William F. White’s recent acquisition of a majority interest in Filmair International will give Canadian film crews access to some new cutting-edge production equipment. Toronto-based wfw, a member of the Comweb Group, announced June 6 it is taking on the South African-born Filmair, which will run independently as a member of Comweb.

Filmair manufactures high-end specialty production equipment that, according to Comweb president Paul Bronfman, is highly beneficial to crews but often hard to come by in Canada. The 30-year-old company is owned by the husband-and-wife team of Ken and Deanne Eddy, the latter of whom is known outside of Filmair for being South Africa’s first female helicopter pilot.

Filmair began by setting new standards in aerial cinematography. The Eddys are credited with designing cameras that have allowed dops to retain image stability while shooting in-flight. They then expanded Filmair’s repertoire by developing a host of special filmmaking props and gear, including a full-sized flying space craft with a complete electronics system, a line of futuristic automobiles, specialized tracking and remote camera systems, helmet cameras and crash-proof cameras.

Bronfman says with wfw’s acquisition of Filmair, Canadian production companies will now have access to more high-end production equipment, including special underwater gear, specialized cars, and the Giraffe crane, another Eddy/Filmair creation, which has proven very useful on film shoots all over the world.

‘We are also going to be getting into specialized aerial photography, where the plane is actually customized with the production equipment in it as opposed to what is being done now, [which is] mounting [the equipment] on,’ adds Bronfman.

According to the Comweb president, the Filmair acquisition is a logical step for wfw.

‘It is an extension of our core business,’ he says. ‘It puts us into the manufacturing end of production equipment in addition to what we do, which is really wholesaling it, both rental and sales. It broadens the base of the company, but we still keep our focus in terms of our horizontal line of integration as opposed to vertical.’

He goes on to say the Filmair acquisition is not a result of a specific need in the Canadian production community, nor is it to better accommodate big productions coming up from the U.S., such as X-Men and Angel Eyes.

‘The cranes will be used for that, but it wasn’t specific to or a response to any particular show or shows that are coming here or elsewhere,’ says Bronfman. ‘We’ve known Deanne and Ken Eddy for a long time. Actually, Whites bought the sixth Giraffe crane off the line in 1984. We’ve had a longstanding relationship with them, [and this move] came about as a result of this relationship.’

Filmair joins Comweb’s group of entertainment companies, which includes Bulloch Entertainment Services, CineCite Montreal, Protocol Entertainment and William F. White Limited. *

– www.filmairinternational.com

– www.comwebgroup.com

– www.whites.com