On May 21, the Digital Cinema Society (DCS) held its 2022 DCS Cinema Lighting Expo. Held at IATSE Local 80’s headquarters in Burbank, the day-long Expo drew about 150 people — a solid attendance given the recent COVID-19 surge.
The DCS Cinema Lighting Expo debuted 15 years ago, and this year’s event was hyped in the DCS newsletter, while IATSE Local 600 International Cinematographer Guild and Local 728 for Studio Electrical Technicians also promoted the event to their members. According to DCS founder James Mathers, the Expo marked a return after the 2021 edition was canceled due to COVID.
The 2022 Expo introduced a new award, the DCS Dibie Award, which acknowledges acclaimed ASC cinematographer George Spiro Dibie, who died on Feb. 8. “We decided it would become an ongoing honor and to call it the George Dibie Award to memorialize him,” Mathers told Below the Line.
The DCS honored Dibie at a previous Expo with a Service Award. “DCS was largely inspired by George who, with his wife, ran an American Society of Lighting Directors they started in the 1960s,” said Mathers. “I joined in in the 1970s and got a lot of great information from that.”
Kino Flo founder Frieder Hochheim was the recipient of the inaugural George Dibie Award, receiving it from John Schwartzman, ASC at a special ceremony at the Expo.
“No one exemplifies George Dibie’s spirit in freely sharing his knowledge with the entertainment lighting community as does Frieder,” said Mathers. Working as an entertainment industry gaffer, Hochheim invented Kino Flo to answer the need for smaller, more color-accurate fixtures for location lighting. He continued throughout his career to find better color fidelity both in fluorescent and LED lighting sources. Hochheim, who was mentored by ASC cinematographer Robby Müller, shared stories about Dibie along with Schwartzman. Kino Flo was sold last August to Chauvet Lighting.
The DCS Cinema Lighting Expo had 22 exhibitors, most of which made 10-minute presentations of their gear. Mathers reports that the Expo has been consistently held at the Local 80 stage; exhibitors’ trade-show style booths ring a raised platform where exhibitors give presentations about their products.
This Expo’s presentations included BB&S Lighting with Toby Sali; Litepanels with Alan Ipakchi; Matthews Studio Equipment with Tyler Phillips and Richard Mall; Quasar Science with Tim Kang; Fiilex with Brent Siebenaler; Rotolight with Pamela Bloom and model Chris Salas; ARRI with Tom Jacob; Nanlite with Marty Glickman; Kinotehnik with Jim Davis; SUMOLIGHT with Malcolm Mills and Michail Melnik; Luminys with Richard Amadril; Nila with Jim Sanfilippo; Rosco Digital with Emily Stadulis and Caroline Rault; Mole Richardson with Brian Eustace and Nancy Murray; Brokeh Lighting System with John Tindall and George Mooradian, ASC; Lightstar with Bryan Godwin of Wooden Nickel; Dedolight California with Sean Boyriven and Patrick Boyriven. David Klein, ASC also gave a presentation. Click here for videos of all the presentations.
Blackmagic Design and Dedolight California provided event catering; Blackmagic Design also provided cameras; Fujinon provided lenses; J.L. Fisher provided camera dollies; Grips Local 80 provided stage manager Chris Applegate. Stage rental was courtesy of Ron Dahlquist and DADCO; TRP Worldwide provided Pipe & Drape. Quasar Science chief executive Steven Strong served as Rigging Gaffer; Godwin and Wooden Nickel Lighting supplied Grip, Electric and Distro equipment; Rosco provided the SoftDrop and Mole Richardson provided Stage Lighting.
