SPMinars: like webinars but better
What’s a SPMinar? It’s like webinar but better. Animatronics, firearms safety, blood recipes, fake (and real) food. Props professionals share tips and tricks (almost) monthly via our YouTube channel.
We are requesting pay-what-you-can donations to support this SPMinar programming. All money collected will be used to offset webinar operation costs with additional funds going to our annual grant program for early career prop people. Suggested donation amount is $3. If you’ve already donated, thank you! If you are able, pay what you can donations can be made via Venmo, Zelle, or Paypal. Venmo @SPMfund Paypal Money Pool @SPAMprops Zelle to spamdues@gmail.com
Venmo @SPMfund
Paypal Money Pool @SPAMprops
Zelle to spamdues@gmail.com
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I have a Prop List, Now What?
In this follow-up to our March webinar, The Prop List, Explained, we’ll look at what comes next: organizing the work, tracking changes, communicating with the production team, managing priorities, and turning that list into actual props onstage. Join SPM Member Kelly Mangan for a practical conversation about the day-to-day realities of prop management, with plenty of time for questions and discussion.
Kelly Mangan is a member of the design/tech faculty at Bowling Green State University in Ohio where she teaches classes in scenic construction, props, scenic art, and stage management. She is a scenic designer for the department as well as for the university’s opera program. Kelly is one of the first members of SPM to come from a Theatre for Youth background with 18 years of experience in upholstering couches and building dragons — sometimes for the same show.
Working with Cultural & Accessibility Consultants: Bringing Authenticity to your Props
How can cultural and accessibility consultants help bring greater authenticity and care to the props we put on stage? Join a panel of consultants as they discuss the services they offer, how they collaborate with production teams, and the ways their expertise supports stronger, more thoughtful storytelling in theatrical productions. Bring your questions—we’ll leave plenty of time for Q&A at the end.
Paul Behrhorst (he/him) is a neurodiverse accessibility leader with 18+ years working in theatre and live events. He is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of ConsultAbility and the Associate Director of Accessibility at PAC NYC.
Raja Benz (she/her) is an intimacy professional, theatre-maker, and cultural consultant based in Philadelphia. Raja has worked professionally across a number of different projects, notably Swagger (AppleTV), and major theatre institutions including: Tectonic Theatre Project, Studio Theatre, Signature Theatre, Virginia Repertory, and numerous universities including Penn State, Willamette University, University of South Carolina Upstate, and The University of Richmond.
Lyam B. Gabel (they/he) is a trans* director, performance-maker, and community organizer who creates containers for collective remembering and radical celebration. Lyam teaches acting and directing at Lehigh University. Drama League Resident 2021, Drama League Fellow 2017. BFA Virginia Commonwealth University, MFA Carnegie Mellon University.
The Prop List, Explained
What exactly is a prop list, and why does every props department live by it? Join a panel of SPM Prop Managers to walk through how prop lists are built, what information they contain, and how they evolve throughout a production. Bring your questions—we’ll leave plenty of time for Q&A at the end.
Prop List Resources: https://tinyurl.com/SPMinar52files
From tufting to textures, daggers to set decorations, our topics run the proverbial props gamut.
- Inside the Union Prop Shop: IATSE, CBAs, and the Work We Do
- Stage Ready Sweets: Cake Decorating Tricks for Props Professionals
- Blood and Guts III: Curtain Call of Carnage
- Shared Visions: A Roundtable with Set Designers and Prop Managers
- Squirrels and Falcons and Bears, Oh My! - Fake Animals for the Stage
- The History of Chairs: How to Recognize Furniture from Quite a Long Way Away
- Our Favorite Things: Cutting Implements
- Optimizing your Portfolio Website with SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
- Killing That Monster of a Show: How they built “She Kills Monsters”
- Airtable for Props Inventory Management
- 3D Printing Props 101
- People and Process in Management in Props
- Prop Cars onstage
- Building a Portfolio
- Storytelling for Props Managers
- Proper Furniture First Aid, Repairs, Reinforcement, and Refinement
- Fire Without Flame
- Getting the Fight Right: A conversation with prop managers and Fight Choreographers
- Props Storage Solutions: A place for everything, and everything in its place
- Increasing Your Shelf Life: Physical Safety in Props
- Life is Hard, Puppets Aren’t: Tips and Tricks for Puppet Building Part 2
- Animatronics - Where Objects Come to Life
- Firearms Safety for the Stage
- Using Airtable for Props Organization
- I Have to Eat WHAT!?! Stirring solutions for prop food onstage
- Blood, Guts, and Vomit: Investigating the Gory Side of Props
- Anatomy of a Production – Sweeney Todd
- Come Clay with Me! An Introduction to Sculpting Mediums for Prop Building
- How’d They Build That Prop? Cool builds from the Penn State Props Shop
- Greening Our Theatre Practices
- Grading for the Arts Based Classroom
- Proper Prop Presenting - Portfolio Reviews and Tips
- Set Decoration—The Forgotten Narrative
- Making Your Own Stage Blood
- What's Cookin'? Tips and Tricks to Making Realistic Fake Food
- Tufting, Tacking, and Trim for Theatrical Upholstery
- The Art of Authenticity
- Is this a dagger I see before me?
- Props and the Abbey Theatre, the National Theatre of Ireland
- Props You Can Make At Home
- Fix It With A Formula
- Ask A Prop Manager Anything
- Prop Adjacent Careers in Film, TV, and Trades
- How Do I Know What Type of Mold To Use?
- Textures 101
- Bloody Hell, A Variety of Ways to Execute Blood Special Effects
- Life is Hard, Puppets Aren't
Venmo @SPMfund
Paypal Money Pool @SPAMprops
Zelle to spamdues@gmail.com
