The prop master for the production of the television movie “Kingmakers” had a problem. She needed a shopping list full of items for a scene in the movie being filmed in Rome, GA, but had only one day to find them.
To the rescue came Marsha Blevins, then the manager of Rome’s City Market.
What they needed was everything from a mannequin and antique armoire to handcrafted wooden pens and an antique trunk.
Marsha could help because “every morning I walked through the booths and memorized what they had for sale,” she says.
The prop team members were happy to teach Marsha about what they needed. She also learned that because movie viewers scrutinize everything on screen, every minute detail needed to fit the story and setting.
“The prop master really had an eye for exactly what was needed and I was her source to find it,” says Marsha. “I sent her to another store if I knew they had it. That way everyone in Rome wins.”
At least 10 vendors sold items for “Kingmakers,” including Leah Burnham, a teacher who sold furniture she decorated with chalk paint. She also sold a trunk, curtains and some accessory pieces. Leah used the money she earned from selling antiques to put herself through her master’s program.
“They needed fancy pens for the scene,” says Marsha, who now operates her business from Rome’s River City Antique Mall. “They couldn’t just have normal pens. So I showed them vendor Tom Canada’s wooden hand-turned pens. We sold three of them. I said to myself, thank you Jesus!”
Marsha stayed open late that night. “I didn’t mind at all,” she says. “They were a wonderful team to work with. They spent thousands of dollars that day, so I was happy to accommodate them.”