Premier Lighting

[Ashley R]

Hi all. should be pretty obvious that i haven't been doing this for long.

Was just wondering what happened to Premier Lighting? As i see tonnes of their gear still around and i saw some old Video that was produced by Ausmusic about basic lighting that featured Premier Lighting.

So yer basically what happened and what exactly did they do?

just a burning question Ive had in my mind for the past few weeks.

Thanks Ash

[lyndon]

was that the one with Shane Jacobson in it?
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Lyndon

[Ashley R]

i have no clue ill have to watch the vid again when i have it :roll:

[metro_ent]

Well all i know is a got the chance to purchase some of their Cyberlights and Technobeams at an absolutely amazing low price because they went outta business and auctioned everything off.

[Bivio]

I know some people who worked for them and they no longer do, of course. I understand they didn't go out of business in the most graceful fashion.

Quite a few people picked up some bargains when they closed down. There was quite a bit of gear.

[Ashley R]

How big was premier? cause they sound as big as like Bytecraft etc. in the day

[Andy Ciddor]

This is all from un-researched recollection, and so may be way less than complete or accurate. Although it's decades since I lived in any of the cities in which Premier operated, I do share some early experiences with some of the founders of the company.
I hope somebody will come in and correct my incomplete memory.

Premier arose from the hire department of Strand Electric (Rank Strand) when that company closed their Australian operations. They picked up a substantial inventory of film and TV gear (mostly Quatrzcolour/Ianiro) and built from there into a lighting hire and production company with offices in at least Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. They also expanded into, sales, product development, AV rental and production operations, and became the house facilities providers in a range of venues including hotels, and convention facilities (including Melbourne's Fed Square). They even had studio facilities for hire in at least one city. When they got into financial difficulties, they were acquired by a company whose financial stability was based around some allegedly seriously fraudulent activities in another industry. When the financial chickens came home to roost for the new owners, the operation was liquidated.
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Andy Ciddor

[Ashley R]

ah just the type of story i like reading! Thanks Andy for the reply. it seem like the bubble just kept on growing and eventually burst with massive implications

[GY]

To expand on Andy's post, Strand was the major suppler to theater and TV and more.
Firstly when Strand changed its operation and morphed into Premier and what was the other part that sort of ended up in Bytecraft ( selling Strand stuff and whatever else), that was a sign of demise. Key people who worked at Strand in Sydney went and worked at Chameleon. Obviously Bytecraft saw an opportunity too. Needless to say as the events that Andy described unfolded, CTS and Bytecraft well and truly have emerged as the major two suppliers of lighting.
A little bit more of the history of the Australian lighting industry.
Now all I need is a full and detailed account of Hamilton Baker !!!!!
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GY

You know all the other info about me
Or hunt me down on Facebook !

[cshaks]

Hi, Andy and GY have pretty much covered the history of Premier, and what happened subsequently.
I worked there for approximately 10 years or so, and enjoyed my time there.
From memory, I believe the company ran into some financial difficulties, and the decision was made to merge with Centre Stage Australia, eventually retaining one director from the original company, and gaining a new director from the other. This was Premier Technology Group.
We had some very good ongoing contracts, both in the AV and Film/TV market, and things were looking good. New and larger premises were sought and we looked to be trading out of our difficulties.
Unfortunately, things weren't all as they seemed.
The company was placed into receivership by the Tax office, all employees were terminated, and all stock was liquidated by the receivers at auctions in all three states.
Some of us were in the process of claiming for unpaid superannuation at the time, as no super had been paid since the time of the merger. This may be indicative of the shaky financials surrounding the new partner. The claim was eventually unsuccessful due to the company being in receivership.
There was a lot of scuttlebut flying around in the period following the collapse, questions of where the money had gone were never really answered as it was probably financially prohibitive for the receivers to try and untangle the web of companies post-merger.
As Andy said, there were questions about the financial practices of the new partner, and this may have had quite a bit to do with the eventual outcome.
Either way, I enjoyed my time working there, and learnt an incredible amount from the all the people involved in the first incarnation of the company.

Chris S

[djrappa]

I can safely say without Rick Bishop and Phil Planner from Premier in Sydney when I was in school I wouldn't be doing what I am today.

We used to hire all our gear from them and was one of those great 'don't tell melbourne' and bring some cash or booze and a ute around and you can have whatever's in the factory kind of places.

They had tones of conventional gear and was just the kind of supplier (along with places like electric sunshine) that you needed when getting started. I feel really sorry for anyone trying to get a start today without these kinds of places still in business.
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Cheers
Clint Dulieu
vrtp

[JLX]

was there when they opened up moving from Strand Hire Department in Melbourne to the magical Premier. What started as a good idea soon became a bad one. There were some great crew but upper management seemed to only own colourful wigs, oversived pants and clown shoes! lots of wasted opportunites which gave other companies a strong foothold. There are a lot of people in the "i survived premier" club who moved onto better things!
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Rafto
JLX
www.jlx.com.au

[Ashley R]

Wow loving these replies thanks to all that have posted! :)

seems like a decent chunk of Australia's lighting history is intertwined with Premier. and when they closed they took alot away with them.