ETP Invests in Robe FORTES ETP is a large full technical production -- lighting audio, rigging, staging, and roofing systems, seating and grandstands., etc. -- rental company based in greater Copenhagen, Denmark which started its lighting department in 2010 with 20 moving light fixtures. There are now over 230 Robe fixtures alone in the rental fleet, plus numerous other lights, with the most recent purchase being 34 FORTES, acquired for the crazy busy record-breaking 2022 summer touring and festival season. The lighting department is headed by Emil Finsen and Sune Verdier. Finsen joined as a student in 2010, and Verdier, a well-known lighting designer in his own right, joined the ETP team full time in 2019. In addition to designing most of ETP's in-house lighting projects, he continues to work on design projects for other clients. Both Finsen and Verdier are big Robe advocates. "We wanted a large, bright LED moving light that could also be used outdoors for festivals and summer tours," states Finsen. Their previous experiences with Robe's DL4S and DL7S in the theatre had all been great in that environment, but they needed something seriously bright that would also cover concerts and gigs. Last summer 32 Robe ESPRITES joined the rental stock which everyone loved, and these were out all the time, but to service the unprecedented number of festivals and live events during summer 2022, they needed something even brighter. Any substantial purchases in the lighting department are 50% driven by external demand including rider specifications, and the other 50% by what are deemed to be the best options for ETP's own shows. Apart from that, the company follows a rigorous screening process which looks at all the current technologies and how they will offer the best value as a rental item, and for that criteria, it is a product that will work for the whole summer without breaking and needing maintenance! Verdier will, where possible, try to use any serious short-listed products in at least one real world test environment to confirm everyone's expectations before the company makes the final commitment to purchasing. Verdier, Finsen, and all the management teams at ETP including general manger Mikael Windfeldt who keeps an overall perspective on all aspects of the business, enjoy a proactive and positive relationship with Robe's Danish distributor Light Partner, which is also hugely important. This has been another major influence on decisions to purchase Robe over the years. "We know the backup and support is always there and we can get support, parts and service super quick when needed," says Finsen, while Verdier adds that Light Partner "also listens to our feedback." Having also enjoyed the ESPRITES -- Verdier used them on a bare stage production of Jesus Christ Superstar at the Royal Arena towards the end of 2021 and numerous other productions as Denmark started to reopen after COVID -- he said looking at FORTES when they came to market became "an obvious path" and the output, colour mixing and optics all swung the decision Robe's way. A fixture with good color mixing was another big plus together with the sealed optical chamber to keep dust and other gunge and detritus out of the head! This saves ETP's service department valuable time, as, in keeping up with the continuous demand for the fixtures, it is imperative that the kit stays working! The TE -- TRANSFERABLE ENGINE -- was a big deal to them as a rental company. Unique and patented, Robe's TE LED technology offers the option of fitting different and interchangeable LED engines into the same fixture hardware, quickly changeable / 'transferrable' in five to seven minutes. This elongates the lifespan of some very robust hardware and enables the lightsource to be changed up if needed to fine tune fixtures for specific applications, like theatre shows or TV productions. For ETP, TE was the final piece of the "flexibility" jigsaw puzzle. Their older Robe fixtures have all done well, worked very hard and are still going. "It's great to know that we have the option of renewing or changing the light source and updating in the future for different projects," notes Verdier. The new FORTES were busy all summer working on festivals like Musik i Lejet in Tisvilde, north Denmark where ETP supplied lighting for all four stages. They were also in action at Heartland, a unique boutique festival staged in the idyllic grounds of Egeskov Castle; on the new "Syd for Solen" event (South of the Sun) in Søndermarken near Copenhagen; and on the famous "Copenhell" metal fest, where ETP supplied the full production package for the second "HADES" stage that featured an enormous lighting rig. "Everyone has been happy who work with ESPRITES and FORTES," comments Windfeldt and Finsen, adding that a couple of years back it would have been BMFLs and Spiiders that were the go-to choice for events, but things have moved on to FORTES, ESPRITES now, especially in the sustainability conscious Scandinavian countries. Spiiders remain a popular festival wash beam choice and as a crossover product, they are still in constant demand for ETP's theatre work. The first Robes to join ETP were Pointes purchased in 2015, and at that stage their moving light stock was mainly from another manufacturer, but that has now shifted as Robe has developed a string of innovative product ranges. ETP is independently owned by two business partners and is now one of the biggest rental operations in Denmark, known for excellent full-service solutions across multiple and diverse sectors, and for constantly keeping the available technology current. 
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