The Company

Production Resource Group, Belgium
Management Belgium
Mission Statement
History of the PRG Group
History of PRG Belgium
Is PRG the right partner for me?

Production Resource Group, Belgium

Production Resource Group (PRG), is a leading full-service provider for the event industry and works for various customer groups, such as agencies, companies, event organizers and TV broadcasters.

The range of services offered by PRG covers everything from support at the conception, planning, and implementation stages, to technical equipment and follow-up for all kinds of events. Our comprehensive consulting and support services guarantee clients a creative and professional implementation of their events. The PRG equipment pool is the largest in the world.

PRG has two offices in Belgium, in Tildonk and Ostende, and is operating its' warehouse in Tildonk.
With a history of more than 35 years in the sector, we have tremendous international experience and have excellent references in all segments of the entertainment industry.

PRG Belgium employs about 100 qualified professionals in the different sectors of the event industry. Furthermore, we can count the expertise of more than 150 freelancers that join our troops regularly.

The Production Resource Group has 43 affiliates all over the world.

Management Belgium

Bob Walpot

Managing Director PRG Belgium, Netherlands & France

Bob Walpot is Managing Director for PRG Belgium, Netherlands and France.

Bob joined PRG in 2014 as Assets Analyst and is the driving force behind the concept and implementation of our current operations systems and procedures. In early 2017, he became Head of Department for Assets Central Europe stepping up to Director of Operations and Asset Strategy in 2018.

During his International Business studies, Bob specialised in Supply Chain Management and has since built an extensive experience in the event and music industry.
His multilingualism ensures smooth communication throughout the Central European region.

Jan Van Malder

General Manager Entertainment

Jan Van Malder, General Manager Belgium, is in charge of the sales and production management of the following segments: Music Concerts; Musicals & Arts; Television.

He is also responsible for the daily management of our location in Tildonk.

Jan Van Malder is the founder of the former EML Productions, the leader in rental of audiovisual solutions. EML joined the PRG Group in early 2011. His passion and experience have been devoted to lighting and sound technology since the beginning of the eighties.

Alex Van Vlierberghe

Regional Finance Director BNF & Spain

Alex Vlierberghe has over 15 years experience in finance and change management. His experience in the IT sector, where he has supervised the financial aspect of numerous mergers and acquisitions, make him the right person to manage the finances for PRG Productions Belgium and Holland, PRG Spain and the affiliate in France. Alex is a motivated, multilingual manager and father of two children.

Mission Statement

PRG is a service provider for event, movie and television production. We offer real full service, from consulting and planning to implementation. We see ourselves as partners of companies, agencies, designers, producers, promoters and many others who are responsible for the content of events.

With this philosophy, the PRG Group has become one of the world’s leading providers. While we don’t see size as an end in itself, it does help us offer our customers better service, better products and better prices, for the following reasons:

People make the difference

Over 100 skilled professionals work as a close-knit team at PRG in Belgium: account managers, project managers, interior designers, designers, graphic designers, marketing specialists, engineers, event managers, event technicians, craftsmen and many more. In addition, we use a pool of over 100 regular freelancers. For special tasks, we can draw on the expertise of over 3 000 other PRG employees.

So an experienced team is available for each of your projects, regardless of its size.

One-stop solution

There are LED suppliers, sound engineers and effects specialists on the market. Companies for set design, conference technology and radio equipment rentals...

Sounds complicated? It is! To make things easier for you, PRG provides the necessary expertise in each of these areas, enabling you to source the entire implementation from a single source. This eliminates the need for you to coordinate with different service providers, avoids the risk of misunderstandings – and not least saves on cost, as we can leverage synergies.

Moreover, if additional external specialists are needed we will be happy to handle their coordination as well – so that you can trust that everything is really being handled from a single source.

You can rely on us

Safety is the top priority in our industry – starting with the safety of employees, stakeholders and visitors. We ensure that all legal requirements are complied with. Unfortunately, this is not a given in the industry.

But our customers also need to feel safe in trusting that everything will run smoothly. Therefore, we do everything possible to identify possible glitches and eliminate any flaws in the process. Our on-site managers work according to a manual that minutely regulates everything – from compliance with laws to our own checklists.

Simpler is better

As a PRG customer you always have a single point of contact: your personal account manager. Usually they will have worked in the industry for over 15 years and have spent many years with us. They will support your projects from initial quote to final invoicing. To ensure that your account manager is always accessible to you, they are supported by project managers who take care of the detailed planning.

And if you ever need to simultaneously stage two or three events, you will have two or three project teams available without having to switch between account managers.

As you can see, we do everything to make working with us as easy as possible. After all, the task of coordinating an event is already complex enough.

From S to XXL

The fact that we handle very large projects can create the impression that we are mainly interested in major events. In fact, events of this magnitude account for only about 10% of our turnover. Well over half of the projects we carry out have a budget lower that €25,000.

No matter how big a project is, the devil is in the details. Therefore, each event must be planned individually and with great care. It really helps to have a full-service provider at your side asking the right questions and furnishing the right answers – and who can therefore provide a customized solution for any event. Why settle for less?

Control your costs

At PRG there are no nasty surprises at the end, because we usually quote a fixed price for projects – and invoice at this fixed price.

And while we’re on the subject of price: PRG offers excellent value for money. Because of the large number of projects we work on, our resources are continuously utilized. Our efficient organization means that we can realize savings in many areas – and our customers benefit from the advantages of our capacity utilization.

High utilization not only leads to better prices, but also ensures the economical use of natural resources. Wherever possible, we will of course use energy-saving products.

You can read about our strengths in the individual segments by clicking on the link to the homepage of a given line of business (“Our Services” in menu).

History of the PRG Group

PRG’s growth as a company has paralleled the development of modern technology in the live entertainment industry. Founded in 1982 by Jere Harris as Jeremiah J. Harris Associates, and later renamed Harris Production Services, the company was joined two years later by Scenic Technologies, founded to develop new scenic fabrication and automation techniques for the live entertainment market. Landmarks of those early years include the long-running musical production The Phantom of the Opera (1988), which featured the debut of the patented Stage Command® motion control system, and EFX (1995) at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, which was produced by Harris, and with a budget of $45 million, remains one of the largest theatrical shows ever.

Responding to growing customer requests for a one-stop production solution, Production Resource Group, L.L.C., (PRG) was established in 1995. PRG increased its capabilities over the next several years through a number of strategic acquisitions, including lighting and audio companies such as Vanco and Cinema Services (1996); Bash (1997); and Promix (1998). The acquisitions of Light & Sound Design (1998) and VLPS® Lighting Services (2004) brought the teams responsible for many of the pioneering innovations in our industry, setting the stage for a series of industry-leading proprietary products that continue to set PRG apart today.

With the acquisition of the Chicago based company High Performance Images (HPI) in 2007 as well as the Hi-Tech Rentals and Essential Lighting Great Britain (both 2008) it was possible for PRG to increase its share in the corproate event industry considerably.

In 2009, PRG took a giant step forward into the global marketplace with the acquisition of PROCON MultiMedia AG. This move has solidified PRG’s position as the premier resource in the entertainment and event technology industry, with a unique global brand and a strong presence and customer base in major markets and geographic locations worldwide. With the integration of Showtec in 2010 this position in central Europe was increased even further.

Jeremiah “Jere” Harris

Executive Chairman, Chief Creative Officer & Founder

Jere is widely recognized as a transformative figure in entertainment and event production, having led PRG to become a global company serving the theatre, film, television, broadcast, concert touring, events and staging and hotels markets. Today PRG has 72 locations spanning five continents and holds over 350 patents and trademarks for its proprietary technology. Jere founded Production Resource Group, L.L.C., in 1995, and guided its growth through strategic acquisitions in lighting, audio, video, automation, scenic and labor solutions.

He is part of the fourth generation of a family of theatre pioneers and took his first job in a scenic shop at age 16. Among his many professional accomplishments, he presented EFX, an entertainment landmark which opened at the MGM Las Vegas and ran for nearly eight years. He also produced Broadway’s Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark, the most technically complex production ever mounted on a Broadway stage. Jere has earned top honors across market segments, including four Tony Awards, multiple Drama Desk Awards, and an Engineering Emmy Award for PRG’s GroundControl Followspot system. He is also the recipient of the Parnelli Lifetime Achievement Award, the highest recognition in the live event industry.

Stephan Paridaen

Chief Executive Officer

Stephan Paridaen is a Belgian born entrepreneur who has been involved in the entertainment technology industry for over 25 years. He studied economics at the University of Antwerp and received an MBA at the Vrije University of Brussels, all while founding a software company for the construction industry. He then continued his education and earned a degree from Harvard University.

In 1993, Stephan was hired as laureate of the Prince Albert Fund by Barco, an industry leader in digital projection and imaging technology. He was sent to Prague to develop the emerging Eastern European markets and shortly after transferred to Singapore as the company’s Asia sales and marketing lead.

Upon returning to Belgium, Stephan founded Barco’s LED display division which led to the development of projection systems that transformed digital cinema globally and formed the basis for Barco’s Media & Entertainment division, which he led from 2001 to 2009.

In 2010, Stephan joined PRG out of Belgium, where he’s played a key role overseeing the acquisitions, development and continual growth of the EMEA and APAC markets, improving operational results and expanding offerings as President and COO of the company.

Now in 2022, Stephan begins his next chapter at PRG as CEO based out of New York City.

History of PRG Belgium

Procon Event Engineering was an entertainment technology company founded in 1988. The company was headquartered in Germany with offices in Belgium, France, Switzerland, China and South Africa. In 2009, PROCON integrated the PRG Group, the world's leading supplier of entertainment and event technology.

In 2011, PRG acquired EML Productions, a big European company in the entertainment technology with offices in Belgium, the Netherlands & Spain. EML was founded in 1979 and has been growing considerably over the past 30 years. EML offered lighting, sound and video for concert tours, festivals, fashion shows, trade fairs, television & theatre and events.

In 2015 PRG took a step forward into the global marketplace with the acquisition of XL video, one of the largest providers of premier multi-market video services.

Is PRG the right partner for me?

For some customers, creativity is the main focus; for others, the fulfillment of a precise specification is the top priority; yet others are primarily concerned about price. We make our living by skillfully handling these different requirements.

Our segment strategy allows us to focus on a wide range of different event genres. Our account managers usually only work in one or two of our lines of business, and are therefore very well versed in the type of event they supervise. And yet, because of the close proximity of our offices, they do not lose sight of new ideas and technologies from the other segments.

Furthermore, we have a very flexible and powerful organization, and operate a large central warehouse in Tildonk, from where we serve nationwide and international projects. But for international projects and in order to support our french speaking customers we also have an office in Brussels.

Since on the one hand we have opted for a central warehouse for efficiency and quality reasons, and on the other employ many highly qualified employees, we focus on events above a certain size. Although we do not set a price threshold, experience has shown that we are best able to demonstrate our strong points on budgets of about €5,000 and above – and can leverage our strengths all the more on larger projects.

PRG Belgium’s average contract size is about €25,000 – but we also handle projects with budgets in the five-, six- and seven-figure range.

Please contact us – we will be happy to cost your next project for you.