For Live has sports covered with Robe
- Details
The company was founded in 2014 by Ruud Van Den Berg, who has been passionate about the industry since he started DJ’ing seriously aged 12. For Live has become renowned for delivering dynamic multi-site sporting events and broadcasts and servicing a range of corporate and B2B clients and brand activations plus live televised and streamed events.
Starting with building up a ‘dream team’, For Live first invested in the human capital needed to work creatively and constantly, then started purchasing specialist technical equipment, a process that accompanied quick and steady growth and ensured that the best and most appropriate brands and kit were applied to the job.
This investment process started in 2016 with Pointes, and to date includes MegaPointes, BMFL WashBeams, LEDBeam 150s and, most recently, 60 x LEDBeam 350s and 25 x Fortes, currently - respectively - the most popular and most powerful Robe LED light sources, and 25 x Esprites.
“From the start it was important to stick with a single moving light brand,” explained Ruud, elaborating that as they originally required a beam light, the Pointe was easily the best option.
As For Live expanded, they needed more lights, so more Robe luminaires joined the inventory.
“LDs in the Netherlands were just constantly asking for Robe,” he explained, “the brand is very well liked and respected.” Next came the BMFL WashBeams as a lot of their work involves large sporting events which need the power and lumens.
The first BMFL project was for De Coolste Baan van Nederland organised by House of Sports in the old Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam, when a large ice rink (with 400m of track) was created to coincide with the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics for six weeks to help celebrate the event.
This venue also hosted the three-day World Allround Ice Speed Skating Championships in 2018 for which another 60 X BMFLs were cross rented to create a great atmos for the skaters and the tournament’s between-competition entertainment segments.
The 80 x LEDBeam 150s were acquired to cover numerous events including at the Thialf Ice Arena in Heerenveen, where they made perfect key lighting for ceremonies, running in combination with 12 x BMFLs beaming gobo projections and texturing onto the ice.
Emerging from the pandemic, For Live again started to grow. They were looking for more lighting power tools, and decided the LEDBeam 350 was exactly right, ordering 60 fixtures, which have been delivered.
The order for Fortes soon followed to facilitate sporting events which restarted strongly, and they needed lumens and output to combat the usual high levels of LED signage in arenas. “Only the most powerful lights can be effective here, and the Fortes look great even in the darker colours,” noted Ruud.
One of the first shows for the new Fortes was the 2022 FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship, co-hosted by The Netherlands and Poland with key matches played at three major venues in the Netherlands, the GelreDome in Arnhem, Rotterdam AHOY and the final at Omnisport Apeldoorn (LD Costa Jouzy).
For Live supplied a full technical package - lighting, audio, LED screens, rigging and décor - to the Invictus Games last year staged at South Park in Den Haag.
In August, For Live will provide a full technical package - lighting, audio, LED screens, rigging and automation for Gymnaestrada, the largest gymnastic event in the world with over 20,000 participants, organised by TIG Sports, held at the RAI Amsterdam. There will be over 300 Robe fixtures, including For Live’s new Robe Fortes, LEDBeam 350s and Esprites.
