Based in Tulsa, AMP EQUIPMENT and its subsidiaries have been the leader in Oklahoma film equipment rental for decades.
Can you tell us how and why you started your business?
AMP EQUIPMENT was created in 2011, from the merger of Oklahoma’s two most experienced film equipment rental providers, Bulldog Film & Video and New Millennium Productions. AMP is an acronym, which stands for “Advertising and Motion Picture” Equipment, which is at the heart of the service AMP’s owners have provided to Oklahoma for over 35 years. The prime reason for forming AMP was to create a company in Oklahoma with enough equipment to facilitate motion picture production, and within the first few months of forming, AMP provided equipment for “So This Is Christmas” and “Home Run” concurrently.
What services do you provide within the film/music industry?
Most people think of AMP EQUIPMENT as a grip & lighting rental house, but we also do a huge amount of crewing. For incoming productions needing both equipment and crew, that’s a huge relief for them to outsource that responsibility to us. In addition to operating the longest running rental facility in Oklahoma, we also sell equipment. We are a dealer for numerous vendors. We have also provided studio services for nearly 20 years. Plus, AMP’s owners both also work as technicians in the industry and have worked on thousands upon thousands of projects.
How has your company grown to meet the needs of Oklahoma’s film and/or music industries over the last 3-5 years?
AMP EQUIPMENT relocated in October of 2020 to a larger facility to better service our motion picture clients, expanding both our rental inventory storage area and support offices. We’ve added an array of new lighting fixtures, including ARRI Skypanels, M-series HMI’s, Litemats, LitePanels Astra’s and Gemini’s, Aputure lights, Astera and Quasar tubes and more. We’ve simultaneously increased our camera and camera support inventory to help fulfill client needs.
What are the benefits of basing your company’s operations in Oklahoma?
AMP EQUIPMENT’s owners are Oklahomans. Rather than fleeing the state to seek an opportunity in the film industry, they decided to stay and help CREATE a film industry in Oklahoma. Over 35 years later, AMP EQUIPMENT has worked on thousands of projects, which includes dozens of feature films. AMP has literally helped to build the film industry in Oklahoma from the ground up.
What would you consider your business’s greatest accomplishment to date?
AMP EQUIPMENT and its subsidiaries Bulldog Film & Video and New Millennium Productions have lead Oklahoma’s film industry for decades, so it’s hard to pin down a singular accomplishment out of so many notable achievements, which include:
a. Starting the very first grip & lighting rental house in the state of Oklahoma.
b. Creating the Oklahoma Production Guide – the first online database for Oklahoma film technicians and vendors, which was the only source for crewing and vendor services for over a decade, before the state eventually created their own database.
c. Conceptualizing and creating, and then teaching for the Oklahoma Film Institute program at Oklahoma City Community College (OCCC), to start building a crew base in OKC before one existed. And donating nearly $50,000 in services and equipment to launch the program and enable its operation for the first decade.
d. Helping create, launch and start the deadCenter Film Festival and being an original main sponsor for the first two years, in addition to sponsoring several other local and regional film festivals, including the Bare Bones Film Festival.
e. Being featured in several national trade magazines for groundbreaking work in Oklahoma film production.
f. Building the first studio facility in Oklahoma that had the Pro Cyc system, as well as the first studio to have a white cyc wall, green screen cyc and black box area all combined.
What are you working on now/next?
AMP is always trying to stay abreast of the market demands, hot trends and newly released equipment. We try to anticipate our clients demands and how to best meet their needs. In addition to the numerous projects on our calendar, we are currently working on creating another workshop program. This one will focus on training Tulsa area filmmakers.
What advice do you have for others who are considering starting a film or music business in Oklahoma?
The film industry is a difficult line of work to be in. The days are long, there’s no job security or benefits, and you will often be required to work nights, weekends, holidays, birthdays and anniversaries; so be prepared to miss out on some of life’s precious moments. But there are trade-offs, which include being your own boss and lots of free time.
What opportunities do you believe await Oklahoma’s film/music industry in the future?
There has been an influx of new technicians that have moved to Oklahoma in response to our rebate, and the projects it is attracting. As Oklahoma increases its crew base, it will help with bringing more projects here. With new shows such as “Reservation Dogs” being shot here, other studios will take notice and hopefully follow in their steps.
Each featured individual or business is given the provided questions to answer in their own voice. Other than formatting and grammar, the answers are personal to each featured voice, and are not provided by the Oklahoma Film + Music Office.
