JEM Audiovisual Events & Installations is a rising star company based in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands, headed by owner and founder Justin Engelman, and built on passion, energy, and enthusiasm for live events and delivering technical production to the very highest standards. “The most important part of every job is the end result,” stated Justin.

Specialising in supplying sporting events, corporate and dance competitions, together with theatrical and cultural productions, JEM also creates the visual design for 90 percent of its shows and has grown substantially since 2022 after moving into the current – and imaginatively utilised – warehouse space.

In that time, moving into a new phase of development, they started investing in Robe moving lights with the latest purchase being 8 x ESPRITE Profiles that join the LEDBeam 150s and LEDWash 600s already in their fleet since 2022. These ESPRITES have made a big difference to the scope of their lighting designs.

JEM was started in 2010 to focus on producing creative lighting and visual designs. Visuals had always been a fascination of Justin’s since he was a child, when he initially became fascinated with toy store lights, then started DJing at parties and for school friends. Right from these early years, he wanted to make this world his career and his business … and he wanted to be good at it.

Justin’s first contact with Robe was back in 2011 when working for Koninklijke Nederlandse Gymnastiek Unie (KNGU), the Royal Dutch Gymnastics Union, as a lighting programmer and operator. The company had purchased Robe’s first generation DLX Spot luminaires, which were also to utilise the power and vibrance of a multispectral LED engine.

He realised that these were robust and reliable and facilitated some great lighting possibilities, and his regard for Robe grew from there. At some point along the way, JEM also acquired these DLX Spot fixtures from KNGU.

“Our designs are based on a unique approach to the environment and the event being lit appropriately, rather than just the quantities of lights we might have available,” said Justin, explaining his more rounded approach to how an event should be styled visually.

After COVID, although those original DLX Spots were still working well, Justin decided it was the time to up the ante for the business, add new technology to the inventory and take everything up several notches.

Wanting some more industry-standard moving lights, he once again thought of Robe.

Initially, 4 x LEDWash 600s and a few months later 10 x LEDBeam 150s joined the inventory, then he needed a workhorse bright profile fixture with plenty of features and organised a shootout for potential contenders. This was organised from Robe’s side by Benelux distributor Controllux, with whom JEM already enjoyed an excellent working relationship.

Key features for JEM were CRI, the integrity of the saturated colours, reliability, sustainability and connected to these two, longevity. Ideally, they wanted something that, like the DLX Spots, would still be working in 10 years!

They also wanted accurate framing shutters, an efficient and effective frost, prisms and animation wheels. Considering all of these elements together, and following an impressive shootout, they chose ESPRITES!

That ESPRITES would also nicely colour match their existing Robe fixtures was another bonus, but underscoring the whole decision was also the outstanding local support and backup from Controllux.

Justin commented on the quality of Controllux’s technical training programmes and he capitalised on this, so JEM’s regular technicians could learn about and understand the fixtures and conduct the maintenance themselves.

Justin also visited the Robe factory in the Czech Republic and was delighted to see the manufacturing process first-hand. He appreciates that Robe is made in Europe, and that the factory and facilities are meticulously organised and managed. “I think we can all learn a lot from the way Robe produces its products and executes its business,” he noted.

Since the purchase, JEM’s ESPRITES have been used on numerous events including theDutch Artistic Gymnastics Championships competition at the Ahoy in Rotterdam, where the ESPRITES made a real difference adding vibrance, colour, movement, and dynamics to a series of breathtaking gymnastic displays.

Photos are by Louise Stickland (people) and courtesy Dutch Gymnastics Federation (show) – see filenames.