“Treating sustainability as a goal today, early [adopters] will develop competencies that rivals will be hard pressed to match.” The Harvard Business Review (09/09)
Egregiously wasteful and occasionally toxic practices is the ugly underbelly to New York City’s economically imperative and exciting film industry. Filmmaking does not have to be an environmentally and socially irresponsible disaster and, like all industries (the film biz is hardly alone), a commitment has to be made to address climate change, seek alternatives, reward innovation and ultimately, save money by closing the industrial loop, creating green jobs, reducing waste and ultimately, achieving a carbon-neutral operation.
Founded in May 2008, Film Biz Recycling (FBR) is a niche-market hybrid not-for-profit organization dedicated to helping the entertainment industry address the triple bottom line: profit, people and planet. Its founder, Eva Radke, a 15-year veteran of TV commercials and film, spent countless hours looking for a safe home for items purchased and used for shoots. Items such as carpeting, lumber, paint, furniture, pillows, wardrobe, fabric, subflooring, lighting, partial rolls of tape, rugs, fake flowers, plexi-glass, set paper, vases, dishes, sporting equipment, cribs, etc. sometimes went into a dumpsters if Craig’s List did not pan out, the crew did not want it or the donation centers were closed or had certain hours and requisites. There had to be a better way, but there wasn’t. The film business needed an organization that understood the language, timing, and specialized knowledge that only a seasoned insider can provide. Film Biz Recycling was born and on a mission.
Two years after it’s inception, over 122 tons of materials from over 164 productions have been diverted from landfills. Most of these materials have been laterally diverted to it’s partners in the reuse sector, most of which are in Long Island City and Astoria. Build it Green! a huge building supply reuse center in Astoria sees a lot of raw materials and large items from the productions. Other Long Island City reuse facilities have received, literally, tons of materials via Film Biz Recycling. These include the esteemed Materials for the Arts, Hour Children, Housing Works, Blissful Bedrooms and of course, Goodwill Industries and Salvation Army. Giving away unwanted items saves the production companies disposal costs, keeps them out of landfills and has an immediate public good by creating green jobs in reuse centers who sells them at a lower cost – saving everyone money. This is the triple bottom line we speak of, profit, people and planet.
The crème de la crème of the donations stay in-house for sale and rent to fund operations. Film Biz Recycling Props, located on 43-26 12th street 4 blocks from Silver Cup Studios in Long Island City, is New York’s only not-for-profit prop house and boutique, open to the public and to the trade. It’s a museum-like wonderland of beautiful objects d’art, oddities, furniture, art and everything in between donated by projects such as Sex and the City 2, Doubt, America’s Next Top Model, Salt, 30 Rock and slews of TV commercials in exchange for a tax deduction. Locals, set decorators, eco-interior designers, supermodels, tourists and LIC business owners shop here for home and business and can not believe: that everything came from a production, nobody wanted it, how inexpensive everything is, how gorgeous the shop is and in the past it all ended up in a dumpster.
Long Island City business owners who have discovered this “best kept secret” store have saved time and money shopping here. Next time you are walking down Vernon Boulevard, check out Ethereal, a lovely clothing boutique. The throw rug came from a Dell commercial, the “grass” from MTV’s Making of the Band and they are renting velvet ropes for a special event in May . They paid under a hundred dollars for a Spring makeover and renting the velvet ropes for 90% less than what it would cost to buy and they do not have to store anything they needed for just one day. That’s smart business and green business.
Film Biz Props is an incredible resource for small business owners looking for high-impact beauty with a low carbon impact. Reuse means new materials were not mined, produced, packaged or shipped and it’s easy on the bottom line and the eye! New businesses, particularly restaurants and boutiques can scoop up armfuls of décor on a shoestring budget. For example, when Slice, an organic pizza bistro, opened a second location in the Village, they wanted to stay true to their good and good for you mission by decorating with high-quality, beautiful items with as little environmental impact as possible. Miki Agrawal, founder and owner, has bought 100% of the flower vases, wine carafes, salad plates, bread baskets, and other accoutrement for a fraction of what she would pay retail. “I love the mission, I love the prices and I love the stuff!” Miki exclaims. “It’s right in line with our mission of healthy food and earth-friendly ways…and it all came from films, so customers like to talk about it.”
Reuse centers almost always have a mission that purchases support. Build it Green helps fund Solar One, Materials for the Arts gives free items to schools, and not-for-profits, Hour Children supports children of incarcerated parents, Housing Works gives a second chance to homeless AIDS patients. Support of Film Biz Recycling allows us to support these great organizations with saleable items, be a leader and voice for this industry while informing the crew and production companies of sustainable methods, and disseminating that information to the community.
On a larger scale, Film Biz Recycling seeks to connect the industry with other industries, communities and future-friendly organizations via collaboration, lateral thinking and volunteerism. Our materials can change lives. Our unique skills can move mountains so let’s be a shining light to the rest of the world! Every industry can replicate the impact Film Biz Recycling has had on New York City’s film world in their own realm, it just takes a little ingenuity, persistence and elbow grease. Nothing Long Island City can’t handle.
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Assisting the media industry address the triple bottom line.
Showing posts with label Build it Green. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Build it Green. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
The Practical Guide to a Greener Production. Yours. Free.
As many of you know the Workshops in July were to launch the recently published "The Practical Guide to a Greener Production" as well as introduce the industry to many of the players in the "green scene" that are working hard to make our industry (or just industry in general) have less of an environmental impact.
It was very successful, the speakers were amazing and inspiring and we intend to make this a yearly event.
If you were unable to make it, no worries! You can get you hands on a FREE copy just by asking for one, coming by or picking one up at the Mayor's Office of Film and Television.
Law and Order requested one for each department head as have other feature productions and many commercials. Each prop rental and purchase gets a few thrown in the order as well.
Only 500 were printed and about 100 are left here not doing anyone any good. So, call 718-392-3304 or come by the LIC location 43-26 12th street 2nd floor.
This is only the first and humble edition, destined to get better and better every year. Some sections better than others. As I recently read and firmly believe," ALL OF US ARE SMARTER THAN ONE OF US". So, please, send in your ideas, vendors and strategies to pggp@filmbizrecycling.org if you have something to add.
Below read some feedback from the workshops and be sure and attend next year!
Workshop Feedback
I wanted to thank you for hosting such a wonderful workshop with such an incredible panel. It was hugely educational and immensely inspiring.
Heidi
Producer
Hey Yall, I just went to the Film Biz Recycling Workshop on Greening Productions and I was very impressed with the panel of speakers (including our very own Eva Radke. Go Eva!). It was very informative and most of all it put a face to the hardworking, dedicated people striving to green the film industry. It is certainly not limited to artcubers. Tell all of your production friends from producers to grips to camera to caterers, there is something for everyone. I really can't recommend it enough. There is another workshop this Thursday so if your free it is worth going.
Anu
Production Designer
I was there and I can concur to the event. Very, very informative.
Please go if you have a chance and bring a film friend!!
Lou
Lead Man
I'd like to second that emotion. It was a great workshop - I think anyone could gain from it. I'm sure the little resource book will come in very handy. Who doesn't want more (and better) resources for the things they need all the time? Many will actually SAVE YOU MONEY. Go to Thursday's workshop!
Luisa
Art PA
I just wanted to send a note to say how great I thought the seminar was... I especially thought Lauren's work was really inspiring – she can't be more than a few years older than me, and has done so much. It really made me want to do more. I'm considering volunteering for Rock & Wrap It Up, it seems likely that they'd do stuff on weekends.
Anyway I just wanted to say thanks, and that the guide and the seminar wereboth wonderful, and we're all really proud that NYC has FBR!
Catherine
Prop House Staffer
Congrats on the workshop last Thursday! I thought it was really well done and enjoyed the panel. I grabbed a couple of extra guides and my boy, Paul, and I have been discussing who will make the best use of them, among our friends. I gave one to a freelance production mgmt team here at Original Media - an LP/PM/PC team I know pretty well. Also gave one to my roommate, who works in production at an ad agency, JWT. And Paul's gonna give the third to the guys over at TV Boy, a production company that is located in LIC, they are good guys and I want them to know about you and visa versa.
Alana
Art Department Assistant
… and didn't get to thank you for collecting a great panel of speakers for the Green Biz event! What a great, positive group of green leaders! I wish audience attendance had been better!
There are amazing things happening all over, and I'm seeing the rewards of green collaboration. Your message about being more aggressive about communication, connecting, and networking with other green types is so true...
Susan Benarcik
Artist
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Film Biz Recycling in an interview with the Regeneration road Trip
These cats set off for 15 cities in 15 days and they found us.
ReGeneration Road Trip: There’s no green business like show business
Film Biz Recycling aims to roll credits on the wasteful film industry
When a director yells “cut!” on the set of a TV show, commercial, or feature-length film, the cameras may stop rolling but production is far from over. While editors are looking at raw footage, producers are eyeing premiere numbers, and actors are reading over new scripts, someone else is tearing down the sets and getting props off the lot. But where does this stuff end up? Too often, it’s the landfill, says Eva Radke, founder of Film Biz Recycling.
Once tasked with dumping sets herself, Radke knows the business – and the folks in it – from her years of experience trying to do the right thing without the time or resources. Now she hopes to make a difference when it comes to the egregious waste left after the 200-some films, TV shows, and countless commercials filmed each year in New York City.
Film Biz Recycling serves as a one-stop dumping ground for production companies while turning what would have been landfill waste into much-needed donations or hard-to-find props that can be rented out for reuse in other productions. For example, a collection of tents and cots from the set of a TV special was recently donated to a group of Girl Scouts – providing them with much-needed camping supplies that otherwise might have ended up camped out in a dumpster.
Since starting up in 2007, Radke has already served as a landfill diverter for eight movies, 27 commercials, and a number of other productions. Wandering through the warehouse space she shares with nonprofit Build It Green (which focuses on building materials), it was hard to believe how much treasure she’s saved from the trash bin. There were brand-new couches and antique chandeliers, retro salon hair-dryers and custom-made neon signs, rows of spotlights and stacks of 50-foot garden hoses.
After our tour of the warehouse, Radke even let us watch as she opened a few boxes, delivered fresh from a film set. Here are some highlights from our conversation and our treasure hunt:
Sarah van Schagen is an Assistant Editor for Grist.org.
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