For MACCAM, based in Los Angeles, California, catering specifically to gaffers, COVID-19 has been a roller coaster. In March, we had to scale down because we didn't know what the future would hold, says Michael McDonald, Maccam's President. But thankfully in June, commercials started to pick up for us, and by Q4, business was back to its pre-COVID numbers; 2021 is shaping up to be even better.
Orbiter at On Our Way indie film set. DP Alex Salahi
The latest ARRI fixture, Orbiter, drove demand for lights at the end of 2020. Everyone was chomping at the bit, says McDonald. My customers absolutely love the color science and the technology that a small matrix of LEDs opens up; it offers so many optic solutions. He continues, we'd love to see smaller and bigger optics sizes adding that his customers are especially looking forward to more accessories like the Projection optics.
Even though the demand for LED sources is booming, HMI and Tungsten-especially the larger units, like ARRI's M40 and T12, remain essential. HMIs and large Tungsten won't go away any time soon, assures McDonald.
The gaffers his company supports, all of whom are involved in top studio projects, are looking for versatile fixtures that can replace two or more units from their trucks as they scale to five tons and sprinters. If you can get a fixture like the Orbiter that can lower your footprint, that's ergonomic. When asked what trends he might see for 2021, McDonald comments, The biggest trends for new fixtures coming to the market are harder light and more optics-and our customers are delighted. New fun and creative projects will be coming soon!
At Pacific Backlot, a subsidiary of Vancouver Film Studios, General Manager Derek Hall reports his company serves the many clients that come through the studios' 12 stages, facilitating lighting and grip needs. Last March, when COVID-19 hit, production came to a halt at
Vancouver Film Studios and Pacific Backlot. During that period, we used the time to improve the facilities, Hall remembers. In October, productions came roaring back. We're a 40-show town, he says, referring to Vancouver. He continues: In October, 60 productions started up. We had more work the last three months of the year than we've ever had. With the number of simultaneous productions, the demand for lights was quite high. I brought in gear from other places to help facilitate the needs of our customers. Hall also notes changes in the lighting world: The demand for LEDs is growing year by year. It's not a trend anymore-it's becoming the norm.
At Pacific Backlot, Hall reports that they have purchased ARRI LED and Tungsten fixtures over the years to meet the lighting needs on Vancouver Film Studios' stages. This year, we diversified, he says. We want to be able to serve our customers off the lot, when they go on location. To do that, we additionally purchased a lot of HMIs last year and this year and we'll be purchasing more. Another fixture that will go out on location is the ARRI Orbiter. It's a versatile light, says Hall. One of the main features we all want is the Leko adapter. With that, we see it as an LED joker light.
ARRI HMIs at Pacific Backlot
With the growing popularity of LEDs, Hall sees Tungsten lights as dying dinosaurs. Three years ago, they were a no-brainer, he says. That's changed. But Tungsten will always be needed, especially the bigger fixtures-just not in the same quantities.
Today, all 12 operating stages at Vancouver Film Studios are full of productions from Apple, Warner Bros., and Freeform Disney. Hall predicts that productions will continue to follow COVID-19 safety protocols. But it isn't a big hassle anymore, he says. There was a learning curve and the productions have it dialed in now. It's not going to stop anything in Vancouver.
Social distance video production setup in an office building
According to General Manager Michel Suissa, The Studio at B&H largely serves institutional, non-traditional productions, from a wide range of sectors. Everyone is bringing production inhouse, from internal communications to training the sales force, he comments. Non-traditional spaces are being turned into studios, like transforming a conference room into an insert stage. With regard to lighting, anything that enables remote control is big. We've seen new markets emerge in ways we haven't seen in the past because the opportunity and the need were presented to these communities due to the pandemic.
Production Sales Engineer Danielo Garcia reports that at the beginning of 2020, some projects went cold, but B&H was able to continue to work remotely: After the first dip, dormant projects came back on and new projects we weren't expecting came online. We needed more equipment and more locations to make things happen, and that drove a boom in lighting. Suissa reveals that virtual production has been a new development in the industry-and it calls for LED lighting. It's a good alternative to green screen and it means that lighting on set becomes more sophisticated, he says. It's been driving a renewed request for lighting in general.
Lighting design for multi-location livestream with remote lighting control via Cine Miranda, lighting rental provided by Kinetic Lighting. Photo credit: Lighting Designer Andrew Schmedake
In terms of trends in lighting, both Suissa and Garcia say that LED is the flavor. That's where everyone wants to go, says Garcia. There's still going to be a need for HMI, but people are gravitating to the ARRI SkyPanel and Orbiter. Suissa says that customer feedback on the Orbiter is slowly coming to us-It's still relatively new, he adds. Lots of people are still figuring out what applications it's best for. It&
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
08/09/2026
Comcast Technology Solutions (CTS) has announced a multi-year agreement with A E...
08/09/2026
Spectra Logic today announced the availability of Media Insight, a new capabilit...
08/09/2026
Rogers Communications and Quebecor have announced a 12-year sublicensing agreement for French-language national NHL games beginning with the 2026-27 season. TVA...
08/09/2026
Skyline Communications and Bridge Technologies will demonstrate two integrations...
08/09/2026
Boland Communications will make the European debut of its 4K55HDR7SNB 55-inch super-narrow-bezel monitor at IBC2026 (Stand 12.C57, RAI Amsterdam, September 11-1...
08/09/2026
Ateme and Comcast Technology Solutions (CTS) have announced a collaboration comb...
08/09/2026
Haivision has joined the IBC Accelerator Media Innovation Programme as part of t...
08/09/2026
Blackmagic Design has announced price reductions on its PYXIS 6K and Cinema Camera 6K models, effective immediately through Blackmagic Design resellers worldwid...
08/09/2026
AI-Media will demonstrate its LEXI Suite at IBC2026 (Booth 5.C34, September 11-1...
08/09/2026
Bitmovin and Ad Insertion Platform (AIP) have announced the first live deploymen...
08/09/2026
Grass Valley will demonstrate story-centric media workflows at IBC2026 (Booth 9.A01, RAI Amsterdam, September 11-14), connecting newsroom production, content ma...
08/09/2026
M2A Media and Ateme have announced a partnership integrating Ateme's video processing solutions into M2A Media's MediaToAnywhere platform for live sport...
08/09/2026
Ikegami will exhibit at IBC2026 (Stand 12.A31, RAI Amsterdam, September 11-14), including a Day 1 introduction of new cameras in the UNICAM XE series. Additiona...
08/09/2026
Broadcast industry analysts will be gathering plenty of insights at the 2026 IBC Show this weekend in Amsterdam, but Caretta Research has offered up some though...
08/09/2026
SENSHI and DAZN have announced a global broadcast partnership that will bring SENSHI's live events free to viewers in more than 200 markets. The partnership...
08/09/2026
New architecture built with Evertz will bring 4K HDR to Monday Night Football, N...
08/09/2026
Built for rap producers, by rap producers
Sauceware Audio, the independent plug-in company founded by Grammy-nominated producer Jacob (Travis Scott, 21 Sava...
08/09/2026
Classic Sound Techniques design revived
Warm Audio's latest release delivers a meticulous recreation of the preamp circuitry employed by the Sound Techn...
08/09/2026
Latest soft synth inspired by the Memorymoog
XILS Lab have just launched a software instrument that draws its inspiration from Moog's iconic Memorymoog,...
08/09/2026
The Airport Chaplain takes off as SBS's biggest launch of 2026
8 September, 2026
Media releases
1.67 million viewers on National Total TV to date
Best...
08/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/09/2026
Mo-Sys, the world-leading developer of virtual production, camera robotics and image tracking technology, has completed a business restructuring, which has incl...
08/09/2026
New York, September 8, 2026 The TSAmediaHUB audiovisual contribution and distribution infrastructure developed by Telef nica's Audiovisual Services area re...
08/09/2026
Expanded Riyadh operation brings Asharq and Thmanyah services together on a resilient on-premises Pebble platform.
Pebble, the leading automation, content mana...
08/09/2026
Techex, a pioneering leader in live video workflows, will showcase its broadest software feature set to date at IBC 2026 (Stand 2.B45), extending its lead in so...
08/09/2026
Visitors to Grass Valley's booth at IBC2026 will be introduced to new Framelight X capabilities that connect content acquisition, management, editing and pu...
08/09/2026
BCNEXXT will showcase the latest evolution of Vipe at IBC2026 (Stand 2.B09), introducing a series of innovations designed to deliver higher-quality audience exp...
08/09/2026
Bitmovin, a provider of video streaming solutions, has partnered with Ad Insertion Platform (AIP), a leading innovator in advanced ad insertion technologies, to...
08/09/2026
Brainstorm, a leading manufacturer of real-time graphics and augmented and virtual production, is announcing a major package of enhancements to its Suite 7 soft...
08/09/2026
Big Blue Marble is supporting TDF, French infrastructure and network operator, broadcasting Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) and radio services, as a techno...
08/09/2026
Agents work inside a single production environment, from incoming wire copy to a live studio show...
08/09/2026
Building on their strategic partnership, Ceeblue and Layercake make the unthinkable possible: scalable sub-second streaming over standard DRM, SSAI, and CDN wor...
08/09/2026
Brainstorm, a leading manufacturer of real-time graphics, augmented and virtual production, is completing the environment for fast-paced broadcast production wi...
08/09/2026
A SaaS portfolio built to work together, helping operators grow audiences, monetise smarter and run leaner, on their own terms
At IBC 2026 (stand 1.B49) Synam...
08/09/2026
Accedo, global provider of video streaming software and services, has been selected by PlayOn Sports, a national leader in high school sports technology, to exp...
08/09/2026
LiveU, the leader in live IP-video solutions, is enabling The Associated Press to take global newsgathering to the next stage with intelligent connectivity and ...
08/09/2026
Mediagenix, a global leader in smart content solutions to profitably connect the right content to the right audience, today announced the latest evolution of it...
08/09/2026
Compact, power-efficient X Platform performance brings broadcast-grade reliability and ultra-low latency to space-constrained remote production (REMI) workflows...
08/09/2026
Zixi, the leader in live video delivery and workflow orchestration, and Kiloview, a leading provider of professional IP video encoding and decoding solutions, t...
08/09/2026
Collaboration gives content owners scalable CDN capacity and broadcasters enhanced flexibility, including for C-band transition planning
Quortex today announce...
08/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/09/2026
Telos Alliance and Pluxbox Announce Dynamic Media Facility Integration Partnersh...
08/09/2026
J nger Audio Showcases Industry-First S-ADM Cloud Workflow at IBC 2026
Search
Dolby, MainConcept, Techex and J nger Audio will showcase the industry's ...
08/09/2026
Tuesday 8 September 2026
Sky Go gets a major upgrade for Sky Glass and Sky Stream customers
Today, Sky launches a new version of the Sky Go app for Sky Glass ...
08/09/2026
Documentary thriller simulating a Russian attack on UK soil will culminate in a live final episode reuniting the playersTuesday 8 September 2026
Trailer releas...
08/09/2026
Tuesday 8 September 2026
Jamie Demetriou and Amelia Dimoldenberg to host next t...
08/09/2026
Wuppertal September 8, 2026
Riedel Introduces New OnAir Headset PlatformRiedel Communications today announced the launch of its new OnAir headset platform, a...
For MACCAM, based in Los Angeles, California, catering specifically to gaffers, COVID-19 has been a roller coaster. In March, we had to scale down because we didn't know what the future would hold, says Michael McDonald, Maccam's President. But thankfully in June, commercials started to pick up for us, and by Q4, business was back to its pre-COVID numbers; 2021 is shaping up to be even better. 
