At Rosco, we hold a strong belief that through collaboration, creativity, and innovation, we can accomplish great things with our customers and partners. These values are reflected in our company motto “Let’s create something brilliant together,” which has also rung true for DMG Lighting for the past 10 years. Below, we take a look at the history of DMG as we celebrate this momentous anniversary.
Back in the early 2010s, Cinematographer Mathieu de Montgrand and Gaffer Nicolas Goerg were able to see a brighter future for LED lighting in the Film/TV industry than what was on the market at the time. That’s because Mathieu’s brother, Nils de Montgrand, was an LED expert who had been running his own LED company – Smartlight Europe – in Lyon, France. Nils, guided by the film lighting needs outlined by Matthieu and Nico, developed the initial SL1, which provided superior color rendering than other LED fixtures at the time. This monochrome LED soft light was available in either 5600K or 3200K fixtures.
DMG Lumière founders (L-R) Jean, Nils & Mathieu de Montgrand and Nicolas Goerg
– photographed in 2017.
A third de Montgrand brother – Jean de Montgrand – was brought on board to develop sales operations for the fledgling company. Jean began introducing the fixture range to filmmakers throughout Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Thus, DMG Lumière was born.
The initial SL1 was just the beginning as they would follow it up with the SL1 SWITCH, which was a bicolor version of the fixture that featured a 3000K – 5600K color temperature range. Soon after that, they released the MINI SWITCH and MAXI SWITCH units, which, as their names suggest, contained the same bi-color LED technology as the SL1 SWITCH, but one was more compact and the other was much larger.
Even though they were not a part of Rosco yet, the story behind the DMG Lumière name is indicative of the Rosco motto and a lovely story about, literally, “creating brilliance together.” The DMG represents the three De MontGrand brothers (and Nico) who worked TOGETHER to create Lumière, which is French for light/brilliance. The Lumière name also pays homage to Auguste and Louis Lumière – another team of brothers from Lyon, France that revolutionized the filmmaking industry through their invention of the cinématographe in the late-1800s.
DMG Lumière’s Nils de Montgrand and Rosco’s Stan Miller sign the acquisition contract in 2017.
It didn’t take long for the industry to take notice of this dynamic French LED company and their innovative range of film lights – including Rosco. We recognized their quick growth and success, and we saw a place for their product designs in Rosco’s portfolio of filmmaking solutions. After only three years in the industry, Rosco acquired DMG Lumiere in 2017. At the time of the acquisition, Rosco CEO Mark Engel said, “DMG Lumière is the perfect partner as we look to grow our business, and we’re delighted to welcome them into the Rosco family.”
By combining the cutting-edge LED technology developed by DMG Lumière’s with Rosco’s color expertise, the two companies merged their proficiencies together to develop the brilliant MIX® Technology. This patent-pending color mixing innovation blends together six chips - Red, Green, Blue, Amber, Lime, and White - to provide a fuller spectrum of light than traditional RGB, RGBW, and RGBA fixtures can. “With MIX Technology we’ve combined Rosco’s 108 years of color and lighting heritage with DMG Lumière’s LED expertise to introduce color into our specialized range of LED lighting,” said Nils de Montgrand when MIX was released.
The MIX Technology was initially incorporated into the SL1 and MINI fixtures, which were also engineered to be controlled via the myMIX® Mobile App. The MAXI was released later after a product redesign, which enabled the fixture to be stacked and linked together to create larger fixtures. Beyond the original DMG lights, we also used the MIX Technology to create new fixtures, including:
In an effort to move the DMG range more fully into the Rosco brand, while, at the same time, recognizing its brand recognition, DMG Lumière was rebranded as DMG Lighting in 2023. The future of the DMG Lighting range will continue to focus on innovation within the LED lighting market with an emphasis on durability and repairability. This expectation is particularly noticeable in the design of Rosco’s new DMG LION, which features an interchangeable LED engine that enables users to upgrade the light with updated LED technology without needing to replace the entire fixture.
“I hope that DMG Lighting continues to be a recognized brand throughout the entertainment industry around the world,” said Nils de Montgrand. “I am amazed at everything that has happened to us and how far we have grown thanks to the brilliant efforts of the Rosco and DMG teams working together.”
Getting ready to light your next project? Let’s create something brilliant together. Learn more about Rosco DMG Lighting fixtures on the Rosco website, or click the banner above to find your nearest DMG Lighting rental house.
Lacey Colter January 25, 2024 Questions?
Marketing Manager - Film/TV/Broadcast: Lacey Colter has been working in the entertainment industry since 2015. She started in production before transitioning to a cinema lens manufacturer and now covers the film and television market for Rosco. She has spent years of her career interviewing a variety of industry professionals.