Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1538452
16 PROP CULTURE I FALL 2025 adored them, loving every minute of their shenanigans. For the last episode of the season, we auditioned many baby goats for the part of Emile and landed on a snow-white bona fide movie star. The goat, whose actual name was Peggy, was uncannily good in their role as the sacrificial goat that is saved in the end. Can we get an Emmy for Peggy, please? One of the largest undertakings of the season was the massive 100-person choreography and merriment marching band requiring us to source marching band instruments and altering them determined a herd of goats might be to play a round of golf in the middle of the night. We then constructed a fenced "road" for the goats to travel from their pen into the set. We had 60 goats who lived on the golf course over the three-day shoot, and the goats were on the set for our whole shooting days. They ate anything in sight, including Technocrane cables and shoe laces. They held no regard for hitting their marks or stealing a scene from the actors with a very noticeable cross. They would not stay quiet while we were rolling. And the whole crew to fit our color palette of white, silver, and MDR blue. We powder-coated all the instruments working closely with the band director to learn about functionality: how they are strapped onto the performers, and we quickly discovered the tubas were too tall for our MDR ceiling height. A swift pivot to sousaphones solved that issue. We learned if you spray paint cymbals, the paint doesn't hold up as they crash together, so we improvised with Old School whiteout to cover chips on the fly, and it worked surprisingly well. Customizing and branding every instrument seemed, at first, like an arduous undertaking but then made perfect sense when the visual of the Lumon- sponsored marching came together in a crescendo in the finale. The Mark face balloon has become the iconic image for Season 2's marketing campaigns and posters. For Apple's rollout of the season, I was consulted by the marketing and PR teams to provide show props for numerous pop ups, activations, and comic conventions. We recreated the MDR desk and computers, giving fans a chance to sit and interact with the actual computers and keyboards. Seeing firsthand the engagement of the fans has been a career highlight. The series has generated superfans who are particularly devoted to the props and recreate each and every prop with the highest of fidelity and attention to detail. I'm truly humbled and in awe of their many talents. What remains the most unique aspect of working on Severance is the opportunity to contribute to the storytelling through the objects we build. Myself and my awesome prop family, and extended family of collaborators and fabricators, strive daily to deepen our contribution to the show. There have been instances of me and the team coming up with prop ideas, showing them to Ben, and having him laugh, shake his head, and admit, "Now, I have to shoot an insert for this." And I think that is a win for storytelling and props everywhere.