FILM BIZ RECYCLING

FBR Buzz

Mon, 27 Aug 2012 16:03:03 -0400

A wonderfully written article that covers our mission, ethos and drive extremely well…thanks Film Journal International!

FBR Calendar: Margaret & Juliana

Wed, 15 Aug 2012 17:53:00 -0400

This past Friday, Margaret starred as FBR’s “50’s homemaker” in our third photoshoot for the FBR Calendar. It was the perfect opportunity to showcase some of our incredible vintage kitchen appliances and wide selection of fake food. The staff even used up some old wallpaper to complete the look. You’d never know from the photos that the set was assembled in the Re-Gallery!

Margaret gets the full treatment from Aimee, Operations Coordinator.

The Re-Gallery is remodeled into a vintage kitchen for the afternoon.

Smoke break after the fact, lovely as ever.

For Juliana’s “spelling bee” shoot, the staff put together an amazing schoolroom set - in our kitchen! Using materials sourced entirely from the FBR prop shop (including her costume!), we were able to recreate a school scene complete with class room maps, student desks and even a -fake- apple for the teacher. We’re halfway done! Only 6 more months to shoot!

The kitchen transforms!

FBR’s spelling bee.

Miss September’s got a bee in her bonnet!

FBR in Lucky Magazine

Fri, 10 Aug 2012 15:59:41 -0400

Check out this month’s issue of Lucky Magazine, because FBR’s got a featured spot!

Super Model Coco Roche mentions FBR in Lucky Magazine as a favorite place!

Take a tip from the stars… come and visit!

FBR Calendar: Kelley & Nicolette

Thu, 09 Aug 2012 17:57:39 -0400

Another great photoshoot for the FBR calendar!

Kelley spent her afternoon lounging in a tub out back. Her bathing beauty shot is sure to inspire!

Nicolette posed as a saucy librarian for the month of June. Thanks to Guvnor’s Vintage Thrift on 5th Ave for the incredible 40’s ensemble!

Check back for behind-the-scenes footage of our next shoot!

Lights! Camera! Auction! - Jessi Arrington

Thu, 09 Aug 2012 16:59:56 -0400

At FBR, we’re gearing up for our 2012 “Lights! Camera! Auction!” Benefit in November. As a special treat, we’ve invited local celebrities to guest curate collections that reflect their personal tastes and unique vision.

Jessi Arrington - graphic designer extraordinaire, tastemaker, color-lover and all around great gal - stopped by FBR to curate her collection last week. Jessi took to the clouds on our larger-than-life Pegasus, sporting a red glitter helmet.

Watch the video blow to see Jessi’s other curatorial selects:

Did you know...

Thu, 09 Aug 2012 15:01:00 -0400

Did you know…: a monthly post featuring the uncommon, unnoticed or altogether unusual talents and oddities of the FBR staff.

Did you know that FBR’s Development Coordinator Nicolette Stosur-Bassett was once the Walgreens diaper baby?! One year old Nicolette (then Lauren Nicole) was selected from babies across the U.S. to portray “Samantha” the female diaper baby. Her family didn’t know she’d gotten the spot until relatives started seeing a familiar face in the infant care aisle.

…Now you know!

FBR talks trash with Juliana O'Byrne

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 17:42:32 -0400

At FBR, we never throw away useable furniture pieces, but this dowdy wooden cabinet was on its way out the door. Â Until! Â Juliana transformed this trash-to-be into an adorable, enviable accent table. Â You too can turn curbside trash into a piece that you’ll treasure, just follow these simple steps:

Step 1: Taking stock. Â The cabinet was looking a little rough: it was smelly, the hinges were loose and in general it was just falling apart. Â ”Old and nasty” said Juliana.

Step 2: The base. Â Juliana removed the wooden base of the cabinet. Â It was too heavy and falling to pieces. Â She scrounged up some old table legs that were lying around the FBR shop and cut them to size. Â The brass hardware on the bottom of the legs was tarnished & needed a little polishing up. Â Juliana worked her magic with a simple home-ec. tip: toothpaste! Â First, clean the tarnished brass. Â Next, scrub it down with a glob of toothpaste & some steel wool.

Huge improvement! Â Notice the difference?

Step 3: Get ‘er ready! Â Juliana sanded the entire piece down and then prepped it with a coat of primer. Â She reinforced hinges and replaced old hardware where necessary. Â Some regular old interior house paint, in a lovely salmon color, provides the accent on this accent piece. Â Remember: 2 coats will make sure it’s even and smooth.

Step 4: Shell-ac! Â Juliana selected some cute seashell wallpaper and covered the interiors of the cabinet, including this unique pull-out tray. Â The entire piece was then finished with 2 coats of spray gloss.

Ta-Da! Â It looks great - totally transformed!

Upcycled Antiques

Wed, 01 Aug 2012 15:38:18 -0400

What can you do with an defunct traveling trunk? Â Upcycle it into a side table of course!

Searching around the prop shop, Michelle (FBR’s DIY/upcycle intern) found the top of an old traveling trunk that was missing its bottom. Â She had the great idea to turn it into a living room side table.

Michelle turned the trunk upside-down and created an flat table surface. Â She fastened some legs and collaged the table top with images of the Caribbean Sea. Â You can see more images of Michelle’s work here or stop by FBR’s RE-Gallery and pick up this piece for yourself!

CAMBA: Donation Story

Wed, 01 Aug 2012 14:48:24 -0400

CAMBA,Â one of FBR’s ongoing partner charities, lucked out this week when we received a huge donation of yard and garden supplies. Â Earlier in the month, we delivered a huge donation of mulch for CAMBA’s organic garden in GM’s Cadillac Escalade. Â To complete the gardening experience, CAMBA received a donation which included a brand new self-propelled lawn mower (ticket price erngkjren!), 2 brand new wheelbarrows, a garden shed, gardening supplies and tools, 3 brooms, towels for clients and some hula hoops!

Another 2 wheelbarrows were donated to Grounded Knowledge, an organization that seeks to create systemic change in how we define, develop and implement educational systems.

A big thank you to our donors who make this materials redistribution possible!

A whole lotta wheel barrows!

Â Faye Merolla, Project Manager for CAMBA’s Park Slope location, was happy to walk away with this brand new lawn mower.

Check out that price tag!

A handy utility shed to store all of CAMBA’s new garden supplies.

"My suitcase and guitar in hand"

Wed, 01 Aug 2012 12:24:05 -0400

Michelle Rickert, FBR’s current DIY/upcycle intern, has been creating incredible pieces from odds and ends found around the prop shop. Â You can see Michelle’s photography work and prop fabrication here. Â Check out this suitcase she fashioned from an old cello:

Michelle aged the face of the cello by sanding it down in certain areas. Â Then, she added a hooking closure and suitcase handle.

The inside of the suitcase is lined with midnight blue velvet and decoupaged with old sheet music.

Secret Garden

Wed, 01 Aug 2012 12:04:54 -0400

FBR has a secret garden and it’s brimming with all kinds of beautiful plants! In an area that was once used to store coal, we’ve filled our planters with vegetable seeds, flowers and plants donated from productions. It’s really lovely to see the greenery enjoy the little bit of sun that trickles down into our basement space. Check out the progress of our garden:

Some fresh basil from our garden! Mmmm, lunch!

These cucumbers are really taking off!

Even though our plants only get a few hours of sunlight every day,

they’ve responded really well to all this wet weather we’ve been having.

In typical FBR style, we’re growing flowers out of some donated toilets. Creative reuse!

Donation Appreciation!

Tue, 31 Jul 2012 15:47:27 -0400

This week, we received some incredible donations from Piper Theatre Productions, a Park Slope-based theatre company! Â This life-size Pegasus (unbelievable!), several giant surf boards and Â real-deal lifeguard chair were all used in a recent production of Xanadu. Â The best part? Â The kids themselves walked the donation over from the Old Stone House. Â Thanks guys!

Upcycled Crewelwork Lampshade!

Thu, 26 Jul 2012 15:35:33 -0400

As part of an ongoing DIY project, FBR staff member Juliana O’Byrne is livening up an old, dowdy lampshade with some simple crewelwork.

Beautiful!

[caption id=”attachment_843518” align=”aligncenter” width=”512”] An ordinary lampshade completely transformed with reuse materials.[/caption]

FBR Calendar: Liz & Eva

Tue, 24 Jul 2012 16:13:24 -0400

The ladies of Film Biz Recycling gear up for the much-anticipated FBR calendar, due to be released November 2012. Â Each employee will get her (and his!) own month to feature FBR’s diverse prop selection. Â Here’s a sneak peek at what we’ve got in store:

[caption id=”attachment_843518” align=”aligncenter” width=”240”] Eva, all dolled up for her Gidget-inspired calendar shoot![/caption]

[caption id=”attachment_843518” align=”aligncenter” width=”239”] The prop banana gets some screen time… Lookin’ good![/caption]

[caption id=”attachment_843518” align=”aligncenter” width=”240”] Sparks fly as Liz gets prepped for her electrocution scene.[/caption]

GM and Film Biz Recycling deliver!

Tue, 24 Jul 2012 15:28:06 -0400

What happens when two nonprofit executives deliver donations in a GM Hybrid luxury vehicle in the scorching summer heat? Good things and great discoveries!

Have a seat...

Tue, 24 Jul 2012 13:47:00 -0400

Joel Frank, Director of Operations at Materials for the Arts in LIC, has taken MFTA’s reuse mission to heart. Joel creates handcrafted, one-of-a-kind specialty art chairs from reclaimed materials. His work is so unexpected, so innovative and full of imagination that we thought he deserved a feature on the FBR blog. Check out some of his incredible, upcycled pieces below!

You can view other pieces by Joel Frank here or contact him about custom work at j.frank@gmx.us.

It’s alliiive! Once upon a time this was an old, metal teacher’s chair that Joel rescued from the dump. How did it transform? Joel selected river rocks which secured the base of the chair, then he filled the gaps with live Reindeer Moss. The chair grows, oddly enough, but does not need watering. Talk about going green!

Found object extraordinaire. Throughout his travels over the years, Joel accumulated a treasured collection of knick-knacks - a Maori bone carving from New Zealand, a piece of the Berlin wall, an antique door key from Philadelphia. When he found this chair on the street, it looked like it had been traveling too and Joel added it to his collection. All of his mementos, pieces of places he’d been, just seemed to fit in all the right places. The end result? A world-traveler, a real piece of art.

Ivy throne. This was the first chair that Joel made, salvaged from the streets of Philadelphia. What an incredible, wonderful, whimsical addition to any nursery, music video, secret garden… the possibilities of reuse are endless!

SHARP goes shopping

Tue, 10 Jul 2012 17:51:12 -0400

Resident artists from Snug Harbor’s SHARP (Snug Harbor Artist Residency Program) went shopping for supplies at Film Biz Recycling yesterday. Looking fierce!

We’re glad they were able to reuse our materials and upcycle them into incredible new works of art!

Did you know...

Tue, 03 Jul 2012 13:58:03 -0400

Did you know…: a monthly post featuring the uncommon, unnoticed or altogether unusual talents and oddities of the FBR staff.

Did you know that FBR Operations Coordinator Aimee Cedro was once Captain of Weapons for her high school Rifle team/Color Guard squad?! Aimee’s skills were exposed last Friday and her fellow co-workers were quick to demand a exhibition of her talents. Aimee grabbed a prop rifle and the gang headed out to the FBR loading dock for a demonstration:

Caught on video! FBR staff members were shocked and awed by Aimee’s superior twirling skills!

…Now you know!

Brooklyn Short Film Concert

Fri, 29 Jun 2012 17:53:00 -0400

AsburyShorts, New York City’s longest running short film exhibition, will present their acclaimed program of award-winning international films known as The Short Film Concert on Tuesday, July 10^th outdoors in Washington Park at The Old Stone House historic site located on 3rd Street between 4^th & 5^th Avenues in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Live music will kick off the eveningâs festivities at 8:15pm and the films will begin at approx. 8:45pm. There is a $5 suggested donation. Bring a beach chair or blanket for seating on the field and enjoy concessions sponsored by our local tavern, The Gate.

Asbury Shorts NY routinely screens classic short films from the past combined with new international festival winners, providing a unique opportunity for the public to see world-class shorts in a theatrical or public setting rather than on a computer or iPod. Highlights of the July 10^th presentation include:

The Lost Thing, 2011 Oscar Winner for Best Animated Short Film from Australian directors Andrew Ruhemann and Shaun Tan. A boy discovers a strange creature on a beach and decides to find a home for it in a world where everyone believes there are far more important things to pay attention to.

Bye Bye Now, The highly regarded and surprisingly amusing documentary from Ireland that has charmed audiences around the world. Filmmakers Aideen O’Sullivan and Ross Whitaker share a poignant look at the gradual disappearance of beloved village phone booths across Ireland due to the rise of modern technology.

Friends & Strangers, directed by Ed Caban. This film was produced through Bob Giraldis Live Action Short Film graduate thesis program at the School of Visual Arts in NYC in 2011. A young woman, possibly a prostitute, charms a lonely, older man and he has to deal with his estranged family’s feelings on the matter.

In all, there will be 10 eclectic, award winning short films in the program at Washington Park on July 10^th.

Asbury Shorts NY has presented the shorts concerts at The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Royal Festival Hall in London, The Lake Shore Theater in Chicago, The Director’s Guild of America Theater in Manhattan, Visions Cinema in Washington, D.C., SUMMER STAGE in Central Park and The Leminske Theater in Berlin, to name just a few of the prestigious venues where the worldâs best shorts have entertained audiences. Past guest hosts of ASNY have included actors Edie Falco, Harvey Keitel, John Turturro, Olympia Dukakis, and Adrian Grenier as well as directors John Avildsen, Bob Balaban, Bob Giraldi, Frank Oz and Tom Schiller. Academy Award nominated director Jason Reitman (JUNO, Up in the Air, Thank You for Smoking, Young Adult) and former ASNY show host has called Asbury Shorts “the best short film show I’ve ever seen!”.

The Old Stone House is a modern reconstruction of the Vechte-Cortelyou House, a 1699 Dutch stone farmhouse that was the site of the largest battle of the Revolutionary War’s the Battle of Brooklyn on August 27, 1776, and in the late 1800âs the home field for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Located in Washington Park in Park Slope, Brooklyn, the Old Stone House is an active cultural site and presenting organization dedicated to creating a strong sense of community through history, environmental education and the arts.

For all show and location information: 718-510-6929 or email: dougleclaire54@yahoo.com

Happy (ALMOST) 4th of July!

Fri, 29 Jun 2012 17:22:19 -0400

Let’s celebrate with 50% off props, set dressing & furniture!

Saturday & Sunday | June 30th & July 1st, 2012

Stock up on party supplies, flags and decorations for all your red, white & blue festivities!

*Excludes consignment items in the RE-Gallery

As a special treat, General Motors is partnering with Film Biz Recycling to provide FREE, eco-friendly delivery to your doorstep!

Pile up your purchases between 12-4PM this Saturday (6.30) and take a spin with one of GM’s trusted drivers -OR- Test drive the Chevy Volt or Yukon Denali Hybrid yourself!

* Free delivery service subject to availability
* Limited delivery range, call for details 347.384.2336

What’s green about the Volt? The Volt is an electric vehicle with extended-range capability, designed to drive 35 miles on electricity without using gasoline or producing tailpipe emissions. When the Volt’s lithium-ion battery is depleted of energy, a gas-powered engine-generator seamlessly operates to extend the total driving range to about 375 miles before refueling or stopping to recharge the battery.

Volt owners typically drive about 900 miles before re-filling the gas tank
Volt customers love their car…93% of customers would definitely buy the car again—the highest enthusiasm ever recorded by Consumer Reports
The Volt has won the top awards in the industry: Motor Trend Car of the Year, North American Car of the Year; and Automobile Magazine’s 2011 Automobile of the Year

More about GM’s Green initiatives: Ecologic, Carbon Stories