Affiliated Property Craftspersons (IATSE Local 44)

Overview

The Affiliated Property Craftspersons, operating as IATSE Local 44, is the union representing prop masters, assistant prop masters, set dressers, lead set dressers, upholsterers, greens department workers, and other property department craftspeople working in motion pictures and television in the United States. Founded in 1939, Local 44 covers the hands-on property and set dressing work that populates the physical world of a film or television production.

Local 44's jurisdiction covers several distinct but related departments. The props department -- led by the prop master -- manages all objects that actors handle or interact with during performance. The set dressing department -- led by the lead set dresser or swing gang lead -- furnishes and decorates sets under the set decorator's direction. The greens department manages all plant material on set. Upholsterers fabricate or modify furniture and soft furnishings for specific production requirements.

Prop Master and Set Dresser Distinction

The functional distinction between the props department and the set dressing department is one of the most frequently misunderstood aspects of art department organization for people outside the industry. Props are objects that actors touch or interact with -- a gun, a briefcase, a coffee cup in an actor's hand. Set dressing is everything else in the visual environment that the camera sees but actors do not directly handle. The same object can shift between props and set dressing depending on whether it is being touched by a performer in a given scene.

This distinction matters for budgeting, scheduling, and departmental responsibility. The prop master is responsible for sourcing, prepping, and tracking all actor-interactive objects across every scene. The set decorator (Local 800) designs and approves the set dressing concept; the lead set dresser (Local 44) executes it on set.

Membership and Scale

Local 44 is one of the larger IATSE locals by membership count, reflecting the substantial property department workforce required on studio and major independent productions. Even modest productions require a prop master and at minimum a small set dressing team; large studio productions may employ dozens of property craftspeople across multiple simultaneous shooting units.

The Local's training and apprenticeship programs provide pathways into the props and set dressing professions for people entering the industry, and the Local maintains a roster that producers can draw on when staffing property departments.

What Filmmakers Should Know

For producers budgeting their art department, Local 44 costs -- prop master, set dressers, and greens -- represent a significant line item that is often underestimated by directors and producers focused primarily on camera and lighting budgets. The physical world of a production is built by these craftspeople, and their rates and the budget for the props and set dressing themselves (separate from the labor) must both be planned carefully.

For period and genre productions, the prop master's sourcing skills and vendor relationships are particularly critical: finding accurate period props within budget constraints requires both market knowledge and established supplier relationships that experienced Local 44 prop masters have built over careers.

See Also

For the set decorator who directs the set dressing work executed by Local 44, see Set Decorators Society of America (SDSA) in this directory. For the art director and production designer supervising the full art department, see Art Directors Guild (IATSE Local 800) in this directory.