LOS ANGELES, CA. — While on location in Guam, shooting the historical documentary, Back To The Battlefields, which tells the story of Navajo Code Talkers who served in Guam, Okinawa, Tarawa, Iwo Jima, Saipan, Tinian, and Palau before, during, and after World War II, HD production coordinator and audio specialist Hilary Stewart found herself in a precarious position, thanks to lost luggage – without an adequate power source. As a longtime user of Anton/Bauer, a brand of The Vitec Group, and the world’s premier provider of batteries, chargers, lighting and other mobile power systems for the professional broadcast, video and film industries, Stewart knew if anyone could help her it was Anton/Bauer. So she found herself on the phone with a company customer service representative early one Sunday morning.
“Rather than scoff at the 18-hour time difference, customer service immediately put me in touch with the company’s rep in Singapore so I could have something shipped immediately,” Stewart says. The customer service representative was even able to help her jerry-rig a temporary solution so that she would not lose any production time before the Singarpore rep was able to overnight the products she needed. “Thanks to the resourcefulness of the Anton/Bauer representative, we were able to start shooting on schedule, and we didn't miss a beat. With a cast and crew of 19, that's huge,” she concludes.
For the past 14 years, Stewart has worked on dozens of films and television shows in locations across the globe. But as a result of her experience shooting on location for Battlefields, the self-proclaimed jack-of-all-trades relies solely on Anton/Bauer when capturing everything from nature and history documentaries to network television shows. Some of her films include Capitalism: A Love Story and Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion, and many of her projects can be seen on The Discovery Channel and PBS, as well as all of the major networks. Most recently Stewart completed work on a project for Specialized Bicycles—profiling each member of their pro-racing team (ranked number one in the world) for the new season.
While managing such an impressive body of work, Stewart has come to rely on Anton/Bauer batteries for their lasting performance, durability, and excellent overall delivery. “I’ve probably tested every type of camera battery available out there over the past 14 years, and I find Anton/Bauer is simply the best. Whether it’s their top-notch products or grade-A worldwide customer service, Anton/Bauer delivers built-in confidence. As every gear owner knows, having confidence in your equipment is second to nothing. The great thing about Anton/Bauer is that you can bet on that reliability. If something does go wrong during a shoot, however, there’s never any need to panic with Anton/Bauer on your side.” she says.
“With our world-class customer service, we consider ourselves a part of our customers’ production teams,” says Shin Minowa, vice president of marketing and business development. “Regardless of where or when, professionals, like Ms. Stewart, can depend on Anton/Bauer to deliver top-notch service and support.”
Both the DIONIC 90 and the HyTRON 140 are Stewart’s first choice when heading out on location for a shoot. She makes sure to pack no less than six batteries to power her Sony cameras. “Depending on where I’m going and what I’m shooting, I will most likely take four DIONIC 90s and two HyTRON 140s, as well as a TITAN 70 Gold Mount Power Adapter and battery charger, a Dual 2722 PowerCharger, and an inverter to charge while in transit.” Stewart is not just using Anton/Bauer batteries to charge her video equipment, however. “I like them so much that I’ve converted my entire sound system to run off them as well. When on location we power everything—mixer, wireless, hard disc recorder—even iPhone’s off a DIONIC 90!” The DIONIC 90’s dependability allows Stewart focus on the job at hand and not be concerned about her power source.
Anton/Bauer designed the DIONIC 90 to deliver consistently reliable performance even in the most challenging shooting environments on Earth. The DIONIC 90 offers a RealTime display that continually updates the operator on how much run-time remains and on the state of the current charge. It weighs only 1.7 lbs. and can be transported without restriction under the IATA and DOT safety regulations (http://www.antonbauer.com/Support/TransportationInformation). The battery can handle a maximum load of 90 watts, offering runtimes ranging from six hours at 15 watts to 1.75 hours at 50 watts. The HyTRON 140 is designed for the power demands of today’s HD gear and on-camera lighting systems. Weighing in at 5.5 lbs, it is ideal for a high current draw and can be used with portable HMI lights. It features a 14.4v 140Wh NiMH battery.
Stewart says she plans to continue to use Anton/Bauer batteries for all of her future projects.
For more on Stewart and her work please visit: www.hilarystewartsound.com.
ABOUT ANTON/BAUER
Anton/Bauer is recognized as the world’s innovator and premier provider of batteries, chargers, lighting and other key mobile power systems for the professional broadcast, video and film industries. Based in the United States in Shelton, CT with offices in Europe and Asia, Anton/Bauer was established in 1970 and has expanded its product offerings to include many signature lines such as its leading Gold Mount system, InterActive chargers and Logic Series batteries such as the HyTRON 50, 100 and 140, and DIONIC 90, 160, HC and HCX. Their products are compatible with virtually every camera brand on the market today. Other Anton/Bauer high performance products include the Ultralight, ElipZ, ElightZ, CINE-VCLX and CINE VCLX/2. Their superior-quality products have become an industry standard. For more information on Anton/Bauer, visit www.antonbauer.com.
A Snapshot of The Vitec Group
Vitec is an international Group principally serving customers in the broadcast, photographic and military, aerospace and government (MAG) markets. Listed on the London Stock Exchange with 2009 revenue of £315 million, Vitec is based on strong, well known, premium brands on which its customers worldwide rely. Vitec is organised in three divisions: Imaging & Staging, Videocom and Services. Imaging & Staging designs, manufactures and distributes equipment and accessories for photography, video and events. Videocom designs and distributes systems and products used in broadcasting and live entertainment, film and video production and MAG. Services provides equipment rental, workflow design and technical support for camera, video, audio, fibre optic and wireless technology used by TV production teams and film crews.
More information can be found at www.vitecgroup.com.
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