Equipment Planning Services

Gear planning in China means navigating one of the largest production rental inventories in Asia, concentrated around Beijing, Shanghai, and Hengdian, with secondary depots in Qingdao at the Oriental Movie Metropolis and in Hangzhou serving the Yangtze River Delta. The major Chinese rental houses — many tied to China Film Group, Huayi Brothers Studios, and the Wanda Pictures supply chain.

Here is how this works in practice. Carry full ARRI Alexa 35 and LF bodies, RED V-Raptor and Komodo packages, Sony Venice and FX9 builds, plus signature lens sets including Cooke S7/i, ARRI Signature Primes, and the Chinese-market DZOFilm and Vantage Hawk anamorphic lines that have become popular on iQIYI and Tencent productions. Lighting inventory ranges from ARRI SkyPanel and Aputure LS 1200d packages to large HMI and tungsten kits suitable for Hengdian's Tang and Ming dynasty backlots, and grip departments routinely support remote-head, Steadicam, MoVI Pro, and the Chinese-built Z Cam gimbal rigs that have entered the international fleet.

Our planners work department by department to map technical requirements against rental access, customs implications, and budget — mainly important for productions importing gear under ATA carnet through Beijing Capital, Shanghai Pudong, or Hong Kong, with SAFE foreign exchange rules adding a layer to vendor settlements that local-only crews often underestimate. We coordinate two-to-four-week advance bookings on signature glass and rare items, lock priority access through the rental partnerships we keep with Beijing, Shanghai, Hengdian, and Qingdao houses, and run delivery schedules in lockstep with the production's prep calendar.

The picture on the ground is more specific. On-call technical support runs through shoot, with replacement units staged in Beijing and Shanghai for twenty-four-hour response on Alexa, Venice, and Komodo bodies. For aerial work, we coordinate CAAC drone permits alongside DJI Inspire 3 and Ronin 4D packages so the camera plan never gets ahead of the regulatory clearance.