From Live Snakes to Jury Boxes: A Prop Stylist's Guide to Creative Problem Solving
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On any given film set or commercial shoot, there's an unseen army of creatives working tirelessly to build the world you see on screen. They are the detail-oriented masters, the visionaries, and the resourceful problem-solvers who ensure every single object in the frame is perfect. In the latest episode of
Style to Set, host Callie Blount sits down with her friend, neighbor, and one of the most talented people in the business, Ashley Amezcua.
Ashley is a true creative force: a set decorator, prop stylist, art director, and production designer who has worked on everything from feature films and major commercial campaigns to a whole slate of beloved Christmas movies, earning her the affectionate title "The Queen of Christmas." Her work is a testament to the ingenuity, grit, and collaborative spirit required to thrive in the fast-paced world of production. This is a look behind the curtain at a career built on resourcefulness, community, and the profound understanding that true beauty is found in the spirit you bring to your work.
The Winding Road to the Art Department
Ashley’s journey into the world of set decorating and prop styling wasn't a straight line. She attended college for mass communication with a concentration in video production. Her first real taste of the production world came from working in live events, where she did everything from coordinating with bands like the Goo Goo Dolls to handling their dressing rooms.
After graduating, she held a desk job in the industry for three years before making the move to Nashville, a city she has now called home for 15 years. She started from the ground up as a production assistant (PA) and art assistant, weaving between the worlds of production and art before dedicating herself fully to the art department for the last eight years. Coming from a very small town with no stoplights, watching Nashville grow into the creative hub it is today has been an incredible experience.
The Craigslist & Live Snake Era: Breaking In Before the Internet
For those just entering the creative field today, it’s hard to imagine a world where work wasn’t found through Instagram DMs or LinkedIn. When Ashley was starting out, the internet was still in its infancy. So, how did she find work when she first moved to Nashville knowing no one? The answer is one word: Craigslist.
“That is how like work used to be found,” she laughs. She would scour the "work" section, emailing production companies and looking for posts for PAs. It was a hustle that led to some unforgettable early gigs. Her very first job in Nashville took her to Murfreesboro for a college project that involved vampires, choreography, and a live snake. In a moment that perfectly encapsulates the wild, unpredictable nature of the art department, they tried to make her the designated "snake wrangler."
“I was like, guys, this is where I draw the line,” she recalls. “I've done a lot of things, but I am not a snake wrangler.” It was an early lesson in the industry’s assumption that people in the art department are like MacGyver—capable of doing absolutely anything.
The Nashville Advantage: How Scarcity Breeds Ingenuity
While the "do-it-all" expectation can be daunting, Ashley believes that the Nashville market has uniquely positioned her for success. In bigger production hubs like Los Angeles or New York, creatives are often forced to choose a single discipline. “I would have to choose, I'm doing props. Or I'm a set decorator...I'm only doing commercials, or I'm only doing film and episodic,” she explains.
Nashville’s market, however, has allowed her to be a multi-talented MacGyver, trying her hand at different things while still making a living. A key part of this is the relative lack of resources compared to LA or New York. “We don't have a lot of prop houses,” she notes. While some might see this as a negative, Ashley sees it as a major positive. “Instead of just walking into a warehouse and having everything at my fingertips, I'm making things work. And that's, you know, part of the creative problem solving that I enjoy.” This environment has honed her ingenuity and ability to pull off incredible feats, like wrangling a misbehaving candle flame on a hot set where the air conditioning had been broken for days.
The Prop Stylist's Playbook: A Day in the (Working) Life
For those unfamiliar with the art world, the job of a prop stylist or set decorator can seem mysterious. Ashley breaks down the intricate process that happens long before she ever steps on set.
It all starts when a client contacts her with a "treatment" (a visual guide for the project's look and feel) or a script. From there, her job is to essentially build a budget. This involves:
Calculating the scope: She assesses how many people she’ll need for her team.
Creating a prop list: She meticulously lists every item needed to bring the vision to life.
Sourcing: She then has to figure out how to acquire everything on the list.
The biggest challenge is almost always the classic production dilemma: time versus money. “I usually have time. Or money, I don't generally have both,” she says. The dream of having unlimited time and money to have the perfect item shipped in is rarely a reality.
This leads to what she calls "power shopping." It’s a specialized skill honed over years, involving a mix of online shopping (Amazon is often a necessity for speed), local thrifting, and an encyclopedic knowledge of retail. “My head is constantly on a swivel...I'm just always looking for something,” she says. It’s a weird skill to have, knowing the seasonal merchandising flows of every store in town, but it's an essential part of the job.
From Atlanta Warehouses to a Group Chat: The Secrets of Sourcing
The hunt for the perfect prop—a process creatives call "sourcing"—is a complex and fascinating part of the job. In Nashville, it's a multi-pronged effort. When a project demands something truly specific or large-scale, trips to the massive rental houses in Atlanta are sometimes necessary. Ashley recounts being a set dresser on a big movie set in the '90s and taking overnight trips in a semi-truck to Atlanta's production warehouses, which she describes as being the size of city blocks.
“They have...the most insane stuff that you'll ever see,” she says, describing a 20-by-40-foot courthouse jury box on wheels that a prop house could simply roll onto a truck.
But for most jobs, the sourcing is more local and community-driven. Ashley is a firm believer in sharing resources, pushing back against the old-school mentality of stylists keeping their sourcing spots a closely guarded secret. “I have always, always been open about where I source things,” she says.
This spirit of collaboration led to the creation of a female art director group chat in Nashville. What started as a way to get together socially quickly turned into an invaluable sourcing tool. Because Nashville has limited prop houses, the chat allows them to rent from each other, keeping money within the local creative community. It began during the pandemic when supply chains were disrupted and has since become a vital resource. “Somebody in town has done a job about sunflowers,” she says, giving an example. “I need 50 giant sunflowers...And then somebody did. ‘Oh, I did this weird thing...five years ago, and I have 75 sunflowers.’”
The chat is also a space for support—a place to share experiences with difficult clients or to warn others about unsafe situations. It's a testament to the strong, collaborative community that sets Nashville apart.
Grace Under Fire: The Art of Handling Difficult Clients
Working in a client-based industry inevitably means encountering difficult personalities. Ashley recalls a shoot with a micromanaging client from an advertising agency who wanted every single detail to be an exact replica of the treatment, leaving no room for creative interpretation.
“You couldn't really...anticipate what she needed and give her what she wanted,” Ashley says, noting the client also wasn't a great communicator. A younger version of herself might have spiraled, questioning her own abilities. But with experience comes perspective.
Her approach now is one of professional calm. “I just handle it by smiling and saying, ‘yeah, sure. Whatever you want,’” she explains. At the end of the day, she recognizes her role. “It is whatever you want. Because you've hired me. I'm not particularly attached to this project. I'm gonna do whatever you want me to do, as long as you're paying me and we're not hurting anybody.” She understands it's not personal; it's almost always about something the client is worried about, and she doesn't have all the information. As long as the request isn't harmful and the client is willing to pay for it, she’s happy to oblige. Plus, she notes, “that's the beauty of the freelance world...I can always choose not to work with them again.”
Redefining Beauty: The Spirit You Bring
After a career spent meticulously crafting physical beauty, what does the concept itself mean to Ashley? Her answer is profound and deeply human.
“Beauty to me is just...the good spirit that you bring to things,” she reflects. “Your good attitude...you could create something physically beautiful but be an ugly human. And I wouldn't connect to that piece in any way.”
For her, true beauty is found in people who are kind, who treat others well on set, and who approach their work with a joyful and grateful heart. The production industry can be bright and shiny, but it can also make people jaded over time. Ashley chooses to focus on the magic of it all. “We get to do some really cool stuff,” she says. “Our jobs take us to the weirdest places that you would never even think about.”
Ultimately, she finds that an artist's character is inextricably linked to their work. “If you're a painter and you create this beautiful work of art and you're an awful person...I immediately lose [interest] in what you've created,” she explains. “‘Cause it doesn't connect to me anymore.” True, lasting beauty isn’t just about what you make; it’s about who you are while you’re making it.
