What happens to the props used on set or production?

[Carrossea]

So I was wondering. What happens to all of the props used on set or production? I know that some of them are bought off by places like Prop Store, Screen-Used, auction warehouses, etc., but there are often times where props pretty much disappears off the face of the earth. For some movies, you never see any of its props in a museum, archive, being sold online or at stores, etc. Do they trash them, or are there places where production studios store all of their props (at least the fairly well-made ones or the ones used often on set)?

Was curious because I've been eying the internet for some original props for certain movies, and never ever see any.

 

[Apollo]

All depends.

Some are trashed, some go back to the prop-maker and some are given to cast and crew

 

[8 perf]

Having worked in the art dept. on a number of shows, and the prop dept. on two of those, I can tell you this. All props, made or bought belong to the producing studio. typically if they cost over a certain price to buy, or are a specialty build (like the stuff we research on this board), they get saved. They are then sometimes sold to auction houses like you mentioned, or "written off" and presented as gifts to an actor or producer of the show in question. Anything lower than that set price is usually tossed out with very little fanfare.
Back in the days of "Chronicles of Young Indiana Jones", and "Super Mario Brothers", it was a bit different. Indy, being a Lucasfilm gig, we saved everything and it got shipped off to Skywalker ranch for cataloging and archiving, much like today. Mario on the other hand was exactly the opposite. Not having a studio interested in saving things like these or having the foresight to think stuff like this might be valuable to the right person (this was way before ebay), much of it got thrown out. I personally helped rescue a few original blueprints and a pair of the foam rubber Thwomp Stompers from the dumpster. All ofthese have new homes now. The studio we have here in town, now Screen Gems, was once Carolco, and before that the famed DEG ( DeLaurentus Entertainment Group). At one time DEG had stored on our lot, a number of the "Still Suits" from Dune, almost all of the animatronic gorilla from "King Kong Lives", and the model of the large crane and gantry used to lift him in the film. Most of Kong was foam rubber and fake fur, and deteriorated over time and was trashed beyond saving. The model crane/ gantry were among many items tossed into a burn pit and destroyed in a space saving effort when Carolco took over the studio and needed the space. As for the "Still Suits". I know of only one that go saved by one of the crew members and was eventually sold to a collector over seas.

 

[Carrossea]

Having worked in the art dept. on a number of shows, and the prop dept. on two of those, I can tell you this. All props, made or bought belong to the producing studio. typically if they cost over a certain price to buy, or are a specialty build (like the stuff we research on this board), they get saved. They are then sometimes sold to auction houses like you mentioned, or "written off" and presented as gifts to an actor or producer of the show in question. Anything lower than that set price is usually tossed out with very little fanfare.

Very insightful information! I'm sure many will find it interesting, as I have. Thanks for responding to my thread! It's too bad the lower stuff don't get sold as well. Maybe in lots or bundles, but I guess that would take a lot more effort than just tossing it :lol.

Back in the days of "Chronicles of Young Indiana Jones", and "Super Mario Brothers", it was a bit different. Indy, being a Lucasfilm gig, we saved everything and it got shipped off to Skywalker ranch for cataloging and archiving, much like today. Mario on the other hand was exactly the opposite. Not having a studio interested in saving things like these or having the foresight to think stuff like this might be valuable to the right person (this was way before ebay), much of it got thrown out. I personally helped rescue a few original blueprints and a pair of the foam rubber Thwomp Stompers from the dumpster. All ofthese have new homes now. The studio we have here in town, now Screen Gems, was once Carolco, and before that the famed DEG ( DeLaurentus Entertainment Group). At one time DEG had stored on our lot, a number of the "Still Suits" from Dune, almost all of the animatronic gorilla from "King Kong Lives", and the model of the large crane and gantry used to lift him in the film. Most of Kong was foam rubber and fake fur, and deteriorated over time and was trashed beyond saving. The model crane/ gantry were among many items tossed into a burn pit and destroyed in a space saving effort when Carolco took over the studio and needed the space. As for the "Still Suits". I know of only one that go saved by one of the crew members and was eventually sold to a collector over seas.

That's unfortunate that some of the props had to be destroyed. :unsure But cool you and some of the other crew saved some of the props at least! Thanks for the detailed information. Awesome to know!
Which shows have you worked on specifically?

 

[Triborough]

A lot of productions in New York will donate to Film Biz Recycling in Brooklyn. They are a non-profit, so the production can get a tax break. Some of the set pieces and wardrobe goes to various charities and some of it gets sold in their store - think giant thrift shop with all sorts of things. There is a nondisclosure agreement with the donors, so you don't know what film or TV show it comes from.

I have picked up all sorts of things there ranging from a nice Peugeot pepper grinder for $2 (retail price $30) complete with pepper to prop road signs.

One of the more interesting things is that set dressers and prop masters will go there to get things so they get used again on another production. They also rent props and wardrobe, too.

They divert a lot of stuff from just getting thrown away, they have donated wardrobe items for those who need it, and they have a great store where you can get neat quirky things.

 

[Carrossea]

A lot of productions in New York will donate to Film Biz Recycling in Brooklyn. They are a non-profit, so the production can get a tax break. Some of the set pieces and wardrobe goes to various charities and some of it gets sold in their store - think giant thrift shop with all sorts of things. There is a nondisclosure agreement with the donors, so you don't know what film or TV show it comes from.
They divert a lot of stuff from just getting thrown away, they have donated wardrobe items for those who need it, and they have a great store where you can get neat quirky things.

That's incredible! It's good to know that not all props get thrown away, and they're put to good use later on. Thanks for sharing, and linking me to their website!! I looked at their website, and am definitely loving the company's objective.

 

[CaptainDave1701]

I remember after the films featuring the original cast of Star Trek following threads just like this. There were pictures posted back then showing an employee taking quite a number of assault phasers and placing them into a trash can and burning them.There were quite a few in his pile that went into the fire.

 

[Carrossea]

I remember after the films featuring the original cast of Star Trek following threads just like this. There were pictures posted back then showing an employee taking quite a number of assault phasers and placing them into a trash can and burning them.There were quite a few in his pile that went into the fire.

:cry

Thanks for posting on my thread and sharing.

 

[goodstuff]

There are also several second-hand stores in Los Angeles that pick up extra props/costumes from the studios. I have been extremely lucky over the years finding items that I have been able to screen verify.

 

[Duncanator]

At ILM we would offer the models to the production companies that made the films; and if they didn't want them, they would either go on display at
ILM to show off for tours, or they were dumpstered. Sometimes employees would be lucky to pull something out of the dumpster, but there are legal
lines that one shouldn't cross if one wanted to stay employed. Film companies don't like doing business with effects houses that allow employees to
sell the models from their films.
Of course, most of the things for "Star Wars" went into the Lucas Archives; however, some duplicates have ended up being destroyed rather than stored.

 

[Carrossea]

There are also several second-hand stores in Los Angeles that pick up extra props/costumes from the studios. I have been extremely lucky over the years finding items that I have been able to screen verify.

Nice!!

At ILM we would offer the models to the production companies that made the films; and if they didn't want them, they would either go on display at
ILM to show off for tours, or they were dumpstered. Sometimes employees would be lucky to pull something out of the dumpster, but there are legal
lines that one shouldn't cross if one wanted to stay employed. Film companies don't like doing business with effects houses that allow employees to
sell the models from their films.
Of course, most of the things for "Star Wars" went into the Lucas Archives; however, some duplicates have ended up being destroyed rather than stored.

Thanks for the info. Very informative stuff, and good to know. It's unfortunate that not all of the props are kept. Do you know why the film companies don't just sell those duplicates or models rather than destroying them?

 

[Duncanator]

There are a lot of reasons why a film company doesn't sell off their models. The biggest is that they don't want their models to show up in someone else's low budget movie. That was why Kubrick ordered the "2001" models destroyed. Also if they aren't going to make a sequel, they'd rather destroy it than deal with selling or storing them. That all costs money, and the companies can't be bothered to waste time and money doing that because the money the sale would generate is a pittance in the grand scheme of things. It all comes down to profit. It's not worth the hassle.
Models are built and shot months before the movie comes out, so if a company wanted to store them till after the movie came out with the hope of selling them for "big money" on the gamble that the film might turn out to be popular enough, they would be spending extra money over their regular production costs.
And if the movie WAS to turn out to be that popular, they would probably want to make a sequel rather than sell the model anyway.

 

[Drockjedi]

I was a round at Paramount when they were shooting Star Trek Voyager. My wife was an accountant and when I had the day off I would go to the lot and hang out. She told me the security on STV was very tight and not to go over there. That was the first place i went. I got to hang out with the cast and even go on set and watch the shoot. Thats a different story. Anyway, they told me that every bit of the set and props were destroyed after filming. and i saw the carnage from this on the lot. clearly not EVERYTHINg was destroyed because bits turn up but the idea was to make it go away so it wouldn't be taken. The same thing happened in my industry, animation. In the early days of WB and Disney, The cells was considered waste after the production and they were cleaned off or discarded or I even heard stories of kids sliding on the cells down a steep ramp in the animation building. Those cells are worth so much now. If it wasn't for a few Dumpster divers there would be so many less. Also Disney Archivists told me a great story of how they have hidden warehouses of ALL these treasures hidden around LA. sounds cool until you see one. Its amazing. these treasures are almost always hidden in plane site. these warehouses look like nothing outside to hide whats inside. The Disney animation archive is one of those buildings. it is the most non descriptor building. there is no sign. Just a little building that has a fence and a little call box. You have to be invited in and once you go inside its climate controlled and airtight vaults with literally priceless history on every wall. On the other hand there are stores here in LA that just sell props and wardrobe. these places are fun because its a treasure hunt. great prices if you know what to look for. Just thought i would put in my perspective for from someone here in hollywood. DT

 

[Pablomasip]

All depends.

Some are trashed, some go back to the prop-maker and some are given to cast and crew

yeap...

 

[Krel]

There are a lot of reasons why a film company doesn't sell off their models. The biggest is that they don't want their models to show up in someone else's low budget movie. That was why Kubrick ordered the "2001" models destroyed. .

That is an urban legend that keeps popping up. Stanley Kubrick couldn't order the destruction of anything from 2001, for one simple reason. He didn't own any of it, it was the property of MGM Studios. There are photos fo the space station sitting in a field with grass growing up around it. It was there because MGM gave it away. After a production the studio would look at the sets, properties, miniatures, ect., then decided if they could be reused in another production, or if it was cost effective to keep them. The Discovery, and space station were considered unlikely to be used in another production, and too large, and too fragile to store. So they were given away. As for everything else, that is part of much larger fragility.

Because 2001 took up so much of the MGM studio space and resources for so long, MGM was unable to use the studio for other productions. The studio was unable to recover from the financial loss and folded. Every costume and prop from every production in the history of the studio was put into outside storage. After a few years MGM got tired of paying the storage costs and had everything destroyed. All that movie history gone!

A few things did escape from being put into storage. In "UFO", the helmsman's chair came from the Moonbus set. The space maneuvering packs showed up in some "Doctor Who" episodes. Supposedly Dr. Loyd's moon base ID was worn in "UFO". There are probably a few more things that got lent out before everything was put into storage.

The Kubrick story is more exciting, but the reality is much more tragic.

David.

 

[Duncanator]

I guess I was was a victim of that urban legend too. I stand corrected.

 

[Krel]

I guess I was was a victim of that urban legend too. I stand corrected.

Oh, I used to think the same thing too. Then a couple of years back, I read an article on the history of the British MGM studio, where they talked a little about the 2001 properties.

David.

 

[Die Hard Props]

A lot of it still sits in boxes in the garage of Prop men who worked on the film. Some of my best treasures have come this way.

Many of these pieces were rented to the production, so not *everything* belongs to the production company.

Simon

 

[sportzjunky]

Anyone who knows the business could list many, many scenarios on a hand props life-cycle. One thing is for sure, most props are considered garbage once they are shot as far as the production goes. Unless its hero or iconic or a bunch in the budget its just a number on a spreadsheet and a item taking up space physically & track-able $ assets. The way they crank out shows constantly its just not feasible to bring it all in (and track). That is how the big rental houses exist in LA. They rent what they can, manufacture what they cant plus straight purchase what they can. they also use branding to fill out the set these days which is another beast. Set Dec and other departments take up a lot of room on a studio lot, props are like a gnat around the fire pit. And for the smaller production companies there is no way they can track the general stuff and the hero iconic stuff are on mantels in the producers house. For most props... Its the most important thing in the world until they shoot it. Then most (including prop people) don't care about it.

 

[GreenRock99]

For most props... Its the most important thing in the world until they shoot it. Then most (including prop people) don't care about it.

HAHA How true, I have just acquired this from a guy who's friend worked on the set and they were all binned after the shoot ! CRIMINAL!!!