Whether it’s cameras, tripods, spotlights, monitors, or microphones —Teltec can repair almost any kind of film equipment at its shop in Hamburg. Founded in 2000, Teltec’s services include repair, cleaning, maintenance, and software updates. Thanks to many years of experience, concentrated expertise, and a unique spare parts warehouse, the fifteen engineers, broadcast & television technicians, precision mechanics, measurement and electrical engineers can repair film equipment from all major manufacturers.
“Repair options stand or fall with the availability of service documentation and spare parts”, explains Thomas Burmester, Head of Service & Support. “In general, the repair workflow has been shortened somewhat because we replace entire circuit boards now instead of individual parts.” Nevertheless, repairs often remain very time-consuming. This is especially true for cameras, which account for the lion’s share of repair orders.
The majority of customers are broadcasters and TV production companies that record complex sporting and entertainment events. During broadcast production of soccer matches, cameras are subjected to extreme stress because they are exposed to the elements as well as to ambient water and dirt in the stadium, regardless of the weather conditions. Repairing and maintaining camera equipment extends its service life and reduces the need for new production.
Spare parts are available for most high-end cameras from Sony and RED. “However, it does happen that certain parts are discontinued”, says service technician Christian Beeken. When a button was needed to unlock the battery for a RED camera, precision engineer Detlef Lutz produced it by using a 3D printer. Creativity and expertise were also required when Blackmagic launched a new monitor that acted as a rear camera viewfinder. “The new Sony camera didn’t have a mount for the monitor, so I built an adapter”, Detlef Lutz points out.
Regular maintenance, cleaning, and repairs are also necessary for tripods. Dirt, corrosion, and water cause the brakes to wear out. Defects are also caused by damage and overloading, which can even result in broken tripod legs. Thanks to their expertise, the service technicians at Teltec receive special orders from all over the world. Teltec recently repaired a Miller fluid head from Australia.
The repair shop has a wide range of tools at its disposal to meet the various requirements, from lathes and milling machines to washbasins. A water-based liquid bacterial solvent is used to remove dirt, grease, silicone, and even corrosion in an environmentally friendly way. A collimator, whose capabilities have been expanded by a digital wavebench, can take precise measurements of camera lenses and film cameras. Software can generate reports as well as a lens history.
In Teltec’s re-commerce department, used equipment is accepted in payment, checked into the repair shop, and refurbished. “The used devices we sell come with our own inhouse warranty”, emphasizes Thomas Burmester. Thanks to the re-commerce process, Teltec saves valuable resources and significantly extends the service life of equipment. “The sustainable circular economy is an integral part of everyday work in our repair shop. This is how we contribute on a daily basis to reducing the ecological footprint of the film and broadcast industry.”
“The time for half-measures and climate denial is over. Unless we move quickly away from fossil fuels, we’re going to destroy the air we breathe, the water we drink, the health of our children, grandchildren and future generations. If we’re going to avoid the worst of the impacts, then we’ve just got to act boldly. And we must act immediately."
Robert Redford
Actor, Director, Producer, Environmentalist
"The media has a powerful role to play in the fight against climate change. Through films, television, and all media outlets, we must continue to deliver the message that solutions are out there and are happening now. We have to make it attractive for people to take action. Movies like Avatar, The Day After Tomorrow, and documentaries like Years of Living Dangerously, which I was proud to be a part of, have been very popular, reaching and inspiring millions of people. And I believe films in particular can really inspire and make people want to take action. It’s great to see some of my film-industry friends working with climate related organizations to push forward those messages."
„It‘s high time to reorganize film production in Germany in a ‚greener‘ and more sustainable way. So far, I am flabbergasted by how much our industry works in environmentally harmful ways.To this very day, it starts with until today one-sided print-outs of scripts, and then it continues with plastic bottles in production offices and lots of plastic waste with every catered meal, and it doesn‘t stop with the limousines that pull up to a red carpet.
For many years, people have sneered at me when I brought my own cup or I declined to eat cheap meat served on paper or plastic plates with plastic knives and forks. It would be great if the Green Shooting Card could change all that.“
Director (Ben X, Time of My Life)
„It’s absolutely great that filmmakers all over the world are trying to clean up their act, and are trying to film as sustainable as we possibly can. Still, I think we shouldn’t underestimate the incredible power of the moving image to also change the hearts and minds of people.
So, apart from trying to be more environmentally aware in our business, I think the big gain lies in how we might make everyone more environmentally aware. Yes, cinema can change the world.
I think filmmakers should start using the powerful weapon in our hands that is the camera.
Let’s not only try to do ‘less bad’. Let’s try to do right, and help drive the change that we all know needs to arrive.“
“We are living in a time in which we can’t afford to behave irresponsibly towards nature. The more important is it that film productions try to work as environmentally friendly as possible. A film team produces every day tons of garbage. I try to avoid using plastic cups on set, I bring my own cup, use ecofriendly cosmetics and avoid needless single rides.”
Photo ® Maddalena Arosio
Darren Aronofsky, Director, Noah / Jury President, 65th Berlin International Film Festival
“When we did Noah we knew we were making a film about the first steward of the earth, so we wanted to be good stewards ourselves. There’s so much waste on film sets. Because of groups like Earth Angel, we were able to change that a little bit.”
"As a TV and film producer I try to incorporate environmental storylines into my projects as much as possible. But it’s just as important, if not more, to ‚go green‘ behind the scenes! Therefore, I help run the Producers Guild of America’s Green Initiative.
We provide resources such as a Best Practices and a Carbon Calculator to help producers green their productions. We also partnered with all the major studios to create www.greenproductionguide.com which is a free green vendor database with over 2,000 vendors offering sustainable production solutions worldwide!"
‚Green screens excepted, we will do everything in our power to be as innovative as we can in order to make our production as green as possible.‘
Photo: (c) herbXfilm Dieter Mayr
Lars Jessen
Director (Fraktus, Dorfpunks, Am Tag als Bobby Ewing starb)
‘It is somewhat embarrassing that green filming is only now becoming an issue in our industry because there have long since been many possibilities to shoot more efficiently.
Technical innovations such as energy efficient lighting are as much a part of this as the awareness of every crew member.’
I do work with a company in the States called Sungevity that leases solar panels to homes. They figured out how to move forward environmentally and how to make it economically successful.
So that’s my small but steadfast global contribution. I think everybody doing a little bit is all that’s made any difference, ever.‘
Producer, Director and Visual Effects Supervisor (2001: A Space Odysee, Blade Runner)
"Trumbull Studios in Massachusetts is dedicated to being green as much as possible, including the use of LED lighting, solar power, and solar laptops. This is not just because our location has limited amperage and no three-phase, we believe we have a responsibility to our community and our planet to be a clean industry.
We are planning for digital photography in 3D 4K at 120 frames per second from remote and inaccessible locations that will not have available power. Solar is the way to go."
Dieter Kosslick, Director Berlin International Film Festival
„The Berlinale is already actively addressing the sustainability subject since years. We appreciate it very much that a growing number of filmmakers, among them this year‘s jury presiden Darren Aranofsky, is following green guidelines on set.“
Benoit Delhomme
Director of Photography (A Most Wanted Man)
‘I never have been told precisely what the rules are for shooting a green movie, but we are trying to do it. This is something new for me. Sometimes people overlight scenes at night. I don’t. If I can see with my own eyes, then it is enough for the film. In that sense I am a green DoP.’
Academy Award winner Jeremy Irons who stars in the Berlinale Competition entry The Night Train To Lisbon is a fan of source segregated recycling. „Especially in Germany you have done a lot for that. You are examplary in the matter of waste separation.“
The Hollywood actor travelled around the world to promote the environmntal documentary feature film Trashed by Candida Brady which deals with the global garbage problem: „We buy it, we bury it, we burn it and then we ignore it“, says Brady. „With Jeremy Irons as our guide, we discover what happens to the billion or so tons of waste that goes unaccounted for each year.“
Since the world premiere at the International Cannes Film Festival in 2012 Trashed picked up various nominations and awards at international festivals.
“Repair options stand or fall with the availability of service documentation and spare parts”, explains Thomas Burmester, Head of Service & Support. “In general, the repair workflow has been shortened somewhat because we replace entire circuit boards now instead of individual parts.” Nevertheless, repairs often remain very time-consuming. This is especially true for cameras, which account for the lion’s share of repair orders.
The majority of customers are broadcasters and TV production companies that record complex sporting and entertainment events. During broadcast production of soccer matches, cameras are subjected to extreme stress because they are exposed to the elements as well as to ambient water and dirt in the stadium, regardless of the weather conditions. Repairing and maintaining camera equipment extends its service life and reduces the need for new production.
Spare parts are available for most high-end cameras from Sony and RED. “However, it does happen that certain parts are discontinued”, says service technician Christian Beeken. When a button was needed to unlock the battery for a RED camera, precision engineer Detlef Lutz produced it by using a 3D printer. Creativity and expertise were also required when Blackmagic launched a new monitor that acted as a rear camera viewfinder. “The new Sony camera didn’t have a mount for the monitor, so I built an adapter”, Detlef Lutz points out.
Regular maintenance, cleaning, and repairs are also necessary for tripods. Dirt, corrosion, and water cause the brakes to wear out. Defects are also caused by damage and overloading, which can even result in broken tripod legs. Thanks to their expertise, the service technicians at Teltec receive special orders from all over the world. Teltec recently repaired a Miller fluid head from Australia.
The repair shop has a wide range of tools at its disposal to meet the various requirements, from lathes and milling machines to washbasins. A water-based liquid bacterial solvent is used to remove dirt, grease, silicone, and even corrosion in an environmentally friendly way. A collimator, whose capabilities have been expanded by a digital wavebench, can take precise measurements of camera lenses and film cameras. Software can generate reports as well as a lens history.
In Teltec’s re-commerce department, used equipment is accepted in payment, checked into the repair shop, and refurbished. “The used devices we sell come with our own inhouse warranty”, emphasizes Thomas Burmester. Thanks to the re-commerce process, Teltec saves valuable resources and significantly extends the service life of equipment. “The sustainable circular economy is an integral part of everyday work in our repair shop. This is how we contribute on a daily basis to reducing the ecological footprint of the film and broadcast industry.”
Robert Redford
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Hannes Jaenicke
Nic Balthazar
Nadeshda Brennicke, Actress
Darren Aronofsky, Director, Noah / Jury President, 65th Berlin International Film Festival
Tim Bevan
Thekla Reuten
Rachael Joy
Nikola Rakocevi
Nadja Schildknecht
Michael Bully Herbig
Lars Jessen
Helen Hunt
Douglas Trumbull
Dieter Kosslick, Director Berlin International Film Festival
Benoit Delhomme
Jeremy Irons