PROPS
Unsung: An Inside Look at The Largest Prop House in Georgia By Connor Judson Ga r re t t
B ob Lucas owns Central Atlanta Props and Sets (CAPS), the largest prop house in the state of Georgia. Growing up, Lucas knew he wanted to work in the film industry as a writer. However, he jokes that he kept his day job while working in various art departments. “I was good at dealing with chaos. In this industry, you have to ride the bull and stay on it. I moved to Los Angeles in the ‘80s and started working on music videos and low budget horror movies like Night of the Demons ,” says Lucas. “Movies I worked on 30 years ago evolved into cult classics. We were just trying to figure out how to make things work. Eventually, I got into the union and transitioned into studio movies.” These days, Central Atlanta Props and Sets is involved in virtually any production that comes through the state of Georgia. From the Accountant to Baby Driver and Stranger Things , and Marvel Films projects. CAPS continues to help bring these productions to life. “I’m proud of everything we’ve been a part of, but Hidden Figures was a great project that showed our stuff…We did a lot with Richard Jewell, and First Man , which was a period movie on Neil Armstrong. We were also involved with the Avengers series. We did Ant Man and The Wasp , Black Panther , Spiderman , and really a large portion of the Marvel movies and shows. It’s still exciting to see things on the screen even after all these years.” CAPS provides a large variety of rental items for the entertainment and event industries, including industrial, office, rustic, exterior, or classic furnishing needs. But CAPS’s origins were humble before it became the prop behemoth it is today. “I had the opportunity to buy out the original owner, who actually ran an antique business. I was a customer of his for years and also happened to be very familiar with art departments and operations. As the entertainment industry grew here, he didn’t want to deal with the volume and demand that came with it. We made a deal and changed hands of ownership along with names. This was six years ago in November of 2014. We’ve grown tremendously and become a huge asset for the area,” says Lucas. “In fact, two years ago, we had to change locations because we needed more space. The city of East Point has been very supportive of us and opened a ton of doors. I worked in set decoration for 30 years and have dealt with many prop houses throughout my career. Now, we’re just ready to kick it into high gear. We pretty much deal with every production in town, from music videos and commercials to movies and events.”
“ The truth is, people don’t necessarily look at what kind of sofa is in a movie or a show, but if it’s the wrong sofa, that’s when it gets talked about. ”
Bob Lucas
CAPS has 200,000 square feet of facility and is cur- rently working to expand; and is constantly re-organizing. “With the budgets on some of these films and television shows, sometimes it’s easier to rent than it is to buy a certain prop. For instance, if they need a funky, old dumpster, they can rent it from me rather than buying and having to age it down,” says Lucas. “We have one warehouse, but one of my goals is that once we get everything under one roof, we keep improving infrastructure, organization, and get better lighting, so people can really see the range of things we offer.
“We’re the unsung end of the business. People often don’t think, ‘Oh, all that stuff has to come from somewhere’. We are strong supporters of the fictional environments for movie and television sets. The truth is, people don’t necessarily look at what kind of sofa is in a movie or a show, but if it’s the wrong sofa, that’s when it gets talked about.”
(470) 225-6709 | 1557 St Joseph Ave #300, East Point, GA 30344
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