally
-Seek to buy our equipment and gear locally first, used if possible, and sell or donate it when we upgrade
-Reduce our transportation emissions by taking meetings virtually when possible, carpooling when available, and (soon) using an electric car
-Keep all our paperwork digital, use entirely rechargeable batteries, work from a home office, and a variety of other small steps to reduce our impact
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We have a new program in place to help our wedding couples offset their celebrations, and we’re also working on a docu-series and guide book about sustainable events. Stay tuned!
2. Creating Inclusive, Ethical Films
Everyone should feel comfortable, safe, heard, and valued when working with Paper Heart Films, and we want those feelings to emanate from all our films. Our films are an opportunity to show the world we want to live in and to take a step toward it at the same time. This means we:
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We want our films to represent the world we want to live in. This means showcasing, featuring, and working with people of all different ages, body types, gender identities, and ethnicities. It also includes hiring BIPOC vendors and models for film projects and encouraging our clients to do the same.
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We don’t create films that are divisive, that promote hate or injustice, that appropriate or diminish other cultures, and do not create films that go against our own values. We also don’t create coercive marketing films or films that purposefully disguise the truth or mislead viewers, including greenwashing, or that lack verifiable evidence to justify claims.
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This means creating accurate captions files for every film and showing our clients how to include captions in their own project.
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We take the time to learn from others, to help us better understand our own biases, and to help us learn the things we don’t yet know.
3. Supporting our local community
We rely on our local community of vendors and clients to keep us in business, and we want to repay that favour. Plus, supporting our local small businesses and vendors helps keep our footprint small and our friends in business. This means we:
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When possible, we purchase our gear/equipment locally and rent/use local products and local vendors for shoots where we can.
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We want to work with companies who have an impact on our local community. We try to tell local stories through our business and documentary work, and we’ll take opportunities to showcase or uplift local businesses where we can.
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We list our donations in our annual report, but whatever we give, we make sure it has a direct and local impact.
Check out our 2023 annual report
Each year we put together a report of the things we’ve done, the goals we’ve set, and the things we want to achieve. We outline where we’ve donated, what we’ve done to try and reduce our footprint, and what we didn’t or couldn’t get to this year. If you’re looking to do a deep dive into our company, the annual report is the place to start.