Who is Maarten

a cool dude

Maarten Donath is the founder of 4Stage.net, light architects : excellence in LED lighting. 4Stage.net was established early 2002, after Maarten left RAI Amsterdam Exhibition Centre in The Netherlands.

The company was built on an increasing market request for independently available knowledge in the professional audio, video and lighting industries and their converging markets. His presence resulted in solid knowledge in audio, video and lighting systems, which, since then, has been available for many clients thoughout the world.

Maarten studied marketing, before starting his career in retail. He has been working with major brands and deserved his credits as a liaison between TV production- and post production companies and public and commercial Dutch TV broadcasting corporations. He has been representing major brands like JVC Professional, Barco and Philips/Grass Valley. From the lighting side of things he still is involved in Visual Productions, manufacturer of software based lighting control systems, and has supported many international customers and their lighting projects while working with Acclaim Lighting in the EMEA office, based in The Netherlands.

photo

Always on a journey

The early years

Already at the age of 2 Maarten flipped all light switches he could find in his parent's house. Not only light switches, but also on/off switches of dad's stereo and telly volume control weren't safe once Maarten had discovered how to walk.

Music and lights

Just like any young boy Maarten loved to spin the decks. But you need lights as well: so many 5L beer cans were modified into spot lights, using nothing more than a PAR38 lightbulb, a steel ribbon, black spray paint and two black adjustable knobs. 2 bars with four spots, each on a stand, were his first disco lights, used for the Freaky Nights Disco Show!

A career

After graduation and working in retail for a few years, he soon joined professional audio, video and lighting companies. He was not only performing as a sales manager but was also actively involved in product creation processes and new business development. Later on he worked as a consultant, streamlining sales and marketing activities, evaluating international joint ventures and cooperations, and was consulted for his technical and financial skills and knowledge, required for further growth by the respective companies that hired him.

Companies Maarten worked with include JVC Professional, Royal Dutch Philips, Grass Valley, RAI Amsterdam Exhibition Center and Mazzo Nuovo, among others.

Lighting: business as (un)usual

In all those years Maarten has earned his place in today's lighting industry. Contributing to product portfolios of major lighting manufacturers, developing new applications, teaching and training client's staff on the job, inventing and integrating special lighting control systems, being present and available during international trade shows and conventions, he did it. It's all there: Maarten's rich experience.

Companies include ADJ Group of Companies, Acclaim Lighting EMEA and US offices, CLS-LED, DTS Lighting, Visual Productions, Controllux, Triolight/liniLED and ipv Delft creative engineers in The Netherlands and ILS Lighting & City Applications in Athen, Greece, Luce Ataliotis in Doha, Qatar, CMY Light in Singapore, a number of Debbas branches across the Middle East, eVision, Videlio-HMS, MDandTech and many, many more.

That's (most) about Maarten!

.