Breaking news from Munich: “ARRI has entered into an agreement to sell its global rental activities in Europe, the UK and North America to H2 Equity Partners. Illumination Dynamics will remain part of ARRI and is not included in the transaction. The management buy-out is led by ARRI Rental’s existing UK-based leadership team in partnership with H2 Equity Partners. It ensures continuity of keeping the business in the hands of the people who have built it. Dana Harrison (CEO of the global rental business) and Andy Shipsides will continue their leadership responsibilities in the respective regions.”
Thomas Riedel, who recently acquired ARRI as a separate entity from the Riedel Group, said, “This transaction is a milestone in ARRI’s strategic transformation. It enables us to direct our investments even more specifically toward the further development of our technologies and new growth areas. At the same time, it allows the rental business to continue to develop independently.”
Otto Nemenz may be smiling at us from on high. He was one of the most vocal about a perceived conflict of interest—buying equipment from the same company that competed and bid for jobs with the same cameras. You can almost hear the collective huzzah from rental houses around the world. They’re also wondering if there will be a new name.
The press release continues, “The new standalone rental group will transition to its own brand after a customary transition period.”
On the roof of Camera Service Center (CSC) New York in 2004
If there’s a new name, I vote for Camera Service Center.
Known to most New York crews as CSC, this was one of New York’s legendary rental houses. Located in Hell’s Kitchen on two floors in a grimy, vintage building with character at 619 West 54th St, it was fitting for Camera Assistant Tibor Sands to be there in 1971 checking out a Mitchell BNC and Super Baltars for Gordon Willis, ASC. The film was THE GODFATHER.
The reason for rental and selling was a 99-year legacy. When August Arnold and Robert Richter set up shop on Munich’s Tuerkenstrasse in 1917, they rented lighting equipment. The first KINARRI 35 didn’t arrive until 1924. The Arriflex 35 came in 1937. The intention to rent was to provide the latest equipment in the days when many users were owner-operators and ARRI cameras were not as well known as they have become today.
The little shop on Tuerkenstrasse grew to an entire city block over the years. You entered an arched passageway that trucks could barely squeeze through. Straight ahead were sales offices. Turn right, then sharp left—and I remember meeting Heinz Feldhaus, head of rental at the time, and a young Manfred Jahn prepping camera packages.
In 1986, Volker Bahnemann, President and CEO of ARRI Inc, guided ARRI’s acquisition of Camera Service Center. It was called ARRI/CSC. They moved to Secaucus, NJ in 2009. The name changed to ARRI Rental in 2014 and they relocated to the current, beautiful Long Island City facility in 2022. Meanwhile, other ARRI Rental offices had been established or relocated worldwide.
As Michael Corleone says in THE GODFATHER, “It’s not personal. It’s strictly business.”
