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Friday, February 25, 2022
‘The Crown’ Production Has Over $200,000 Worth of Antique Props Stolen
IndieWire: Keep calm and carry on filming.
Netflix confirmed that Season 5 of “The Crown” suffered a large theft to the tune of £150,000, or $201,000, after three production trucks were broken into February 18.
Immediately, I wonder what the motivation was for stealing these props, I do not imagine that they would be able to be sold off as real artifacts, although that is the majority of their visual purpose so it could be possible. I also wonder if they would stay in large film cities and recirculate into the industry as people who go out and search for props look for similar finds. I also think they could be sold ‘underground’ as pieces that were actually in ‘The Crown’. So, while I see the motivation, I am curious as to what made this particular show the target. I understand that the production quality of the crown is incredibly high, as is the budget, but it also has a different connotation because of the content of the show. This could be a political statement, or even a statement about how the public views the show in the UK.
I am really curious as to how the thieves managed to break into 3 production trucks and managed to get so many valuable and large pieces of props out. Whilst Netflix has assured that they are working hard on getting the props back and the filming is unlikely to be delayed, I think it is still scary to think about the safety of the crew and cast on set. As Skya said, the motivation behind this seems rather interesting. For those in the industry, there’s already an awareness of these missing props, so I think it’s unlikely for another show to use them – they will probably be returned if recirculated back into the industry. But it’s also likely that someone is selling them as real artefacts to collectors or buyers who are not as familiar or capable of distinguishing artefacts. In this case, I think it will be very unfortunate for the crew because it’s much harder to get the props back this way.
Firstly, like Skya I wonder what the motivation for stealing the props were. It would make sense that whoever stole them thought they could pass them off as real objects belonging to the royal family, or at least real antiques, and sell them. But at the same time, I feel like that would have to be a pretty idioditic move, and to have the forethought and planning to steal such props one would think they would have some knowledge of the props. Quite honestly what I found more fascinating were the quotes from the former prince Harry. I had never thought about the fact that the show would actually make him more comfortable than the news, but hearing that, it clicked in my head. We get to believe that what we are watching is the truth, we get a full plot and drama and a look into their lives, but at the end of the day it is not. Whereas the news is little snippets of what maybe a twisted truth that people actually believe.
I’ve watched the first few seasons of “The Crown”, and enjoyed the dramatized version of history… I do love a good historical drama! Though, I’m sad to hear that they had so much stolen from them, I hope it is found/returned. As others have mentioned, it is interesting to me that someone or some group decided to check a truck from a film set, and I wonder the motivation for this. Also, the comments from former Prince Harry were very interesting. The royal family is the center of news so often, especially when Harry and Megan left the royal family; I think the distinction between news and dramatized history is so important. At the end of the day, this is a story about the personal lives of the royal family but does not exactly represent every moment precisely how it happened. I’ll be interested to hear if the props are recovered!
When I first say the headline I was like wondering why "The Crown" didn't create replica props for these highly pricey items but after reading the article and realizing that the props that were stolen were all replicas I just can not help but wonder why. These props are said to be pretty damaged and worn down and not to have great resale value so I am very curious as to what these heist people were going for. I wonder if it is just to keep the props themselves. I also wondered how, like how were people able to break into 3 entire production trucks. I do think these items will probably be returned because the only value they really have is to the UK film industry, not to the royal family and not to UK in general. I also agree with Maureen in regards of the Prince Harry comment being odd. I know that the royal family has been vocal on not liking this production of "The Crown" and disagreeing with how they were portrayed so seeing a member of the royal family comment was just very interesting.
This is honestly really unfortunate. The security and safety measures surrounding props and production property should be looked into, as breaking into three production trucks is no simple task. The intent for this massive theft is a little confusing to me. The props are not legitimately valuable, and are only replicas that are not even in pristine condition. As said in the article, even resales would not really net a valuable profit, which makes the worth of this heist very questionable. Perhaps the burglars thought that the props were real, or could sell them under the pretense of being real. Either way, it still isn’t a fantastic development for the production. What surprised me was the article emphasizing that filming would likely not be delayed; I would have thought the sudden lack of over 350 props would definitely slow things down. Of course, replacements and backups could be readily available, but it was still a bit surprising to read.
I think people are downplaying just how easy it is to break into a truck. They tend to be unalarmed and so long as your mindful of where security is you can quickly break into a truck, close it behind you, and spend your time searching for the objects you would like to steal, have a lookout with a radio tell you when it's safe to come out, then make a break for it. Security is an illusion and I don't think the security guards are at fault, assuming they played no part in this.
I do think that this was probably an inside job from an overambitious and disgruntled employee that would be able to plan this sort of thing much easier than someone with no laypersons knowledge.
I doubt they are trying to pass them off as genuine objects, it would be too easy to verify whether or not a theft of the true artifacts had occurred. I wonder what the history of these props are as far as productions that they have been in? I imagine they could fetch a high value as being genuine props on a large number of productions over the years. But who knows? I imagine the props will never be seen again.
This article brings up an interesting point that I haven’t really thought about before. How are expensive items secured when not being actively used in a production? So far, most of the productions I have done have not warranted such question because the budget was never big enough to have such an expensive or rare prop. However, I assumed there was a system set in place since many tv/film productions utilize antiques or high-end fashion items as props or costumes. I find it interesting how the article mentioned that “there is no expectation that filming will be held up” in that such companies and production members are able to adapt and figure out the next step. The author also explains that this happened towards the end of production, which can be seen as a positive because they weren’t without these items for the entirety of filming. I can imagine this applies to the theatre industry as well, except there is less time to find replacements as a show runs through its entirety each day compared to a film where they complete that portion of the production and do not go back to it.
Several things come to mind when I read this. I see a lot of people questioning the level of security on when it comes to things like these, and while I can't quite speak on the level of security involved in entertainment (I can imagine that audiovisual equipment is considered far more valuable as a general industry opinion), it's important to note that if they're really determined, nothing is going to stop a thief. I'd be very interested to know the method of entry used, whether it was brute-force or actual picking. Regardless, if these were trucks, then none of the traditional methods are really theft-proof (the youtube channel lockpickinglawyer really puts into perspective just how poor industry-standard locks are against many methods of entry).
With the rest of the article though, I can't imagine that this would be very lucrative? Who's going to want to buy these things at the price they'd want to sell at? They'd have to be playing the long game to make any good money off of this, and that sounds like a lot of effort for not much return on investment. Good to know that this happened late into production though.
My question for the this article is how people come back from such an event. For a large scale tv production thats in its 5th season this might be recoverable, they even mention so in the article that they will be able to replace some or all of the props that were stolen and be able to continue but for smaller scale productions I assume this might be a killer, where if you don’t have the money or the time there is simply nothing to do, but then again, who is going to be going around stealing props from small theatre shows. I’m curious if this does happen on a smaller scale ever, my guess is no and that props during shows tend to be very organized and cataloged to get everything back in their places. Are there ever robberies in Props shops or the groups that designate themselves to rent or loan out props for productions? I also assume that Props are one of the easier things to confirm stolen because they are usually photographed and organized.
The Crown is a strange television show, it has always walked the line of reality and fiction, between Documentary and dramatization. I think of the items that were stolen, and I wonder where they were before the Crown television show acquired them. Would these historical objects be in danger of being stolen if they were in their true home? Did they come from a prop warehouse or are they true antiques borrowed from collectors and sellers? I imagine it is a mix of both, and the two categories were simply treated the same by the production team. Perhaps they should have paid attention to the security of the objects in the place that they loaned them from and copied that level of security on set. I also worry for the future of The Crown, how will they acquire priceless antiques in the future to maintain the accuracy of the show if antique houses no longer trust them?
Okay now this is a funky fresh piece of news. It’s so funny to me – especially as someone who has watched the crown religiously since the first season came out on Netflix a few years ago – that one-day production just had to make do without a large number of valuable props for the show. I mean imagine the shock! You are an actor, and are getting ready to shoot your stuff with the now reputable company that is Netflix, thinking to yourself, “yeah, the chances of something going majorly wrong today must be slim”. You get on set and BAM, invaluable items are missing, everything is on fire, the poor PA’s are probably having a mental breakdown in a corner, the props key is beginning for forgiveness. I just simply find it insane this happened at all. Godspeed to everyone handling the budget for the show, because I certainly would not have budgeted for a considerable part of the props not showing up the next morning.
12 comments:
Immediately, I wonder what the motivation was for stealing these props, I do not imagine that they would be able to be sold off as real artifacts, although that is the majority of their visual purpose so it could be possible. I also wonder if they would stay in large film cities and recirculate into the industry as people who go out and search for props look for similar finds. I also think they could be sold ‘underground’ as pieces that were actually in ‘The Crown’. So, while I see the motivation, I am curious as to what made this particular show the target. I understand that the production quality of the crown is incredibly high, as is the budget, but it also has a different connotation because of the content of the show. This could be a political statement, or even a statement about how the public views the show in the UK.
I am really curious as to how the thieves managed to break into 3 production trucks and managed to get so many valuable and large pieces of props out. Whilst Netflix has assured that they are working hard on getting the props back and the filming is unlikely to be delayed, I think it is still scary to think about the safety of the crew and cast on set. As Skya said, the motivation behind this seems rather interesting. For those in the industry, there’s already an awareness of these missing props, so I think it’s unlikely for another show to use them – they will probably be returned if recirculated back into the industry. But it’s also likely that someone is selling them as real artefacts to collectors or buyers who are not as familiar or capable of distinguishing artefacts. In this case, I think it will be very unfortunate for the crew because it’s much harder to get the props back this way.
Firstly, like Skya I wonder what the motivation for stealing the props were. It would make sense that whoever stole them thought they could pass them off as real objects belonging to the royal family, or at least real antiques, and sell them. But at the same time, I feel like that would have to be a pretty idioditic move, and to have the forethought and planning to steal such props one would think they would have some knowledge of the props. Quite honestly what I found more fascinating were the quotes from the former prince Harry. I had never thought about the fact that the show would actually make him more comfortable than the news, but hearing that, it clicked in my head. We get to believe that what we are watching is the truth, we get a full plot and drama and a look into their lives, but at the end of the day it is not. Whereas the news is little snippets of what maybe a twisted truth that people actually believe.
I’ve watched the first few seasons of “The Crown”, and enjoyed the dramatized version of history… I do love a good historical drama! Though, I’m sad to hear that they had so much stolen from them, I hope it is found/returned. As others have mentioned, it is interesting to me that someone or some group decided to check a truck from a film set, and I wonder the motivation for this. Also, the comments from former Prince Harry were very interesting. The royal family is the center of news so often, especially when Harry and Megan left the royal family; I think the distinction between news and dramatized history is so important. At the end of the day, this is a story about the personal lives of the royal family but does not exactly represent every moment precisely how it happened. I’ll be interested to hear if the props are recovered!
When I first say the headline I was like wondering why "The Crown" didn't create replica props for these highly pricey items but after reading the article and realizing that the props that were stolen were all replicas I just can not help but wonder why. These props are said to be pretty damaged and worn down and not to have great resale value so I am very curious as to what these heist people were going for. I wonder if it is just to keep the props themselves. I also wondered how, like how were people able to break into 3 entire production trucks. I do think these items will probably be returned because the only value they really have is to the UK film industry, not to the royal family and not to UK in general. I also agree with Maureen in regards of the Prince Harry comment being odd. I know that the royal family has been vocal on not liking this production of "The Crown" and disagreeing with how they were portrayed so seeing a member of the royal family comment was just very interesting.
This is honestly really unfortunate. The security and safety measures surrounding props and production property should be looked into, as breaking into three production trucks is no simple task. The intent for this massive theft is a little confusing to me. The props are not legitimately valuable, and are only replicas that are not even in pristine condition. As said in the article, even resales would not really net a valuable profit, which makes the worth of this heist very questionable. Perhaps the burglars thought that the props were real, or could sell them under the pretense of being real. Either way, it still isn’t a fantastic development for the production. What surprised me was the article emphasizing that filming would likely not be delayed; I would have thought the sudden lack of over 350 props would definitely slow things down. Of course, replacements and backups could be readily available, but it was still a bit surprising to read.
I think people are downplaying just how easy it is to break into a truck. They tend to be unalarmed and so long as your mindful of where security is you can quickly break into a truck, close it behind you, and spend your time searching for the objects you would like to steal, have a lookout with a radio tell you when it's safe to come out, then make a break for it. Security is an illusion and I don't think the security guards are at fault, assuming they played no part in this.
I do think that this was probably an inside job from an overambitious and disgruntled employee that would be able to plan this sort of thing much easier than someone with no laypersons knowledge.
I doubt they are trying to pass them off as genuine objects, it would be too easy to verify whether or not a theft of the true artifacts had occurred. I wonder what the history of these props are as far as productions that they have been in? I imagine they could fetch a high value as being genuine props on a large number of productions over the years. But who knows? I imagine the props will never be seen again.
This article brings up an interesting point that I haven’t really thought about before. How are expensive items secured when not being actively used in a production? So far, most of the productions I have done have not warranted such question because the budget was never big enough to have such an expensive or rare prop. However, I assumed there was a system set in place since many tv/film productions utilize antiques or high-end fashion items as props or costumes. I find it interesting how the article mentioned that “there is no expectation that filming will be held up” in that such companies and production members are able to adapt and figure out the next step. The author also explains that this happened towards the end of production, which can be seen as a positive because they weren’t without these items for the entirety of filming. I can imagine this applies to the theatre industry as well, except there is less time to find replacements as a show runs through its entirety each day compared to a film where they complete that portion of the production and do not go back to it.
Several things come to mind when I read this. I see a lot of people questioning the level of security on when it comes to things like these, and while I can't quite speak on the level of security involved in entertainment (I can imagine that audiovisual equipment is considered far more valuable as a general industry opinion), it's important to note that if they're really determined, nothing is going to stop a thief. I'd be very interested to know the method of entry used, whether it was brute-force or actual picking. Regardless, if these were trucks, then none of the traditional methods are really theft-proof (the youtube channel lockpickinglawyer really puts into perspective just how poor industry-standard locks are against many methods of entry).
With the rest of the article though, I can't imagine that this would be very lucrative? Who's going to want to buy these things at the price they'd want to sell at? They'd have to be playing the long game to make any good money off of this, and that sounds like a lot of effort for not much return on investment. Good to know that this happened late into production though.
My question for the this article is how people come back from such an event. For a large scale tv production thats in its 5th season this might be recoverable, they even mention so in the article that they will be able to replace some or all of the props that were stolen and be able to continue but for smaller scale productions I assume this might be a killer, where if you don’t have the money or the time there is simply nothing to do, but then again, who is going to be going around stealing props from small theatre shows. I’m curious if this does happen on a smaller scale ever, my guess is no and that props during shows tend to be very organized and cataloged to get everything back in their places. Are there ever robberies in Props shops or the groups that designate themselves to rent or loan out props for productions? I also assume that Props are one of the easier things to confirm stolen because they are usually photographed and organized.
The Crown is a strange television show, it has always walked the line of reality and fiction, between Documentary and dramatization. I think of the items that were stolen, and I wonder where they were before the Crown television show acquired them. Would these historical objects be in danger of being stolen if they were in their true home? Did they come from a prop warehouse or are they true antiques borrowed from collectors and sellers? I imagine it is a mix of both, and the two categories were simply treated the same by the production team. Perhaps they should have paid attention to the security of the objects in the place that they loaned them from and copied that level of security on set. I also worry for the future of The Crown, how will they acquire priceless antiques in the future to maintain the accuracy of the show if antique houses no longer trust them?
Okay now this is a funky fresh piece of news. It’s so funny to me – especially as someone who has watched the crown religiously since the first season came out on Netflix a few years ago – that one-day production just had to make do without a large number of valuable props for the show. I mean imagine the shock! You are an actor, and are getting ready to shoot your stuff with the now reputable company that is Netflix, thinking to yourself, “yeah, the chances of something going majorly wrong today must be slim”. You get on set and BAM, invaluable items are missing, everything is on fire, the poor PA’s are probably having a mental breakdown in a corner, the props key is beginning for forgiveness. I just simply find it insane this happened at all. Godspeed to everyone handling the budget for the show, because I certainly would not have budgeted for a considerable part of the props not showing up the next morning.
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