GERMANY ISSUE 126 Sep 2008

Established in 1972 and with bases in both Munich and Berlin, FGV Schmidle is amongst Germany's finest rental houses for film, digital and TV. The new company headquarters in Munich features a unique production environment with a vast variety of camera, lighting and grip equipment.

The 700m2 studio (12m high) is equipped with motorised green-screen and blue-screen curtains. Three motorised rigs carry equipment or loads of up to two-tonnes each. A 7x14m (23x46 ft) ceiling reflector can be equipped with a translucent foil. The cyclorama is 24x29x11m/79x95x36 ft. Production offices and facilities are all equipped with state-of-the-art technology.

The professional digital photo department carries the latest from Hasselblad, Canon and Nikon, as well as specific photo light formers, generators and equipment from Bacht, Briese, Bron and Profoto.

HMI and Tungsten lighting from Arri and Dedo is available in a variety of wattages. Through code-locked service bays (big enough to drive into with a van) equipment can be picked up or dropped off 24/7.