The objects on a screen may be silent, but they can carry an enormous share of a story. A weapon can establish danger before anyone speaks. A weathered family photo can give a character a past. A meal, a sign, a tool, a stack of letters or an apparently ordinary piece of furniture can make a fictional world feel inhabited. The Property Masters Guild put that work at the center of its third annual MacGuffin Awards on Saturday, honoring the property departments and food-styling professionals behind films, television series and short-form productions.

“One Battle After Another”, “Frankenstein” and “Avatar: Fire and Ash” were the feature-film winners across the ceremony’s contemporary, period and fantasy/science-fiction categories. Television awards went to productions including “The ’Burbs,” “Spider-Noir,” “Fallout,” “Widow’s Bay,” “Vampirina: Teenage Vampire,” “Chief of War” and “The Muppet Show.”

For readers interested in the screen-used-object side of pop culture, these honors are a useful reminder that a prop’s importance is not limited to what happens after a production wraps. Before an item can ever become an artifact associated with a film or series, it has to do a precise job within the story: establish place, reveal personality, support an action beat, or quietly tell the audience what kind of world it has entered. The MacGuffin Awards recognize the people responsible for that on-set storytelling work; the awards do not indicate that any of the productions’ props are being sold, displayed or otherwise made available to collectors.

Feature-film winners put three genres in focus

The Contemporary Feature Film award went to Matthew Cavaliero, PMG, and Robbie Duncan, PMG for “One Battle After Another.” Contemporary settings can be deceptively demanding for property teams. The audience already knows what present-day objects look like, which means every visible choice has to feel credible in a familiar environment while still serving the particular characters and story at hand.

Christopher Geggie received the Period Feature Film award for “Frankenstein.” Period work asks prop departments to help create a sense of time as well as place. Objects carry eras with them through their design, wear and material culture, which makes the choices surrounding them integral to the larger production design.

In Fantasy/Science Fiction Feature Film, the award went to Brad Elliott, PMG, and Melissa Spicer for “Avatar: Fire and Ash.” The category recognizes the particular challenge of making objects belong in settings beyond everyday reality. Whether a story takes viewers to a distant future, an invented civilization or an unfamiliar environment, the props must still communicate use, history and meaning clearly enough that audiences can follow the world.

Television honorees span contemporary, historical and fantastical worlds

The television categories covered a wide range of formats, from hour-long dramas and genre series to multi-camera comedy and variety programming. Sarah Snyder, PMG won One-Hour Contemporary Television Series for season one of “The ’Burbs.” The One-Hour Period Television Series prize went to Nicole Ruby, PMG for season one of “Spider-Noir.”

For One-Hour Fantasy/Science Fiction Television Series, the award was shared by Brad Einhorn, PMG, and Andy Siegel, PMG for “Fallout” season two. The distinction matters because television property work is sustained work: visual rules and objects must remain coherent over multiple episodes while continuing to support new locations, characters and plot developments.

Morgan Kling, PMG received the Half-Hour Single-Camera Television Series award for season one of “Widow’s Bay.” The Half-Hour Multi-Camera Television Series award went to Addison Esson for season one of “Vampirina: Teenage Vampire.” Though both are half-hour categories, their production formats differ, underscoring why the awards separate them.

The Television Miniseries honor recognized “Chief of War” and its team: Jane Gulick, PMG; Matthew Cornelius; Nick Komornicki, PMG; and Alvin Cabrinha. In the category for Variety, Reality, Game Show or Event Special, Theresa Corvino, PMG won for “The Muppet Show.”

For short-form work—covering commercials, music videos, short films and web series—the MacGuffin went to Robbie Duncan, PMG for “Brighter Days Ahead.” The inclusion of this category recognizes that prop storytelling does not depend on feature length. A short project has less time to establish a place or a person, often making every carefully chosen visible object count.

Recognition for service, food styling and a long property-department career

The ceremony also looked beyond its competitive production categories. Luis Castro received the Humanitarian Award for his work as a food stylist. Food styling belongs to the larger visual language of screen productions: what characters eat, how a table is arranged and the condition of a meal can all contribute information about setting, status, routine and mood.

Trish Reilly was presented with the President’s Award, recognizing her contributions to the property craft and food styling. Her credited production work includes “Obi-Wan,” “Rebel Moon,” “The Orville,” “Grotesquerie” and “American Horror Story.”

The Lifetime Achievement Award went to Barry Wilkinson, recognizing a property-department career of more than four decades. Career honors such as this point to the cumulative nature of behind-the-scenes expertise. On-screen props may be visible for seconds, but the work behind them rests on planning, coordination and an understanding of what the production needs an object to accomplish.

Why the MacGuffin name fits the craft

The awards take their name from the familiar storytelling idea of a “MacGuffin”: an object, goal or device that motivates characters and moves a plot forward. Not every prop is a MacGuffin in that dramatic sense, of course. Many are part of the texture of a location or the daily reality of a character. Yet the name gets at a key point: objects can be active participants in visual storytelling rather than passive decoration.

The Property Masters Guild advocates for awareness of the property-master craft and the role of design in productions. In remarks attached to the honors, co-chairs Corvino Elliott and Lauren Shell emphasized that property masters build character and construct the worlds stories occupy, while props can directly propel the narrative. That is an especially useful lens for anyone who tends to remember a favorite movie or show through its things: the landmark vehicle, the signature accessory, the piece of equipment, the desk clutter or the odd background artifact that makes a set feel real.

That relationship between objects and memory is also why film and television material has a lasting place in pop-culture collecting, even when an award itself is focused on the work done during production rather than the later fate of an item. The artistic value of a prop begins with its context—who handled it, where it appeared, what it told viewers—and not simply with its physical survival. For another screen-focused read, see “On Behalf of My Son” and its demanding study of grief.

Complete 2026 MacGuffin Awards winners list

  • Contemporary Feature Film: “One Battle After Another” — Matthew Cavaliero, PMG, and Robbie Duncan, PMG
  • Period Feature Film: “Frankenstein” — Christopher Geggie
  • Fantasy/Science Fiction Feature Film: “Avatar: Fire and Ash” — Brad Elliott, PMG, and Melissa Spicer
  • One-Hour Contemporary Television Series: “The ’Burbs” season one — Sarah Snyder, PMG
  • One-Hour Period Television Series: “Spider-Noir” season one — Nicole Ruby, PMG
  • One-Hour Fantasy/Science Fiction Television Series: “Fallout” season two — Brad Einhorn, PMG, and Andy Siegel, PMG
  • Half-Hour Single-Camera Television Series: “Widow’s Bay” season one — Morgan Kling, PMG
  • Half-Hour Multi-Camera Television Series: “Vampirina: Teenage Vampire” season one — Addison Esson
  • Television Miniseries: “Chief of War” — Jane Gulick, PMG, Matthew Cornelius, Nick Komornicki, PMG, and Alvin Cabrinha
  • Variety, Reality, Game Show or Event Special: “The Muppet Show” — Theresa Corvino, PMG
  • Short Format: “Brighter Days Ahead” — Robbie Duncan, PMG
  • Humanitarian Award: Luis Castro
  • President’s Award: Trish Reilly
  • Lifetime Achievement Award: Barry Wilkinson