IN PROFILE
LITECOM LITECOM Despite boasting offices in Denmark, Sweden, Germany and Georgia [and a few famous names on its client list] Litecom remains determined - not - to conquer the world. <strong>TPi</strong>’s Ste Durham flew to Copenhagen to hear the company’s story first hand. Litecom’s own CEO, Rasmus Bremer Sørensen, was on hand to play chaperone to <strong>TPi</strong> for the day, as we visited the company’s various operations in and around a decidedly crisp but sunny Copenhagen. First stop was Litecom’s secluded HQ in Kastrup (luckily, just in time for smørrebrød). “My brother Morten and I started Litecom officially in 2000,” Bremer Sørensen began. “We had worked together before that, but it was always ‘just a job’ - mainly freelancing in conventional broadcast and film lighting. More by coincidence than strategy, our business became focussed on moving light, which gave us a clear direction.” Litecom, in its current incarnation, is built on the twin pillars of lighting equipment rental and, perhaps more surprisingly, real estate. Although these areas of business may seem disparate at first, the company’s decision to buy and develop property for its own use has allowed it the freedom to expand (or consolidate) as it sees fit. Bremer Sørensen continued: “The real estate company only has one client, Litecom, but it still means we can see a building and immediately start talking about how we can add to it or develop the area around it. We are very good at lighting, but I would go as far as to say that this aspect of our business is even stronger.” This talent for spotting prime real estate was evidenced quite recently, when Litecom came across a disused electrical research facility that was located a short drive across town in Brøndby. This imposing structure, which has been affectionately dubbed The Cube, was snapped up by Litecom to serve as the city’s new go-to rehearsal studio. While this was an exciting new venture for the team, reality quickly set it once the doors of this building were reopened. “When we first came, the place was rubbish,” laughed the company’s gregarious CFO, Torben Merrilgdgaard. “It had been abandoned for 5 years due to bankruptcy and had 1.5m of water in the basement! Even so, we knew it was going to be perfect for us. There is soul there, and a sense of expectation that is clear as soon as you walk through the door.” Although it took 2 years of hard work to whip the neglected building into shape, the facility is now as enthralling as it is functional. The company has worked to retain as much of the laboratory’s former glory as possible; with each piece of apparatus and instance of anachronistic décor conjuring (most likely inaccurate) visions of Nikola Tesla-esque scientists their hairraising experiments. From the subterranean tunnels used to circulate heat around the cavernous main studio to the reinvigorated observation boxes that overlook it; many of the building’s idiosyncrasies have been refreshed and repurposed to complement facility’s new function. The main studio in particular, which was earthed to within an inch of its life for obvious reasons, benefits from phenomenal acoustics and natural soundproofing that would have otherwise cost Litecom a small fortune. “It has been a long and hard journey to establish The Cube, but we are almost there,” said Merrilgdgaard. “We have never built a rehearsal space before, so it was important that we did it the right way. We had to present our case to the mayor, who was very supportive; to ensure that what we were planning would be for the benefit of the surrounding community. We 57