I spent twenty years of my life in the lighting and grip business. A great deal of my business experience came from working in various jobs within that specific industry. I was a lighting technician on Body Heat. I manufactured cable and distribution systems, so I learned the manufacturing business. I worked in a rental house that rented lighting and grip equipment, so I learned the rental business. I sold what the industry calls expendable items, so I learned the sales and distribution business. I repaired lighting and grip equipment, so I learned the service business.
My various positions finally landed me the job as controller of the largest lighting and grip house in North America and perhaps the world. Within the industry, only a handful of people really know how to run a lighting and grip operation successfully, and I count myself among this eclectic group. Back when I was doing that for a living, I met an up and comer who was running a small operation and doing a great job in spite of three owners with opposing visions. Kelly Koskella had to navigate turbulent waters as he learned the business.
I, too, had to work around personalities and agendas that didn't have profit motives. Out of that adversity came the most profitable year in the company's history. As many know, the 80's were filled with cocaine, and the company that I worked for was adversely affected by drugs and addiction, as the president of our company was off on his binge, and the pressure of being near bankruptcy drove the owner to the golf course. The lion's share of the responsibility for the company fell on my shoulders. There were serious discussions with our attorneys about filing for bankruptcy protection that year, as Cannon Films owed us a million and a half dollars that was all past due.
I remember sitting in Willie Steinbeck's office and waiting for hours on multiple occasions to get a check so that I could meet payroll for our one hundred employees. When I think back on that time, I remember the stress of having only ten grand in the bank on a Tuesday and knowing that a fifty-six thousand dollar payroll was due to hit on Thursday. Somehow, I always managed to pull together the funds to keep the company floating.
I would never trade that experience for anything, but I also have no desire to go running back into that viper's nest. When that year came to a close, we had over a million dollars in profit on the books and in the bank. We collected all of the Cannon receivable, and the company had a sound outlook for the future. Watching every paperclip led to a record year that was never repeated by any other management within that company. When the drug addict learned that we had cash in the bank, however, it wasn't long before it was all gone, and the company was in trouble again.
Working through that experience, I gained an appreciation for just how tough a business it is and how skilled a good manager needs to be to become successful. The business community of Los Angeles is very small, and one of my longtime friends asked me to look over some paperwork that brought Kelly Koskella back to my attention. I learned that he now is the president of Hollywood Rentals, the purchaser of the company I worked for. I had one of those tremendous moments when I sat back in amazement that one of the good guys had risen to the top in an industry that often rewards bad behavior.
We had an hour during which I got a chance to hear the story. He too had watched as people who took shortcuts seemed to get ahead. Those same shortcuts were available to Kelly, but he chose not to pursue them. He chose to do things the right way for the right reasons and to allow the outcome to be less flash and more substance. He had his experience at J&L Lighting, which he helped guide through a bankruptcy and, a short time later, through an acquisition. He had his experience with Hollywood Rentals as part of a team that guided the company through a bankruptcy. He had entered the scene with another company that was on the ropes, and he successfully helped that company be acquired by a large international company. Now, he was being offered another challenge with Hollywood Rentals that would require him to breathe life back into the company, as it was on the verge of yet another bankruptcy within four years from having emerged from the previous bankruptcy. The owners had identified him as the right man for the job due to his string of successes within the industry.
When he interviewed for the job, it was clear that the partners were not on the same page. He knew that having ownership with competing agendas was a rough road that wasn't for him. He called the partners that he thought had the clearest vision for the company and told them that he couldn't accept the job unless the other partners were bought out. Ten days later, they cut the deal, and Kelly became the president of Hollywood Rentals.
Kelly took on this challenge with the daunting task of repairing the relationships with all of the vendors that he needed on board to turn the company around. Previous management had run up bills that went unpaid, and the abuse had caused every vendor to choose not to do business with Hollywood Rentals, even if the company offered cash up front. The vendors had heard every promise that could possibly be made prior to Kelly's return to the scene. Relations were beyond fractured. Kelly had his work cut out for him. He dug in and began by contacting the vendors personally and promising them weekly checks. When he delivered the first week's checks, he gained a little favor. Over the next nine months of weekly telephone calls and checks, he forged new strong alliances with people who now were rooting for the success of Kelly and Hollywood Rentals. Somewhere during those nine months, the company turned the corner back to profitability. With every call, Kelly had another opportunity to share his vision for the future and get everyone on the same page. By the time all of the debts were settled, these vendors had become partners in the vision that Kelly laid out for all of them. That vision was just beginning to unfold.
What had begun as a company in trouble that had dwindled down to sixty employees quickly became the premiere lighting and grip company in the Industry. On my best day as a manager in the lighting and grip business I was never as organized as Kelly. He was so laid back during our time together, because he knew that the middle management that he had trained were effective in keeping the millions of pieces of equipment moving from truck to truck into the warehouse, through the service and repair department, and then back on rent as quickly as possible so that each piece could earn money.
Ask Kelly about any location, and he can tell you what is happening on a daily basis. He knows which employees are sick, which have doctor's appointments, and which are working overtime. He has created the most unique and proprietary system to stock over 6,000 expendable items, run multiple entities in multiple locations, and keep track of several million rental inventory items. He was able to be relaxed, because he has nearly eight years of training invested in his employees. I guarantee that, if I had looked him up at the beginning of his tenure as president of the company, he would have had no time to talk casually.
Kelly has done what many other companies fail to do. He has developed middle management. When he first began steering this company back to life, he was hands-on down in the trenches. Many managers never grow beyond this, because they keep the knowledge bottled up inside. Kelly was able to replicate himself by providing quality training to every member of the team. Each of them operated the company's many elements as if Kelly were doing it himself. As a result, the company now occupies a new 110,000 square foot facility and has satellite operations in Detroit, Charlotte, Budapest, Orlando, Baton Rouge, and soon in Atlanta. The company also operates the brands ESS and Olsen. The gear is brought to and from all of these facilities with a fleet of 130 pieces of rolling stock. And, the company employs hundreds of workers.
I had the opportunity to tour the new warehouse. In a thirty minute glimpse, I knew that, if there is a better manager in the industry, I am not acquainted with him. I don't believe that there is anybody better. Each lamp sits on the shelf in a particular way with doors and diffusion. Every stand has all of the handles lined up. In an instant, I can look at a shelf and know the number of heads available for rental, so that a physical count can be instantly compared to the count that the computer gives. Any shrinkage in the inventory is immediately noticed and investigated.
This all looks so familiar to me, and yet I have never seen such a militant structure applied to lighting and grip equipment. I search my memory. On the many Army and Air Force bases that I have visited, I saw this level of organization. It occurred to me that Kelly must have had some military training. I asked about it and learned that, although he never personally served in the military, he was a military brat. He moved all over with his father, who was a career military officer. Kelly's father taught him valuable skills that have been employed here. He runs Hollywood Rentals like a military supply chain, In which one mistake can mean the difference between life and death. When you think about it, often these lights are hung above actors and performers, who earn millions of dollars a year. The risk associated with any faulty device could mean the difference between life and death. It could also mean a multi-million dollar insurance claim. If I were underwriting film and television insurance policies, I would insist that Hollywood Rentals provide the equipment under the supervision of Kelly Koskella.
If I were investing in movies, I would also insist that Hollywood Rentals supply the equipment. There are so many elements that put the investment dollars of any movie in jeopardy that this one line item can be eliminated from the risk category by simply doing business with the right company. Attorneys in Century City would do well to advise clients to get their equipment from Hollywood Rentals.
If you find yourself in the wrong camp, it isn't too late to switch. Kelly answers the telephone and keeps his empire and network growing. When I look around and get a feel for his inventory, I would estimate it at $70 million. The next time I see him, I will formally address him as the "Seventy-million Dollar Man." Ten years from now, I might have to call him the Billion Dollar Man. He has only scratched the surface of his abilities.
Hollywood Rentals is arguably the biggest lighting and grip company in the history of the world. But, being the biggest isn't nearly as important as being the best, and Hollywood Rentals will continue growing, because hundreds of people are paying attention to the millions of details that make it the best lighting and grip company in the world.
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