Step behind the curtain and into the world of Film, TV, and Theatre with Poly-Props in this lively podcast-style panel discussion. Hear from experienced creatives, makers, and educators who have brought productions to life across a wide range of roles – from immersive set design and prop making to special effects and behind-the-scenes problem solving.
Discover what really happens on set, how creative teams collaborate under pressure, and the unexpected skills that help professionals thrive in fast-paced production environments. Whether you’re an aspiring artist, a curious creative, or simply fascinated by the magic behind the screen and stage, this session offers an exciting glimpse into the industries from the people who live and breathe them every day.
Expect engaging stories, insider perspectives, practical advice, and plenty of passion for the craft, all delivered in an open and conversational format that invites curiosity and creativity. Come along, ask questions, and explore the many pathways into the creative industries with Poly-Props.
Richard McEvoy-Crompton – Creator Maker, Digital Fabricator and Educator
Richard McEvoy-Crompton is a creature maker, digital fabricator, and educator.
Specialising in character and creature work, particularly where traditional craft meets digital practice, Richard has built a career at the intersection of 3D printing, rapid prototyping, mould-making. His credits include work with Millennium FX on Doctor Who, Foundation, Return to Silent Hill, and Girl Troop vs Aliens, alongside a string of independent productions and charity projects (including producing a pilot for a supernatural TV series, because apparently the day job wasn’t weird enough.)
When he’s not in the workshop, Richard is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Greater Manchester (Bolton), where he’s spent over a decade working on courses with the kind of industry-first ethos that’s put a notable number of his graduates into professional FX studios. He has a first-class degree in Special Effects Development, a Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy, and the faint smell of silicone that never quite washes out.
He goes by @mrfabrikations online, though he’ll be the first to admit his Instagram is a crime scene.
John Noble – Creative and Lecturer at Northern School of Art
John has been involved in the world of filmmaking since the late 1980s, starting with special effects for home video camera horror films, progressing to Hollywood blockbusters by the early 2000s, and experiencing everything in between, including stints in television, independent short films, theatre and animation. John has experience in front of the camera, performing and puppeteering, but specialises in building the worlds that appear on screen, be it a prop, a model or a visual effect. With a career spanning over twenty years, John has made many contacts in the world of film, and is often called upon at very short notice to dress a set or create a prop or produce an obscure amputated body part or two.
John has worked in the east midlands as a freelance architectural, exhibition and prototype model maker, travelled to China when he was a new product development manager for a novelty gift brand company and spent nearly a decade as a member of The Northern School of Art BA (hons) Production Design for Stage and Screen team, before becoming a full-time lecturer on the BA (hons) Visual Effects and Model Making degree programme in 2018. Constantly expanding his skillsets and working alongside students to explore innovative solutions to ever-more intricate problems, John is always happy to share his knowledge and enjoys learning even more through the student experiences and successes.
Helen Davies – Designer and Creative Producer
Helen is a Creative Producer and Theatre Designer with over twenty-five years of experience across live events, theatre, dance, and community arts, creating dynamic visual experiences that combine storytelling, design, and audience engagement.
Alongside producing and designing projects, she spent eighteen years as a
Senior/Principal Lecturer in Design for Stage and Screen at Nottingham Trent
University, mentoring emerging creatives and championing accessible, collaborative design. With extensive experience in scale model-making, props, materials, and 3D form, her skills range from sketching and visual rendering through to CAD design, scenic rendering, and finished production with onsite builds. Helen brings fresh thinking, a positive can-do attitude, and thrives on delivering creative solutions to tight briefs — with the added bonus of a side hustle in stand-up comedy!
Thom Wall – Creative Fabricator and Educator
Thom Wall is a prop maker, creative fabricator, and maker educator. It started with a workbench in a spare bedroom and an obsession with replicating Daft Punk helmets, which grew to become a full-scale bespoke fabrication studio working across advertising, film and television, marketing, international art, and prop making.
Sorenzo Studios took on builds across multiple industries and disciplines. Sorenzo Workshops became the teaching arm, where he developed and delivered hands-on training in practical prop and model making. Thom also founded one of the UK’s premier cosplay conventions, helping pave the way for more niche event culture in the UK. From there he moved into film and television, accumulating credits across multiple productions and departments, including standby work on Harvest and Midwinter Break, SFX on Chemistry of Death, and hero props on Satanic Panic, among others, giving him an unusually broad understanding of how production really works.
Thom has worked at Complete Fabrications in Cambridge, specialists in prototype engineering and model making, operating at ultra-high tolerance across product development and prototyping, an experience that took his practical skills to an entirely different level. He has also worked at MakLab, one of Scotland’s leading makerspaces, and has mentored students at Northbrook College alongside a broader range of mentoring work in the making community. His practical skill set covers sculpting, mould making, casting, painting, woodworking, welding, machining, 3D printing, CNC, and laser cutting, and everything in between. A generalist by nature, and anything he doesn’t know, he’ll do a damn good job of figuring out.
He is currently collaborating with PolyProps on a structured education programme aimed at creating clear, practical pathways into the prop making and fabrication industry, helping the next generation of makers build the skills and confidence to get to work.
When he’s not in the workshop, he’s probably in somebody else’s. Or fixing his bike and spending prolonged periods of time in cold water. He’s on LinkedIn as Thom Wall, and Sorenzo Studios can be found on Instagram, Facebook, and at sorenzostudios.com.
