Broadcast News

Bookmark and Share
28/11/2014

Pod Hire: Vehicle And Kit Hire For A Compact Future

News Image
Recently launched rental company Pod Hire embraces the future with its innovative solution to location shooting. Pod Hire has designed and built an all in one film equipment vehicle containing everything needed for a professional location shoot.

Pod Hire was founded by a group of filmmakers who were frustrated at the lack of a simple rental solution that catered for smaller scale location shoots.

Christian Leake, one of the company's founders, said: "While there were larger vehicles out there such as camera vans, lighting trucks etc., there was nothing on offer for the growing number of smaller shoots. The majority of productions are now carried out with limited budgets, smaller crews and less time.

"Lots of productions end up having to hire equipment from a number of different suppliers, including a van, picking all that equipment up and dropping it off after the shoot has wrapped. They also have to pay for insurance to drive the van, worry about petrol, as well as the problem of overnight storage for the equipment. This process is highly convoluted, drains time and money and most likely leaves you with a disorganised van during filming, as the one you've hired is not purpose built."

The solution to this problem, as conceived by Pod Hire, is so simple and effective that it's almost surprising it hasn't already been done. Everything you need for your location shoot, hired out in one specially designed van.

Christian added: "There has been a clear shift. In the past you needed a helicopter to get grand aerial shots, now a drone will achieve it. Likewise, camera sensors have become incredibly sensitive. Where you would need a 5kw light 10 years ago, now a 1kw light will do the job. With equipment sure to get more sophisticated and more compact, Pod Hire is well placed to be the right rental solution for location shooting of the future. What we wanted to do is create an all in one vehicle that was relevant for modern shoots. We took the key benefits and features of the larger film equipment vehicles and worked them into a smaller, cost effective vehicle."

"At the same time, we aimed to simplify the rental process to go hand in hand with this vehicle. We started with a fresh slate and built a rental solution that worked for us as practising filmmakers who found ourselves constantly under pressure and knew that there was a solution out there to make our lives simpler, and allow us to achieve more."

What the company has ended up with is a solution that effectively takes care of a large part of the production process. The Pod Hire team has been highly thoughtful of both the crew and producers requirements and tried to think of everything, so users don't have to.

The van is cleverly decked out with shelves and racking, so there is a place for everything, meaning that things are easy to access and allowing quick set ups and location moves. Also, because it has been cleverly laid out, the solution can transport a lot of equipment. It has mains electricity throughout for charging batteries on the go and incorporates a DIT station in the front seat for modern work flows. There are Sony quick release plates throughout for quickly changing camera set ups.

Pod Hire's solution is very customisable, with a wide range of equipment to choose from. With Pod Hire you also get the benefit of having loads of kit that comes with the van as a standard, from spares and backups that are carried in a backup kit to ladders, apple boxes, radios, and hi-vis jackets. You don't know when you'll need this stuff, and it’s often forgotten, but vitally important.

Not only is the interior van neatly packed to its full potential, but the van itself is efficient and cost effective. It's small, discreet, easy to drive down narrow streets and park in tight spaces.

www.podhire.com

(CD/JP)
Solidmate Ltd Memory Card Hire London

More Broadcast Kit hire Stories

06/02/2020
Presteigne Joins SVG Europe As Gold Level Member
Presteigne Broadcast Hire has joined Sports Video Group (SVG) Europe as a Gold level member. For nearly 15 years, SVG has provided support for all pro
22/05/2017
ProVision Supplies To Top CBBC Drama
ProVision, ITV's in-house facilities supplier, has secured the supply of large scale Camera and Lighting packages to two of CBBC's top kids dramas; Wo
27/03/2017
Presteigne Broadcast Hire Invests Over £2m In 4K
Presteigne Broadcast Hire has announced that is has taken delivery of more than £2M in new broadcast technology from Sony, Canon, Blackmagic, Vinten a
16/01/2017
Video Europe Reviews The Nokia OZO
The Nokia OZO is our most exciting new piece of kit, the first VR 360 camera built from the ground up. The industrial design of the unit is reminiscen
15/02/2016
Hiring On All Cylinders
Shoot HD, a Pinewood Studios-based camera hire company, takes kit and crew to Anglesey Circuit for a BMW drifting session. Shoot HD was recently invol
16/12/2015
What Can The C300 Mark II Do?
With Canon's new C300 Mark II now available for hire, the question is why choose it over the older C300 Mark I? Especially considering its more expens
14/12/2015
The Hire Business... Why Hire Kit?
Why hire kit? Well the main reason, for us at Broadcast Services, is that we wouldn't have a business if you didn't. Joking aside, the obvious reason
10/12/2015
Why Buy When You Can Borrow?
It seems that there are now more formats than ever before. With each new camera comes a new host of accessories, which of course are never fully compa
09/12/2015
Decode: Not Just Your Average Hire Company
Decode is a well-established, London based rental company with over 10 years of experience in the field of equipment and crew hire; but that's only th
08/12/2015
Shape Solutions For Sony Alpha Mark II
With the release of the A7S II, Sony has now unveiled the second generation models for each of their incredibly popular Alpha 7 cameras. The A7S II is