Recently, we got this email:

Good question!

Our profits (what little there are as we are still in the start up stage) currently go back in to the mission to help us build financial security and expand the business.

Who does it benefit?  Everyone, actually.

* We keep items out of landfills preventing pollution…

* Local charities and reuse centers get items they need to further their mission…

*The film business gets a 7-day-a-week information center specific to the industry.

Rock and Wrap it UP, founder, Syd Mandelbaum, states:

“The work of Eva Radke and Film Biz Recycling has been

immeasurable.Our anti-poverty agencies have been able to

give  new items, recovered from film shoots,  to the poor

through donations from FBR. Food Stamps do not cover

non-food items and the support of FBR has a direct effect

on Rock and Wrap It Up!’s mantra, reducing the poverty

footprint by reducing the carbon footprint.”

Many people have misconceptions about not-for-profits and don’t quite understand the meaning.  We received this email and in a recent survey 6% expressed an interest in our financial statements.  So, here’s some well-phrased definitions from wiki-pedia to help explain a bit the generalities of not for profits.

As a not for profit, any one can ask to see our financial statements.  Not for profits, while do not pay any taxes but payroll taxes, still have to submit a 990 to the IRS every year.

For current  2010 financial statements and the Founder/President’s salary please email eva@filmbizrecycling.org

Click here to download our 2009 990

What will our programs be when we actually have a surplus???  THAT is the next post.  Hint: create green jobs, educate and prevent more waste.

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We have a lot of great vendors listed on The Practical Guide to a Greener Production, the latest greatest is Angel Aerial.    Jim Miller, local 52 member and owner/operator, founded Angel Aerial in 1996.

These days, he’s  expanding the business with open mind as to what productions need to go green, save time and watch the bottom line.

Most impressive to us here at Film Biz Recycling is the willingness to use bio-diesel in their generators and trucks. Bio-diesel, at this point is (sadly) an option and is riddled with myths, misconceptions and outright lies.  Change is scary and taking those first steps in something new takes courage.  Partnering with your vendors makes it much easier.

Smart is green and green is Smart.

Angel Aerial wants to help productions to go green and are willing to use any grade of bio-diesel.   (B5 is %5 and B99 is 99%).    One thing to understand about using bio-diesel is there will be a lot of filter changes in the beginning.  Bio-diesel cleans out all the gunk (a technical term) and you end up going through filters like crazy until no gunk remains.  It’s an additional cost, how much all depends, so talk to your Teamster Captain and Jim about your project to get a better idea of filters and cost.  Want to off set the filters?  Mandate absolutely no idling.  Ever.  Your Teamster Captain has to police it.  Reduce your emissions and your petroleum bill!

Angel Aerial also carries a small fleet of Smart Cars.  Great for scooting around town, mini scouts of two, PA vehicles.  They are roomier and so easy to park.  PA’s waste so much time on runs looking for parking, I can’t believe production PA’s have not been using these cars for this reason alone.

Roomy, fun and a must for PA's in the city.

Three seater with CD player!

To sweeten the pot, they have just opened a 160,000 square foot parking lot facility in Long Island City caddy corner from Silver Cup East and next door to LeNoble Lumber.  That’s a lot of parking and awesome to avoid tolls and traffic. It gets everyone home sooner, saves money and less emissions!

Commercial Production Managers!   Did you also know they rent cube trucks out of Long Island City?   A stone’s throw from where almost all of us live these days anyway?   Mega bonus, you can park in their lot over night.  There is 24 hour security and covered parking is you need it.

The rates are by the hour, day or job.  Just call Jim at 212-460-8899 x 3.

————————————————————————————————–

Full disclosure:  Jim Miller and I have become friends via the green production movement.  He had helped us out with trucking here and there and that has made providing services to productions easier and less expensive for us and, in turn, them.  However, I promote green companies that completely ignore us as well AND I have professional friends that have green washed their roles in the community and I would NEVER promote anyone I did not feel was sincere in their efforts.  Jim did not ask me to write this.  Just sayin’.   -Eva

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“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

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Extra question: Eva Radke

Comment:Super human activist within the film community. Eva has started something good. Something that the NY film community needs and NY in general needs.

Comment:and price, flexibility, green shoping

Comment:I would go there for every project if I could!

Comment:I like the location, driving or walking from G/7 trains, however not the building. The small room and tight stairway limits the potential for furniture.

Comment:If there is one business where waste is rampant it is the film business. It has always disturbed me that perfectly useable items were regularly discarded at the end of almost every job. Finally, FBR is doing something about that. They are the first and only company that I know of who are proactive in this area.

Extra question: i send my shoppers there (x3)

Comment:My assistants always go, and sometimes I actually forget that you have a prop house!

The prop house is our only source of funding currently!   For those of you who have not gotten around to it – we are open 7 days a week.  Stop by – we need your support!

This is so interesting.  Long Island City on Vernon is the last place we thought you’d like to see us.  Well, now it’s in the running for the new place!

Question 13 is being skipped for Part 3

Wow!  70% of you?  We’ll need the help this fall.  Please email info@filmbizrecycling.org with “volunteer” in the subject.  We are launching a huge campaign – details to follow.

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Recently, we asked everyone on Art Cube, Film Professionals on our mailing list and Face Book pages to take a survey. The results were so interesting, some confirmed our assumptions, some surprised us and some shed new light on what we already know we need to accomplish.

If you filled out the survey —THANK YOU! Most were anonymous, so I can’t thank you personally, but please know it was a treat to get real feedback from all of you out there.

Also, please note that we know these answers don’t speak for the entire industry. The people who received the survey request are in our social media inner circle and probably have certain biases and backgrounds. An industry-wide survey would prove to be most interesting and we are going to do that once we figure out the best way to go about it.

Please note that not everyone answered every question and on the multiple choice they could answer more than one answer. The numbers at the top of the question indicate how many of those surveyed answered the question. For example, question #1 was answered by 100% of the 70 people who replied.

Also, most questions allowed for comments.  Those comments will be pasted underneath the questions.  Any comment I have about comments will be in italics and green.

Here are the results:

Comment: all of the above (x3)

Comment: Craft Service & food trucks

Comment: I don’t have enough experience to have a great perspective on this. But I think it must depend on the shoot and, in the grand scheme of things, all of these are equally wasteful.

Comment: The fast, temporary nature of a shoot is all about waste.

Comment: I don’t think there is a most wasteful aspect. I guess I would say that the attitude on set is the most wasteful since there are things you can do to remedy all of these fairly simply. Its making the crew care enough to take an extra 30 seconds here and there to actually go get their water bottle, to use the other side of the paper, to arrange for proper deconstruction and distribution of sets at the beginning of a shoot, to care about how much an impact it has to keep a car idling for an hour to listen to the radio or have the AC on. Its all about trying to change the attitudes of people who have done things a certain way for generations and making solutions easier for those who care but don’t make green decisions when it comes to getting something done in a time crunch because it would affect their work.

Comment: Although the Fuel waste I’ve seen is bad, most of my experience has been with builds.

Comment: It’s all so wasteful that it’s hard to qualify which is the worst! So sad

This made us very happy to see that the ranking top three are what they are.  The frustration about dumpsters and how hard it is to donate in this town was a main motivation to creating FBR.  I never wanted to be preachy or didactic, just effective. However, it does point out where FBR can improve.

Comment:FBR is the only source of it’s kind for sustainable practices in NYC for the film business. It needs to be expanded to handle more donations. It has the ability to be a hub for ALL aspects of green film making and should grow to do so.

Comment:Film Biz Recycling basically diverts junk form landfills. Too bad production companies can’t transfer the recycling thing to their locations or studios. Having a PA devoted to recycling and trash control on any location job would help. Having Film Biz on your studio lot would also make it easier to recycle sets and unused props and furniture. Less trucking, less cost more green in results.

Comment:FBR has had a real impact on saving useable materials that would otherwise up in landfills. Quite often when finishing up film projects the focus is on expediting the wrap and it is usually more cost effective to liquidate unwanted items by discarding them into a dumpster. Most materials disposed of in this way are quite useable and FBR is the only company that I know of that is proactively working to diminish and eliminate unnecessary waste in the film business.

Comment:I don’t think enough people know about it but it’s a start for both salvaging useful items and providing low budget productions with pieces they can afford. Both things that the industry is in more need of.

This is really helpful, too.  The grant we were awarded (kicks in December 1, 2010) is to help just this.  Money is slated for a Full-time Marketing and Out Reach Director and hopefully that can help us change attitudes on set and reach out to all productions and production companies.

Comment:What is the “Somewhere else?” the garbage dumpster? Basically, if the order to recycle doesn’t come down from the top of the production food chain, no department will do it unless certain individuals already invest in eco habits like recycling plastic and/or using a thermos. No more plastic silverware at crafty!

Comment:FBR is making an impact, but it is small so far. Things need to be bigger. Ideas are in play, solutions have been presented to the industry. Most people seem to know who they are and what they do to some extent, though it is often misinformed. Its to the point where laws need to be passed, powerful people need to get involved so that the people that are only worried about the bottom line have

Comment:full outreach to all existing productions.

Comment:I think there is a fear amongst the management of many shows (mine included) to make changes – a fear that it will cost them more money. It always seems to boil down to costs – if I would change anything about what you folks do, it would be to push the idea that it doesn’t cost any production more money. And perhaps try to get the city and state to back the idea of tax breaks for donations in a bigger, more public way.

Comment:There has to be some common sense practiced as well we rules about green sets. For instance recyclable cup in a petroleum-based garbage bag will not actually be recycled but that is considered a green set.

Comment:The answer to question 3 is I don’t know because I have not yet had an opportunity to work with your organization. Overall the indusrty [sic] has a long way to go to become “greener”.

Comment:Its still very difficult to implement a system for recycling on set. There are a lot of managerial aspects of greening a set that need to be explored – like how to get departments to work together who traditionally haven’t, and finding ways to get departments to take on these new responsibilities. It won’t work unless everyone is doing their part, and you have to find ways to make that easy for them.

The stairs, the stairs, we know!  We have made a promise to you all and ourselves it’s either ground floor or a freight elevator.  The  most interesting thing is the #2 spot – Details on whom we give things to.  So, the next big announcement is a full report on where it all goes.  I really didn’t think people cared, but you do!  This is great because we can talk about the local charities we love.

Comment:outreach to producers and production companies in how to have greener and more responsible shoots. art department crews now have a general awareness but it rarely seems to go beyond to other departments sadly

Comment:If FBR were at Steiner, fabulous! If FBR were in the smae [sic] building as say, State Supply or Eclectic or across the street in other Chelsea warehouse, fabulous. If FBR were in Greenpoint or Williamsburg, fabulous!

Comment:Reports on number of productions who have used FBR (both giving and receiving/buying). Also how a wider non-production public might benefit by knowing they can shop there.

Comment:I would like film biz or another organization to be able to pay for a Green Coordinator on Productions. Give the producer no reason to tell another employee to stop wasting their time researching these sorts of things. Eventually it would be the norm to hire them onto a production.

Comment:They need more space!

Comment:Those two flights are better than a stairmaster, and yes my ass thanks you, but my vote still goes to an elevator.

Comment:I think FBR should have at a minimum 20,000 square ft of ground level “recycling” space for sales and service to the film business and the local community. Everyone can benefit from what FBR saves from the dumpster.Extra question: Keep it going!!!

Comment:Maybe a simpler and more efficient indexing and search engine. I think that is something a lot of prop rental houses lack.

Comment:I bigger space to provide more dressing, sets, props, stuff

Comment:More locations in other cities.

OK!  This concludes Part One…….stay tuned for Part Two tomorrow.

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I cannot say when a TV show is canceled in NYC it’s good news. You want shows to continue to keep people working, contribute to the economy via small businesses like catering and small retail businesses and just to keep the wheels humming in an uncertain economy.

The Rescue Me guys dropping off.

That said, when a show does come to an end, it’s a huge opportunity for a production to donate building materials and set dressing to reuse centers and local charities.  Enormous amounts of money are spent in each and every episode and to landfill gently or unused materials in a dumpster is a crying shame – and accounting gets a huge bill from the hauling company.

The set decorator, lead crew and set dressing crew at Rescue Me (starring Denis Leary) went to great lengths to keep as much of the materials (an they had A LOT after four years of shopping) out of dumpsters thereby keeping perfectly good furniture, household goods and cool fireman stuff out of landfills. Landfills, of course emit Land Fill Gas (LFG) of methane and carbon dioxide – both (flammable) green house gasses.

They called Film Biz Recycling months in advance and as they could release it, donated these items to our not for profit.  They, over seven separate donations, sent us 4,800 lbs of materials, or 2.4 tons!  Impressive.  We in turn, re-direct most of that to other charities, in particular, Hour Children.  Hour Children thrift shop proceeds take care of children whose parents are incarcerated, among other important programs.

We sell and rent our items as well here at Film Biz Recycling.  The proceeds (humble as they are) pay for operation expenses and fortify our ability to exist, answer the phone and supply the film and TV industry with sustainable ideas and advice.  Equally as important, our profits allows us to continue to donate to all these local charities and organizations.

Rescue Me also sent a truck load to Build it Green, a reuse center for building materials.  All proceeds help support CEC’s environmental education programs at Solar 1.   Solar 1 provides education programs in local schools, covering topics such as renewable energy and the East River ecosystem. They also host environmental lectures, and arts events throughout the year.

We also helped Rescue Me connect with Good Will, who on our recommendation, waived the usual 2 week waiting period and sent trucks right over.  Rescue Me stuffed 3 24′ truck full of great stuff to the tune of 3.16 tons!  Whoa.  Good Will, most people do not know, have an incredible impact locally and nationally.  They have programs that benefit:

• Youth
• Disabled Housing
• Education and Literacy
• Physical Disabilities and Hearing and Vision Impaired
• Mental Health
• Development Disabilities
• Employment
• Training
• Immigrants and Refugees
• Ex-Offenders
• Substance Abuse
• Community Redevelopment
• Veteran seeking employment assistance

So, you can see that donating to charities does the world some good and the environment too. What if you don’t care about all the social responsibility and green eco pish posh?  You just might care deeply about money.  Good news.  There’s something in it for you, too.

By donating, the art department on Rescue Me saved money for the production.  Lots and lots of money.

Here’s some math:

A 30 yard dumpster is 7 feet wide, 6 feet tall and 22 feet long

A 24 foot truck is 7’3’’ wide, 6’10” tall and 24 feet long

Essentially, a 24′ foot truck and a 30 yard dumpster are almost the same size.  The average dumpster is about $850.00.  So, 3 trucks to Good Will, 1 to Build it Green, and 3 to Film Biz Recycling is an estimated savings of $5,950.00.  Not bad.  Not bad at all.

I hope the producers get wind of this and appreciate what these folks have done for all of us – they saved the production money, saved landfill emissions and gave to charities with social and environmental programs.  Why?  Because they know it’s the right thing to do.

Given our economic and environmental straits, it’s a shame it’s an option and not mandated by the studios or production companies.  It should be.  I’m working on it.

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The following numbers are three different and actual final bills of Green Storage Clean Outs.

#1          Small 10×15 room in Manhattan – one half ton

2 workers, 1 truck, some garbage disposal and cardboard recycling, broken glass and  prop recycling fees included.

Throwing it away

1 Dumpster* + 2 man days** $1550

Giving it away/Recycling

Final Bill                                     $851.70+ full value tax deduction

Difference                  $698.30 or 54.4% less expensive

# 2  2 med size rooms of sets, 2 rooms of dressing – 9 tons

Disassemble of sets re-useable windows, doors, etc.

2 lumber containers for recycling, 3 20’ trucks for donations

Giving it away/Recycling

Final Bill                           $2,606.40+ full value tax deduction

Throwing it away

5 Dumpsters + 2 men x 2 days            5950.00

Difference                                    $3,343.60 or  44.7% less expensive

#3 Huge warehouse full of sets construction, 30 huge road signs, 9 mattresses, furniture, 50 boxes of set dressing – 12 tons

Giving it away/Recycling

Final Bill                                    $4,234.49 + full tax deduction

Throwing it away

9 dumpsters + 4 men x 2 days         $10,950

Difference $6715.51 or 38.6% less expensive

FBR clean out service 38-54% less expensive.

100% responsible.

* $950  **300/day per man day

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“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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Blissful Bedrooms does bedroom makeovers for kids with, sometimes profound, physical disabilities. This time around was Crystal who LOVES hello kitty! We gave them anything they wanted and always do! The pink fluffy pillow, the lamp and more….ALL FROM YOUR DONATIONS! They also told us Largent Studios was AMAZING with paint, lumber and trucking. YAY!

Art Department Rules!

Please take a moment to view pictures from Crystal’s makeover. You will see first hand what happens when a group of action-oriented individuals come together.

www.blissfulbedrooms.org/Crystal_Project/crystal_project.html

The next makeover is for a young, disabled man who loves the YANKEES!
Scenic artist looking to volunteer for a great cause.

Blissful Bedrooms is AWESOME!
Check them out! Keep donating your items to Film Biz Recycling! Little things change lives.

blissfulbedrooms.org

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