Property master Dean Goodine learned hands-on from some of the best in the industry on sets like Unforgiven. He ensures anything an actor moves or uses is ready, era-authentic and fits how the character. It can be nerve-racking to pick up the phone and call screen legends he’s admired for years, but the actors see him as an essential part of their team.
While Dean enjoys working with the likes of Robert Duvall, Anthony Hopkins, Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman and Paul Gross, he also works with people whose everyday lives are outside the industry: law enforcement officials for Mayerthorpe, a specialist in plate glass photography for The Assassination of Jesse James. “The historical detail that went into every single item we put on that set was unsurpassed by anything that I’ve done,” he says; even the actors’ daily newspapers were reprints from the archives. Other career highlights: standing at the foot of a crane while 800 samurai on horseback charged past him (Ten to Chi to), and understanding Canadian valour during the First World War (Passchendaele). “Any time you get to dig into your own history…that’s a pretty amazing experience.” —Dawn Renaud
