When people talk about careers in film and television, the conversation tends to revolve around the same handful of roles. Directors, Actors, Writers and Producers are the people interviewed on red carpets and discussed in the press.
But anyone who has stood on a working film set knows that the credits at the end of a production tell a much bigger story.
Behind every world created on screen are hundreds of people whose names the audience may never know. They are designers, makers, buyers, decorators, painters, prop makers, graphic designers, construction teams and countless other specialists who collectively turn words on a page into something an audience can actually believe.
Having spent much of my career working within the Art Department, particularly in the Props Department, I wanted to create something that gave those people a voice.
Bridging Education and Industry together
We wanted The Prop Room to be more than people from the industry sitting around telling stories. Working alongside tutors and students at the University of Hertfordshire gave us an opportunity to create something that could bridge the gap between education and employment.
What is a working Art Department actually like?
What does a Property Master really do?
How does one department interact with another?
How do you get your first opportunity?
What happens when something goes wrong at 7am and the entire shooting day depends on you finding a solution?
These are the conversations we wanted to have.
Our guests aren’t talking about a theoretical version of the industry. They’re talking about the one they’ve actually experienced. The good days, the disasters, the strange requests, the pressure, the creativity and the people they’ve met along the way.
At the same time, students aren’t simply watching from the sidelines. They’re involved in creating the podcast itself, gaining experience and working directly alongside established industry professionals.
That relationship has become one of the most rewarding parts of the project.
Finding an Audience We Didn’t Know Was There
When we launched, none of us really knew how many people would be interested.
The answer, thankfully, appears to be quite a few.
In less than ten weeks, The Prop Room has grown to more than 3,250+ followers and generated over 193,700+ views, with an audience extending beyond the UK into Europe, the United States, South America and Australia.
For a new, independent podcast discussing relatively specialist areas of film and television production, that response has surprised us.
More importantly, it has told us something.
There is an appetite for conversations about the people behind the camera.
Students want to understand the industry they’re trying to enter. Established professionals enjoy hearing the experiences of their peers. And people outside the industry seem genuinely fascinated by how films and television programmes are actually made.
The audience doesn’t necessarily need to know what a Property Master is before watching. Sometimes discovering that is precisely the point.
Taking The Prop Room Outside the Prop Room
The next step has been getting out into the industry itself.
We recently began filming external content at Twickenham Studios, introducing our audience to the locations, facilities and working environments that form part of the British film and television industry.
We want to continue doing that.
There is something particularly valuable about allowing somebody who wants to work in film to see beyond the finished product.
A studio isn’t simply a building where films happen. A prop store isn’t simply a warehouse full of strange objects. Every part of the infrastructure has people, skills and stories behind it.
The more accessible we can make that world, the more chance we have of encouraging talented people to see a route into it.
An Industry Going Through Change
It’s also impossible to have these conversations without acknowledging that the industry is going through a difficult and rapidly changing period.
For many freelancers and independent businesses, the last few years haven’t been easy. Productions have slowed, technology is changing established ways of working, and talented people at every level are having to think differently about how they build sustainable careers.
I don’t pretend that a podcast can solve those problems.
What it can do is create conversations.
It can introduce people who might otherwise never meet. It can give experienced professionals somewhere to share what they’ve learned. It can give students access to knowledge that might help them take their first steps. And occasionally, it can remind all of us why we wanted to work in this ridiculous industry in the first place.
That feels worthwhile.
What Comes Next?
The Prop Room itself is only one part of what we’re building.
Through our newly formed production company, Wolf Runner, we’re developing original film projects alongside education, training and other initiatives designed to connect different parts of the creative industry.
Our first feature, In the Valley of Hoops, is a multi-award-winning screenplay now moving towards finance, while our second feature, East of West, is already in development.
On a personal level, I’ll also shortly be travelling to Los Angeles for The MacGuffins, organised by the Property Masters Guild of America, following recognition for my work on Yorgos Lanthimos’ Bugonia.
Somewhere amongst all of that, we have another five episodes of The Prop Room already recorded and plenty more conversations planned.
We started the podcast because we thought there were stories within our corner of the industry worth telling.
More than 193,700+ views later, it seems other people thought so too.
And we’re only getting started.
Ben Hopwood is a Property Master, filmmaker and the creator and host of The Prop Room Podcast, as well as CEO of Wolf Runner.
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