Led by Emmanuel Gonzalez and supported by a fantastic team, Serpro has built a strong reputation for service quality and is active in all sectors of entertainment, with a particular focus on the music industry. The company supplies numerous festivals, including the renowned Pa'l Norte Festival in Monterrey, as well as concerts and touring shows of all types and sizes.

A regular Robe investor since 2016, over the last two years the moving light inventory has jumped substantially to now include 120 x Robe FORTES, 13 x iFORTES, 24 x iFORTE LTXs and a 12-way RoboSpot system, all delivered by Robe’s proactive Mexican distributor, Showco.

Before that, 50 x Pointes and 74 x MegaPointes were already in stock, and Pointes were the very first Robe purchase back in 2016.

The first order of FORTES – a decisive 80 fixtures – was delivered in late 2022. “We wanted a powerful LED luminaire and looked at all the options,” explained Emmanuel, “iFORTES were bright, robust and packed with features, a good multipurpose workhorse – everything we needed!”

He added that “a great experience” with the Pointes and MegaPointes, which are still going strong as rental items, was a major factor in them staying with Robe.

The transition to LED started in 2020 as they could see the curve and wanted to stay on top of it. A couple of years later, they noticed that “FORTE was appearing on all the band riders,” and so “it became imperative that we have it available.”

All Serpro’s major lighting vestments are rider / spec driven.

In addition to supplying many large Mexican artists and Latin bands and events with production, they regularly service internationals.

Technical specs had also been instrumental in their earlier purchases of the Pointes and MegaPointes, and sure enough, the more familiar they became with Robe as a brand, the more successful and prevalent it became.

“Our crew absolutely LOVE working with Robe products,” confirmed Emmanuel. “They tell me all the time to get more! They like the good engineering, reliability, and the fact that they don’t have to spend any time fixing the lights!”

Serpro enjoys a great relationship with Showco which also has an office in Monterrey to deal more locally and efficiently with any service, training, or after-sales.

The 12 x RoboSpots were another massive commitment to Robe.

“This system is hugely popular with lighting designers and directors,” said Emmanuel, “they like having plenty of control over the fixture and the fact that – depending on the set up – the follow spot operators can be in closer proximity to where they are working at the console.”

Eight RoboSpot BaseStations joined the company in the initial batch which they all thought would be enough – but more were soon required – so the numbers were bumped up to 12. “They are all out all of the time,” explained Emmanuel.

Emmanuel recently visited the Robe factory in Valašské Meziříčí, Czech Republic, and was suitably impressed with the operation: “It gave me a much clearer understanding of the philosophies and thinking behind Robe as a brand and its products,” he commented, underlining that Robe’s commitment to innovating and staying relevant and ahead of the game is “very evident”.

Photo Credits: courtesy Serpro, Louise Stickland