New York City-based camera rentals company TCS has been a customer of Codex since the days of the ARRI ALEXA and Codex Onboard M recorder. More recently, they've been an early adopter of the Panasonic VariCam 35 and now the VariCam Pure, cameras that are ideally suited for the technical requirements of companies like Netflix and Amazon Studios. They just completed a VariCam/Codex TV show for Netflix titled Gypsy and have a Warner Brothers feature Crazy Rich Asians prepping on VariCam Pure and shooting in Malaysia and Singapore. We chatted with brothers Oliver and Erik Schietinger to find out more about TCS.

Tell us about how TCS got started and how long you've been in business.
TCS was founded in 1978 by T. Carl Schietinger, father of the current owners Oliver and Erik. Carl had a love for understanding the mechanics of motion picture cameras and after running a camera service division for several years, decided to strike out on his own. Initially, the company focused on camera and lens service; after earning a solid reputation for optical and mechanical expertise, TCS expanded to include rental and sales of motion picture cameras, lenses and accessories.

What's unique about TCS?
TCS offers bespoke camera rental service to our customers. We are camera agnostic and therefore advise based on creative choices and camera capability. Our goal is to present all the creative options and then ensure efficient and cost effective production.

Tell us about some of your key customers and any recent projects that you are particularly proud of supporting.
Recently we attended the ASC awards in Los Angeles and 3 of the 4 categories had nominees for projects that we had worked with. Of those three, two DPs won for their category, so TCS supported 2 of the 4 ASC award-winning projects in 2017.

How has the camera rental business changed in the past few years and how is TCS positioned to address these changes and grow into the future?
Moore’s Law is playing its part in the camera rental business as well. The pace of technological change is amping up every year. Not only is our main focus to stay on top of the new developments and weed out the good from the bad, but also to share that information with the filmmaking community and provide the opportunity for people to test and make their own judgments. We have never had so many camera tests for studios and networks - Netflix, HBO, Warner Brothers, ABC, and CBS - as we have in the past 12-18 months.

What’s different about being a NYC-based rental facility?
Hustle. You better bring your A-game in NYC, everything is a little harder here, but I think New York also creates and molds great industry people because they have learned to adapt under extreme conditions (less space, less time, less patience).

Why did you decide to invest in the VariCam Pure?
We have been monitoring VariCam’s progress over the last two years and think the camera reached an inflection point towards the end of 2016. We always want to offer the tools to create the best possible image so using Codex PURE recorder was an easy decision. With the announcement of the VariCam Pure, we knew that the camera system would be a home run.

To learn more about TCS visit their website – www.tcsfilm.com