I.A.T.S.E.   Local 44
Human Resources for the Film-Television Industry
and beyond.

These versatile craftspeople handle everything from larger construction tasks to the finer details of carpentry…name it, and they build it. Propmakers are the core of virtually all studio construction. On any sound stage or location, they are crucial in the effort to transport the imagination of the Motion Picture and Television audience through time and space. The Propmaker's career is more of an experience than a job. With a high degree of expertise and artistic skills, these versatile craftspeople must work on projects ranging from large construction to the finer details of carpentry. They are at ease working with such varied materials as wood, glass, rubber, plastic, metal, leather or formica. They can create a masterpiece out of almost any material. A Propmaker may be asked to build a simple wall for a set one day, and a spiral staircase the next. Another day they might be asked to build a western storefront and the following day, the interior or exterior of an Elizabethan mansion . They might even be called upon to make the moldings for the Elizabethan mansion, which are very intricate and involved. They might have to construct anything from a boat to a train, plane, or automobile. Or a covered wagon, a rocket ship, a chariot, or even a submarine. Unless the job calls for a member of a specific craft within the construction area — such as painting, plumbing, plastering or masonry — it is probably a Propmaker who is wielding the tools. Propmakers may also participate — usually under the studio maintenance department — in permanent construction, maintenance and repair of the studio infrastructure.