How have below-the-line businesses in film and television production fared in the post-pandemic economy? Very well, it turns out.
In Burbank, prop house owner Keith Marvin of Lennie Marvin’s Prop Heaven found that work from streaming services coupled with the delays in finishing projects has kept everybody busy.

“We started several shows that got delayed like this HBO show ‘Winning Time’ about the 1980s Lakers,” Marvin said. “They are almost like year-round productions and some of those started in pre-pandemic (days) and the customers were shopping around.”
He said the streaming services – which include Disney Plus of Burbank-based Walt Disney Co., Apple Inc. and Hulu – are the driving force that is keeping him and his staff busy.

But prop shops also face challenges. In Marvin’s case it is finding the right material to rent out to the decorators and shoppers for television shows and commercials.
“What has made it difficult is the supply chain lag of product, much of which are made in China or overseas,” Marvin said.

He will buy items in multiples, Marvin explained. For a scripted show, much of the dialogue is spoken while people are eating, requiring tables, chairs or bar stools.
“If I buy a new chair or barstool I need to buy a quantity of at least 30 to get it at a relatively decent price for buying that quantity,” Marvin said.

But what he has found is that such items are not available or are very slowly making their way to the U.S. from China and other foreign manufacturing areas, he added.
He is hoping to make it to some trade shows this year to buy new merchandise to be able to offer customers.

“It doesn’t hurt us now, but it hurts us going forward because you need to freshen up your look,” Marvin said. “But I think that will solve itself this year and next year.”
Meanwhile at History for Hire, the North Hollywood prop house owned by Jim and Pam Elyea, last year was the best one for the company after 35 years in business.
“The streaming services, Netflix, Amazon and Paramount Plus, they have such a big need for additional content that we were kept quite busy with that,” said Pam Elyea, the vice president of History for Hire.

Last year, the prop house brought in 20 percent more revenue than it had during the pre-pandemic year of 2019. But that was partially offset by a 10 to 15 percent increase in the cost of doing business.
“That would be due to increased Covid-related (items), cost of living increases and materials,” Pam Elyea said. “Sometimes it is hard to find material to do the things that we need to do.”

However, she does not see the trend of being busy continuing this year.
One of the reasons why she figured the prop house had been so busy was due to having clients who hadn’t finished up projects in 2020 when the industry shut down from the pandemic. So besides getting new projects, the company was finishing up everything that should have been done a year earlier, she said.
“We did a year and half’s worth of work in one year and that was why it was so busy,” she explained.