Take a peek at the first CineGear Expo held in New York for the first time in 10 years

CineGear returns to New York for the first time in 10 years

CineGear Expo took place offline and in person on March 10th and 11th, 2023 in New York City, the first time in 10 years the event was held in the Big Apple. 

CineGear Expo NY 2023 (hereafter: NY EXPO 2023) was held at Industry City, where the headquarters of AbelCine, a comprehensive service company for film makers, is located. Industry City is a redevelopment facility in the Sunset Park district of Brooklyn’s Upper Bay. Many tourists frequent the building, which used to be a warehouse district, and now there are many restaurants, cafes, and new development in this space.

There was no information about NY EXPO 2023 at the venue, and many people asked me, “Where is the venue?”

Interview with CineGear CEO Julian Grosso

According to CineGear CEO Ms. Julian Grosso, 53 exhibitors participated, and 13 seminars were held. Holding in New York was an important strategy as developing a hub of people involved in the film industry. It was difficult to hold the event immediately after the corona pandemic began, but it was possible to hold it safely with the cooperation of the people in the community. The next CineGear Expo has not been announce yet, in terms of its schedule, but organizers say they will strive to hold it in New York City again for 2024.

Reasons why holding the exhibition on the east coast is valuable

Although there were no new product announcements at NY EXPO 2023, it was a valuable opportunity for creators on the East Coast to actually touch the equipment. It seems that it is not easy for East Coast creators to actually visit the West Coast. Some have said the previous exhibitions in California coincided with New York’s busiest season for production.

The popular ARRI ALEXA35 and AbelCine that were announced last year are still out of stock. SONY VENICE is the most popular. Sony has said that there are dozens of units in stock and they are always on loan.

B-mount batteries for ARR (160W $489, 290W $789, Hot Swap Plate $888) on sale at SWIT. Although the B mount itself is not yet common, it is said that there are many inquiries from production companies.

An exhibition with an emphasis on lighting equipment

Aputure, Nanlux, Godox and other lighting equipment manufacturers dominated the exhibition hall. 17 of the 52 exhibitors, from long-established companies to newcomers, were lighting-related manufacturers.

AURORIS from LITEGEAR, which won the “NAB show Product of the year 2022”. Thin module LED panels are combined to realize a lightweight, wide range ceiling light source by combining thin module LED panels. It was amazing to see how quickly it was folded and stored when the exhibition was closed.

According to exhibitors and visitors, framing is of course important for video creation, but lighting equipment for coloring is also important, and they are particularly conscious of face tones.

Manufacturers who originally dealt with lighting gels are now able to freely create colors with the advent of LED lights, and they are using that know-how in product manufacturing. It was impressive that the visitors looked around the lighting-related booths and looked at the unique colors produced by the manufacturers as if they were a painter choosing paints.

Some interesting products and services for the middle range

At Cine Gear Expo NY 2023, there was booths for insurance, camera crew unions (Local 600) and grip unions (IATSE Local 52) for freelance filmmakers, as well as ropes for securing large filming rigs and lighting equipment and for safety. There are also many exhibitors unique to the film industry, such as SEACO Rope, which provides. Not only that, there are also interesting booths in the middle range of production, which I would like to introduce.

DEITY MICROPHONES

Andrew of DEITY MICROPHONES. The main product is audio equipment, but the new time code generator was appealing.

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Hobolite LLC

Hobolite LLC, an LED light manufacturer that has been actively developing its brand since 2022. The Hasselblad-style design aims to motivate creators to create. Palm-sized MINI (20W starting at $299). The case is also stylish and is likely to be popular with Japanese videographers.

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ROSCO Laboratories Inc

Mr. Marttise of ROSCO MYMIX APP

Color capture function announced in 2018 at ROSCO Laboratories Inc. You can set the color temperature of the LED light with one click by referring to a photo taken with a smartphone.

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MicroFogger 4 Pro

Portable smoke machine. It was just announced at the end of 2022, and many visitors stopped to observe the functions of this smoky product. It is said to have twice the smoke output of conventional products. The $330 basic kit was selling like hot cakes.

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AVALABLE APP

An app that mediates filming crews developed by a team led by Ben NG, who belongs to Local52, a filming staff such as Grip. Register the dates that you are available for work in the schedule, and connect people who match the schedule and the conditions of the work content. The service was launched in June 2018, and currently has over 10,000 downloads and many companies are participating. The app is free, but a desktop version is available for $150 per month for the convenience of business representatives.

NY EXPO 2023: Voices from the Event

What significance does CineGear Expo 2023 being held in New York have? We asked the exhibitors what they felt through the actual exhibition.

Xizmo Media

Mr. Edward Kostakis of Xizmo Media, who is doing special aircraft shooting such as aerial shooting in the New York area. NY EXPO 2023 is characterized by the fact that these equipment can be gathered together at the NAB Show in Las Vegas, CineGear in Los Angeles, etc., and various ideas cultivated in various places can be gathered and exchanged. It is also very important for them to liven up the future NY EXPO with their own power.

Mr. Nagamitsu Endo

Based in New York, Mr. Nagamitsu Endo has been working as a producer and director for nearly 30 years. Unlike West Coast filmmakers, East Coast filmmakers seem to have a much stronger sense of unity. For that reason, NY EXPO 2023 is not just a mere equipment exhibition, but it is wonderful that it is a hub (core) for video creators on the East Coast, where many filmmakers who have met through work can meet again.

Mr. Takuma Sudo

According to SWIT’s Takuma Sudo, the characteristics of the people who visit the booth are that creators on the west coast have a business-like impression of looking at the products they actually want to purchase, whereas creators on the east coast have the impression of being artists. He says that if there is a product that interests him even a little, he will actively ask to learn.

Summary

NY EXPO 2023 is, of course, an exhibition, but like exhibitions such as InterBEE in Japan, it has become a valuable opportunity for East Coast filmmakers to meet face-to-face off-site. To reiterate, not only can you actually touch the new products announced at last year’s NAB Show, but it may be said that this is a place that will be the culmination of exhibitions held in various places.