After focusing only on supporting the art of still photography for more than 55 years, Profoto is developing a new line of LED lights and “light shaping tools” for use in the cinema market.
The company says that it has the “intent” to enter the cinema market and will launch the first of a series of LED lights and various light-shaping tools (such as softboxes and reflectors, which it is most known for) and will showcase it in June at Cine Gear — an industry trade show and exhibition at Warner Bros Studios in Los Angeles.
“We are obsessed with light, without light there is nothing. It is a natural step for us to expand our innovation capabilities to speak with the cinematographers of the world,” Anders Hedebark, CEO of Profoto, says.
“They see light as we do; the one element that can set a scene and a mood to tell a story as if you are right in it. We want to come closer to our existing customers and the market we are entering and the first step to build our presence there is to relocate our global marketing department to California later this year.”
Making a dent in the cinema lighting arena is exceptionally difficult. A vast majority of sales are handled by rental houses as studios and filmmakers rarely purchase their own equipment. While it does happen, it’s hard to make inroads against long-standing industry stalwarts — but it’s not impossible. Recently, Aputure did just that. The brand started out serving YouTubers and small creators and, banking on its technology, worked its way onto major Hollywood sets such as Dune.
Profoto says that it believes its innovation on lights, light shaping tools, and the technology that connects cameras, apps, and lights seamlessly and “invisibly” is key to its ability to succeed in this arena.
“The expansion into continuous lights represents a natural evolution, delivering the art of light shaping to a broader market that is not limited to the USA, but to the rest of the world as well,” the company says.
Profoto’s chosen launch of Cine Gear makes sense given the target market and the show will take place from June 6 through June 9 in Burbank.