After telling most people that Film Biz Recycling's mission of diverting media production waste from landfills, the most common reply is, "Wow, I never thought about all the stuff left over. " I say, "That's okay, most people that work on a film don't think about it either." But that is changing and we see it everyday.You are not supposed to be aware of set decoration and design, good art direction is subtle, real and natural. The aesthetic design of the film is imperative to the subconscious belief that the milieu has always existed and this is really happening.
Well, that is accomplished every day, and in it's wake, tons of carpeting, decor, paint, furniture, live plants, plates, wall paper, curtain rods (sigh) the list is endless. Just look around you where ever you are sitting right now. Look at the floor, the walls ceiling, furniture, appliances...if you had to get rid of it in 10 hours and have it spic and span, what would you do? Call a dumpster to haul it away? Well, that has been the answer to many an art department. Some crew don't care, most go home shaking their heads thinking about the shame of it all.
Enter Film Biz Recycling - a not for profit dedicated helping an industry clean its own plate.
We're film-friendly, teamster savvy, PA-liking, ex-art department crusaders and we want you to drop off all your production's unwanted materials and we'll take of it. 60% goes to charity and the creme de la creme is rented and sold in our Prop Shop to fund the mission. Note that now nine people have jobs and health insurance because of creative reuse and the will of the industry's boots on the ground.
No one really knows how many tons and how much money - that said...
- a TV show can budget $30,000 an episode x 13 episodes x 4 seasons is $1,560,000 dollars
- NYC is host to about 15 shows - that's just over $23 million - just in TV show decor
- NYC usually has about 300 films a year x $60,000 in set decorating budgets= $18 million
- Approximately 4,000 commercials and videos are shot in NYC have been estimated with an average of $12,000 in set decoration budgets, that's $48 million dollars in purchases.
- it's not unheard of for a film to spend a million dollars on lumber and trash it all. SALT and Meet Joe Black among them
- one dumpster holds about 2.25 tons of lumber - a general amount of dumpsters needed after a movie is about 15-35 dumpsters
- there is no standard for disposing props and set decoration from the top - it's usually decided upon by whatever crew member is in charge.
- Film Biz Recycling, as a start-up not for profit has diverted 180 tons since 2oo8
- productions might have had set sales and toss the rest in the "good ol' days".
- no one is watching
