Bringing a Film Approach to Video Rentals

Responding to the growing shift toward digital/HD acquisition, former producer Cory Williams recently opened Alternative Rentals to offer a film-style rental house for those filmmakers making the switch over to digital acquisition but who can not sacrifice quality.
“There are a lot of film rental houses out there and a lot of video houses, but with technology changing we wanted to cater to the growing digital cinema market of traditional film people who are now making the switch to shoot digitally,” explains Williams. “I saw that because the technology was changing, filmmakers needed knowledgeable people to lead them into this new way of working and to make the new way as much like what they were used to with film as possible.”
Offering a host of HD and HDV camera packages as well as location sound and editing packages, Alternative works to build camera packages exactly the same way, with similar accessories as film packages with ARRI Follow focus and matte boxes and the appropriate filters.
To further ease the anxieties of film vets making the move over to HD and digital acquisition, Alternative features a theater with a 20 foot-wide screen where they can screen test footage, dailies and even perform real-time color correction.
“A lot of people still don’t trust video so it helps that they can go shoot a test and come back and see what it looks like on screen,” notes Williams.
In addition to camera rentals, Alternative also rents location sound recording packages and editing packages and lighting.
As with any rental house (or restaurant), no matter how good the service, it often comes down to location. Alternative is positioned in the heart of LA production on the West Side of LA right next to Sony Studios.
www.alternativerentals.com