Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1544153
4 PROP CULTURE I SPRING 2026 Is life in the biz getting you down? Do you sometimes feel overwhelmed or not know where to turn? There's no need for you to suffer alone. Theresa and Scott want to help. They're right here for you in the pages of Prop Culture! If you have a problem about any aspect of working in the film business or as a Property Master, just write to us at the address below. Then remember to look here at "Dear Theresa and Scott" for your answer. Even if we don't get to your question, we bet you will always find something that can help! See ya next issue. Love, Theresa and Scott | Prop Culture editor@propculturemag. com Dear Theresa and Scott, I'm an on-set Property Assistant on a series filming in New Mexico. It's a great job but there's been one thing driving me up the wall: Our actors keep walking off set with their props at the end of the day. Often it is the little things: pens, keys, wedding rings. However, an actress recently walked off with a prop FBI badge, and I had to stop by her house after wrap to get it back. We always carry a double if they do not return the next day. The actors are well liked, so I try not to strain relationships by calling them out. I've tried my best to catch them before they leave set at wrap, but I can only be in one place at a time. How do I handle this without looking like the prop police? Should I address it with the cast directly, hand it off to the Property Master, or just accept it as one of those frustrating "cost of doing business" things? Signed, Undercover Property Agent Dear UPA, Oh, do we ever feel your pain! Every property person knows that "Oh S#&T moment when an actor drives away with a hero prop that plays first up the next morning! This is certainly enough to test anyone's 'last nerve.'" The first thing I'd recommend is for Case in point are handbags/purses. I get costume designers telling me, "Well, the actor touches it, so it's a prop." Please! Then they want to choose it, regardless of my budget, and keep it at the end of production. What they are saying is it's theirs, they just want me to pay for it and worry about handling the asset report at wrap. What should I do? Signed, Fed Up, Up North Dear Fed Up, Simple, tell them no. There is no such thing as a gray area if you know your department as you clearly do. The gray area is used as a passive aggressive way of pawning off doing a job that may be too expensive, too time-consuming, or just out of an individual's particular wheelhouse. Now don't get me wrong. I strongly believe in departments working as a team and helping each other out. But be upfront and ask for help. Don't try to con me. I have found there is no department willing to help out and take on anything as willingly as the Property Department. We wrap personal gifts, fix watches and sunglasses and will source anything for anyone. Just ask and be honest and appreciative. That's never too much to ask. you or the Property Master to talk to your 2nd AD. They are the ones who officially release the actors at wrap. A simple "have you returned all your props," coming from them normalizes the process and keeps you from being cast as the bad guy. You should also connect with the basecamp 2nd 2nd AD. They are in a perfect position to help you catch those renegade actors before they sign out and drive off with your props. Create systems that are easy for the cast to follow and keep your approach friendly. Saying with a smile, "Hey, just a reminder, I need to grab your props at the end of the day before you leave or it's my head." Done right, you will keep the relationships smooth and the personal props in the character bags where they belong. Now put down the magazine and get back to work. Dear Theresa and Scott, Greetings from Toronto! I've been working as a Property Master for several seasons on a streaming series and after years in the business, I have had enough of other department heads telling me, "It's a gray area," when they are trying to get me to take on something that I know 100% is their responsibility.