The idea for GreenScreen Entertainment & Novelties, LLC was born from an unfortunate situation that turned into a blessing, like some unfortunate situations tend to do. Barb Shapiro’s daughter had a bat mitzvah celebration coming up and Barb’s mother, who had not been well, passed away. “I was ill-prepared for my own mitzvah. I only had the place. And a wonderful friend of mine gave me all her vendor names and rescued me. I decided, from that moment on, to pay it forward because she had been so wonderful,” explains Barb.
Although she went on to help friends at Temple Chai in Phoenix plan their celebrations, Barb knew that she did not want to be a party planner. She did, however, want to do something in the mitzvah market.
A year before her son was scheduled to become a bar mitzvah, Barb’s friend came home from a celebration in Colorado with a video of party guests’ heads superimposed on bodies of professional dancers. Barb thought, “Now that’s something I would love to do in the mitzvah market.” So, she talked to her husband, Burton, who Barb calls, “unbelievably creative” and “we recorded songs, hired dancers and made our own music video product.” GreenScreen Entertainment was born.
Burton thought it would be cool to offer party goers an 8×10 magazine cover photo, like they have at Disneyland, so he started getting creative. He took a photography class and some additional training, so by the time their son celebrated his bar mitzvah, four years after their daughter, they were in business. Technically, their son’s bar mitzvah party was their third job.
Their number one product at GreenScreen Entertainment is their open-air photo booth. Very different from a traditional photo booth, their setup can accommodate up to 17 people in one picture.” explains Barb. “Because we shoot against a green screen we make the guest look like they are somewhere else. We have over 300 backgrounds to choose from.” Client may select 24 backgrounds, shown on a custom display board, from which their guests can choose. These photos range from Times Square to riding in a car in the desert.
Parents like to pick photos around a theme and Barb helps them flesh out their options. “I always say, let’s do some in that theme, but let’s round out the [display] board because ultimately all the guests are going home with photos. Let’s make sure that you, and they, say, ‘Best party ever!’”
Through this process, they can shoot and print up to 100 pictures an hour. “Guests see the pic right after it is taken and they are dropped into the scene. We then ask for approval, if they have closed eyes or messy hair, we will gladly re-shoot the picture,” Barb explains. “Then the photo is printed, placed in a frame and bagged up for the guest. That way the guest participates in the party favor they receive.”
Another popular product that GreenScreen provides is airbrush tattoos. “I was a little hesitant because in the Jewish culture we don’t tattoo our bodies, but I was convinced that it was paint, it washes off, it comes off, so I reluctantly got into the airbrush tattoo business,” jokes Barb.
The tattoos are good during cocktail hour at the beginning of the party, when something is needed to keep the kids occupied. Barb also says, “You have to be mindful of anything that you bring in at cocktail hour; it has to have speed to it. You have to be able to service everybody during that time period.” Even though speed is of the essence, Barb’s motto is, “Never rush anyone, ever.” They can do up to 90 airbrush tattoos an hour and guests have 375 design choices to choose from. Oh, and they smell like cotton candy!
GreenSceen offers their unique on-site ActionPages flip books with moving backgrounds. These little books with business-card-sized pages are created when the guest picks their props and background, and then move for 7-10 seconds. The movements are converted to pages – each with a slightly varied background – printed, go through the cutter and voila! The guest has their very own flip book as a party favor.
Green Screen also creates digital T-shirts and hats that resemble air-brushed designs, but because they are heat-pressed using transfers, you can wash them and not worry about the colors bleeding. They also will shoot music videos during a party where the guest can take home a thumb drive to keep the memory forever.
Since Burton does all the graphic work (when he’s not at his day job, as a doctor) he can create custom designs for the green screen backgrounds, as well as custom centerpieces, place cards, banners, signing boards – pretty much everything you need to complement your celebration.
The attention to detail is in everything they do, and Barb’s background as a former teacher with a master’s degree in teacher training comes in handy when running this business. She does have some sage advice for anyone in the mitzvah entertainment business, “You have to really like 13-year-olds. If you don’t, get out of the mitzvah market! If you don’t enjoy this age group, don’t do it.”
For more information on the services and products they offer, or to book them for your next event, contact GreenScreen Entertainment & Novelties, LLC at 602-541-1615 or greenscreenaz.com.
