Today we’d like to introduce you to Tony Huang.
Hi Tony, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Since I was young, I always dreamed of working in the film industry. As a middle schooler, my commute to school was one of the longest of all my classmates. It was 1 hour to school every morning and 1 hour back, which was the perfect length of time to enjoy a full-length movie. After watching a lot of movies, I became interested in filmmaking.
Fast forward to today, I think I’ve had a fairly fruitful career, especially at my age. I went to USC Film School, worked as an associate producer under world-renowned director Yimou Zhang, and started one of the largest film equipment rental companies in Downtown Los Angeles.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It’s definitely been challenging. Working in the film industry, change is the only constant. With new technologies emerging, production demands changing, and audience preferences changing, it’s definitely not an easy industry to be in.
I found early on starting a company that the two most challenging parts was
1. Keeping up with current technologies, and
2. Gaining the trust of our clients.
Keeping current with new technology is almost like chasing a moving target. As Hollywood moves forward, we’re starting to see new demands, such as virtual production, large format production, 360 content, and much more. It really requires me to keep a continuous learning mindset, investing time and resources to keep up with current demands.
As a new business, building trust with our new clients was very challenging. In an industry driven by creativity and collaboration, trust is the cornerstone of every successful project. Clients need to be confident that we’re able to provide high-quality equipment and also demonstrate our reliability from a technical support point of view. We invested heavily in creating a team that’s not only technically proficient at what they do but also a team that’s passionate about their work, which translates to more client satisfaction.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
DFI Rentals is a cinema equipment rental house for the new generation. We focus on providing the most simple and streamlined rental experience in the industry. While many other rental houses out there are still focused on a business model similar to a car dealership, we’ve taken it a step further and implemented digital technologies to streamline operations for both our clients and our business.
Instead of going back and forth through emails, we implemented one of the first online rental platforms for our clients. With the click of a few buttons, they can build a rental package in their shopping cart and pick up the equipment they need from us.
Our company’s focus is on providing a seamless experience, and also on solving problems for our clients. No two film productions are the same. Each production will have a different creative vision, filmmaker preferences, and production logistics. We do our best to help our clients navigate production challenges, enabling them to succeed when they get on set.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.DFIRentals.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/dfirentals
