Friday, February 22, 2008

Laguna company shed light on media productions
Burnie's Grip and Lighting lights up film shoots forcorporate and Hollywood clients.

By CHRISTA WOODALL
STAFF WRITER

Burnie's Grip and Lighting sheds light on media productions – literally.

The company rents lighting equipment and staffers to a number of corporate and entertainment industry clients, lighting shows like "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and "The Sarah Silverman Show."

We spoke with owner Craig "Burnie" Burns about what a grip does and how the advent of digital media has changed his field.

Q:What exactly is a grip?

A:In the rental equipment business, you have grip and lighting. Lighting is kind of self-explanatory – you have the lighting heads or the lamps themselves.

LIGHT IT UP: Craig "Burnie" Burns owns and operates Burnie's Grip and Lighting, which rents lighting equip-ment and staffers to Hollywood and corporate clients.

COURTESY OF CRAIG BURNS

BURNIE'S GRIP AND LIGHTING

Owner:Craig "Burnie" Burns

Type of business:Grip and lighting equipment rentals

Address:P.O. Box 5165, Laguna Beach

Phone:714-609-3545

Web site: www.burniesgripandlighting.com

Open since:2000

Now with that, the people that distribute the power to that lighting and put the lights up, those are called, in our business, electricians. Anybody who sets up anything that is in addition to the lights – those are referred to as grips. And so anything other than a light or electric piece is referred to as grip equipment. So a stand would be referred to as grip equipment. So the grip doesn't put the lights up – they put everything else up.

Q:Tell me about Burnie's Grip and Lighting.

A:We are a business that is very industry-specific – television, film, and video production. We're unique in that all sorts of varieties of productions use our services. How we've positioned ourselves in Orange County is to service the entertainment industry, of course, which is a natural, but also to do corporate and industrial work. In Orange County, we have so many corporate headquarters and businesses that need our service, that have their own media needs. This is how I've developed the business to the size it is.

Secondarily, we've gone into the entertainment industry with DLP Lighting Services, and we now service "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and "The Sarah Silverman Show," but the majority of our business is built on is still corporate and industrial media, which is now becoming a very, very big industry unto itself with the advent of video online.

It's been proven time and time again that video is the best medium for getting across the message. We tell clients a lot that, with the Web, people are coming to this point where they're expecting video as a primary medium for their information, especially as handheld devices become smaller.

We've developed ourselves to the point where now we're the biggest grip and lighting business south of L.A. It started from me being in just one small van to now running 1-ton, 2-ton, 3-ton, 5-ton and 10-ton trucks. We have really built our business up in a really quick way in just the last year. Part of that is because there's more demand, but secondly we're positioning ourselves for the expansion of the corporate-industrial market.

One of the very interesting things that's going on now is it used to be just fairly good-sized corporations that would use our business, but now we're doing production spots for retail businesses with a web presence. Statistical studies show you get 73 percent more retention with video ads online than with print. It's having quite an impact.

Q:What changes have you faced in the industry?

A:It's a very fluid business. You really have to be ready for change at all times – not just with clients when production schedules change, but with change in medium and in clients' demands. It used to be you'd have two weeks' notice on any production – now, with cell phones and technology, that's down to 48 hours. Decisions are made more quickly on an almost zero-inventory basis. That's changed the need to move quickly and get right equipment there in fast time. It's demanded for grips and electricians to be knowledgeable in all fields so they'll be able to do what a client wants while out in the field and how to quickly get a production up and running.

Q:What got you into the grip and lighting business?

A:I came to Southern California from Washington State, where I worked in the automotive imports business. I got Volkswagons, BMWs, Hyundais and Mitsubishis from the docks and put in air conditioning, stripes, that kind of stuff and sent them nationwide to different dealers in '70s and '80s. I was transferred to Southern California, and then a new contract came through with Isuzu in Fort Wayne, Indiana – I had just spend two years in Los Angeles and loved it, and I thought there is no way I can go to Fort Wayne after living in L.A.

At 42 years old, I told them no, I'm not going to take the transfer and stay in L.A., but I didn't want to work in that business. So literally I became a 42-year-old, $50-a-day production assistant. Everyone on the set was 15 to 20 years younger than me. I worked as a production assistant, an extra – I even painted houses for a while – and I built my knowledge up and learned all the things I could in production.

I saw that as much as I applied myself, that's how fast I could move up in the industry. I was quickly taken up in grip and lighting departments – I was a real hustler and would literally run for everything, and I think everybody liked the sight of an old man running for everything. I did the labor and learned skill for long time.

When I was 50 years old, I actually had bought enough grip equipment to rent a grip package to someone. I began to call people and producers to do little, small shoots. Someone hired me, and I started to build a clientele list, then really focused on it at almost ignoring everything else in my life for the last six years. I feel very fortunate and blessed that I've had the good fortune I've had.