All Mobile Video Picks Cartoni for Metropolitan Opera Production

From Broadway musicals to watching the famed ball drop on New Year’s Eve, All Mobile Video (AMV) is the mobile production team that makes it happen. As one of the most established broadcast services providers on the East Coast, AMV offers a full spectrum of production services including mobile production units, sound stages, post-production, streaming services, equipment sales and rentals, and centralized master control. For projects ranging from single live shots to large-scale multicamera productions, the company’s mobile division offers the most advanced capabilities and equipment available.

With a prestigious list of clients and jobs to their name, AMV’s outside broadcast division has worked high profile events including MTV’s Video Music Awards, the Grammy’s, Time Square’s New Year’s Eve as well as the Metropolitan Opera every year.

“The challenge in working in these kinds of venues is time. You’re always under pressure. You need to get done fast so that the client can start rehearsing, but there are sometimes logistical challenges as well. The venue may need you to load through an entrance that’s inconvenient or far from where you are setting up,” explains Paul Butkiewicz.

With these kinds of challenges, having the right equipment can make a difference in both setup and performance.

“In the past, we had some tripods fail in that they were bulky, heavy and difficult to move around. Because of that, we made the switch to Cartoni,” adds Butkiewicz.

Johnny Bergermeister, AMV’s Director of Field Operations explains, “ Well, we were looking for a different vendor. We’d been using Vinten for the Met Opera and the camera operators wanted a better head because the Vinten’s were getting older. The director of engineering went shopping around and we found Cartoni. Cartoni came in and gave us a demo head and we decided to let the camera operators use it. The camera operators all loved it so we purchased six or eight of them.”

AMV outfitted their mobile trucks with Cartoni’s Magnum fluid head and Focus 22 tripods. The Magnum Fluid Head is the flagship in the CARTONI range of camera supports. Designed to support fully-decked Studio and OB cameras equipped with long boxed lenses, and accessories, the Magnum is an extremely compact fluid head that supports weights from 66 to 204 pounds. The Magnum is the ideal support for OB broadcast.

While the new FOCUS 22 is specifically designed to support the wide variety of new ENG cameras. With its broad range of payloads – 3 kg (6.5 lbs) to 22 kg (48.5 lbs) – The 22 aims to become the ideal partner for all newsgathering and outdoor shooting jobs.

“We like to use the Focus 22 as much as we can because it is so light, easy to carry and easy to set up. Our camera operators love it for slow movements, such as panning and tilting because it is so smooth.”

Bergermeister adds, “The Cartoni is a really, well-built head. All of the levers and knobs are ergonomically placed so it’s easier for the operator and it’s better built. It’s extremely durable. For us, being durable is very important because guys are loading things in and they may knock it here or there, or place the gear in piles so it needs to be able to be durable.”

Manios Digital is the exclusive US distributor of Cartoni Camera Supports.