Iconic camera and lighting brand ARRI could be up for sale. That’s according to a report by financial news website Bloomberg.
What has Bloomberg said?
Bloomberg ran a story recently which claimed that the ARRI Group is considering the options for the company’s future. Possible outcomes of this review could include a partial or full sale of the business. ARRI has also opened initial talks with potential advisors to explore the selling of a minority or majority stake in the company.
Plus, ARRI has been working with the consultancy AlixPartners to find ways to streamline its business operations.
Who is ARRI?
ARRI is known worldwide as the market leader for cameras, lenses, and lighting equipment in the film and TV industry. However, the company had much more humble beginnings. ARRI was founded on September 12, 1917, by August Arnold and Robert Richter in Munich, Germany. The company name came from the first two letters of each of their second names. Initially, ARRI made movie lights and printing machines. Then in 1924, the company made its first move camera, the hand-cranked KINARRI 35. In addition, ARRI launched its first electric tungsten lighting fixtures with mirror reflectors in the same year.
ARRIFLEX
In 1937, ARRI launched the ARRIFLEX 35 movie camera. This featured a reflex viewfinder with a ground glass screen that removed parallax errors and showed accurate focus. By the 1950s, ARRI’s 16mm cameras were used by television news and documentary crews around the world. ARRI began to dominate movie production at the end of the last century before leading the way with scanning of film with the rise of digital editing. Then in 2010 the digital ARRI ALEXA movie camera was launched, and the movie world changed forever.
What we think
Walk onto a movie or TV set around the world, and you will see the ARRI brand somewhere. Whether it’s a camera, lens, or movie light, the company’s products are the backbone of the modern moving image business.
However, the news from Bloomberg shows that size and reputation won’t protect you from the challenges that the wider movie industry is facing. Fewer projects are being made and budgets are being reined in. There are also an increasing number of smaller and more agile camera and lighting equipment manufacturers competing for their share of the pie. Hopefully, ARRI can come through its current difficulties and continue to lead the way for years to come.
