Robe Heads for the Winelands, South Africa

	Eric van der Watt, founder and owner of Winelands Productions. Photo: Louise Stickland

Founded in 2024 by Eric van der Watt, Winelands Productions is a technical production company offering equipment and design services in the Winelands region of Cape Town, South Africa.

One of his first lighting investments for the new company was 12 Robe LEDBeam 150s. This was followed up the next year with 12 IP-rated iBeam 350s.

Focusing primarily on the corporate market, together with sporting events, festivals and music events, the company's expansion has been rapid. It soon had to move out of its small start-up unit and into a new warehouse and office facility in Somerset West to accommodate the growing equipment inventory and its now 12 full-time staff.

While those original LEDBeam 150s are still useful for lighting smaller events, as the business has grown, the company needed a larger wash light. Weatherproof fixtures became a must, especially in the Western Cape, where numerous events are outdoors, and the weather is highly erratic.

"Servicing the summer workloads was a motivator to get the iBeam 350s," says van der Watt, adding that Robe is "rider-friendly, and they can be used as washes or beams, so the versatility and all-round usability are great."

For Winelands Productions' head of lighting, Lorenzio Martin, Ethernet connectivity is a key feature of the iBeam 350s. Ethernet control automatically identifies where each pixel is located, enabling the export of MVR files to the video team, who can seamlessly run their content through the lights as required.

Martin, who also designs lighting and visuals, notes that lighting and video are increasingly converging, so it's usually helpful to combine the two and run video sources through both lighting fixtures and LED screens.

He echoes van der Wall's comments on the versatility and IP rating, saying, "The iBeam 350s are great. I can use them for washes or beam effects, as pixel-mapped fixtures, and having the extra brightness is always good." He also mentions that the diffuser is well designed for practical cleaning and maintenance. He appreciates the LEDBeam 150s for the same reasons, as well as their compact build.

Winelands' Robe fixtures have been used on a wide range of events, including the ongoing Bok Town fan parks related to the South African Springboks national men's rugby team, where the company provides a complete technical solution every second weekend throughout the rugby season.

The fixtures have also been used for concerts by popular acts including Gipsy Kings and Boney M, as well as at sporting events such as the Beach Pro Tour in Camps Bay, organised by Volleyball World and the Federation Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB), where Winelands supplied lighting, audio and video.