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End of Year Wrap Up- 2021

December 21, 2021/0 Comments/in Green Product Placement blog /by Beth

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

Beth Bell

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

End of Year Blog Post- 2015 GPP Wrap Up

December 22, 2015/in Green Product Placement blog /by Beth

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 12^th.

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.

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.

All our best,

Beth and Lisa

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

December 20, 2014/in Green Product Placement blog /by Beth

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 1^st and 2^nd 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.

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. )

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.

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

Beth and Lisa are cheering you on for the holidays!

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

2013 Summer Into Autumn Report- Green Product Placement

November 4, 2013/in Green Product Placement blog /by Beth

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

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.

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.

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 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 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

End of the Year Post- GPP’s 2012

December 21, 2012/in Green Product Placement blog /by Beth

As the year draws to a close, we see that either the Mayans were wrong, or somehow the modern interpretation was a bit off, but since you’re reading this, we’re going to assume that we’re all still here.

Looking back on this year, 2012, Green Product Placement’s first full year of business, we’re pretty proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish. Before we start looking back to the beginning of the year to now, we’re going to bring you up to date on what we’ve been up to since we last posted in the GPP blog.

We did our drawing for the free tickets to the Film Biz Recycling “Lights, Camera, Auction” event. Congrats to the winner, Ben!

Just before the event, Hurricane Sandy blew onto the east coast, flooding coastal towns, lower Manhattan, parts of Brooklyn like Red Hook and the Far Rockaways, and left many without power, including Beth of GPP. Days before their annual fundraising event, our friends at Film Biz Recycling became first responders, redistributing needed supplies donated by citizens and productions. Beth and Lisa did their own collection of donated goods from various departments on Netflix’s “House of Cards” (season 1 was just wrapping at the time) and from Lisa’s neighborhood of Mayfield, in Baltimore.

We managed to cram 2 hampers full of supplies in Beth’s Prius and drove it all up to Brooklyn, for FBR to redistribute, where needed. Check out this video we made of our trip up “the turnpike”:

Then, the next evening it was off to the big party! Check out Lisa and Beth looking tres glamorous in these photos (courtesy FBR ) and video (courtesy FBR and Canal Creatures) :

After that, it was back to Baltimore, where we wrapped up work on Season 1 of Netflix’s “House of Cards” and started work (and placements!) on Season 2 of HBO’s “Veep”. We also got some additional placement opportunities for a specific episode of “Blue Bloods”, “Walk of Shame”, a new comedy feature for Lakeshore Entertainment, starring Elizabeth Banks, along with placements for a specific episode of the very popular tv show, “Parenthood”.

We also are happy to announce that in addition to our office in New York at Green Spaces, we also now have a local office to work from in Baltimore. We’re in the vibrant and hip neighborhood of Hampden, full of restaurants, shops and small businesses. In fact, we’ve been told that the small businesses are close to 80% women owned! Add GPP to that list. :-)

To kick off our new office, we held a holiday open house the day of the Mayor’s Christmas parade, which marches right down “The Avenue” (aka 36^th Street.) 36^th Street featured prominently in John Waters’ cult classic “Pecker”.

View pictures from our open house here: Open House Holiday Office-Warming Party

The best thing, well one of the best things from that day was seeing a dog, in a fez, riding a magic carpet go-cart. In our minds, there’s not much cooler than that!

So, then, one more trip up to NYC to visit a few more production offices- new ones to bring sample swag bags to, and ones we’ve working with already, to spread a bit of Holiday Cheer, and now we’re wrapping up all of the end of year things any company needs to do, including sending out our Holiday E-Card.

With that, we look back on all we’ve been able to accomplish this past year- from placing our brands in over 23 studio and independent films and network television programs, to meeting with and becoming connected with studio branded entertainment execs, to meeting so many new, cool, production people, getting some fabulous international press, speaking at FBR’s first annual production Eco-Expo, at Portland, Oregon’s Better Living Home Show, at Green Spaces, meeting uber cool green celebs Ed Begley, Jr. and Darryl Hannah, and bringing all of our wonderful brands into the Green Product Placement family.

We can’t wait for all of the placements to come in 2013, and to bring even more wonderful natural, green, sustainable, socially enterprising, and local entrepreneurial companies into our Green Product Placement family of brands and in front of the camera, building “good” brand awareness, where they belong!

Best wishes to all for a Happy, Joyous Holiday Season and for a Healthy, Prosperous New Year!

All our best,

Beth and Lisa
Green Product Placement

Green Product Placement Off and Running!

April 15, 2012/0 Comments/in Green Product Placement blog /by Beth

The past month and a half has been a whirlwind of activity for GPP.

First off, we headed off to Anaheim, California the beginning of March for Natural Products Expo West, where we saw some of our current lovely clients like

Wholesome Sweeteners:

Beth and Lisa of GPP with Sarah of Wholesome Sweeteners

Full Circle Home:

Beth and Lisa with Heather of Full Circle Home

and Pirate Brands:

Lisa and Beth with the Pirate of Pirate's Booty!

We met lots of great new people and great new brands and have since brought some wonderful new companies and products on board !

After that, if was off to Hollywood, where we met with studio execs, green set consultants, production designers, and even Green Celebrity Pioneer, Ed Begley, Jr.

Lisa and Beth with Eco-Celebrity Pioneer, Ed Begley, Jr.

While there we secured placements in HBO’s “Enlightened” and a pilot for CW that was shooting in Toronto (good thing we had wifi!)

Then, it was fly home for 5 days, and then turn around and cross the country once more, so that Beth could speak at the Better Living Home Show in Portland, Oregon.

Beth and Lisa in Portland for Beth's Presentation "Making Green Normal"

Beth spoke about why it’s important to use all the marketing tactics on your arsenal as a natural product company, to market your brand, and it is only through fully integrating green brands into mainstream media, that we will hope to break through the barrier with the majority consuming public, and make these types of products “normal”.

The talk was a great success, and following our talk, we got to meet briefly with Expo keynote speaker, uber green celeb, Daryl Hannah:

Beth and Lisa with Uber Green Celeb Daryl Hannah at the Portland Better Living Show

You can catch excerpts of Beth’s talk here: (note, it had an accompanying power point presentation, not visible in this video)

After that, it was back to Baltimore and some production work. At the same time, we’ve begun our soft launch which resulted in lots of wonderful press .

So, with all this, Green Product Placement is off to really promising start! Stay tuned for more news and events, and check out a few more pictures from our trips on our Facebook Page.

“Making Green Normal”: Natural Product Marketing in Mainstream Media- GPP Talk

January 31, 2012/0 Comments/in Green Product Placement events /by Beth

Big news!

Beth from GPP will be speaking at the Better Living Show in Portland, Oregon, on March 23rd. This is the largest Green Home Show in the Pacific Northwest. The PNW is the “greenest” part of the US, according to a number of independent marketing studies and eco-websites.

Check out information on this event, here: Beth of GPP to speak at the Better Living Show in Portland, OR

Beth’s talk will be the lead in to the keynote speaker, Green Eco-Celebrity, Darryl Hannah!

If you are based in Portland, we do hope you’ll attend.

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All our best,

Beth and Lisa

Beth and Lisa

Beth and Lisa

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