ES Broadcast Hires SVP Bob Hawkanson to Lead First U.S. Office in Orlando, FL
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ES Broadcast Hire has opened its first office in the US. Senior Vice President Bob Hawkanson joins the company to head up the office.
Located in Orlando, Florida, the office will house a dedicated dry hire fleet of Sony and Grass Valley cameras, lenses – including Canon’s new UJ111x8.3Band UJ122x8.2B 4K field lenses – grip, and other equipment. US clients will also be able to access ES Broadcast Hire’s global 4K and HD fleet including 140 Sony HDC-4300 camera channels, as well as Grass Valley channels, EVS replay servers, and a full array of Canon and Fujinon UHD lenses.
It brings the company’s number of rental locations in Europe and North America to seven, following the opening of an office in Rome earlier this year.
“This office will allow us to station a dedicated dry hire fleet in the US, rather than serving the market from our European rental stock,” explains Warren Taggart, managing director, ES Broadcast Hire. “Our experience in operating multiple European locations has shown us that maintaining a local inventory of equipment gives us the capacity to respond quickly and flexibly to the needs of our clients.
“Of course, our US clients will also have access to what is one of the world’s largest 4K rental fleets – so we can offer full scalability with high-end production value for large-scale events.”
“I am delighted that Bob, with his extensive experience in sports production, has agreed to lead our Orlando office,” adds Taggart. “He is someone we know well from our existing work in the US, and is well-equipped to drive further success at what is an exciting time of expansion for ES Broadcast Hire.”
Hawkanson joins the company from rental house VER, bringing with him a wide range of experience in the OB and live sports market in the US, in both sales and technical operational roles. He has previously provided services for an array of market-leading clients such as NFL Network, ESPN, Fox Sports, and the Tennis Channel.
“I am excited to be leading ES Broadcast Hire’s latest regional office as the company looks to grow its North American business,” says Hawkanson. “As with our European offices, we have significant investment plans to grow and tailor our equipment offering to the specific needs of the US live sports market, and I am looking forward to driving these development plans.”