Film Biz Recycling

What Film Biz Recycling does

Film Biz Recycling is a 501(c)(3) environmental nonprofit organization founded in 2008 and headquartered at 10 Dooley Avenue in Savannah, Georgia, where it has operated since relocating from its prior location in 2017 under current Executive Director Samita Wolfe. The organization runs two integrated lines of business from a single facility: a prop rental house serving film, television, theater, and event productions, and the Savannah Tool Library, a subscription-based community tool-lending program launched in June 2025. Its core activity is the collection of reusable castoffs and materials from entertainment productions and community donors, followed by redistribution through rentals, the tool library, retail, and direct donations — with over 60% of salvaged items donated to local charities and over one million pounds of materials diverted from landfills since inception.

The underlying operating model is a physical-asset reuse flywheel rather than a technology platform. Productions book appointments via Calendly, visit the warehouse in person to browse inventory, submit selections through a Google Form, sign a rental agreement, and return for pickup. Tool Library members sign up through the MyTurn platform, pay a $5 monthly subscription, and borrow tools for 7-day periods. Donations are processed through Stripe checkout, and the website runs on Squarespace. There is no digital catalog, no proprietary software, and no AI/ML components; the technology stack is entirely off-the-shelf SaaS tooling layered over a manual, appointment-driven workflow.

Revenue is generated through three streams: prop rental fees on a quote-based per-item basis, Tool Library monthly memberships, and tax-deductible donations and grants enabled by the organization's 501(c)(3) status. The customer base is split between enterprise entertainment-industry clients (film, TV, theater, events) on the prop rental side and a long tail of Savannah community members, makers, and DIYers on the tool library side. As a privately funded nonprofit, Film Biz Recycling has no parent company, no disclosed funding rounds, and no institutional investors; it operates with 1–10 employees and a board of directors. The organization has received local business sponsorships (Savannah Film Office, Switchyards, Sunbelt, Savannah Rep) and was awarded the 2014 U.S. EPA Environmental Quality Award.

Name

Film Biz Recycling

Legal name

Film Biz Recycling, Inc.

Website

https://filmbizrecycling.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Film Biz Recycling is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit operating Savannah's only prop house and creative reuse center, renting donated film/TV/theater props to productions and lending tools to community members via a subscription library launched in 2025.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Prop House & Creative Reuse Services

akta.pro primary industry

Donation Pickup & Reuse Hauling (HSAKALAI)

Keywords

• Prop house rentals
• Creative reuse center
• Community tool library
• Film set props
• Nonprofit sustainability

Headquarters

HQ city

Savannah

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Prop Rentals: Film and theater productions rent props from the warehouse on a per-item basis. The rental process involves appointment booking, in-person selection, agreement signing, and pickup. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed on the website.
2. Tool Library Memberships: Community members pay monthly membership fees to access and borrow tools from the library. Tools can be borrowed for 7 days with the option to renew if not reserved. Late returns incur $1 per day per item.
3. Donations and Charitable Support: The nonprofit accepts donations of reusable materials from entertainment productions and community members. Donated items are tax-deductible. The organization also receives direct financial support through Stripe donation pages for both the prop house and tool library operations.
4. Tool and Prop Donations: Community members and productions donate tools and props, which are either made available for rental, retail, or given to local charities. Donations are tax-deductible as Film Biz Recycling is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Film Biz Recycling operates Savannah's only nonprofit prop house and creative reuse center, renting donated film, TV, and theater props and set pieces to entertainment productions by appointment. The organization also runs the Savannah Tool Library, a subscription-based community lending program offering tools for home improvement, creative projects, and gardening on 7-day loans. Over 60% of salvaged materials are donated to local charities, combining a circular-economy service for the entertainment industry with community access to tools and resources.

Product overview

Film Biz Recycling operates as a dual-purpose nonprofit organization combining a prop house with a community tool library. The core Prop Rentals service allows film, TV, and theater productions to rent props and set pieces sourced from industry donations. The Savannah Tool Library, launched in 2025, extends the reuse mission to the broader community by offering tool lending memberships. Both divisions operate from the same Savannah facility, with donated items flowing between prop rentals, the tool library, retail sales, and charitable donations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Prop Rentals Rental of donated film, TV, theater, and event props (furniture, set pieces, lighting, wardrobe, smalls, vintage items) to entertainment productions and event organizers from the Savannah warehouse. Customers book an appointment via Calendly, browse items in person, submit selects through a rental request form, sign a rental agreement and damage waiver, and arrange a pickup appointment. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed.
• Savannah Tool Library

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 60% of salvaged materials donated to local charities
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• Savannah RepminorOthersLocal arts organization listed as a sponsor. Sponsors are described as local businesses that support the organization, with Film Biz Recycling reciprocating support for sponsors.
• SwitchyardsminorOthersLocal business listed as a sponsor. Sponsors are described as local businesses that support the organization.
• SunbeltminorOthersLocal business listed as a sponsor. Sponsors are described as local businesses that support the organization.
• Savannah Film OfficeminorOthersLocal film industry support organization listed as a sponsor. Supports the entertainment industry ecosystem in Savannah.
• The Hawthorn MinibarminorGTM or Marketing PartnerLocal bar chose Film Biz Recycling as their August charitable partner. All month long, customers could order a 'No More Rusty Nails' cocktail with proceeds or donations supporting the organization.
• Nadaloca SavminorOthersLocal business that visited and showed support for the tool library. Tools from the library were used to aid their operations.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Habitat for Humanity ReStore: Large-scale nonprofit retail network that resells donated furniture, appliances, and building materials to fund affordable housing. Comparable reuse-and-donation model at much greater scale; useful peer for benchmarking the volume-and-donation flywheel FBR operates at a smaller scale.

Direct peers

• Big Reuse (Brooklyn): Nonprofit reuse hub combining a retail storefront, donation intake, and community programming around diverted materials. Comparable nonprofit creative-reuse model with donation intake, retail/resale, and charitable distribution.
• Toronto Tool Library: Community tool-lending nonprofit offering membership-based access to a wide inventory of home and garden tools. Comparable subscription lending model and nonprofit mission to the Savannah Tool Library launched by FBR.
• Art Parts Creative Reuse Center: Nonprofit creative reuse center retailing donated art, craft, and manufacturing surplus at low prices. Comparable mission and donation-driven nonprofit retail model to FBR's prop house.
• The Loading Dock (Baltimore): Nonprofit that redirects surplus building materials from commercial construction waste to nonprofits and community projects. Comparable reuse-and-donation mission and similar scale to FBR's charitable diversion work.
• EcoSet: Social enterprise focused on reuse and recycling of materials from film, TV, and event productions. Most directly comparable peer: serves the same entertainment-industry customer base with the same sustainability framing as FBR's prop house.
• Berkeley Tool Lending Library: Long-running community tool-lending program allowing members to borrow tools for home improvement and gardening. Directly comparable to the Savannah Tool Library's $5/month subscription lending model with 7-day borrow periods.
• ReCreative (Denver): Nonprofit creative reuse center selling donated art, craft, and production surplus materials at low cost. Comparable mission of diverting usable goods from landfill and channeling them to community makers; similar nonprofit retail-and-donation model to FBR.
• SCRAP (Scroungers Center for Reusable Art Parts): Nonprofit creative reuse center that diverts manufacturing and industrial waste into low-cost art and education supplies. Directly comparable mission: diverting usable materials from disposal and channeling them to creative users; operates a retail storefront plus educational programming similar to FBR's prop-house-plus-library model.

Emerging players

• Green Prop House (GreenSet): Production-services company that supplies eco-friendly set materials and props to film and TV productions. Comparable sustainability-focused prop supply to film/TV customers, though structured as a commercial vendor rather than a nonprofit.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/filmbizrecycling
• Xx.com/FilmBizSAV
• Facebookfacebook.com/filmbizrecycling
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/film-biz-recycling

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Film Biz Recycling