Hollywood is running out of props, studio set and equipment due to the sudden surge of production of TV shows. It has now reached a point that there is a tombstone shortage being experienced in Queens.
A prop rental shop in the New York borough, Encore Props, has suddenly found itself having just one fake memorial to spare. More than a dozen have already been signed out to three TV studios doing some filming in the city.
"They all need my tombstones because they're all shooting scenes in a graveyard in the same week," said Barry Godin, an employee at the store. "When it rains, it pours. That's happening more and more often," he gleefully added.
There is a new golden age of television and it seemingly brings shortages of production staff, props and studio space. More film workers are needed to beat the deadline of TV studios.
This situation is entirely different several years ago, when TV studios were running away from Hollywood primarily for the tax incentives offered by 41 other states and foreign countries.
From 2005 to 2012, the number of film jobs in Southern California decreased by nearly 4,500, according to Kevin Klowden, managing economist and director at Milken Institute of the California Center.
The region could have added 7,900 jobs during that period, but instead, has taken a total loss of 12,400 positions.
But now, resurgence is bringing excitement to Hollywood TV productions. The increase in TV filming productions is such that it threatens to overwhelm filming facilities in California, even as far as Canada and Georgia.
The current boom is spurred by the requirement for original content by companies like Hulu and Netflix. Free spending governments are also competing for the existing workers and facilities by providing subsidies to attract TV production outfits to their cause. The result, everything, from props and production crews are in short supply.
