Hollywood is far from being green but with a little creativity, some of us can really benefit from this awesome Junk capital.
Here it is again... The great salvaging frenzy, that comes at the end of every movie and TV show. So, I work in Hollywood (in New York City)... nothing fancy really, there isn't much glamor down at the worker bee level but it is free lance work and I can pretty much pick when I want to work! I am a rigging grip, we are pretty much the handy men, problem solver and crane operators on a film set. Driving the different crazy machines may be one of the funnest part of the job, along with having access to places that wouldn't normally be on my radar. From abandoned train yards in the depths of the Bronx to 90 million dollar penthouses above wall street sets get built and dressed.
And than you have the stages, in the very beginning they are really just empty warehouses. Over a pretty short period of time these stages get completely transformed into hospitals, police stations, basements, offices, apartments, rocket ships or whatever you can dream of...
Anything and everything has been built on these stages. We built a crashed UFO for Men in Black 2, that was a fun job!
The thing is, it all comes to an end and when the price of space in New York City is over-inflated and other factors (such as stupid union job safety bullshit) all that material, all those windows and doors, appliances, desks, beds, wardrobe, all the props, the rugs and nick-knacks... All of is built with different sorts of dimensional lumber. Basically almost everything you need to build a home with becomes available at a fraction of the price! If the company has time, they will try to make a little something by holding a quick sale for the crew, but sometimes there is no time and we just fill dump truck after dump truck full for weeks!
There we are already eying things up to take home as it makes it way into the dumpsters....! It's kind of nerve racking because there are different departments taking care of their own different materials they used over the years. That means no one really knows the when, what or if things go to trash! You just have to keep an look out.
There's real gold in all of this junk!
How about extending the growing season? There's quite a few windows... The aluminum frames alone would be worth bringing to the scrap yard, but I would prefer the glass and all to build a greenhouse.
I am aiming for what these cables are laying on. We made runs and runs of the cat walks, made for running an electrical grid for the sets and for ease of rigging whatever is needed above the main sets. These cat walks are made up of 16 foot lengths 2 by 12, 2 by 6 and 2 by 4.... there are probably close to 200 pieces laying up there between 3 stages that this TV show has had for the last 7 years! Now I have to play my cards right, find a space to store it all, out of the way until the end when I can rent a truck.
Timing is everything, especially when other departments throw things out that I could use on the homestead build. At the same time, I really don't want to collect too much junk or things I will not use.
When the opportunity arises (usually after the big shots have taken ownership of expensive appliances written into the plot with this end game in mind) I can try to salvage all I need for the homestead!!!!
Spread your wings and fly to where your heart takes you.
