The Vitec Group has acquired SmallHD, the North Carolina company known for its high-quality, high-definition, on-camera field monitors used by videographers, cinematographers, camera assistants and other creative professionals. SmallHD will be incorporated into the Vitec Group’s Videocom division, complementing its existing brands.
SmallHD was officially founded in 2009 by Wes Phillips and Dale Backus. The pair, along with a group of friends, had been creating spots for local businesses and entered the Doritos-sponsored Crash The Super Bowl contest with a spot entitled Live the Flavor. The resulting notoriety from winning brought national work in for the team. The demand to complete increasingly higher-calibre work made the SmallHD creatives and production crew aware of a need for better tools. Rather than buying off-the-shelf solutions, they were inspired to create them, specifically field monitors. The DP6 field monitor, their first mainstream product, not only met their own high standards but was immediately sought after by other filmmakers. When SmallHD won an unprecedented second Doritos Crash The Super Bowl challenge in 2010, the company used the winnings to develop its product line and expand manufacturing operations.
“We are looking forward to joining the Vitec Group of companies,” said Wes Phillips, founder and CEO of SmallHD. “It’s exciting for SmallHD to be included among the great brands that they represent. We have aspirations to continue to build outstanding monitors, and Vitec not only encourages that entrepreneurial spirit but offers the support and expertise we need to move forward.”
Vitec Videocom CEO Matt Danilowicz said, “The acquisition enables us to offer another set of professional and innovative solutions for the production workflow, and takes us a step closer to fully addressing the needs of this expanding and exciting market.”
SmallHD joins the Vitec Videocom line-up of brands that serves its users in broadcast, cinematography and professional content creation. Other Vitec Videocom brands include Anton/Bauer, Autoscript, Autocue, Camera Corps, Bexel, Litepanels, OConnor, Petrol Bags, Sachtler, Teradek, The Camera Store, Vinten and Vinten Radamec.
