Sara Riney works in the film industry as a set decoration buyer, meaning she acquires lighting, rugs, electronics, and furniture to the specifications of a crew’s set decorator. That can include period furniture and vintage materials. If the set’s outside, it can mean dumpsters, car parts, electric power poles, or anything needed to set a realistic exterior scene.
“It’s kind of a wild goose chase every single day, but that’s the fun part of it,” she said.
Wrangling a hectic schedule, no day is ever the same for Riney, and she’s a master of flexibility around the many twists and turns of filmmaking. However, Riney loves the job because of the fascinating characters she encounters.
“For example, there may be a very special tool that is only available from some certain guy that happens to hoard that tool. And then you get to meet him and look in his warehouse, and see all kinds of interesting things that he has in there,” said Riney.
However, sometimes the set needs something a little stranger: “If a director decides that they want a baby grand piano that’s painted with tiger stripes, well, that’s not something you’re going to find, and that’s something we have to get made.”
