Production design support.
Production design support is the sourcing, hauling, building and striking that stands behind a designer’s drawing. Hartman Production Co. sources props, furniture and materials in Los Angeles, moves them, installs them on the day, and takes them back out at wrap. We work to a designer’s list, or help find what a shoot needs when there is no designer on the job.
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Prop, furniture and material sourcing in Los Angeles
Sourcing is the part of production design that looks simple on a list and takes a day in practice. We find props, furniture, surfaces, textiles, plants, glassware, hardware and set materials against a designer’s list or a shot list, across prop houses, rental vendors, retail, salvage and the specific place in the east side that has the one thing. Los Angeles has unusually deep resources for this, which is an advantage and a time sink: the item almost always exists, and finding it is a question of knowing where to look rather than whether to compromise. Where something genuinely cannot be found, we come back with two options and what each costs, rather than with a problem.
Do you own props or source them?
We source and rent rather than carrying an inventory. A stocked warehouse means a shoot gets an approximation of the right thing because the right thing costs extra, and in a city with this much rental depth that trade makes no sense. What we bring instead is knowing where an item is, getting it to set undamaged, and getting it back inside its window. It also keeps the incentive clean: we have no reason to talk a shoot into a piece of furniture because we happen to own it.
Transport, installation and set setup
Furniture and set materials are what break in transit, so they get packed properly rather than quickly — blankets, straps, corner protection, and a load order that does not put a table leg under a case of tile. On the day, everything is installed and dressed to the plan, steamed and cleaned where the camera will see it, and backed up where it is fragile or perishable. Practical build at photo scale is part of the job: flats, surfaces, backdrops, rigging small elements, assembling furniture. For substantial construction or a design-led build we work under a production designer or a set builder rather than in place of one.
Strike, returns and leaving the location clean
Strike is planned before it starts, which is the only reliable way to make it quick. Dressing comes out in the reverse of the order it went in, packing materials are kept together rather than scattered through the set, and returns are grouped by vendor and by window while people can still read a label. Rented pieces get checked and photographed on the way out, so a damage claim is a conversation about evidence rather than about memory. The location is left as it was found — and in the cases where it is not, we say so that night rather than letting the client hear it from the owner.
Working with a designer, or without one
When there is a production designer or stylist on the job, our role is to make their morning about design rather than about logistics: everything they asked for is already in the room, unpacked, steamed and where they can reach it, and anything that could not be found was flagged with alternatives days earlier. When there is no designer — which is common on smaller commercial and e-commerce shoots — we can carry the sourcing and the practical build against a shot list. We will also tell you plainly when a job wants a designer we are not, because the difference between sourcing well and designing is real, and a shoot that confuses them ends up with a set that is full and still wrong.
Production experience includes
Common questions
Can you help with production design and prop sourcing?
Yes. We support production design with sourcing, props, furniture, materials, transportation, installation, setup and strike. We can work to a designer’s list, or help work out what a shoot needs when nobody has drawn it yet.
Do you own props, or do you source and rent them?
We source and rent rather than carrying an inventory. Los Angeles has deep prop, furniture and material resources, and renting the right thing for a specific shoot beats owning an approximation of it. What we bring is knowing where it is, getting it there undamaged and getting it back on time.
Can you build or install a set?
We handle practical build and installation for photo-scale sets: flats, surfaces, backdrops, rigging small elements, assembling furniture, and the setup and strike around them. For substantial construction or a design-led build we work under a production designer or a set builder rather than in place of one.
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Let’s make the shoot happen.
Send the basics — what you’re shooting, when, where, and what you need from us. We answer every enquiry, including the ones we’re not right for.
Hartman Production Co. — Los Angeles, CA (323) 420-5227 [email protected]