A Message from Gannon Murphy

2021 was a truly transformative year. We’ve seen our industry continue to transform from legacy dominated media and traditional linear delivery to an ever-growing number of app based streaming services and start up media companies. Our technology has continued to transform as well. From the roots of traditional lighting instruments and power distribution, each successive year has brought smarter and more versatile equipment that transforms both how our clients create the scene on set and how we track and maintain the evolving tools in the warehouse. Industry-wide, the spend on this transformation has been enormous. Scripted narrative has grown from a few million per episode to multiples of tens of millions to increase production value and alter the way we view, consume, and interact with content.

Transformation is rarely an outside job. The most successful and impactful transformations come from within a company. They are the result of the hard to quantify and elusive mixture of culture and determination, willingness to adapt, and interest to learn new things along the way. Cinelease has seen transformation from within these last few years in a way that most companies would and should strive to emulate, and it is based on the energy and resilience of the team that calls Cinelease a family. The Cinelease legacy has pushed the industry forward, transforming from the mom-and-pop heritage of a regional lighting and grip equipment provider, to being a national division of Herc Rentals – a Fortune 1000 company.

This new year will mark 45 years in business, and we would not be where we are today if it weren’t for our ability as a team and a family to modify and adapt to the evolving industry around us.

With each iteration, Cinelease grows stronger. As many of you know, 2020 marked the launch of our Studio Management Division, and despite all the challenges the business and the world faced in the wake of the pandemic, our Cinelease Studios team was able to secure key contracts with a new variety of partners in diverse spaces such as real estate and capital investment. With 16 stages in four states, Cinelease Studios has already provided a home for over a dozen productions from Lionsgate, Paramount, and Viacom to Netflix and Apple, and we have wrapped clients out at end of production so satisfied that we have already started to see repeat business in our studios.

We’re excited to share with you that Cinelease Studios is still transforming. Our studio portfolio now includes two purpose-built studio campuses – sound stages that were designed and constructed from the ground up with the sole objective of accommodating television and film clients that exclusively partner with Herc and Cinelease for their equipment rental needs. On August 6, 2021, Cinelease Studios hosted a ribbon cutting event presided by New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, and November brought the announcement of the $72M expansion of Cinelease Studios in Georgia.

Please dive into this issue of Light Reading and see what has been happening around the country in our Cinelease Studios managed properties. We are incredibly proud of what the team has accomplished in such a short amount of time, and we will continue to pour our heart and soul into the work we do. You will see, in these pages, why we continue to be an agent of positive change in our business, because we have something pushing our transformation that no one else has – YOU.

With gratitude and appreciation,

GANNON MURPHY

General Manager, Cinelease Studios gannon.murphy@cinelease.com