032 INTERVIEW
exceeded any Israeli standards. One could not say the same about the events happening in the townships and even in the city during that time and that’s when I discovered a gap I could fi ll.” The longer he stayed in the country the more confi dent Ofer became that the minority could not control the majority and in the early ‘90s the regime would change. Back in ‘87, a black band named Stimela had been part of a band that played with Paul Simon on his Graceland American / European style tour, which paved the way. “By ‘89 / ‘90, I was working with Johnny Clegg - now fronting Savuka - who not only sang about Mandela Asimbonanga but also ‘one man, one vote’ as being the ‘only way’. So with very few tools, we were striving to uplift the South African standard by a few notches.” After working at State Theatre and Sun City - and then freelancing for three years in the music and movie industries - Ofer knew he needed to act. By the time he had fi nished the Savuka Cruel, Crazy, Beautiful World tour he said he had had enough of working with local suppliers “taking the piss.” He found an investor and shipped in his fi rst container of secondhand equipment from the then preeminent Light and Sound Design from Birmingham. This enabled him to start Lighting Unlimited in 1991. But he also saw a need for staging and opened Stage Design in 1992/93. And of course event staging also required temporary power, and so he started Woza Power with four generators bought from Aggreko in Germany and used them to supply the 1995 Rugby World Cup. By the following year he had set up Gearhouse South Africa with Steve Lakin and Dubai based large event designer Simon Ransom and brother Mark providing the introduction. “We liked each other immediately,” Ofer recalled. “My partner wanted to cash in on her investment anyway and I wanted to develop, so it was a sweet deal for everyone. “Steve Lakin is a lunatic, just like me. At times we got on like a house on fi re - although who was the house and who was the fi re, I really cannot say. By the way, we are still friends, or will be until he reads this article!” Using Ofer’s local and industry knowledge and Gearhouse’s plc money - the company having fl oated on the London Stock Exchange the year before - expansion took place on all fronts - lighting, trussing and rigging. “We then bought an existing audio company and amalgamated the whole lot into Lighting Unlimited at fi rst, before renaming it Gearhouse SA.” The demise of Gearhouse plc in the UK has been well documented. Steve Lakin departed to Dubai, but despite the fi nancial setbacks, Ofer retained the
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‘Gearhouse’ name. “I decided to pay off the creditors rather than change a brand which already had a good name locally,” he said. “We were not infl uenced by the UK turmoil and focused on preserving the good brand we had here.” With an almost evangelistic and missionary-like zeal, he set out to educate the local market. “It was an ongoing process from day one, introducing new standards,” he remembered. “We always followed UK trends and Gearhouse SA was lucky to have the most exposure to international artists over the years. There was a huge contribution from different international production managers and demands from promoters that encouraged me to continue investing to meet their needs.” Those standards were soon seen as the benchmark. “The equipment was not the only issue: the know-how and personnel that we brought from abroad created a huge skills transfer into the local industry at the same time.” Ofer had absorbed much along the way from industry mentors of the late ‘90s such as Brian Croft of VLPS, the aforementioned Bryan Grant and Miron Rechtman, Israeli Lighting Designer Bueno Avi-Yona (Bambi) and many more. “I liked to do things properly and in the early days, the UK was where it was all happening and I really looked up to it. At a later stage, Patrick Woodroffe, Hedwig de Meyer [of StageCo] and the ‘four musketeers’ from Light and Sound Design - Steve, Nick, Simon and Terry - were hugely infl uential. “As a rental company, we have always associated ourselves with the leading brands around the world. Today we work closely with companies like StageCo - not only purchasing equipment but also becoming involved in exchange programmes - Britannia Row, XL Video and in the earlier days with Light and Sound Design.” In terms of equipment brands, for AV Gearhouse stock Christie, Panasonic and Barco, lighting is Martin Professional, Robe, and via Splitbeam - a separate Gearhouse company - Vari-Lite as well. In audio it now principally runs L-Acoustics and in LED it has an affi liation with Lighthouse Technologies. “Nowadays, we are also proud members of global networks like The AV Alliance and Martin Global Alliance Program as well as other networks and associations around the world.” After initially getting product training from the suppliers, and onsite operating nous from visiting touring personnel, Gearhouse SA has now grasped the nettle and introduced its own technical skills programme and live event technical production courses within the townships. “One of the Gearhouse passions carried forward by late Company Director, Kentse Mpahlwa, and joint Managing Director, Nasser Abbas, is the focus on upliftment and upskilling of the underprivileged youth,” Ofer recounted. “These two were
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