Kino Flo

Kino Flo

Company type	Private
Industry	Lighting, Film and video technology
Founded	1987
Headquarters	Burbank , United States
Products	Professional LED lighting solutions for cinema, television, and media production

Kino Flo is a privately held company specializing in the production of professional LED lighting solutions tailored for cinema, television, and media production, with its headquarters located in Burbank, California. The firm is distinguished by its unique LED technology grounded in sophisticated color science, which delivers exceptional color accuracy suitable for both close-range shots and expansive studio settings. In 1995, the Academy honored Kino Flo with a technical achievement award for its development of innovative cool, tube-based lighting systems featuring color-corrected tungsten and daylight balances that revolutionized film production.

History

Cinematographer Robby Müller was first seen utilizing an early version of a Kino Flo lighting unit in 1976 on the film The American Friend, as noted by director Wim Wenders. The brand Kino Flo was officially established in 1987 during the filming of Barfly, where Müller encountered significant lighting difficulties within confined interior spaces. To address this, gaffer Frieder Hochheim and best boy Gary Swink engineered a high-output fluorescent fixture equipped with a remote electrical ballast, resulting in a compact and lightweight lamp capable of wall mounting. Subsequently, Hochheim and Swink launched Kino Flo Incorporated to produce and distribute this groundbreaking product, which rapidly gained widespread acceptance among cinematographers as an industry benchmark.

Technology

Among Kino Flo’s notable technological advancements is a high-frequency ballast designed to boost light output while eliminating the flickering issues commonly associated with conventional fluorescent tubes. Additionally, their proprietary Kino Flo tubes incorporate phosphor coatings that effectively remove the magenta-green color cast often seen in household fluorescents. Each lighting fixture allows for easy switching between daylight and tungsten color temperatures through tube replacement, with intermediate hues achievable by combining different tubes. The company has further diversified its offerings to include specialized visual effects tubes optimized for bluescreen and greenscreen applications, as well as various other color effect options.