ON TOUR •PIXIPIXEL

JOINING THE DOTS

By Dylan Bruce

As soon as one steps through Pixipixel’s doors, nestled under the railway arches in Hoxton, London, you are confronted with the striking blue, pink and yellow dots that make up the company’s brand identity, and are quickly made aware that this is no run-of-themill rental house.

With an incredible amount of environmental consciousness and intrinsic philosophy for supporting DPs, gaffers and productions throughout the shooting process, this is one of the few UK independent rental companies to offer both camera and lighting hire.

For a bit of an origin story: the business was founded in 2002, predominantly as a photographic rental company, and functioned during the transitional time from shooting on film to digital. It wasn’t until 2017, when the former-founder of Direct Digital, Steve Knight, was brought in as chief operating officer, that the business shifted towards television dramas and commercials work. Within a few months of his arrival, Pixipixel supplied its first TV drama, the BBC’s Informer.

As Knight explains: “The whole business for us, is about relationships”, a statement that rings true, with Pixipixel having supplied equipment to a whopping one-hundred TV dramas since 2017, 55 of which have been since the coronavirus lockdown.

To name just a few: Sky Atlantic’s Gangs Of London 2, Apple TV’s The Essex Serpent, Netflix’s Anatomy Of A Scandal and Heartstopper. The list expands with a multitude of music promos, commercials and features including: Persuasion (2022, gaffer AJ Walters), True Things (2022, DP Ashley Connor), The Courier (2021, gaffer Brian Beaumont), Boiling Point (2021, gaffer Max Hodgkinson), Ammonite (2020, DP Stefan Fontaine AFC & gaffer Andy Cole), and Mogul Mowgli (2020, DP Annika Summerson BSC).

From one railway arch, to six railway arches, the growth of Pixipixel’s camera branch in East London has been impressive to say the least. The three coloured dots that have come to depict the company’s brand

now stretch far down the road. Inhabiting a space of 6,500sq/ft, the camera branch is equipped with a large format projection room, testing bays, DaVinci Resolve grading suite and a multitude of other services.

As Vince Wild, director of cameras at Pixipixel, and ex-founder of Take 2, explains, “We cover everything from Super 35 through to large format, with an inventory of ARRI Alexa Minis, Alexa Mini LFs, Venice 2s and, very soon, the brand new Alexa 35”.

With a wide selection of cameras and grip equipment to choose from, Pixipixel has matched this with an even larger selection of lenses, both modern and vintage, with Wild going on to explain that, “It’s all about being able to offer a variety of looks and styles to cinematographers and directors.”

During our chat, he mentioned the venerable name of Renos Louka, explaining that, “Renos has brought a huge amount of his technical experience to the company”, and it wasn’t until I met Renos myself that I fully-understood the gravity of this statement!

On the upper level of Pixipixel’s camera department, the genius himself works diligently to create bespoke lens modifications and camera rigging solutions for the various DPs that step through the doors.

Louka arrived at Pixipixel with 45 years of experience under his belt. Starting his career at Samuelson Film Service, better-known as ‘Sammy’s’, where he met weird and wonderful challenges, such as fitting cameras to lawn mowers. He eventually moved and rose through the ranks at ARRI UK to become managing director. Having been at Pixipixel for the last four years, leading the technical development in the camera division, Louka explains the invaluable philosophy adopted early in his career: “If you want it, we’ll make it!”

Aptly named, and stylishly on-brand, Mechanix and Optix are two projects that Louka has been working for the last six months. Mechanix deals with all bespoke mechanical creations, such as a particular body-rig or custom grip cart over at the lighting branch. Whilst Optix deals with all things concerning lens modification, including the work he and the engineering team did on the popular TV Drama, Anatomy

Pixipixel is no run-ofthe-mill rental house

Of A Scandal.

Together, Louka and cinematographer Balasz Boygo BSC HSC worked to modify several sets of lenses to achieve a particular, dream-like look for the show. This was so successful, that the lens went from being needed for a single scene, to all the flashback sequences in the series.

Owen Tanner, camera floor manager, also took the time to show me the grading suite and projection room at Pixipixel, something he is largely responsible for. This fantastic facility gives DPs the opportunity to instantly review camera and lens tests on a 55-inch OLED screen.

The success in Pixipixel’s innovation is plain to see, and the arsenal of lenses is quickly growing. As Steve Knight had mentioned to me earlier, “Renos is constantly buying donor vintage lenses, and he’s got a five-year road plan for how to rehouse all of these lenses”. With this approach, Pixipixel proves itself as a serious competitor in the lens rental business.

After an insightful tour of the camera branch, Steve Knight and Kristine Mladenova, the company’s marketing manager, took me on a trip to Pixipixel’s lighting warehouse in Tottenham. Just as the railway arches went from one to many, the lighting branch has swelled from a single unit to growing 75% in size, and now inhabits 25,000sq/ ft of North London land. There are around 25 trucks on the premises with 70 to 100 vehicle movements a day.

TV and film productions are managed by David Oldroyd, an ex-gaffer, whilst commercial and music promo projects are managed by Fras Saied. This is supported by an extensive transport team, who work tirelessly to check delivery locations and routes. Nobody wants the surprise of carrying a lighting package up three flights of stairs!

Knight made it clear to me with a simple statement, “It’s very important the kit on our shelves is ready for rental”. This was quickly apparent as we stepped into the loading bay and I saw that all the lighting equipment is barcoded, and that immediate alerts are created when something is missing, damaged or needs to be removed from a certain order.

With a vast array of LED, HMI and Tungsten fixtures, plus stands and grip equipment, leaving the warehouse every day, it was obvious that this detailed approach has been a major component in Pixipixel’s fast-growing success.

Not only is the lighting branch a particularly well-oiled machine, the trucks and generators at Pixipixel now run on HVO fuel, an environmentally-friendly method of using hydrotreated vegetable oil instead of fossil fuels. This reduces carbon emissions by a massive 90% and, with around 25 trucks

constantly on the move, this has a massive impact on reducing Pixipixel’s carbon footprint. “Roxy Erickson, who’s been a friend for 15 years and our sustainability consultant for the last three, has always been key to me for driving this through,” says Knight. The company’s proactivity in this department is particularly admirable, with the consistent monitoring of lighting consumables, the push towards LED equivalents for Tungsten fixtures, and use of renewable energy throughout the facility all aiding If you want it, we’ll make it! Pixipixel’s future goal of becoming a net zero carbon organisation by 2030. This provides Pixipixel with a carbon neutral certification through offsetting, making it one of the first rental companies that can offer camera, lighting and generators to achieve this impressive milestone. As I said goodbye to the team at the lighting branch, I got a sense of the real pride the company takes in all aspects of its work, from bespoke services to ensuring a greener future. With the company’s imminent expansion on the horizon, the ellipsis of three-coloured dots that have come to depict the rental house take on a new meaning, as we wait with anticipation to see what Pixipixel have in store for us next!