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End of Year Blog Post- 2020- What a Year, Right!?

December 17, 2020/0 Comments/in Uncategorized /by Beth

The sun sets on 2020

I made the headline to this year’s end of year entry the same as what I wrote in the personal Holiday cards I sent out this year. Following “2020-What a year, right?!”, I wrote “Let’s hope 2021 is better…”.

What can be said about a year which brought the world a deadly pandemic, the likes of which have not been seen for 100 years? On top of that, we also had a long overdue reckoning with racial injustice, following the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor at the hands of the police force meant to protect them. And then you had 2020’s prolific hurricane season, which broke all previous records for named storms, so much so, the forecasters had to dip into the Greek alphabet to name them all. We had west coast wildfires which made San Francisco look like Blade Runner and made the sun look weird all the way on the east coast. On top of all of that, you have a US Government who did not do enough to ensure the safety, economic stability, and well-being of its citizens during this deadly pandemic. On the day I wrote the draft of this entry, the US has suffered just under 300,000 deaths and just under 16 million cases of COVID 19 since the start of the outbreak.

The economic fallout of the pandemic has been significant, and the production business and small green businesses have not escaped unscathed. Back in March, as states began reporting community transmission of the virus, Broadway went dark for one of the few times in history. At the same time, restaurants and bars closed, events, conventions, conferences, film festivals, all cancelled. On Friday, March 13, most productions, tv and film, shooting in North America and Europe, shut down. Vanity Fair ran a compelling account of what it was like to be on some of these productions as they shut down. I (Beth) was actually working on a pilot myself (as a set dresser). The day before, when I heard that Broadway went dark, I texted an old High School friend of mine who is in IATSE Local 1 and works on Broadway to say “Sorry to hear the news”. The very next day, I got word that our production was shutting down as well.

If you remember at the start of the pandemic, we didn’t know as much as we know now about transmission, how long the lockdowns would last, and when or if scientists would be able to come up with a viable treatment or vaccine.

Where 2020 would lead us was uncertain.

My world, as I know it, came to a complete standstill. Immediately, what would have been the start of GPP’s and productions’ “busy season”, ground to a complete halt.

Now, I have not been one to share personal events on my business pages, but this being the kind of year that it has been, I’m going to share a couple. My elderly mother had a severe stroke at the start of lockdown, and is still in residential care, as she has vascular dementia, and will not get any better. She is bedbound with severe aphasia. Imagine all of this happening during the early days of lockdown- when we were still wiping down all groceries and packages because we didn’t know what we know now about fomite spread of the virus.

Fairly early on, all of the productions, unions and guilds began meeting regularly, virtually, amongst themselves and with infectious disease specialists to come up with some safety return to work protocols. My entrepreneur brain began starting to think about what new opportunities I would have for work, once production resumed. I knew that it wouldn’t be as busy as a normal production season if the pandemic was still going on, even with the new safety protocols. Some shows were already getting cancelled. Meanwhile, people were watching content while they were locked down. So. Much. Content.

One of the spring binge watches was “Sweet Magnolias” on Netflix. I was so happy to see our client Gunas’ bags take the spotlight!

Gunas’ red Cottontail on Sweet Magnolias

Gunas’ Miley bag on Sweet Magnolias

I enrolled in a Contact Tracer course through the Bloomberg School of Public Health and took every short online production Covid safety course I could find. I met virtually regularly with other industry colleagues to discuss resources and what we thought the future of our industry would look like. I sent email updates out to clients to keep them abreast of what I knew- and didn’t know. I even launched this website CoronaSafeSets.com with the thought that I might build that into yet another side business (more on this later).

I connected with Filmmakers for Future, which is an international, grassroots effort among production personnel to make our industry more sustainable, based in Germany. The name is modeled after #FridaysForFuture, the movement started by Greta Thunberg.

I also connected with Green The Bid which aims to push for more sustainable commercial production here in North America, modeled in a similar way to the UK’s Ad Green APA.

Beth trained as a Climate Reality Leader in July

In July, I trained virtually with Al Gore to become a Climate Reality Leader. At the end of the week-long training, my friend and GPP Advisor Tim Guinee, a Climate Reality Leader for a few years now, was presented with an Award by Mr. Gore for his tireless efforts on behalf of the climate. I’m very proud of Tim! In early 2020, just before the year changed reality as we know it, Tim launched his non-profit, Climate Actors.

Beth’s Climate Reality Leader Pin

Then, the very next week, the second personal event happened that made this year one of the worst years ever, for me, personally. My brother- 3-1/2 years older than me, passed away from congestive heart failure. The circumstances surrounding his demise contributed to the emotions related to his loss, and because of the pandemic, his memorial consisted of 8 immediate family members socially distant in my backyard and about 40 other family members and friends attending via Zoom.

If you imagine what that phrase “and to add insult to injury…” means- well, it’s been this year. One thing after another. Things started looking up slightly toward the end of the summer, as far as productions resuming, once the industry unions and guilds published a white paper, studios set up their own safety protocols and productions started to gradually resume. The first two productions I was contacted about were both very female centric, for Netflix and HBO.

Production work slowly picked up steam early autumn, and in October, I placed our brands in as many shows as any past (normal) busy October! I also went and wrapped that pilot, which sadly was cancelled altogether because of the pandemic. But I also met a public health background Covid officer who would have been a great partner for the CoronaSafe Sets business, should there be no indication of the situation ending anytime soon. By this time, after dealing with my deceased brother, I had no desire to deal with any of the healthcare related parts of this business, but that’s what this possible new partner would be for. However, with the announcement of several viable vaccines at the end of November, this would be a business with a short lifeline. After the busy October, I decided to put a pin in CoronaSafe Sets and concentrate on injecting (pardon the term 😉 ) GPP with some new energy and new enthusiasm. I signed 3 new clients, Gibson Guitars, PRS, Guitars, and Doizpe Handbags. Good Clean Love and Repurpose Compostables signed back up with us after a few and a couple year breaks, respectively.

Although some clients said they needed to put a pin in all or most marketing in the immediate, it was encouraging to actually have some clients renew through all of this, and to sign some new clients as well.

This autumn, I also had my first “act of leadership” as a Climate Reality Leader, result in a 1/3 page commentary in the newspaper. My piece was about how Climate should be high on any presidential agenda.

In November, Joe Biden won the US Presidential election and has promised to put the US back into the Paris Agreement on Day 1. His Vice President, Kamala Harris, a very competent woman of color (of Indian-American and Jamaican-American background), is also the first GenXer in the White House. I can’t help but relate to her just a little bit. She’s only a year older than me, we were in college/university at the same time, and she still wears Chuck Taylor Converse sneakers- which well… is something I still do, too.

John Kerry at #EarthtoParis during COP21 in 2015

The Biden-Harris transition team has even created a brand-new cabinet position for Climate- Climate Envoy- and has named John Kerry to this position. My friend and former business partner Lisa and I were in Paris 5 years ago during COP 21, and saw Kerry speak at the #EarthtoParis event. He had just come from the north side of the city, Le Bourget, where the official negotiations were taking place. We saw that the threat from Climate Change was something that Kerry took very seriously, and also that he was committed that the US should be a world leader in transitioning to a more sustainable world. I look forward to the United States joining the rest of the world again in prioritizing this most important of issues- one that will determine what the future here on earth will be like.

So, while looking back at this “train wreck/dumpster fire” of a year, we all have to realize that just making through it, intact, is a commendable feat in itself. This year was the year I had originally planned on beginning to orchestrate some growth for my company, in the end, to have actually made it through the year, still have clients, and still be placing them onscreen ie. to still be a working, operating business, is something many others do not have the privilege to be able to do.

As I write this draft, the first people in the US have begun receiving the first one of the Covid vaccines to become available. Experts are saying that life could return to almost normal by around late summer or autumn of 2021. (It will take many months to be able to manufacture and distribute these vaccines to the general population).

There is an inevitable regime change on the horizon for the US, in January. The new leadership respects science, understands Climate Change and has a desire to see the rampant spread of Coronavirus reigned in and people vaccinated here in the US.

Here’s hoping for a brighter, greener future in 2021 and beyond

So, while we’re not “out of the woods” yet, I can’t help but feel a bit more that there’s more of a light at the end of the tunnel now. And although this holiday season will look so very different from any that came before, there is still reason to be thankful for the things we do have in life, and to maintain a hope in our future.

Season’s Greetings

Check out GPP’s Seasonal Holiday E-Card by clicking HERE.

Here’s wishing you and yours a safe, healthy and joyous Holiday Season.

May 2021 be way, way better than 2020!

Cheers,

Beth

Beth Bell

Founder, Green Product Placement

End of Year Blog Post- 2019- Looking Back and Looking Ahead

December 18, 2019/0 Comments/in Uncategorized /by Beth

It’s December, which means it’s time for me, Beth, to look back on the past year and write up our end of year blog post. This year has been a very bittersweet year. Much like current events- there is hope and there are losses- for the world, the environment and business.

I’ll start by mentioning that my friend and business partner, Lisa, will be leaving GPP at the end of January 2020.

She has gradually been reducing her work and duties with GPP this year, and I have been transitioning to sole leader of the company, which I founded in 2011, and we officially launched in 2012.

Lisa is moving on to pursue other interests and we remain the best of friends- sisters almost- and that will never change.

When I was inspired back in 2011, by an online conversation with Morgan Spurlock, to start my company, Lisa was one of the initial people I reached out to partner with me to create and grow Green Product Placement. When she said yes, I knew that I had found an industry powerhouse to be by my side.

Her steadfast contribution to the company has been invaluable to not only its longevity, but its standing in the industry today.

I will miss Lisa as a go-to person and trusted, supportive colleague within the company, as I already have, at certain events the latter part of this year, as she has begun her withdrawal.

There are no hard feelings and she is still keenly interested in seeing GPP succeed and continue its mission.

And although her time with Green Product Placement is drawing to a close, she is still very much a cheerleader for the environment, responsible and sustainable advertising and consumption and seeing the Film and TV production business become a model for transitioning the business to a sustainable future.

We’ve done a lot of good together, these last 7 years, and her presence at GPP will be missed.

Beth and Lisa goofing around in 2011

Beth and Lisa at the Petit Palais in Paris 2015

Beth and Lisa at Expo West 2019

This year was also the year that we officially launched our Advisory Board. We also updated our website, to a more modern, user friendly design. The advisory board launch created a lot of buzz, including features in The Hollywood Reporter, Forbes, a live Interview on Cheddar, Clean Technica and others. Check out our PRESS PAGE for links to all of the great press we’ve gotten this year and since we launched.

Beth on Cheddar during Climate Week Sept 2019

Beth was in front of the camera for a change!

A whole article about GPP in the Hollywood Reporter!

Beth in THR

Production placement has been steady throughout the year, placing in around 55+ productions. We added new clients Quorn, Social Sparkling Wine, Elmhurst, Slrrrp and Van Leeuwen Ice Cream, among others. Our brands continued to capture onscreen exposure in shows like SMILF, Orange is the New Black, Easy, and Big Little Lies.

Full Circle Home’s water bottle on Big Little Lies

Wedderspoon lozenges on Orange is the New Black

We attended Natural Products Expo West and Summer Fancy Foods together, and I (Beth) attended Expo East, Reducetarian, and was a panel member and presenter at Sustainatopia

Lisa and Beth enroute to Fancy Foods

Beth at the Reducetarian Summit

I was accepted into the Female Founder Collective and was featured in Champagne Hippies.

For all the triumphs, however, the current environment, for well, the environment- and small sustainably focused brands is having a tough time these days. With the leading political party here in States being one that denies climate change and values profit over planet, people are struggling. Tariffs have taken a toll. Although employment numbers are up, this is only because people are juggling two or more jobs because wages have stagnated.

I was disappointed to find out at Expo East a few months ago, that venerable natural brand, Kiss My Face had gone out of business. They were one of the first natural brands that I had placed in a show, in a manner of speaking. Way back in 1998, when I was assistant set decorator on “Runaway Bride”, my boss, the set decorator, requested we place some natural brands. We had to dress the “Curl Up and Dye” salon, and she hated the smell of conventional products. So we reached out directly and placed Kiss My Face, and Aveda, along with some conventional brands. There weren’t as many natural brands to choose from back then.

We’re both pleased and proud that we’ve been able to get great natural beauty brands like 100% Pure, Blum, Suki, Wedderspoon and so many others, on to sets and into those Hair and Makeup trailers.

Beth and Lisa paid a visit to 100% Pure Headquarters back in March

Beth with the CEO of Wedderspoon

As I write this, Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old Swedish Climate Activist has been named “Person of the Year” by Time Magazine. Her amazing story of protesting, alone, in front of Swedish Parliament, just a year and a half ago, to mobilizing the world’s youth (and adults, too), to demand action on climate has been truly remarkable. She’s spoken at Davos and COP 25, met and been admired by the Pope, world leaders, Jane Goodall, Leonardo DiCarprio and so many others.

But we need people like Greta because Climate Change is accelerating at an unprecedented pace, and not enough is being done by government, businesses or consumers. The bushfires in Sydney , the Amazon rainforest (aka “the lungs of the world”) and California this year killed people and wildlife and destroyed homes and habitat. The Amazon and Australia fires, especially, released record amounts of C02 into the atmosphere. The smoke became such a danger in Sydney that schools and business had to close.

In September, just ahead of the UN Climate Summit, leading scientists warned climate change was hitting harder and sooner than what was expected. In just the 7 years that we’ve been in business, climate change and mass extinction have become foremost on the minds of many.

But it’s still not enough. As the largest existential crisis facing humankind and the planet today, action on climate, transitioning energy sources to more sustainable ones, curbing consumption and transitioning our consumption to greener choices must become everyday behavior for everyone.

Imagine a future where humans live in harmony with nature. Where transportation options are run on renewable energy and public transportation options are many.

This GREAT VIDEO, narrated by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, imagines a Greener future made possible by the proposed Green New Deal.

As I look ahead to the year 2020, I remain hopeful that small actions will multiply and change the culture and that common sense and empathy will win out over doubt and hopelessness. The 2020 US elections have more at stake than almost any other election in US history. With the current president vowing to withdraw from The Paris Agreement, many other political leaders- senators, congresspeople, governors, mayors and business leaders are determined to hold government and industry to standards in keeping with the agreement’s goals, which many feel aren’t even ambitious enough, to mitigate serious climate catastrophe.

As I write this, an impeachment trial for this climate and science denying president is imminent, and the Democratic field of presidential nominees running against him is still quite large.

There is no telling what the next 12 months will bring, but here at Green Product Placement, I- and currently still “we” will continue to strive for our own little victories for sustainable behavior and green and better brands- by getting them onscreen. This is by normalizing plant based and organic food and health and beauty products, sustainably distilled liquor brands, eco-fashion, re-useable water bottles instead of bottled water, and causes like Human Rights, sustainable forestry, and conservation.

All you can do is what you can do….and as Greta illustrates, even the smallest gesture can ripple and grow around the world. For 2020, we’re going to imagine the state of the world getting better. We’re going to imagine common sense, scientific consensus, compassion and ingenuity being the driving forces to a better future.

And with that, we’re wishing you- our friends, colleagues, studio contacts, clients, and industry contacts our best wishes to for a happy, healthy holiday season and prosperous and sustainable new year!

Check out our HOLIDAY E- CARD HERE.

All my best,

Beth

2013 End of Year Post- Looking Back and Moving Forward

December 21, 2013/in Green Product Placement blog /by Beth

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

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 34^th 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

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

GPP in NYC

October 29, 2011/0 Comments/in Green Product Placement blog /by Beth

Beth and Lisa of Green Product Placement made our first steps toward setting up shop in New York City this past week.

We met with various production contacts, one of whom was the inspiration for starting GPP. (hint: read Beth’s bio in the “About Us” section of this website). We checked out Green Spaces, a wonderful co working space in Manhattan that acts as an incubator for entrepreneurial green companies. We even connected with a new client and a new potential client who operate out of the space!

We attended a lovely cocktail party there, where we ran into our new friend Alix, from Green America’s Green Festivals. Marissa, one of the visionary eco-preneurs who started Green Spaces was lovely, friendly and warm and we can’t wait to get to know her better!

We met with current and future clients and perused “made locally, buy local” shop by brooklyn. Brooklyn is a major hub in the “made locally, buy local” movement and we salute owner Maia’s efforts to showcase some of these fine local brands. We also paid a visit to the Film Biz Prop Shop run by the innovative and pioneering not-for-profit Film Biz Recycling.org, which recycles “waste” from film, tv and print shoots- typically items that aren’t “waste” after all, but would have been headed for a dumpster and landfill anyway. This way, these building materials and flats and furniture and props and set dressing can be reused on multiple shoots, saving money, time, resources and the environment. Green Product Placement tips our hats to the wonderful people at Film Biz!

It was an action packed few days…. and we did all this whilst orchestrating some pilot placements in a major network television program that will be debuting soon! (stay tuned- more on this later….)

Green Product Placement is off and running- please check back on our blog and Facebook page to keep track on our progress!