DemoZone: Broadcast Sales Shop

Sony, Apple, Panasonic, JVC, Canon

What do you get if you combine a beautiful, warm Cape Town evening with a group of nearly two hundred people consisting of VI clients, suppliers and friends topped with amazing food and good wine? The successful and exciting launch of the Demozone – the broadcast shop based at The MediaHive in Cape Town. The shop boasts suppliers such as Sony SA, who was represented by Jess Goedhals and Roushal Poole, DDS - represented by Ivan Shamley, Syntech SA, represented by Ryan Martyn, Singer Photographic, represented by Sharon Singer and Gerhard Olivier as well as Turbolite with representative, Francois Raeymaekers as well as Apple IMC with associate, Brad Shrimpton. Some of the major clients that attended are Paul Lensen from CPUT as well as Donavan Britz, group manager for AFDA and Garth Holmes - AFDA Chairman.

Demozone’s location probably is their greatest advantage. Not only are they situated at The MediaHive, which is rapidly becoming the one-stop spot for those in the television and film industry, they are also right at the entrance of the building, ensuring a warm greeting to all potential clients.

Demozone is managed by Juanne Whyte and Clinton Sparks. Whyte has been working for Visual Impact for six years, he worked in rentals for a year and was then rental coordinator for two years. He was Magus Visual Rental coordinator for two years. His three years experience in Professional Broadcast Sales together with Clinton Sparks’ thirteen-year involvement with Apple, make up this dynamic team who are at the forefront of broadcast sales. Sparks spent nine years working on the technical side attaining AASE (Apple Authorised Service Engineer) status prior to moving on to sales. He is a registered Apple Product Professional and has been with visual Impact for nine months. It is no surprise that this duo has managed to create a spectacular shop where they are knowledgeable and passionate about the products that they sell. The inhouse engineers, Chisto ,Steve Lawton and Gordon de Beer are also able to assist with any queries of requests.

The main aim of The MediaHive is to create synergies. The Demozone launch was indicative of these synergies already in place. It was exceptionally well attended with guests from various companies within the industry, making connections and exploring the possibilities of collaborating with those that they met. Demozone is the only broadcast shop with a demo area showing the whole workflow from camera acquisition to editing and grading. Guests had the opportunity to explore some of these demonstrations first-hand. On entering the MediaHive, there was a welcoming buzz coming from the shop, which was overflowing with a crowd of evidently impressed individuals, sipping champagne. Moving along up the stairs, another group of people were enjoying decadent snacks catered by Elixer, listening to Jack Johnson and networking in a relaxed ambiance.

The evening was filled with much fun and laughter, especially for those who won prizes, such as Donavan from AFDA, who won a Sony 12 mega pixel stills camera and pouch, Clint from Dunkley’s Restaurant as well as Preston from Pixel Project, who both received Sony walkmen, Rahle from Pixel Project who won a 160gig G-Tech Drive as well as Hari, from CineHD, who received a Lacie 500gig Hard Drive. These prizes were kindly sponsored by Visual Impact Sales (Sony Stills Camera & 2x Sony Walkman), Singer PhotoGrapic (Stills camera pouch), Ivan Shamley from DDS (500gig Lacie Hard Drive) and Ryan Martyn from Syntech SA (160Gig G-tech hard drive and 1gig USB memory sticks).

Demozone has been imperative to the success of the studio, Magus, the HdHub, the projection room, CAR as well as the audio facility. Magus supplies cameras, while The HdHub specialises in post-production and editing. The Demozone supplies all these needs plus more, stocking top of the range equipment from all over the world. All the companies within the building use and highly recommend the equipment purchased from the Demozone on a daily basis – this proves that they have great faith in these products.

Judging by the success of the Demozone launch, the tone has been set for great things to come from this shop.

Written by: Monique Smith