Growing in Line with Requirements and Creating a Memorable Show
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STAGE & DECORATION SPECIAL Brok Decor handles the set and stage design for the largest national and international events and festivals. The company is booming at the moment. “Clients always come back to us because we honour our agreements and take care of everything for them.” rok Decor is a set design company in Defqon.1 Festival has become one of the products. Grevenstuk: “We are constantly the broadest sense of the word. The major events of the year. “This festival is so hard at work to further professionalise our Borganisation takes care of the entire enormous that we can go crazy on a crea- organisation in every sense. For example, process from design to realisation. From tive level and come up with a spectacular our website offers a complete back-office both their large workspace in Zaandam, new theme every year,” Grevenstuk says. system that serves as a platform for the where everything can be prefabricated and “We truly grew in line with Q-Dance. That is crew. We keep a close eye on the latest stored, and their office and workshop in the the only way to achieve something like this. developments in the world of design and United States, Brok Decor serves the inter- This year, we are thinking bigger than ever we strive to pass on the knowledge of our national festival and events market. Steven before. We are honoured to get this oppor- veteran crew members, who have been Grevenstuk, the company’s chief executive tunity and we love working with them. It is with us since the very beginning, to the new officer, has acquired a wealth of experience easy to become jaded when you have been generation of employees. Furthermore, we over the course of his career. “I worked at in this line of work for a while, but festivals are always looking for ways to improve our ID&T for fifteen years, the last few of which like this never cease to be amazing.” existing products. For example, we used to I spent in the set design department. It was mount our sets onto beams. Now, we use responsible for the sets of all ID&T and Impressive main stage custom blocks with scaff clamps, of which Q-Dance events. In that capacity, I travel- Like in previous years, Brok Design once we already have three versions available. led the world and built up an extensive again has a busy schedule ahead. The com- We try to be optimally efficient in every- network. When we founded Brok Decor, we pany will work with several new clients and thing we do.” Growing in line with immediately had a long list of clients with it is in talks with the organisers of several Brok Decor also puts its newly acquired whom we had already collaborated in the festivals in the United States. “I hope that knowledge to good use abroad. Grevenstuk past. We still handle all foreign productions, goes well, so we get the opportunity to deli- and his colleagues regularly face cultural dif- such as Sensation and Corona Sunsets. ver more products there,” Grevenstuk says. ferences. “Things are done quite differently These past two years, we also started “We are also doing more and more busi- in the US. The people there cannot believe requirements and creating working for more and more other clients. ness events and we have started working their eyes when they watch us work. The size Clients always come back to us because with amusement parks.” of their egos can be a problem. Everything we honour our agreements and take care of Brok Decor’s list of clients is highly varied, has to go exactly according to plan and there a memorable show everything for them.” as are the available budgets and the au- is no room for even the slightest deviation. diences. Nevertheless, Grevenstuk does We, on the other hand, are used to working Growing in line with clients’ require- not believe there are many differences together with the rigger and the light techni- ments between designing a set for e.g. a pop or a cian. And they’ll help out with hanging parts As a full-service set design company, Brok Decor provides sets and stages as well as designers, producers and crew. Because ‘You are only as good as your the organisation has its own workshop, it is able to create something for every bud- latest production and you are get. On top of that, the company does not simply accept all jobs. Grevenstuk: “In or- judged by what you deliver’ der to maintain a certain quality standard, dance festival. “The difference mainly lies of the set. The Americans were surprised by we do not accept all requests. We do not in the music and the acts. Take the Zwarte our approach.” want to do a sloppy job. Instead, we always Cross festival, for example. Last year, we Luckily, there is a solution for everything strive to achieve the best possible result designed its main stage. It was a fantastic – even in the most remote corners of the within the available budget. That is why our design that included motorbike parts and world. It is always a rush when a project clients keep coming back to us. These days, fire elements. It was a perfect fit for the fes- is successfully completed, Grevenstuk the budgets our clients have available al- tival, but at the same time, you might as well says. “In 2014, a Mysteryland festival was low us to create enormous productions.” have put a DJ playing techno music on that held in the Chilean Andes. It never rains Grevenstuk says it is important to stay stage. It doesn’t make much difference to there – except when we showed up. In the sharp regardless: “You are only as good as us. Ultimately, all we care about is that the Netherlands, we would solve that problem your latest production and you are judged client gets what they want.” by spreading wood chips on the site. We by what you deliver. Furthermore, it is im- always have an ample supply of those. portant to us to grow in line with our clients’ Dancing in the Andes However, there was no contingency plan in requirements.” The people at Brok Decor have no time to Chile, so we drove to a local farm, bought all Brok Decor does just that with e.g. stand still and catch their breath. The com- their straw and spread that around in front Q-Dance, an organiser for which the com- pany is always critically evaluating its own of the main stage. Before long, the crowd pany handles virtually everything. The methods and it never stops developing its could get back to dancing!” ◾ 68 MAY 2018 WWW.ENTERTAINMENTBUSINESS.NL WWW.ENTERTAINMENTBUSINESS.NL MAY 2018 69.