The company has invested steadily in Robe moving lights for some years, starting with LEDWash 600s over 10 years ago, which they needed at the time to service both live and television projects, and these have since been added to with LEDWash 1200s, LEDBeam 150s, Pointes, BMFLS, RoboSpots, and most recently, iFORTES.

Arthur explained that they are “big fans” of Robe and now have nearly 400 Robe products in rental stock, which are in constant use. They are utilised on Arthur’s own design projects plus numerous others that Companhia de Luz services as a premium quality rental partner with a great reputation.

Juarez Farinon was originally an actor working with lights onstage and then backstage. He was one of the first stage lighting experts in Brazil, and such was his passion that he also built his own kit and explored the more esoteric avenues of how lighting can enhance live and recorded scenarios including theatre, broadcast, and music. He is still actively working on projects now.

Arthur and his brother Gabriel were both ‘industry babies’, born into this highly creative household. Arthur’s mother was a television art director, so lighting and performance were literally part of his DNA, and he has continued this enthusiasm for light, making art his career and lifestyle.

While he wasn’t legally able to work on events until aged 16, well before that he sneaked into gigs and assisted his brother with running lights for EDM events and raves. One of the many things he loves about the industry is that every day is a school day and learning is a constant ongoing process.

The decision to keep investing in Robe has been fuelled by the products being “consistently innovative, very reliable, robust and extremely well engineered – they are great tools for anyone involved in creative lighting,” he commented.

As well as developing his own lighting design skills, Arthur has worked extensively as a programmer for other LDs over the years and one of his first big design breaks was working for singer / songwriter Milton Nascimento, with whom he worked for 10 years.

Companhia de Luz supplies lighting across a wide spectrum of sectors – television, live events, concert touring – and is also a technical service for several key venues.

Their TV work includes premium clients like Brazilian free-to-air network TV Globo which has a huge studio complex in Rio, for which they supply both effects and scenic lighting for a range of shows including Big Brother and The Voice. Around 40 Companhia de Luz staff alone are dedicated just to co-ordinating and working with Globo.

“In addition to the fixtures all having excellent and flexible feature sets, Robe is a very well-respected brand, and everyone is happy to work with it here,” commented Arthur referring to the many other LDs and DoPs with whom they collaborate.

He relates how epic Robe products like the Pointe made such a “huge impact” on the market in Brazil due to its “versatility and multifunctionality, which mean even a few fixtures can go a long way!”

He feels RoboSpots are also a “game-changer.”

The company currently have four RoboSpot systems and were the first in the country with this technology. “RoboSpot is another incredible tool from Robe that can make an enormous difference to how so many productions are lit, both live and TV, and make life easier and safer for the crew.

Their RoboSpots are also always in use and in demand, and Arthur thinks the iFORTE is “amazing” for its brightness, high CRI, flat beam field and other qualities that make it stand out.

He comments that as a brand, Robe is “always innovating and bringing fresh ideas to the table, which in turn provide new options for designers and productions. It’s clear that Robe invests seriously in new technologies that are available for everyone’s benefit,” he noted.

Arthur loves the fact that lighting can enhance and affect emotion so dramatically when used imaginatively, and used in that context, described it as “a powerful and beautiful art.”

Companhia de Luz retains its own family atmosphere, all growing upwards and onwards together, offering opportunities and careers for those wanting to make the industry part of their working life. Many of Brazil’s new generation of lighting professionals will start their career there, “and we are very proud and happy to sustain this process and be part of this incredible community ensuring that the knowledge and expertise we are gaining all the time… is shared and valued,” he concluded.

Photo Credit: courtesy Companhia de Luz