End of Year Wrap Up- 2021

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The sun sets on 2021, another “train wreck’ of a year

As 2021 wraps up, GPP founder Beth looks back on a year that gave 2020 a run for its money as “worst year ever”. Well, at least “worst year ever in recent memory”.

As I write this, 5 days before Christmas, there have been a total of 275 Million worldwide cases of Covid-19 and 5.35 Million deaths worldwide from this modern day plague. Following last year’s end of year post, several companies emerged with additional vaccine options. Johnson and Johnson is off the market now, due to higher risks of dangerous side effects, but Pfizer and Moderna remain viable options for vaccination and booster shots. I’m fully vaccinated and boosted myself- “Team Pfizer”, but that still has not completely taken away any risk of me contracting coronavirus. You see, with so many people worldwide who remain unvaccinated- due to no, or limited, access to the vaccine OR a refusal to get vaccinated out of some selfish fear of public health initiatives, government and (not entirely without reason- see Hulu’s “Dopesick”), big pharma, the vaccine has mutated so many times that we’ve all been learning the Greek Alphabet. Currently, the Omicron variant (sounds like a Transformer, right?!), is spreading worldwide with exceptional speed. Supposedly the most contagious variant thus far (we all thought Delta was bad, but Omicron said, “Hold my beer!”), it is forcing countries to roll back more restrictive rules on gatherings and public spaces.

This time last year, everyone was hoping that with mass vaccinations, we’d start to see a real waning of concerns regarding the pandemic, but the pandemic had other plans. That said, production work resumed this year in a very ramped up fashion, with Covid protocols continuing in place. But still, from GPP’s perspective, there still weren’t quite as many appropriate productions for placement as a non-pandemic year. Our show count did climb- we’re over the 600 mark at around 610 placed-in productions since launching, going on 10 years ago.

2021- another “train wreck” of a year started with a full on insurrection at the Capitol building in DC by right-wing Donald Trump loyalists. The world watched in horror as this illegal, terrorist act was carried out. I think many of us knew then, as we watched a horror many of us had feared, be carried out, that maybe 2021 wasn’t going to be much of an improvement on the year before.

The tone changed slightly a few weeks later when we watched Joe Biden and Kamala Harris be sworn in on those same Capitol steps that weeks before was the scene of disturbing and fatal attack on US Democracy. There were bright spots that day- 22 year old Amanda Gorman’s amazing delivery of her even more amazing poem “The Hill We Climb”, along with Lady Gaga’s over the top dress, all the Bernie mitten memes and seeing the first female- a woman of color, be sworn in as VP. And we all said “don’t let the door hit ya’ on the way out” to our Climate Change denying, racist, inept former president, who shall not even be named.

Daffodils in spring

The year continued on to spring, which saw Megan and Harry’s tell all interview with Oprah, the death of British Royal Patriarch, The Duke of Edinburgh and the roll out of vaccinations for all adults in the US.

My spring? For me, personally- on the good side- getting fully vaccinated, but on the sad and heartbreaking side, losing my mother at age 91. If you had read last year’s post, you may remember that she had a stroke in 2020 at the start of initial lockdowns and had vascular dementia. This was a crushing loss- I was quite close to my mom and it was she that instilled in me a love for theatre, film, and the arts in general.

 

Beth was a featured guest on the Reducetarian Podcast

Business wise, I had the honor of being a guest on the Reducetarian Podcast. I spoke about what it’s like to get your eco friendly brand placed in tv shows, films and streaming media. I wrote about Brian Kateman, the host and founder of Reducetarian, several years ago for Triple Pundit.

The first quarter and the spring also saw me sign new clients Mented Cosmetics, Lettuce Grow, Outstanding Foods and Poppi Soda.

The FSC prominently featured in Amazon’s “The Tomorrow War”

Later on in the summer, Amazon released entertaining sci-fi feature, “The Tomorrow War”. My clients The Forest Stewardship Council (The FSC) and I were very stoked to see their logo and slogan as part of the classroom décor of the lead character, played by Chris Pratt. Not to give away any spoilers, but climate change DOES play a part in the story.

Not a statement of fiction- but all of our futures are at risk by the effects of climate change, and we’re already seeing extreme weather and melting arctic to prove it. Droughts, flooding, heatwaves, extreme storms, unseasonal and catastrophic hurricanes, ramped up wildfires, it was all on display again this year.

 

Beth masked and vaxxed at Expo East

Beth with new client Outstanding Foods

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

September arrived and I attended my first in person Natural Products Expo in 2 years! Expo East was this year held at the Philadelphia Convention Center. Everyone was fully masked and vaccinated and booths were spread out to allow for social distancing. It was good to be back, but still not the same as it usually is.

 

The autumn also saw a strike authorization vote by IATSE, the entertainment technician union, although the new area standards agreement did get ratified by a very small margin, many members still have a number of issues regarding extended work hours, and inadequate weekend turnarounds. In 2020, when work first started back, many hours were reduced for COVID safety concerns, but that went out the window quite quickly. The Instagram account ia_stories gained a lot of attention as a voice for the voiceless- the below the line workers- who are the beating heart of film and tv production.

Following that, the fatal death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of a western shot in New Mexico brought forth even more the concerns of rushed film making, cutting corners, and inexperienced staff, both as armorer and as producers.

November saw COP26 happen in Glasgow. Progress was made, but not enough. I couldn’t help feeling a bit like Greta Thunberg and her “blah blah blah” statement.

By the time December rolled around- the virus had mutated even more- from the Delta Variant that caused concern earlier in the year, to Omicron, as I mention in my earlier paragraph. Nevertheless, having been boosted on Black Friday, my husband and I planned a trip to the UK to see his family for the holidays. I had fully planned to work remotely to craft this very end of year post, work with 3 shows coming up in January, and get the company e-card sent out.

Well, fate has plans of its own. The day we arrived, my other brother passed away back home. He was the last surviving member of the nuclear family that I grew up in. So, as I write this, I am still deep in the throes of 5 day old grief. Per my niece and sister-in-law, I am staying put here in the UK as planned until a few days after Christmas, my planned return home.

Where will the future take us? Sometimes you just have to ride the river to find out.

But what does all of this personal loss, added to Covid related business challenges, mean for my business? At this point in time, I can’t actually answer that question.

For the time being, I will keep on, keepin’ on with the business-  I have 3 shows coming up in January already that will be sent out as opportunities to appropriate clients.

I think in time, the next steps will make themselves known. No matter what comes next, however, I will ALWAYS have a stake and be an advocate for more sustainable film making, for the elevation of “better” brands, and for the help and service of others.

This holiday season, and all year long- tell the people you love, that you love them. Show kindness to others. Find a way to help people in need. Push businesses and governments to operate more sustainably. Support the guardians of our natural environment. Do everything that’s in your own personal power to make a positive difference in this world. It’s the only one we’ve got.

Love is the most powerful thing we’ve got.

Check out GPP’s annual Holiday E-Card HERE.

Have a happy, healthy, peaceful holiday season and a hopeful and joy filled new year!

All my best,

Beth

Happy Holidays from Beth, Founder of GPP

 

2018 End of Year Blog Post

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As the sun sets on 2018 and rises on 2019, we look back on the past year.

As the sun sets on 2018 and rises on 2019, we look back on the past year.

It’s now December, and that means Beth takes virtual pen to paper to compose GPP’s annual end of year blog post. It’s a time to reflect on the year that has passed and look towards what’s in store when the new year rolls around.

Keeping up the metaphor of a business being a child, our “baby” is now firmly ensconced in its early years of school. Appropriately so, we continue learning and growing and having more experiences, as our business continues the work of using the power of product placement to promote better, more sustainable brands.

To that end, we’ve worked with more than 60 productions this year, and have added new clients, as we do every year. We’re honored to now represent respected human rights organization, Amnesty International, taking over for ERMAcolleague agency, HERO, after they transitioned their business. We’ve also added the world’s most sustainably produced rum, Flor de Cana, along with Clarice Wines, and Popcorn Indiana. Many of our clients happily renewed this year and continue to work with us, the only positive mission-based agency in ERMA.

Our Greenstar Bamboo Bike gets high visibility on TV’s “Blindspot” for the third season running. We’re so glad that this sustainably produced bicycle demonstrates sustainable behavior in a context that does not editorially call for it.

 

Vegan and Eco-Friendly representation on TV’s Let’s Make A Deal went one up on the year before, highlighting our Gunas Handbags and 100% Pure health and beauty brand in one exciting prize package.

We would also be remiss in talking about this past year without mentioning something that played a big part in it. Most of our friends and colleagues know that for the past 6 years, at the same time that we’ve been growing our business, we have also been working as union set dressers to supplement our personal income. The show that we have been working on for 5-9 months each year has been Netflix’s House of Cards.

Beth and Lisa on the set of HoC in 2012- also the year we launched our business.

After the newsworthy hiatus and postponement of shooting that happened last year, following the firing of Kevin Spacey- we spent 9 months shooting and then wrapping the final season of this award-winning show. We’re proud to say that our department, Set Decoration, wrapped green and very little was thrown in the landfill. Most of the 3 months’ worth of wrapping and dispersing, saw hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of furniture, artwork, lighting fixtures, softgoods and shelving get sold and donated to crew, cast, non-profits and local small businesses.

Beth and Lisa stand in the House of Cards “White House” Grand Hallway one last time, when the show wrapped for good this year.

Because of the amount of time devoted to this work, along with the availability of some of the crucial connections that I mentioned last year, our big announcement has been postponed until 2019. Our website upgrade as well, we hope to reveal sometime next year.

Which is not to say that we haven’t already begun aligning and collaborating with some of these influential connections that we have been making and cultivating the last couple of years, and it is so important that those of us in the sustainable business sector do this. With a myriad of challenges facing us in the US, as far as climate, having people in our corner will be paramount to our continued success.

Two recent climate reports paint an alarming picture. The first, The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change/IPCC, issued a dire warning, with a report put together by The US Government (and we thought that only climate change deniers were left!) following about a month and a half later, which details more specifically how climate change will affect the regions of the US.

We know that every year we’re seeing extreme weather and destructive anomalies and it has become normal for it to happen every year. This year saw one of the wettest summers on record in the mid-Atlantic, with floods, downed trees and flooded basements happening all over the region. The 2018 Atlantic hurricane season was the third in a consecutive series of above-average and damaging Atlantic hurricane seasons, featuring 15 named storms, 8 hurricanes and 2 major hurricanes and a total of $33.3 billion (2018 USD) in damages. ¹ On the West Coast, destructive wildfires erased an entire town, Paradise, in northern California, and in Southern California, the Malibu area saw homes- both celebrity and more humble trailer park dwellings be reduced to ash. The Paramount Ranch, whose “Old West Town” set- used for shows such as Westworld and numerous others burned down. This is a case of climate change fueled events directly affecting the entertainment industry, and we suspect we’ll see this happen more and more.

¹Courtesy Wikipedia

Business as usual proceeded as we attended Natural Products Expos West and East and Summer Fancy Foods. It’s always fun to see our clients and explore new trends in the industries.

Beth and Lisa at Natural Products Expo West, March 2018

 

Lisa and Beth have fun with some English phone booth floor displays at Summer Fancy Foods.

 

With long term client (and now friend), Corey of Repurpose Compostables at Expo East in September.

 

With Wedderspoon Honey at Expo East- excited that they also now make health and beauty products as well!

We, along with some of our clients. also helped to sponsor Earth Angel Hour in early spring again this year. In the autumn, we helped sponsor, along with some of our clients, Clothes Minded, an interactive exhibit in NYC exploring sustainability in fashion, along with textile and plastic waste. One of our recently made new advisors, Nat Geo Explorer and Conservation Artist, Asher Jay, was featured in the exhibition. Following that, we helped sponsor the MFIC fundraiser, a local industry event.

Beth and Lisa looking sharp at the Earth Angel Hour NYC event in early spring 2018

 

Our fabulous silent auction prize at the MFIC Industry event

Asher and Beth at Clothes Minded October 2018

Also this autumn were the “mid-term” elections here in the US. This year saw the House of Representatives flip to the generally more climate friendly Democrats. Additionally, more women and minorities, including a record number of Native Americans, were elected to office. Newly elected millennial representative from The Bronx, New York, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is spearheading an effort to form a #GreenNewDeal. This is an effort we can get behind!

Beth and Lisa looking festive this autumn

So, it is with that hopeful high note that I will wrap up this year’s end of year dispatch.

Check out our Holiday E-Card HERE.

We’re at a critical time right now- both the world at large and our business. Going forward, we must align ourselves with those that have our, and the earth’s, best interest, at heart. Our futures depend on it!

We send best wishes to our friends, colleagues, studio contacts, clients, and industry contacts for a happy, healthy holiday season and prosperous and sustainable new year!

Happy Holidays!

GPPs End of Year Wrap Up 2017

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Beth looks back on business…..and life, in our 5th full official year of Green Product Placement.

2017 was a year of challenges- so as our growing business is now equal to a first grader, this first grader is learning how to solve problems and overcome those challenges.

As you might expect, our sustainability focused business survives against many odds, just as the movement towards a more sustainable future in all business is doing the same. With the January swearing in of the new administration, the hits to business, sustainability, and human rights have been fast and furious. Both Beth and Lisa feel that in order for our earth to survive, we need to be kinder, more compassionate, and gentler to other people, animals, and the planet, but it seems that life in the US these days is being anything but that.

Because we believe in standing up for what is right, both of us started out the year by taking part in the historic Women’s March on Washington, the day after the inauguration.

 

We were pleased to see two placements that both illustrated not only two of our good brands, but also a.) Illustrate sustainable behavior as an everyday occurrence, when the lead character Abby, on Girlfriend’s Guide to Divorceuses one of our client Full Circle Home’s compost bin as she’s cleaning out her fridge and b.) When the words “Eco-Friendly vegan handbags” were mentioned on mainstream game show Let’s Make A Deal (probably for the first time ever). Of all of the many, many hundreds of placements we’ve done over the years, these two, when they happened this year, just emphasized the importance of what we’re doing.

We then headed out to California for Expo West and our annual studio meetings. We had meetings and juggled shows simultaneously, because after a serious wintertime production lull, that started just before the election, and lasted through February, things started, and stayed, very busy.

Beth and Lisa in the Cali sunshine

When we got back, it was up to our second home, NYC and our friend Emellie O’Brien’s Company, Earth Angel’s annual Earth Hour event. This year, she stepped it up and held it at the Starrett-Lehigh building in Manhattan- in a space usually reserved for high fashion shoots, with an amazing view. Beth wrote about her, and the event, for Triple Pundit.

Beth and Lisa with Emellie, of Earth Angel

In May, we attended and covered the first ever Reducetarian Summit. The Reducetarian movement is an inclusive movement to eat less meat- for reasons such as health, the environment, and animal welfare. Beth wrote an article about it for Triple Pundit, and Lisa did some of the photography. It was great to meet and connect with so many like minded people, and also to spend some time with our client Sugandh, who was a sponsor through her luxury vegan handbag company, Gunas. We also spent a little time with our new friend, Khaled. He’s an animal rights activist, vegan, impact investing powerhouse, who also happens to be a Prince! Check outBeth’s interview with him in Triple Pundit(yes, she did quite a lot for writing for them this year! 😉).

Speaking of royalty, as off this writing, Suits actress and philanthropist Meghan Markle has just become engaged to the UK’s Prince Harry. We dug back to some screen captures from a few years ago, when our clients, Bakery on Main’s True Bars, had a starring role alongside her on the show.

Meghan Markle and our True Bars on Suits

We know that it’s good to have good people in your corner, especially when facing challenges. We also know, that it’s good when groups of people speak out for what is right- which is exactly what we did again in June when we marched in the People’s Climate March in DC. So many people, yet again, taking a stand against those that would seek to destroy our planet for greed. The solutions are out there, they’re innovative, and they’re the future. Even when our new president decided that we should be the only nation to pull out of the Paris Agreement, state after state, city after city, business after business declared that “We are still in “.

Summer meant more expos; we upped our Expo numbers this year which included Housewares, Furniture, Natural and Fancy Foods. We’ve been happy to welcome a great group of new additional clients in the accessories (Bottletop), food and drink (High Brew, Daelman’s Stroopwafels, GH Cretors, Hi, I’m Skinny, Poppy Popcorn, So Delicious Dairy Free, Explore Cuisine, Hannah Max Cookie Chips), alcohol (Glass Vodka) home (Tommorrow’s Kitchen and Vacu Vin), and baby (Poof Diapers) sectors.

The Javits Convention Center was full of yum!

 

Lookin’ schmancy at a film industry fundraiser.

Us w/legendary actor and activist, Danny Glover.

We kept busy with productions over the summer and into the autumn, with the busiest October, production-wise, we’ve had yet.

Yay! A record breaking October for us.

We attended a few events, and we kept going, despite the stressful climate in both politics and even show business. Once the Weinstein accusations hit, the sexual harassment accusations came in fast and furious in so many industries- not only show business, but news, politics and tech, as well. But the show business ones- well, some of them affected us directly and the work that we do, with productions being cancelled and shut down. That said, we’ll always be glad that the victims now can have a voice and come forward and that the culture is changing as to what is now not acceptable behavior.

Speaking of having people in our corner, we also have been hard at work this year making crucial connections that will help us to thrive, particularly in the current climate. We can’t reveal much now, but we hope to break the news in the first part of 2018. With that, we’re also planning a refresh on our website to make it a bit more current and user friendly.

We look forward to expanding even more, our green product offerings and continuing our mission of “positive placement”.

We know that what we’re doing has tremendous value, and it is even more important than ever to keep doing what we’re doing.

Check out our holiday greeting HERE

Season’s Greetings from Green Product Placement!

We send best wishes to all of our colleagues, clients, friends, production and studio contacts for a happy, healthy holiday season and all the best for 2018.

Sunrise or Sunset? You decide! Us? We’re ready to take things to the next level.

GPP’s End of Year Wrap Up 2016

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As 2016 comes to a close, we both struggled as to how to craft our end of year post. As I, Beth, tend to be the writer on our team, it is tasked to me at each year’s close to write our end of year summary in the form of a blog post.

Beth and Lisa at the International Home and Housewares Show, Chicago, March 2016

At this writing, because of the outcome of the US election, the sustainability movement in the US (and the world now, with the US being one of the world’s leading economies), faces overwhelming challenges in the next 4 years. Just when we should be making huge strides toward alternative energy, President Elect Trump, a climate change denier, is set to name another climate change denier to his cabinet as Chief of Staff. He has said that he would pull the US out of the COP 21 agreement. He has investments in all sorts of dirty energy, including The Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) (more on that bellow).

Just as last year seemed to end on a high note, with the signing of the COP 21 agreement, and us in Paris during the talks, upon re-reading last year’s post, I realized that there were both ups and downs in our world and the greater world at large last year as well. COP 21 happened very shortly after the terrorist acts in Paris at Le Bataclan (in the neighborhood where we stayed), a café, and outside a stadium. Our dear friends and colleagues at Film Biz Recycling had to close up shop. Our friend Emellie at Earth Angel held her first annual NYC Earth Hour event, and we began working with accessory companies to place them in TV shows and feature films and to continue growing the scope of sustainable products available to props masters, set decorators and costume designers.

Beth and Lisa meet Rohan Marley. Bob’s son and founder of Marley Coffee, one of our clients

 

Beth and Lisa take a well deserved day on the beach after back to back expos and studio meetings, March 2016

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This year, the same is true of it being a year filled with challenges, set backs, but also of growth and hope. We actually grew our brand family even more, to include apparel (Afterlife and Wallis Evera), and more accessories, including jewelry (Landfill Dzine, Starling and Ivy, Shana Kroiz Jewelry) along with more home products (pots and pans from sustainable cookware pioneers Green Pan, along with reusable vessels from Reduce), and also bamboo bicycles (GreenStar Cycles) in addition to a handcrafted guitar made of repurposed bicycles, Prisma Guitars). Our show count is well over 225. Beth began writing for venerable sustainability press, Triple Pundit.  Our friends from Film Biz Recycling continue to grow their online platform Art Cube, and it was just announced that Film Biz Recycling is moving to Savannah, Georgia at the helm of a new leader, Samita Wolfe. Emellie became a Tory Birch fellow and continues to grow her business. And this- the pushing forward of the movement is exactly how we need to react to this new regime change in Washington.

Just as the “Water Protectors” – native peoples, environmental activists, veterans and other cause supporters stayed steadfast in the face of militarized force used by local law enforcement and DAPL hired security forces by using prayer, ceremony and peaceful protest to fight back against seemingly insurmountable odds and centuries of mistreatment to protect the earth and its resources, so must business stay steadfast in our efforts to grow the sustainability sector even when faced with forces which may push back against forward progress.

 

Numerous business leaders have pledged to forge ahead with sustainable growth because it’s just good business. Climate change denial is clearly a falsified theory created by big oil and coal as explained in this excellent short documentary by The Real News Network, The Doubt Machine. It is a great companion piece to Leonardo Di Caprio’s documentary that also came out this autumn, Before the Flood. We were fortunate enough to meet the creator of The Doubt Machine at a Maryland Film Industry event in October. 

 

Beth and Lisa at the MFIC Fundraiser, November 2016

2016 saw us grow our scope of representation and also grow our relationships with sustainable people of influence in entertainment, media and business. To revisit our metaphor of a new business being like a child, our “baby” has gone from infancy, to toddlerhood, preschool, and soon, kindergarten.

GPP gets a nice public personal thank you from Eco Friendly star, Alicia Silverstone

As we find ourselves facing numerous obstacles as we “escort our ‘child’ off to school”, we must look to the example of the people of Standing Rock and never waver in our vision of a better future for our planet and the people of our planet.

(You can check our holiday greeting HERE. )

We must never lose hope and remember no amount of significant progress ever happened without setbacks and resistance.

We wish all of our colleagues, clients, production contacts and friends all the best for 2017.

All our best,

Beth and Lisa

End of Year Blog Post- 2015 GPP Wrap Up

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December

Here we are again at the end of December and the end of another year doing what we do- turning product placement into “positive placement”.

Because this year was so jammed packed- our show count is now well over 170 productions in the US, Canada and the UK, and our brand count is over 65, we spent yet another year with our noses firmly pressed to the grindstone doing, and growing our business.

In the past, I compared a new business to a child, and its’ growing up stages. Whereas last year, we were a toddler, “running about all over the place”, this year saw us as a preschooler- building on our growing skills and capabilities as a company and preparing for the next period of growth that lies ahead of us.

In a month we’ll mark the milestone of 4 years since we incorporated in late January 2012, and officially launched in April of that year. Like any new business, we face challenges and obstacles, and like any people with over 40 years combined tv and film production experience, we find ways to solve them and overcome them.

As last year, the collection of new email addresses for our annual holiday card “send out” was just short of Herculean. Check out our holiday greeting here. We feel privileged to each year, be able to make new friends and new colleagues, working to make great content, to make great products, and to make the world a more sustainable place.

Looking back, this year, as any year, was a year of triumphs and disappointments, of letdowns and of victories.

We couldn’t talk about letdowns of this year, without mentioning the sad demise of Film Biz Recycling, the Brooklyn based creative non-profit and prop shop. that found new homes for media waste of all types- from sets to props to costumes. They had to shutter their doors due to lack of funding, but Eva and Liz continue the legacy of good works with the online based Art Cube.

This was also a year of firsts- we began working with our first accessory clients- 2 handbag companies and a wristwatch company. They are Haiku Bags,  Gunas Bags , and Analog Watches .  They are the first as we work to expand a brand portfolio to include more accessories, eco-fashion garments and shoes. We’re determined to make over those wardrobe trailers with fashion forward, great looking Sustainable Fashion and start a mini Fashion Revolution of our own, onscreen.

GPP with Earth Angel

It was also the first year that our friend and colleague Emellie O’Brien, at Earth Angel held their first ever NYC celebration of Earth Hour- calling it “Earth Angel Hour”. Our pictures are here more can be found in Earth Angel NYC’s gallery, here.

 

 

 

Per our usual schedule, March saw us in California for Natural Products Expo West and our annual Studio Meetings. This year we added a couple more very high profile streaming studios to the agenda- ones with whom we had been working on the production level, but now we’re also connected on the studio level as well.

alicia tweet

This year we’ve also managed a few more personal connections with celebrities in the sustainability space. We hope to grow this pool of fabulous connections in the coming years.

Late spring saw us back in our supplemental positions as production personnel whilst simultaneously managing a very busy placement season (some great exposure for our brands that will be visible very soon). We also did our round of NYC production office visits and are happy to see that production is still thriving in the Big Apple.

B and L LFFF

Late summer/early autumn brought Natural Products Expo East, and for the first time, we helped with sponsorships for the La Femme Film Festival  (which we attended) and an important Animal Sanctuary Event in NYC.

And then, the biggest victory of all, for all of us that care about a sustainable future, we were in Paris during the COP 21 talks to attend a couple of high profile events adjunct to the official talks and to have a few meetings with like minded business people.

3 weeks before we were scheduled to leave, as we left our production jobs for the day, that fated Friday, we heard about the horrendous terrorist attacks that took place in the neighborhood we were to call home for 6 days, in Paris. Not once did we consider not going, however, as we knew somehow that this COP would be different. This and coming from the country that went through 9/11, we knew that to get on with the business of life and the business of making the world better goes counter to what the perpetrators wished to accomplished when they did what they did.

wcs 2015

Paris 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So off we went to Paris and our first event, The World Climate Summit  and Sustainia Awards. We met and heard from many leaders and luminaries in the sustainability sector and we were pleased to meet with and consult with the Sustainia team prior to this successful event.

Earth to Paris 2

 

The next day, we were one of a select group of invited guests to attend the Earth to Paris event, live in Paris. View some of the sessions we attended here. 

 

 

 

 

 

And their “Love Letters to Paris” Video here:

This was 5 days before the historic climate action agreement was ratified on Saturday, December 12th.  

This agreement is the most aggressive and mutually agreed commitment to clean energy, clean tech, clean manufacturing and more sustainable practices overall that has been set forth thus far. We feel just as moved having been witness to history, as we were being able to participate in some small way. The momentum that pushed this forward was completely collaborative- from business leaders like Ted Turner, Mark Zuckerberg and Richard Branson, to indigenous leaders worldwide travelling all the way to Paris to say their peace, to hashtag campaigners online, to protesters in the street, to everyone meeting, connecting, promoting and pushing forward a strong climate agreement.

Read my takeways from our trip to Paris during the COP21 talks, here.

We also met with EcoProd France,  a consultancy that concentrates on making French television and film production more sustainable, mainly behind, but also in front of, the camera, along with dropping in at Place to B, for meeting with Thomas Kolster of Goodvertising, and then lastly a wonderful meeting with new friend Nick Aster and his colleagues Jen and Mary from venerable sustainability news site, Triple Pundit.

The more we connect with sustainability professionals and in particular sustainability media professionals, and great sustainable brands, products and companies worldwide, we realize even more than connectivity is indeed the key to pushing a more sustainable future forward. We realize that the reach is, and must be, global and we will continue our efforts with that as our goal.

Many seeds of good were planted in Paris this December, both from a global perspective and from the more personal perspective of our business.

earth to paris 1

We look forward to caring for those seeds and watching them grow in 2016.

We wish you and yours the happiest of holidays and best wishes for a verdant, peaceful future in the coming year.

paris noel

 

All our best,

Beth and Lisa

2014 End of the Year Wrap-Up- We’re Turning 3!

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As we wrap up another year, we tend to look back at the past 12 months and tally up accomplishments (and disappointments). But I find that the disappointments fade into the background of memory and it is the accomplishments that stand out in one’s mind.

As I prepared our annual Holiday E-Card , I had to gather up all of the new contacts we’ve made in the course of doing business (and apologies to anyone we may have missed! Please click on the link for our holiday wishes to you :-)  ), and this year, it was literally hundreds of new names that got added to our recipients list.

That’s because this year, much like our 1st and 2nd years of business, was jam packed! In January of 2015, it will be 3 years since we officially incorporated as Green Product Placement (and April will mark 4 years since I was struck by the idea, following an online conversation on TED.com  with the documentarian Morgan Spurlock, to start the company).

In last year’s end of year post, I compared a new business to a child. Whereas last year, our business went from “baby” to “toddler”, this year, our “toddler” went running around, all over the place.

In April, we produced the London Sustainable Production Eco-Expo  which was modeled after the very successful NYC Production Eco Expos, produced by our friends at Film Biz Recycling.

As I posted late spring, see some pictures here  and  catch the sizzle reel here:

After that, as last year’s winners, we were off to present the “First and Foremost” Award at Film Biz Recycling’s  Golden Dumpster Awards  to the PGA Green, for their report “Going Green and Saving Green”  which was authored by our dear friend and Sustainable Production colleague Emellie O’Brien, of Earth Angel, sustainable production consultants.

Then, it was nose to the grindstone as we worked to place our brands in many more shows, including now several in the UK, and begin our supplemental production work on the Emmy winning show, House of Cards, Season 3.

September saw us at Natural Products Expo East, where we connected with our clients, friends and other great natural brands.

In October, Beth was asked to present a master class at the Netherlands Film Festival at the invitation of the Green Film Making Project, based in Amsterdam.

beth utrectpanel gff

The keynote speaker was none other than our friend Emellie O’Brien! And our friends at Casual Films  were represented by speaker Nick Francis.

Check out the sizzle reel from this fabulous day of international sustainable production promotion, here:

( Green Film Making Project @ NFF 2014 from greenfilmmaking on Vimeo. )

Lisa at school

impact hub amsterdam

 

Also that week, Lisa spoke at the Netherlands Film Academy  and Beth connected with fellow Impact Hub members in Amsterdam. We also met with numerous Dutch sustainable designers and were completely impressed by all of the forward thinking sustainable design coming from The Netherlands.

In December, we were able to host our office party for the Hampden Christmas Parade that marches right in front. It was a great way to hang with friends and colleagues and celebrate Charm City’s quirky charm.

party table set

Our desks turned into a serving table laden with yummy food for watching the parade.

As the year draws to a close, we look back on all we’ve accomplished this year, and the last three years. Our show count has grown exponentially- we’ve now placed well over 55 brands in over 105 shows in the US, Canada and the UK and we look forward towards greening the screen the way we do- and promoting great brands in front the of camera, even more in 2015!

Here’s wishing you and yours the happiest of Holidays and the brightest and loveliest of New Years!

All our best,

Beth and Lisa

b and l shout

Beth and Lisa are cheering you on for the holidays!

2014- The First 5 months- We’re Two!

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Here it is the end of May, and this is our first blog post of 2014!

We have lots to catch everyone up on as we’ve been very, very busy. Our show count is now up over 85 shows in a little over our first two years. We’ve begun placing in shows across the pond in the UK and we’re beginning some business development to incorporate sustainable fashion placement into the scope of services we offer productions and brands.

Beth and Lisa with VP Jenny and President/Founder Tim of Wedding Wire

Beth and Lisa with VP Jenny and President/Founder Tim of Wedding Wire

 

Beth chats with Tim of Wedding Wire

Beth chats with Tim of Wedding Wire

 

 

 

 

 

This winter was a long, cold and snowy one on the east coast. Back in February, Beth was asked to speak at a “Fireside Chat” at successful tech company Wedding Wire. A number of tech companies like Google have inspiring entrepreneurs come in and speak at a company lunch once a month and so Beth was honored to be asked to speak at Wedding Wire.

 

Beth speaks at a product placement law seminar.

Beth speaks at a product placement law seminar.

Following that, Beth was asked to speak at a seminar given by venerable entertainment lawyer, Jaia Thomas, produced by her firm, Jaia Thomas Law. 

Beth and Lisa expo west

Lisa and Beth goof around with our fab clients, Derma E.

Lisa and Beth goof around with our fab clients, Derma E.

 

 

 

 

 

Then, it was off to Anaheim, California in March for Beth and Lisa and the annual largest natural products expo in the world, Expo West, where we saw many of our clients and made connections with some new ones.

paramount

 

 

After that, we scooted up to Los Angeles for our annual week of meetings. It was absolutely back to back and non stop, but we were able to touch base with many of our branded placement executive contacts, and meet with some more- in addition to production companies that produce many of the tv shows and films you would be familiar with.

A full gallery of our Anaheim and LA pictures can be found on our Facebook gallery, here.

Then, it was back to the east coast for two weeks to prepare for our trip to London and Dublin. We went over to Dublin, Ireland for one night to meet with our clients, iameco, makers of the sustainable wooden computer. They were lovely people who showed us true Irish hospitality.

iameco's wonderful sustainable wooden computers.

iameco’s wonderful sustainable wooden computers.

 

 

 

London Sustainable Production Eco Expo

 

After that, it was more back to back meetings in and around London to mark our 2 Year Anniversary,  to kick off beginning placements in UK productions and our start to begin to incorporate sustainable fashions into the scope of products that we can provide productions. We also organized the London Sustainable TV & Film Production Eco-Expo, which was modeled after the very successful NYC Sustainable Production Eco-Expos organized by Film Biz Recycling, at which, we’ve participated in the last two years.

We’d love to thank our sponsors, The London College of Communications,  Casual Films, who created our fabulous sizzle reel, Pulp Art Surfaces, Food for Good, and Life Water, along with photographer Calvin Day of The London Film Company for capturing the evening in images for us. (We took a few of our own as well.)

Also, of course, we want to thank our speakers and presenters: Emcee Simon Mann, Martin Kern of Scenery Salvage, Julie’s Bicycle, The Producer’s Guild of America Green, Tallulah Chapman of The Forest Stewardship Council, Eric Huyton, of Eyefish.tv, Chai Locher and Weindelt Hooijer of The Green Film Making Project, Amsterdam, Barnaby Cook, of Casual Films, Jane Soans, Film Fixer, Firefly Solar, Victoria Cartwright of Neptune Environmental Solutions, and Sony Pictures for their Eco-Spidey sizzle reel.

Then, it was off to Natural Products Europe, one of the largest Natural Products Expos that side of the pond.

b and l london expo

After Expo, and a couple more meetings, we headed back to the US, but our intern Mabel, based in The Netherlands, was able to attend a masterclass in Amsterdam entitled “Green Film Making is Taking over Europe.” The event was hosted by our friends at The Green Film Making Project and included exciting speakers from across Europe, all reporting on progress being made concerning green film making in their home countries.  The event was highly informative, providing attendees with concrete ways they could make their own work more sustainable, and enabling everyone to learn from one another’s experiences. But it was also inspirational, really emphasizing how significant an impact every individual has on the planet, and how everyone can always be greener. Pictures can be found here.

Then it was suddenly May, and time for The Golden Dumpster Awards,  put on by our friends at Film Biz Recycling. As last year’s winner of the “First and Foremost” Award, we were honored to present this year’s winner PGA Green.

With GDA 2014 winner Emellie O'Brien of Earth Angel

With GDA 2014 winner Emellie O’Brien of Earth Angel

Our pictures from this event can be found here.

So there you have it- an extremely busy first 5 months of 2014. We’re really excited about all of the growth we’ve undertaken as a company, and all of the wonderful sustainable production people, marketers and entrepreneurs we’ve been able to connect with. Now, we’re getting into summer and a very busy time for production. We’ll be back to doing some production work ourselves, too, as we have been, as a start up company. We can see the day, on the horizon, in the near future, when we’ll have our last 6 am call time, and as we continue to grow our brand family and scope of services, we will also have one figurative foot “on set”.

Have a great summer everyone!

Cheers,

Beth and Lisa

2013 End of Year Post- Looking Back and Moving Forward

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A new business can sometimes be compared to one’s “baby”, and building it to watching a child grow. Where in 2012 our company was still an infant, 2013 saw our business blossom into a full fledged “toddler”. The toddler stage in one’s life is when the person we’re going to be begins to show itself. The toddler starts to talk, walk, run and explore, and that’s exactly what Green Product Placement did during our second full year in business. Looking back in comparison to our first year- whereas in 2012 we began making studio connections and getting known in Hollywood with branded placement execs higher up the production food chain than our “below the line” contacts, in 2013 these connections really burst forth. This year we made it on the email list for most of the major studios who were looking for placement in their productions, in addition to several independent production resources consultants. At the end of 2012, we had placed in over 23 productions, our count to date is over 65! That means in 2013 we placed in almost twice as many shows as we did our first year. We continue to get written about by the press,  including a wonderful feature in February by the venerable Mother Nature Network gpp golden dumpster

Beth and Lisa tell the GPP story at the 2013 NYC Production Eco Expo

Beth and Lisa tell the GPP story at the 2013 NYC Production Eco Expo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beth continues to speak on the subject of the importance of sustainable brands and behavior in mainstream media and sustainability behind the camera, including internationally, and Beth and Lisa both continue to present and serve on panels with our peers, even being recognized with a coveted Golden Dumpster Award by our friends and colleagues Film Biz Recycling  (aka FBR). Check out this interview with Beth at the #Duurcomm “Meer Door Minder conference in October:

And this fabulous video from the second Annual Production Eco-Expo as organized by FBR at the School of Visual Arts in NYC.

A full gallery of pictures from this event can be found here on our Facebook page,   and also some additional pictures on FBR’s page. Two of the shows we both placed products in and worked on as set dressers won Emmys! (House of Cards for Netflix and Veep for HBO.) Beth and Lisa wrapped up work on Season 2 House of Cards in November. We see the value of placing our good brands all the time. We chatted with Robin Wright, star of House of Cards, when she fell in love with our Full Circle Home “Wherever Water” bottle.  She loved it so much, she kept one of her props to take with her to use in London, where she’ll be working on Steven Frears’ new film! Speaking of London, as we endeavor to expand to include clients and placements in UK productions, we have some wonderful ideas percolating for our visit in spring of 2014! Stay tuned! We saw how wonderful it is to help “connect the sustainable production dots” when we met the Green Film Making Competition people in Amsterdam in October and then joined Pia from there in New York as presenters at the Eco Expo.

 

We still have our New York office at Green Spaces, NY. But we settled easily into our local office in Hampden, Baltimore, which Forbes lists as one of the 20 hippest neighborhoods in America. Although our holiday office party overlooking the Christmas parade got snowed out and cancelled, that did not stop Beth and Lisa from enjoying a bit of holiday cheer on “The Miracle on 34th Street”. We also paid a visit to the headquarters of our clients, Chesapeake Bay Roasting Company- which gets its power from wind, and where all of the coffee is organic, fair trade and delicious!

Lisa and Beth with the marketing team at CBRC

Lisa and Beth with the marketing team at CBRC

 

Best Holiday wishes from Beth and Lisa!

Best Holiday wishes from Beth and Lisa!

Right now, once again, we’re doing many of the end of year things most companies do this time of year, including again sending out a holiday e-card  and winding down at the end of busy year to spend time with beloved family and friends. This time of year also allows us to look back once again at all we have accomplished and look hopefully again at the coming year. We look forward to continuing to place our good brands in front of the camera, to welcome new good brands into our “family”, to promote sustainable practices in the entertainment production industry, to connect with more and more wonderful people doing positive things in the sustainable marketing sector, and watching as our “toddler” grows into a “preschooler”. We both sincerely wish you all a happy, healthy holiday and a joyous, prosperous new year! All our best,

Beth and Lisa

2013 Summer Into Autumn Report- Green Product Placement

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Well, fair readers, we continue to be very, very busy. After a big rush of placements in tv series starting up  for the shooting season and autumn shooting films, I’m taking a moment to talk about all of our other recent news.

Emmy Nominated Kevin Spacey as Francis Underwood in the 3 Emmy winning “House of Cards” holding his Repurpose Compostable Cup placed by Green Product Placement

Emmy Nominated Kevin Spacey as Francis Underwood in the 3 Emmy winning “House of Cards” holding his Repurpose Compostable Cup placed by Green Product Placement

Our first bit of news was that two tv shows that we not only placed our brands in, but also worked on, received EMMY Awards! House of Cards and VEEP both took home a few/couple Emmys each and Julia Louis Dreyfus even gave a shout out to “the Baltimore crew” in her acceptance speech. We’re proud to have both placed in and worked on these two great shows.

green festival DC 2013

Next, there was a quick visit to the DC Green Festival, where we saw a few familiar faces, and some lovely fair trade jewelry was bought.

 

 

 

 

Then, while Lisa went off to a wedding of a dear friend in lovely Vermont, in September, (the poor girl ;-)  ), Beth attended Natural Products Expo East in behalf of Green Product Placement.

She visited with many of our clients and of course met lots of other people representing lots of other wonderful brands and products; some of whom we hope will be interested in joining the GPP family of brands.

expo east 2013 sign

You can see the full gallery of photos from Expo East, here on our Facebook gallery.

Next up, was a very fun, successful and exciting jaunt to Europe on behalf of GPP. Beth was a featured speaker at #Duurcomm “Meer Door Minder” (“More with Less”) a conference for marketing people in the sustainability and green brand sector.

Beth talks marketing at the conference

Beth talks marketing at the conference

Beth tells it like it is in Anwterp

Beth tells it like it is in Anwterp

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had the pleasure of meeting the wonderful organizers- Inge, of Duurzaam Communiceren in Antwerp Belgium- Here’s the website for conference, along with Frank of Commotie, in Belgium Along with meeting the organizers, we also got to get to know some fabulous people in sustainable marketing, and even sustainable film making.

Marc Stoiber, is the creator of “future proof” brands- creating brands that will last- and part of lasting as a brand in this day and age means that brands must embrace the triple bottom line. Because of his background in advertising and our background in making that advertising happen (ie. “You want those bananas what shade of yellow?”), we all hit it off like gangbusters.

John Grant is an international sustainable marketing professional who literally wrote the book on green marketing, the celebrated “Green Marketing Manifesto”. He’s authored several other books and has worked with a who’s who of multinational companies. He’s an in demand speaker, scholar and consultant in the sustainable marketing arena.  (His websites:  Ecoinomy  and green normal/madewith )

And Nic Balthazar, emcee extraordinaire, media personality and film maker served as the host. His film “Ben X” received positive reviews, was turned into a stage play and has been optioned to be remade in Hollywood.
Nic is a strong supporter of sustainable production practices and makes sure his sets are all green! Here’s the trailer for Nic’s film, “Ben X”

Beth does some straight talking on the panel with Marc and John.

Beth does some straight talking on the panel with Marc and John.

Beth was asked at the last minute to fill on as the third member of the panel at the end of the day with Marc and John. (She filled in for the former CEO of Saatchi and Saatchi Europe who had to leave. ). Pretty incredible that it was almost 2 years to the day that Beth and Lisa sat in Morgan Spurlock’s office presenting our idea of the company we were starting, and now Beth was pinch hitting on a panel with such sustainable marketing luminaries!

Flashback to October 2011- Meeting with Morgan Spurlock to present our company

Flashback to October 2011- Meeting with Morgan Spurlock to present our company

After Antwerp, Beth and Lisa were off to Amsterdam to meet with the wonderful people at The Green Film Making Competition, an international competition promoting sustainable film making, and also a resource for sustainable production resources, primarily in The Netherlands.

Beth and Lisa meet with the lovely gals of Strawberry Earth/The Green Film Making Competition

Beth and Lisa meet with the lovely gals of Strawberry Earth/The Green Film Making Competition

Then, Beth and Lisa had one lovely, fun day off in Amsterdam- they visited a wonderful farmer’s market, schmyed around the city, checked out an interesting exhibit at the Eye Film Center – a new museum, and venue related entirely to film as a medium and art, and then ate dinner at the lovely, local food restaurant, Pllek, right on the Dam River, which was made out of repurposed shipping containers.

Beth and Lisa enjoy one lovely Saturday off in Amsterdam

Beth and Lisa enjoy one lovely Saturday off in Amsterdam

The next day it was back to Belgium- Brussels for one night as we were flying out the next day. New friends and fellow sustainability marketers, founder/president Kathryn and business development director Zoe of Brussels based Sustainability Consult, were nice enough to pick us up at the hotel and take us “downtown” so we could have a nice dinner out. Included also was the 2 cent tour on the ride back to the hotel. Thanks, ladies, we hope to see you again, soon!

For a full gallery of pictures from this trip, please click here.

The weekend after that, back in Baltimore, we attended the Maryland Film Industry Coalition Annual Fundraiser, at which we donated one of our fab swag baskets which was auctioned off for a great cause.

Beth and Lisa representing GPP at the MFIC Fundraiser

Beth and Lisa representing GPP at the MFIC Fundraiser

For more pictures from this event, check out the gallery.

Next up is the 2nd annual NYC Production Eco-Expo hosted by our friends at Film Biz Recycling  on November 5th.

fbr ee 2013

As of this writing, there are only 20 seats left. If you read this and are interested in RSVPing to the free event, click here.

That wraps up this latest blog post. Thanks for reading!

Cheers,

Beth and Lisa

2013- GPP “Mid-Summer Report”

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Happy 2/3rds through the summer, everyone! We trust that you all are enjoying the bounty from the garden and farmer’s market as much as we are.

Now that our Facebook Page is all back to normal, you can find most of our week to week news there.

Students are taught about the triple bottom line at Darrow

Students are taught about the triple bottom line at Darrow

 

After Expo West and London, Beth was invited to speak to students, faculty and business people at the fabulous Darrow School in upstate New York.  This is a wonderful private school with an emphasis in sustainability as part of their curriculum. Once a year they have a Sustainability Symposium and invite sustainability professionals from across the country and across the business spectrum to converge on their school and present their story and relevant topics. Lunch was from local farms and absolutely delicious. Beth was honored to have taken part in this symposium.

us with award gda fbr

After that was NYC Green Fest, and then next, we were next off to pick up our Golden Dumpster Award from our friends at Film Biz Recycling who celebrated their own 5th birthday by giving away awards to fellow sustainable production people. We joined the likes of Focus Features, 30 Rock, Brite Shot, and Bridge Props in picking up our award at the wonderful ceremony in mid-town Manhattan. In attendance was Shannon Shaefer Bart from Universal’s sustainability initiative and Lauren Selman, who we finally got to meet in person, from Reel Green Media.

our award gda

Our award was for “first and foremost”. We were psyched that it was a “kitty” even and it takes pride of place in our office.

After that, there were many more shows to place our brands, and we were interviewed by Green Film Making in Amsterdam and featured as a “who’s who”.  At the same time, the PGA Green Guide wrote about us as a featured vendor. We also attended the large Fancy Foods Show in NY- and saw some of our wonderful clients and hopefully met some brands that will become new clients. Check out some pictures here:

The Golden Dumpster Awards and

The NYC Fancy Foods Show

At the same time, Beth was invited to speak at a Sustainable Marketing Conference in Antwerp Belgium in October- “More With Less”:

(Click on picture link to find out more)  :

mind door minder logo

Lisa will be coming along also to attend and photograph the event- we’re going to add a “speaking” page to our website- after all the positive feedback from The Better Living Show, Green Spaces NY, Film Biz Eco-Expo, IdeaMensch #48 last year and The Darrow School and soon Meer Door Minder this year- Beth is excited about speaking our mission all over the world!

Following the conference, we’ll be off to Amsterdam to meet with the Green Film Making people who are based there. Before that is Expo East, and loads and loads of productions to place in. We are and are going to be, busy Green Product Placement People!