Feature films shooting outside of Los Angeles and New York are now able to upfit temporary stages and cover sets much more easily with Catwalk Truss rented from High Output. Robert Redford’s latest film “The Conspirator”, which shot in Savannah from October to December of 2009, found the Catwalk Truss to be the ideal cost-effective solution for turning an average commercial warehouse into a fully functional and effective studio space for shooting interior scenes.

"We had an interesting challenge on this latest project -- design, and rent, a Catwalk Truss for a warehouse space," explained Production Supervisor, Kaylene Carlson. "We were fortunate to find a company willing to meet our needs in High Output. Working intricately with our Construction and Rigging crews, High Output helped manufacture, per our specs, a system that went up in one day allowing us to keep on schedule."

As he reflected on the experience of filming inside that cramped warehouse, Newton Thomas Sigel, A.S.C. had this to say, "We were faced with a warehouse half the size we needed and a budget even smaller. Yet we had seven long scenes to do on our courtroom set and precious little time to do it. We had a to find an inexpensive, user-friendly way to help the lamp operators up high to work quickly, and keep ladders off the set. With the Catwalk Truss system we found a solution as good as any green-bed on an L.A. stage. In spite of our challenges, we finished on time and under-budget."

Construction boss Tom Morris who is based in Charleston, SC continued by saying, “We had a limited amount of stage space which was broken up in to several rooms and sets – that alone created unusually tight quarters. Using the Catwalk Truss solved two major issues: first, it gave us complete flexibility to light the set and make adjustments from overhead -- just like on a ‘real’ stage; and secondly, it also kept the technicians from interfering with some extremely delicate props and finishes because they never had to walk through the sets. If High Output hadn’t taken the time to work through the engineering details and layout, we could still be shooting now.”

High Output’s regional manager Martin Bluford is quick to share credit with the Catwalk Truss manufacturer Applied Electronics, located in Newport News, VA, and their Southeast rep Darrell Mann. “You don’t rely on just any vendor when committing a custom equipment package to a feature film schedule. On two occasions Applied Electronics turned around engineering drawings overnight, then nailed the manufacturing deadline enabling us to deliver a 53-foot trailer of gleaming new truss right on schedule. Applied Electronics did an awesome job.”