Your old quirky items could play supporting roles on screen
Lori Averberg-Johnson carries some lovely high-end pieces in her vintage Castle Shannon retail shop, Everyday Eclectic Home & Gifts. She also enjoys selling the junky stuff — quirky finds from people’s garages.
Occasionally, some of it ends up on television or in the movies.
You’ll see some items in Netflix’s “Mindhunter,” which just debuted its second season on Friday. And with productions such as the network’s “I Am Not Okay With This” and “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” recently in town, local vintage/resale shops have come to expect set designers to visit them in search of furniture, lamps, rugs and bric-a-brac.
Because more than a few, such as “Mindhunter” (set in the 1970s) and “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,” the Fred Rogers film starring Tom Hanks (1950s to 2000s) were period pieces shooting here in 2018, finding that midcentury modern table or ashtrays to lend a touch of authenticity was a priority.
Productions often make their own furniture, but it’s not unusual for set decorators or their crews to drop by stores or Goodwill for the real, deeply discounted thing.
“I don’t know what the protocol is for set directors — it’s almost a secret world — but they don’t call ahead or announce they’re coming,” Ms. Averberg-Johnson said.
“They’re all very interesting people. I’ve probably dealt with six different people from six different shows, and they are all very unique.”
A set decorator works with a film project’s designer. They are expected to flesh out the director’s vision of what an office or home
will look like, or, in the case of “Black Panther,” the entire country of Wakanda. Pittsburgh native Jay Hart won the 2019 Oscar with Hannah Beachler for set decoration for that one.
“I think we are the original recyclers,” said Jan Pascale, who grew up in Beechview and began working in the glamourous world of filmmaking by creating fake guts for George Romero movies. She’s been nominated for an Oscar (2005’s “Good Night and Good Luck”) and has among her many credits the upcoming “Top Gun: Maverick.”
Her skill set includes working on many period pieces — “I am known as the ‘history girl’” — such as the LBJ film “All the Way” and “Vice.”
“It is really so exciting to be able to create worlds,” Ms. Pascale said. “As decorators, we need to figure out how to make them inhabitable. It has to make sense.”
Some of Everyday Eclectic’s stock has graced the sets of productions ranging from “Mindhunter” to “Outsiders” to “The Fault in Our Stars.”
Ms. Averberg-Johnson sold a buyer from “Mind-hunter” a 2-foot-tall model ship. Look for it in season two.
“Mindhunter” has been a pretty consistent customer at Construction Junction in Point Breeze since crews started shooting season one in 2016. The production returned frequently for season two.
Filing cabinets, solid wood desks, period lamps and chairs were big sellers.
Kitchen sets are popular with almost everyone, especially if they’re in those classic ’70s/’80s hues we all knew from “The Brady Bunch” era: avocado, yellow, coral.
When WGN’s “Outsiders” shot here, it was a field day for selling beat-up merchandise. The series starred David Morse as head of a rural clan. The sets were not exactly fit for “Downton Abbey.” That was a boon for Construction Junction, because beat-up items aren’t exactly atop the average shopper’s list.
Resale and antique stores often have leads on hard-tofind items, such as the time “American Pastoral,” a 2016 film shot here, sought 100 antique sewing machine cabinets.
“Quantity is just that much harder to find,” said Seth Hunter, whose Toll Gate Revival antiques store features more industrial vintage items. No one outlet is going to have something like that, but owners can network.
Toll Gate Revival sold a bunch of “utilitarian stuff” that Mr. Hunter understands went to a scene decorated as a dock, as well as some contemporary Brooklyn decor in the Seth Rogen “An American Pickle” movie. It was shot in the Pittsburgh area late last year.
Mr. Hunter’s shop, which operated for four years in Lawrenceville, has moved to Braddock. It was a fine resource for the CBS All-Access Series “One Dollar,” which shot in Western Pennsylvania last year and needed a lot of gritty odds and ends for background decoration.
His latest client was Netflix, which is shooting the “Ma Rainey” adaptation. It’s set in Chicago during the Roaring ’20s, and some of the outdoor scenes were shot on the North Side in July. “They got a lot of stuff for a street scene: whiskey barrels, signage for outside. Some furniture, a lot of old wooden crates for an outdoor market vibe,” said Mr. Hunter, who was able to watch them film a scene.
Although he said he couldn’t name any specific show recently, Mr. Hunter has recognized some of his former wares when he’s watching TV or at the movies.
“It’s weird; it kind of catches you off guard.”