The story
History
Pre-history
The origins of Vari-Lite date to the late 1960s, when college friends Jack Calmes and Rusty Brutsché played together in a Texas-based blues band. They built a sound system for their shows that attracted the attention of other acts, who asked to rent it from them.
In March 1970, Calmes and Brutsché, together with sound engineer Jack Maxson, incorporated Showco, with the intention of supplying sound systems to regional rock concerts. The company initially operated two sound systems and two trucks from Maxson's garage. The company quickly grew, both in size and reputation, and added lighting equipment to its inventory in 1972.
By the end of the 1970s, Showco's lighting equipment was becoming outdated, and the company could not afford to replace it.
Invention
In 1980, Showco engineer Jim Bornhorst discovered that twisting dichroic filters alters the frequencies of light filtered, resulting in an apparent color change. The company exploited this discovery by constructing a fixture equipped with two motors to move the light. An initial prototype of a fully automated lighting system, featuring a General Electric Marc 350 metal-halide arc lamp, was built in twelve weeks.
Showco representatives demonstrated the prototype—known today as the VL-Zero—to members of the British band Genesis, having programmed it to enact two simple cues. Genesis, already a regular Showco client, immediately invested $1 million in the new technology, although a working model, later known as the VL1, would not be available until the band embarked on its Abacab tour. Showco used the capital to develop the control console, power distribution, and digital data transmission equipment required to implement the system.
Growth and expansion
The company subsequently incorporated as Vari-Lite Inc. and struck distribution deals to introduce the product into international markets.
The Series 200 system launched in 1987, featuring the Artisan Control Console and two new luminaires: the VL2—a direct descendant of the VL1—and the VL3, based on the VL-Zero. This was followed by the VL4, a more compact and brighter version of the VL3, and two upgrades of the original VL2: the VL2B and the VL2C. A smaller backup console was also launched, called the Mini-Artisan.
In 1994, Vari-lite set up Irideon Inc. to manufacture automated lighting products for the architectural lighting market, selling it off to Electronic Theatre Controls four years later.
Read the full text
In 1997 the company floated on Nasdaq (NASDAQ:LITE), selling two million shares, in a move which allowed the company to retire almost half its debt. Forty-seven percent of the company remained in the hands of Genesis and Vari-Lite management. The company then began to buy back the franchises it had created in previous years in favor of establishing new rental offices that offered conventional third-party lighting equipment alongside its own products.
In 2002, the VARI*LITE luminaire manufacturing and sales divisions were sold to the Genlyte Group. The rental division, retaining the console division, and continued to develop the Virtuoso product line, eventually merging with the Production Resource Group (PRG) in 2004. In early 2008, the Genlyte Group was bought by Royal Philips Lighting. Under Philips ownership, the VLX wash, a high-intensity LED luminaire, was developed.
Having separated from its parent company Royal Philips, Philips Lighting rebranded as Signify in 2019. Vari-Lite and stablemate Strand regain their stand-alone brand status.
Accolades
The company has won three Primetime Emmy Awards for technical achievement: in 1991, for Outstanding Achievement in Engineering, in the development of the Series 200 system; in 1994, for the development of the VL5; and in 2001 for Outstanding Achievement in Engineering for the Virtuoso console.
Patent infringement lawsuits
In 1989 Vari-Lite sued Syncrolite, Inc. and founder, former Showco president Jack Calmes, over alleged patent infringements. Calmes countersued, claiming that his former business partners had kept the development of the Vari-Lite system from him at the time of his departure, causing him to lose money when he sold his Showco stock. The case was resolved in Vari-Lite's favour.
In August 1995 Vari-lite sued High End Systems, seeking unspecified damages and an injunction against the manufacture of the Status Cue system, including the Cyberlight and Studio Color luminaires. The matter was eventually resolved out of court.
In 1999, Vari-lite obtained a preliminary injunction against Danish firm Martin Gruppen A/S, which barred the import, sale and lease of several lighting products within the United States. Martin responded by releasing updated products that lay outside the scope of Vari-Lite's patents.
History
Irideon, Inc. was a subsidiary company formed by Vari-lite in 1994, to target the architectural lighting market by offering colour-changing luminaires, able to dramatically illuminate buildings and outdoor structures in ways which—until then—could only be imagined.
Two Irideon luminaires were initially produced: The AR500 and the AR5.
Irideon Inc. was sold to Electronic Theatre Controls (ETC) in November 1998; as a result of the difficult conditions experienced by Vari-lite, during their first year of trading on the stock market. Under ETC's stewardship, the AR50 was completed and a two new luminaires—the AR6 and AR250—were created.
Manuals for some Irideon luminaires are still available from ETC.
From Wikipedia’s article on Vari-Lite, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3