Celebrating Green Crew Hero! Becky Morrison, Head Honcho at The Light
Green The Bid Crew Heroes is a series that highlights individuals who bring sustainable practices to any area of the production process, and seek to inspire others to do the same. Production can’t happen without all crew-members (both on set and off), and the same is true of their support of Green The Bid.
This week Green The Bid’s Jessie Nagel spoke with Becky Morrison, Head Honcho at The Light production company in New York, about how sustainability has always been part of her production mission, and how everything is connected because we are all connected.
J.N. What is your job title and what does that involve?
B.M. I am the founder/CEO of The Light. That encompasses a lot! It means I run the day-to-day operations, initiate hiring, manage sales, mentor producers, develop strategy and design the big picture vision for the company.
J.N. How did you get into the industry?
B.M. Growing up in NYC, I would always see film/tv productions filming around the city with their honeywagons, mohos, equipment trucks and craft service tables. I dreamed of one day being on set and wearing my own walkie talkie! I got my big break when a friend wasn’t able to accept a PA gig on a Ford commercial so she passed it off to me. I never turned back.
J.N. What was the inspiration for naming your company The Light? What are the four pillars of your ethos?
B.M. I have a strong spiritual orientation that comes in part from the fact that my father is a Hindu monk. For me, The Light is who we are, our true essence, a beacon for those who value consciousness & expansion. I also liked that it was a double entendre since in our industry we "work with light” ;)
I like to say that The Light is a socially-conscious production company that is focused on elevating the production experience. Our ethos is grounded in equity, inclusion & sustainability.
J.N. How and why did environmental sustainability become part of your company mission?
B.M. It didn't really “become" a part of our mission because it's always been central to the way I approach production. I was doing green sets over a decade ago before sustainability was part of the mainstream conversation. Being conscious of my impact, environmentally, socially & politically, has always been central to my worldview.
J.N. How does The Light consider intersectionality in all its work?
B.M. In my opinion, the same underlying cause is the root of all injustice: the belief that we are separate from each other. That illusion, paired with power structures, is what perpetrates racism, sexism, patriarchy, climate change, and all forms of discrimination. The work that The Light is doing is justice work. It’s not possible to separate sustainability from DE&I, or workers rights from women’s rights. It’s all connected.
J.N. What kinds of strides are being made in our industry and where can we improve?
B.M. Generally, there is less of a tolerance for homogenous crews than when I was coming up. I can’t tell you how times in my career I was the only female on set, and until The Light I had never worked with a female or BIPOC director. The progress we’ve made when it comes to diversity is undeniable. However, there is still a lot of room for improvement in when it comes to creating inclusive productions. Overall we are too complacent when it comes to poor working conditions and I’m hoping that the progress we’ve made with diverse hiring will catalyze true systemic change. It’s time we fundamentally re-examine production and ask ourselves what no longer works and how can we create a better experience for everyone.
J.N. Tell us about your non-profit.
B.M. Ten years ago I founded a non-profit organization called, Globetops. Globetops connects people who have laptops they’re not using anymore with someone around the world who needs one. I was inspired to found the organization when I read that up to 50% of electronics that end up in landfills are still in working condition. That blew my mind! It also motivated me to take action. People in my orbit had computers collecting dust in their closets, while community activists, artists, teachers & social entrepreneurs I had met around the world were doing incredible work but didn’t have access to computers. As a producer, it just made sense to connect the dots. Since then we have distributed hundreds of laptops around the world, and we were able to chip in during lockdown by donating over 650 laptops to NYC students who needed them.
J.N. Who is a hero to you?
B.M. One of my personal heroes is activist & influencer Dr. Leslie Faerstein (aka my mom!). In addition to instilling me with a strong sense of social justice, she also opened my eyes to one of the “isms” we too often overlook in our industry - ageism. While we may have sets with gender, racial & ethnic diversity, we almost never see true age diversity on set. In particular there is an absence of older women, as well as crew members with disabilities. I’d love to see more representation in both of those areas.
My industry hero is Ava DuVernay. Need I say anything more?? Ava is ROYALTY. She has single-handedly moved our industry forward, opened the gateways to thousands of people and done so with humility, heart-centeredness and grace. I have a framed photo of her in my room & at our office as a reminder of the kind of leader I want to be.
----- Are you a crew hero or do you know one? We want to hear from you!
