Inventory Management and Other Recent PERG Coffee Breaks

| PERG News: June 2026 |

  

Now on YouTube!

• GFX Eterna 55 and the growing accessibility of 65mm Large Format, June 2026
• RFID Implementation Best Practices and Real World Usage, May 2026
• Zeiss Aatma Primes, May 2026
• From Chaos to Control: Smart Inventory Management, April 2026

PERG's April 9, 2026 EWI Coffee Break focused on one of the most critical—and often overlooked—elements of rental house operations: inventory management. For this panel discussion on smart and efficient inventory practices, PERG welcomed three experienced rental house professionals: Chris Cottone of ARRI Rental, Alex Will of Daufenbach Camera, and Nick McKay of Keslow Camera.

The panelists emphasized that effective inventory systems are essential to understanding what equipment is available, where it is located, and how it is being utilized. As rental businesses grow, manual tracking methods quickly become inadequate, making specialized inventory software indispensable for maximizing efficiency and profitability. The discussion underscored that inventory management affects every department in a rental house and has a direct impact on the customer experience.

Maintaining accurate service histories for equipment, particularly high-value assets, was identified as another key priority. Nick McKay noted that detailed records not only support insurance claims but also help rental companies meet—and exceed—client expectations. The panel also stressed the importance of standardized naming conventions. Chris Cottone described the challenges of maintaining consistency across a global organization and explained that using technical product names rather than industry slang helps ensure that items remain easily searchable and universally understood.

Drawing on Daufenbach Camera's experience with a database transition, Alex Will explained how the company used the opportunity to refine item descriptions, providing greater insight into equipment utilization, maintenance requirements, and profitability. All three panelists agreed that extensive employee training in naming standards and data entry practices is essential to maintaining efficient workflows across departments.

The conversation also explored the benefits and challenges of barcoding equipment. While barcode systems improve tracking and operational efficiency, panelists noted that decisions about which items to barcode depend on factors such as equipment value, the need for service histories, and the practical ability to scan individual items. Chris and Nick shared lessons learned from managing barcodes on lenses and camera packages, emphasizing the importance of consistent barcode placement, regular maintenance, and employee training to address worn or missing labels.

Joining the discussion near the conclusion of the Coffee Break, Melissa Guzman of Rental Works highlighted features designed to maintain accurate records and protect against data loss. Bo Srisamutngam of Rental Tracker discussed safeguards built into inventory management software, including audit trails that document changes to item names and pricing, helping companies reduce errors and maintain accountability.

PERG's EWI Coffee Breaks are an important component of the Equitable Workforce Initiative, providing participants with broader exposure to rental house operations and expanding upon the hands-on training they receive at their member companies. In addition to supporting EWI candidates, these sessions offer valuable technical and operational training resources for the entire PERG membership as companies continue to develop and onboard new employees.

All PERG Coffee Breaks are available for viewing on the ESTA YouTube channel.

Want to learn more about PERG's Equitable Workforce Initiative (EWI)?

You are Invited to an AICP Town Hall Meeting – A Discussion Between Rental Partners

| PERG News: March 2026 |

On March 12, the AICP has invited PERG to make the presentation at their weekly virtual Town Hall meeting. The presentation is intended to offer commercial producers greater understanding of how equipment ends up on their film sets and discusses safety and the economic viability of the professional motion picture rental house in the future. Rental companies have always been key partners in producing commercials, movies, and TV shows, and the speakers will discuss why this topic matters to the production industry.

The speakers for the event are long-time veterans of the rental industry. Mark Wofford has provided strategic leadership as an executive for 38 years. He is the former president and CEO of Production Consultants and Equipment in Atlanta, where he still serves on the board of directors. Mark is currently Owner of MFW Consulting, LLC. John Cini is former President and Co-founder of High Output in Boston, where he was at the helm for 40 years. He currently serves on the board of directors of Ansera. Both presenters have served the rental community as members of the PERG Council and on the ESTA Board of Directors representing rental companies.

Rental companies have long been under intense pressure. In the past year, seven rental companies have gone out of business in Los Angeles alone. The AICP Town Hall presentation aims to present a balanced view of the realities including a focus on the dangers of crowdsourcing production equipment, related safety concerns (see Lithium Battery Safety: What You Need to Know in this Newsletter), and other challenges.

The weekly AICP Town Hall virtual meetings are well attended. As AICP general members include larger companies that tend to rent rather than own equipment, the AICP expects the audience will be receptive. 

For this town hall, the AICP is extending an invitation to all PERG members to attend in addition to AICP associate members and general members. PERG encourages its members to participate. Please watch for an invitation in your email in the coming weeks.

EWI Produces Coffee Breaks for All Rental Employees

| PERG News: March 2026 |

PERG’s Equitable Workforce Initiative has partnered with many PERG members over the past three years. So far, the program has trained thirteen new energetic, passionate, young people who are now starting the assume positions of greater responsibility and importance at their companies or who have moved on and have successfully established themselves in the freelance crews. This year six more EWI trainees will begin their journey.

An important benefit of the program is the EWI-focused Coffee break series. These virtual educational sessions support rental companies participating in the program by exposing trainees to a variety of business and technical topics. Program Coordinator, Alison Cupples, brings in experts from many different disciplines within the production eco system to give EWI trainees a broad perspective. The sessions are open to all PERG members, and people from company owners to check out technicians have enjoyed the educational sessions.

Alison has new topics planned for 2026. One topic that is critical to rental operations is inventory management – what’s involved in optimizing quick and efficient turnarounds so that a company can get the most out of their assets? What are the tools you need to know about?  Another big topic, that everyone knows is essential, but many people have trouble wrapping the head around -- insurance. In a series of short, easy to understand, informative sessions with experts from various areas, these Coffee Breaks will help employees understand the real-world impact of policy provisions and explain it in a way that people can understand, remember, and refer to with confidence. 

If your company has a topic idea that could be a general benefit to rental employees, we would love to hear about it. Or if your company provides services or products to the rental community and you have information to share, please contact Harry or Alison at perg@ESTA.org.

EWI Coffee Breaks and PERG Coffee Breaks Available on YouTube:

• Part I, The Client Experience 
• Part II, The Equipment Life Cycle 
• Top Things to Know about Sony Cinema Cameras
• The Role of the Lens Technician with Matthew Duclos 
• Introduction to Data Types and Technologies with ETC
• Introduction to Lighting Controls with ETC
• Working with Film and Film Cameras in the Digital Age
• Portable Power Distribution Systems
• Sony Burano
• Sony Burano Mini Masterclass
• Sony Venice Mini Masterclass
• Red Flags in COIs
• Protection Your Battery Investment, February 2021
• Taking an Innovative Approach to Portable Battery Power with Joule Case, February 2025 
• Portable Power and the Role of the Rigging Crew 
• Understand Your Legal Liability, June 2025
• Sony Cinema Updates, August 2025
• Behind the Scenes, March 2021  

Liability of Third-Party-Owned Equipment Plus PERG Contract Addendum for Limiting Rental Company Exposure

| PERG News: June 2025 |

Understand Your Legal Liability, June 2025 

In PERG’s recent Coffee Break, Understanding Your Legal Liability, four experts in the field explored liability as it relates to equipment rented by “third parties” like crew members. Over the past 20 years, industry practice has evolved, opening potentially serious exposure when third parties rent equipment with no contract and potentially little to no liability insurance. The panel described renters’ standard obligations and the steps they must take to protect themselves from liability exposure. The panel explored what happens in cases where defective equipment plays a part in an injury or property loss, and helped rental companies and production companies understand how they are implicated. 

Seventy-two people from PERG rental companies and from AICP production companies attended the Zoom meeting, which was held on Friday, June 20. Many attendees asked practical questions and described real-world scenarios, and the group of experts responded with clarity. The meeting was recorded; see link above. 

In the meeting, PERG introduced new sample language rental companies may adopt aimed at closing the liability gap. This addendum to the rental contract was developed to codify the contractual relationship between third-party equipment owners, the rental house, and production for third-party equipment billed through the rental house. The goal is to have the third-party equipment supplier agree to the same standards that the rental house must meet when renting equipment to production.  There are also provisions in the addendum whereby the third-party equipment owner agrees to indemnify and defend the rental house/production company against claims arising from defective or improperly maintained equipment. Lastly, the addendum specifies insurance requirements and minimum liability policy limits that must be maintained by the third-party equipment owner. These insurance requirements match the limits required by production in the standard rental terms and conditions between the rental house and production. The addendum was developed by PERG and approved by AICP and PERG legal counsel.

Scott Taylor (Taylor & Taylor Associates) was the mediator and contributor to the meeting. The three panelists have in-depth knowledge of the motion picture and television industry, and more specifically, the terms and conditions under which motion picture camera, lighting and grip equipment is rented to production. Attorney William Manning, a partner at Morris Duffy Alonso Faley & Pitcoff, has handled claims in the entertainment space. His firm provides legal defense work for insurance carriers on behalf of policyholders. Carol Driscoll, Senior Vice President of claims for SoundView, has spent most of her career handling entertainment industry liability claims. SoundView is a claim adjusting firm that handles Allianz/Fireman’s Fund and Arch policies. David Seaman is the entertainment practice leader for Hiscox who has spent his career underwriting entertainment risks. 

Below are the crib notes from the meeting.

Today's Coffee Break will focus on how a motion picture and television equipment rental company should think about their legal exposures, transfer risk to responsible parties, update their rental terms and conditions, and prevent claims from happening, as well as business and management characteristics that underwriters look for when underwriting a risk.  

1) The business liability environment, the increase in the frequency and severity of claims, and the causal relationship that must be proved to successfully bring a liability claim.

a) Claim against the equipment rental house: 

i) Did the Rental House put a defective product out on rental? 

ii) Was the product defective when it left the Rental House’s possession? 

iii) Was the product used by the customer in a reasonably foreseeable manner? 

iv) Did a third party suffer harm because of the defective product? IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT THE RENTAL HOUSE DOES NOT HAVE TO BE THE OWNER OF THE DEFECTIVE PIECE OF EQUIPMENT.

b) Claim against the production company: 

i) Did the production company receive equipment in good working condition? 

ii) Did the equipment get damaged after it left the rental house? 

iii) Was the equipment misused by the production company? 

iv) Did the equipment damage or misuse of the equipment cause injury or damage to a third party? 

2) Potential causes of claims from production equipment: 

a) Manufacturing or maintenance defects 

b) Design defects 

c) Failure to Warn or Instruct 

d) Misuse/negligent use of equipment 

3) The necessity of rental terms and conditions agreements that makes the party who supplied the defective equipment responsible for the defense costs and damages and the need for liability insurance that will fund the culpable party’s legal obligations. 

a) There should be a rental terms and conditions agreement between the rental house and production, the rental house and sub-rental house(s), and the rental house and third-party owners. 

b) The terms and conditions agreement should at the very least contain the following provisions: risk of loss of the equipment, insurance requirements, indemnification provision, disclaimer of liability for production downtime, extra expense, production overages or consequential loss, inspection and testing and limited representations or warranties. 

c) The indemnification provision should require that the party responsible for placing defective equipment out on rental agree to indemnify and defend the innocent party. 

d) The rental terms and conditions and rental terms and conditions addendum needs to be signed by all parties. 

4) The claims process:

a) When a summons and complaint is received and forwarded to an insurance carrier: 

i) The claims adjuster will verify who is insured and coverage. 

ii) Depending on the fact pattern they might hire a cause and origin investigator. 

iii) Engage legal counsel. 

iv) Have the summons and complaint answered by counsel. 

v) Tender the claim to those carriers/parties legally or contractually liable to defend and settle the matter. 

b) Clarification of any misconceptions: 

i) A Third-Party Owner will not be covered by the rental house liability insurance policy for claims brought against their company for claims arising from defective equipment that they supplied for the rental. The rental house policyholder cannot extend the benefits of their policy to another individual or business to cover their negligence or failure to maintain the equipment.

ii) It is possible for a rental house to be liable for injuries caused by a defective product even though that business did not own the defective product. The business is the deep pockets and the only company with liability insurance or assets. 

5) The factors and attitude of management that go into making a business a risk that an insurance carrier wants as a customer. Things a business can do to reduce the likelihood of product liability claims are as follows: 

a) Thorough product testing and maintenance procedures to ensure the safety of the product. 

b) Warning labels in conspicuous easy to see places on the product. 

c) Stay current on industry regulations and compliance standards.

d) Maintain accurate procurement and maintenance records. 

e) Promptly address customer complaints and reports of defective products. 

f) Transfer of risk to a third party.

6) *Production Equipment Rental Group* (PERG). You can be confident doing business with a PERG member because they: 

a) Agree to adhere to ESTA's Code of Conduct.

b) Carry the appropriate insurance coverages.

c) Offer product maintenance, repair and support.

d) Are committed to the highest quality customer service.

e) Keep up to date on the latest standards and regulations. 

f) Maintain commercial premises with regular business hours, inventory, and staff to assist you.

Disclaimer: This presentation is designed as a service to PERG and AICP Members and is intended only to provide general information on the subject covered and not as a comprehensive or exhaustive treatment of that subject, legal advice or a legal opinion. Members are advised to consult with legal counsel and other professionals with respect to the application of the subject covered to any specific production or other factual situation. PERG and AICP recognize and encourage the fact that each company exercises its own independent business judgement regarding the terms and conditions under which it operates, and this presentation is intended to inform and assist the independent decision process. The brief description of coverage used throughout this presentation is intended for informational purposes and to simplify difficult concepts to grasp. This presentation is not intended to express any legal opinion as to the nature of coverage. You must read the actual insurance policies to determine exact coverage.

 

PERG Coffee Breaks on YouTube

| PERG News: April 2025 |

  

PERG recently posted two new PERG Coffee Breaks. Look for the PERG Coffee Break playlists on the ESTA YouTube channel. 

Do you have suggestions for future PERG Coffee Breaks? Is there an industry business person or tech expert you’d like to hear from? Is there a trend you think PERG should explore? Is there another industry group we should collaborate with? Let us know at perg@esta.org.

Taking an Innovative Approach to Portable Battery Power with Joule Case

Sony BURANO Firmware Version 2.0 with Renan Ozturk and
Sony’s Product Manager Simon Marsh

Coffee Breaks Greatest Hits 2023-2025

Business and Theft
Plaid Identity Verification - a new ESTA member benefit

Red Flags on COIs and Best Practices for Customer Vetting

Running A Successful Rental Company, Part II, The Equipment Life Cycle

Running and Successful Rental Company. Part I: The Client Experience

Battery Generators
Taking an Innovative Approach to Portable Battery Power with Joule Case

Right-Sizing Generators and Battery power with Valid Manufacturing

The Future of Power with Anton Bauer

Camera

Sony BURANO Firmware Version 2.0

Film and Film Cameras in The Digital Age

Sony Burano Mini Masterclass

Sony Venice II Mini Masterclass

Small HD PageOS and what rental companies need to know

Small HD - Display Calibration with Mike Claes

Display Calibration with Bram Desmet, Flanders Scientific

The Path to Cinema Lens Technician, Matthew Duclos

Top Things About Sony Cinema Cameras

Lighting

ARRI Skypanel X with Brian Doran

Intro to Lighting Controls ETC

Astera's Efficiency Tricks - Small details, huge impact

Intro To Data Types for Lighting Control

Check out these YouTube Playlists for additional titles: PERG Coffee Breaks, PERG EWI Coffee Breaks.

EWI Coffee Break -- Portable Power and the Job of the Rigging Crew

| PERG News: March 2025 |

Jim Mitchell, and Harry Box offer a primer on portable power distribution systems. Learn more about the roles of the best boy, rigging crew, and the rental company in making everything run smoothly for the shooting crew. Jim and Harry will begin with a primer on portable power distribution system and then broaden the discussion to real-world challenges for electrical rigging.

Wednesday, March 26, 2025.
10 am PT, 11 am Mountain, 12 pm Central, 1 pm Eastern. 

REGISTER

EWI Coffee Breaks are an opportunity for rental staff to get insights into areas where they may not yet have had much exposure. This session is appropriate for beginners as well as old hands.

Jim Mitchell’s credits as Assistant Chief Lighting Technician (Best Boy) include Ted, American Hustle, The Equalizer, and recently Season 2 of Walking Dead: Dead City.  He also works frequently as a Rigging Best Boy (Little Women, Don’t Look Up, Spirited, Madame Web). Originally from Pittsburgh, film school at BU brought him to Boston where he has been a member of Local 481 for 29 years.

Harry Box is the author of the Set Lighting Technicians Handbook. First published in 1993 and now in its 5th Edition, the book has served as a training manual and reference for lighting technicians for 32 years. Before becoming a lighting technician in LA, Harry started his career building cables and fixing equipment in to back of a Chicago rental house. He became a gaffer in Los Angeles and later a camera operator. For 12 years Harry has been the manager of PERG. He also develops training courses for the Safety Passport training program in southern California. He and his family now live in Massachusetts.

PERG Coffee Breaks on YouTube

| PERG News: March 2025 |

  

PERG recently posted two new PERG Coffee Breaks. Look for the PERG Coffee Break playlists on the ESTA YouTube channel.

Taking an Innovative Approach to Portable Battery Power with Joule Case

Sony BURANO Firmware Version 2.0 with Renan Ozturk and
Sony’s Product Manager Simon Marsh

Coffee Breaks Greatest Hits 2023-2025

Business and Theft
Plaid Identity Verification - a new ESTA member benefit

Red Flags on COIs and Best Practices for Customer Vetting

Running A Successful Rental Company, Part II, The Equipment Life Cycle

Running and Successful Rental Company. Part I: The Client Experience

Battery Generators
Taking an Innovative Approach to Portable Battery Power with Joule Case

Right-Sizing Generators and Battery power with Valid Manufacturing

The Future of Power with Anton Bauer

Camera

Sony BURANO Firmware Version 2.0

Film and Film Cameras in The Digital Age

Sony Burano Mini Masterclass

Sony Venice II Mini Masterclass

Small HD PageOS and what rental companies need to know

Small HD - Display Calibration with Mike Claes

Display Calibration with Bram Desmet, Flanders Scientific

The Path to Cinema Lens Technician, Matthew Duclos

Top Things About Sony Cinema Cameras

Lighting

ARRI Skypanel X with Brian Doran

Intro to Lighting Controls ETC

Astera's Efficiency Tricks - Small details, huge impact

Intro To Data Types for Lighting Control

Check out these YouTube Playlists for additional titles: PERG Coffee Breaks, PERG EWI Coffee Breaks.

PERG Updates

| PERG News: January 2025 |

 

PERG Coffee Break - Sony BURANO Firmware Version 2

February 5th, 10 am Pacific, 11 am Mountain, 12 pm Central, 1 pm Eastern

Join us as Sony gives PERG members a preview of the BURANO’s new firmware coming in March. BURANO Version 2.0 will include additional recording modes, added support for SDI output, proxy recording and more. Sony’s team will share where the BURANO is currently being used, who has tested the firmware, and more.

[REGISTER]

PERG Public Calendar. Did you hear about a PERG a Coffee Break or a training event or user group meeting, but you don’t know when it is? Check the PERG Public Calendar. 

Suggestions. Did you have an idea you’d like to suggest to PERG? We are all ears. Talk to a peer on the PERG Council or shoot Harry an email or post something on the PERG General Slack channel. Want an invitation to join PERG’s Slack channel? Please contact the PERG Manager.

Did you know? Did you know that you get a subscription to Protocol with your PERG membership? Protocol is a unique quarterly publication—a technical journal for professionals in the entertainment technology industry featuring columns and articles on business, technical topics, standards issues, certification developments, trade shows, and PERG programs. This issue of the PERG Newsletter features two excellent stories from Protocol’s Winter issue. Every member should receive a physical copy of the journal. If you aren't, let us know!

RENTAL GUARD. In our recent survey, 21% of PERG members said they are not sure if everyone at their company is receiving alerts who should be. Over the past two years, many rental companies have had personnel changes. Consequently, PERG deleted RENTAL GUARD accounts that bounced emails. Are the appropriate people at your company still receiving RENTAL GUARD alerts? Go to Missingequipment.org to re-register.

Identity Verification, ESTA Announces Major New Member Benefit

| PERG News: January 2025 |

See a Demonstration at PERG Coffee Break
Until now, sophisticated automated identification verification services have been out of reach for many ESTA/PERG members. Plaid is one of the leading services trusted by over 8000 leading brands. ESTA is thrilled to make the service available and affordable to ESTA members by a special arrangement with Plaid that leverages our collective buying power as a trade association. 

PERG will be hosting a Coffee Break demonstration on February 11th. We’ll demonstrate the verification process, show the results that Plaid provides, and describe the on-boarding process for companies that are interested in having their own Plaid dashboard.

February 11th, 10 am PT, 11am Mountain, 12 pm Central, 1 pm Eastern

[REGISTER]

Level-up Your Fraud-Detection Powers
Plaid’s slogan is, “More customers, minus the fraudsters.” Plaid uses a streamlined process that takes only a couple minutes and provides information that can tell you if a new "customer" is a risk. We are hopeful that access to Plaid will greatly enhance new-customer vetting procedures, save staff time, provide greater peace of mind, and help save companies from serious losses due to fraud. If you detect a bad actor, you can share that information via RENTAL GUARD and benefit the entire community.

What Does Plaid Do and How Does it Work?
The Plaid system confirms a customer’s identity information in less than three minutes, while simultaneously analyzing a wide range of risk signals. These include device and IP checks, email checks, phone checks, stolen and synthetic identity risk scoring, network risk checks, and behavioral analytics. 

To verify a customer, your staff generates a link in Plaid that you email or text to the customer. Plaid uses a photo of the customer’s ID and a selfie to check against regulated data sources. Plaid checks whether email and phone number are new, disposable, or associated with a data breach. It detects the use of VPN or Tor for time zone and geolocation mismatch. It looks for fabricated, manipulated, or stolen identity information. And it performs behavioral analysis on things like typing speed, accuracy, and method of data entry to identify behavior typically associated with risky individuals, fraud rings, or bots.

What do I Get and What does in Cost?
When members enroll, they are provided their own easy-to-use Plaid dashboard, co-branded with your company logo along and ESTA's logo. There is an annual fee of $500 for the account, plus a fee per verification (see below). ESTA creates log-in credentials for as many of your employees as you wish so they each can create verification links and check results. You can customize your company's dashboard with the risk rules you want Plaid to use and set to your risk tolerance level to create a consistent go/no-go determination across your company.

You can send the verification link to the customer via your email client or, for a small additional fee, send the links via SMS via ESTA's SMS service provider. ($5/month, billed quarterly with your verification usage billing).

Fixed Fees

• Plaid Account  $500/yr.
• SMS link sending  $5 per month, billed quarterly (Optional)

Per Use Fees (billed quarterly)

• U.S. IDs  $5/verification
• Canada and UK IDs  $6/verification
• IDs frsom all other countries  $8/verification

In a recent RENTAL GUARD report, a Sony Burano was rented and not returned. The paperwork was flawless, the references checked out, the insurance was verified, and the credit card went through. The reason the rental appeared normal was that the person renting the equipment was using a good fake ID of a real person. A Plaid verification would have identified this fraud. The fraudsters would not even have been able to complete the verification. In fact, it is quite likely that when you tell fraudsters that they need to complete an ID verification, that they will never complete it and just disappear from your Friday afternoon.

Thieves have become better and better and personifying producers. Rental companies need more sophisticated tools to root them out. We are very hopeful that Plaid will give them that boost!  

EWI Coffee Breaks

| PERG News: November 2024 |

One of the ways that PERG supports the training efforts of our members who hire new workers under the EWI is to host educational EWI Coffee Breaks. In this series, industry vendors, manufacturers, and rental companies give presentations on topics that are essential to any employee’s understanding of entertainment technology and the rental industry. While the series is targeted to employees in the early stages of their careers, the sessions are available to ALL employees of PERG/ESTA members on our YouTube channel. The EWI program is sponsored by Netflix. 

PERG is grateful to everyone who has participated. The ongoing series continues to build a valuable library for use by PERG members into the future. It was particularly exciting to have rental house leadership themselves speaking about their businesses in the two sessions titled Running a Successful Rental Business. It is rare that we get to hear veterans from our part of the industry share their knowledge, experience, and passion for doing what PERG members do. Special thanks go to Anna Mayo (CFO/Owner MP&E Cameras and Lighting), Michael Koerner (Owner Koerner Camera Systems), Sam Gordon and Ryan Halsey (Manager and Owner, respectively, at Serious Grippage & Light Co.) and Hans Gelpke (General Manager at Lux Lighting). The panelists represent very different market types and company types, so the discussion had multiple perspectives. But the real take away was the challenges and concerns that all rental companies share, which they spoke about with equal candor.

If you have thoughts about topics for future educational sessions, please share them with us! Contact perg@esta.org.

Presentations so far:

Running a Successful Rental Company, Part I, The Client Experience

EWI Coordinator, Alison Cupples, moderates a panel of veteran rental house principals including Anna Mayo (CFO/Owner MP&E Cameras and Lighting), Michael Koerner (Owner Koerner Camera Systems), Sam Gordon (Manager of Serious Grippage & Light Co.). They discuss the client's experience from the initial request for a quote through the final invoicing stage. What goes into creating the ultimate client experience aimed at fostering a life-long, faithful client base in your local market? 

Running a Successful Rental Company, Part II, The Equipment Life Cycle

EWI Coordinator, Alison Cupples, moderates a panel of veteran rental house principals including Hans Gelpke (General Manager at Lux Lighting), Michael Koerner (Owner Koerner Camera Systems), Ryan Halsey (Owner of Serious Grippage & Light Co.). They discuss the life cycle of the equipment from the purchasing decision, service, rental, to retirement or sale. How do rental companies make purchasing decisions and how do they maintain the equipment so that it stays in tip-top shape for every rental? 

Top Things to Know about Sony Cinema Cameras

Sony Master Trainer and DP Katie Eleneke and award-winning Director of Photography Michael Pessah, ASC, present a practical orientation and demonstration of Sony digital cinema cameras. Eleneke demonstrates the Sony’s Cinema Line, while Pessah provides practical examples of how he uses their features and his experiences. The presenters discuss the important role rental companies have in supporting productions and their crews.

The Role of the Lens Technician with Matthew Duclos

Matthew Duclos, Master Lens Technician and Engineer at Duclos Lenses, shares his expertise to guide aspiring professionals into the field of cinema lens technician. He covers essential knowledge, technical skills, and career paths, offering insights into lens anatomy, necessary education, and industry trends. This presentation provides a clear and inspiring roadmap to a successful career in cinema lens technology from one of the industry's leading experts.

Introduction to (Lighting Control) Data Types and Technologies with ETC

Lighting Control is a vital part on every film set. Patrick Stewart, Outreach and Training Specialist at ETC, discusses the history of lighting fixture control exploring how and why DMX has become the industry standard. Through this journey we learn how the DMX signal is transported, about basic lighting systems, and how current technologies are developing with an eye to the future.

Introduction to Lighting Controls with ETC

Patrick Stewart, Outreach and Training Specialist at ETC, discusses different types of consoles and their applications giving a deeper understanding of the real-world practices and control philosophies.

Register now for Zeiss CinCraft Scenario Camera Tracking System

| PERG News: November 2024 |

Next meeting: Tuesday November 5, 10 am PT, 11 am, MT, 12 pm CT, and 1 pm ET.

In our seventh session of Informative PERG EWI Coffee Breaks, we will hear from the team at Zeiss about their new real-time camera tracking system. The Zeiss CinCraft Scenario system works in natural environments or on traditional studio film sets with blue or green screens as well as in full virtual studios. The system utilizes natural markers, reflective markers, and digital markers on LED screens to provide camera tracking data for real-time use that is also recorded for use in post-production.

Please RSVP if you plan to attend!

Have you missed one of PERG previous EWI Coffee Breaks?
You can find them here:

• Part I, The Client Experience: https://youtu.be/nPUZZnBHISQ
• Part II, The Equipment Life Cycle: https://youtu.be/zrb4i2ht-bI
• Top Things to Know about Sony Cinema Cameras: https://youtu.be/55z7JSvuVTg
• The Role of the Lens Technician with Matthew Duclos: https://youtu.be/aKQwUfvgPzI
• Introduction to Data Types and Technologies with ETC: https://youtu.be/CX6oeqnaSNU
• Introduction to Lighting Controls with ETC: https://youtu.be/KIF4XBBl5Dc

PERG Rental Works User Group

| PERG News: November 2024 |

Next meeting: Tuesday November 12, 10 am PT, 11 am, MT, 12 pm CT, and 1 pm ET.

The next PERG Rental Works User Group meeting starring Melissa Guzman (Implementation Manager at Rental Works) with a fabulous supporting cast of PERG Rental Companies!

Please RSVP if you plan to attend!

If there’s a rental software topic you’d like to bring up for discussion, reach out on Slack via the peer2peer-topic-suggestions.