About Us
Focusbug Director Laird Pierce at the 2023 British Society of Cinematographers Expo, Photo: ARRI
Focusbug Technologies Inc. is based in Vancouver, Canada and was founded by 1st Assistant Laird Pierce and Sound Engineer Jonathan Ritchie. Laird and Jon initially intended to make a simple tool that would eliminate the need for focus pullers to use traditional measuring devices to obtain focus marks. They quickly realized that an approach employing ultrasonic technology and RF connectivity between a family of custom built hardware components would offer camera assistants more solutions, and so the project grew. The system’s proprietary software was built from the ground up, with development informed by over two years of intense beta testing in Vancouver’s busy film and television industry.
The Cine RT System entered the market in 2018 and by 2023 over 1600 units had been sold worldwide. The system has been used on a wide scale of productions from music videos and independent films to award winning blockbusters such as 1917, Dune and All Quiet On The Western Front. The popularity of the system has fostered relationships with several camera and electronic accessory manufacturers, resulting in third-party product compatibility such as the bi-directional integration with the ARRI Hi-5 Lens Control System. On-going firmware enhancements and development of system expansion products continue to add further value to the Focusbug product line.
Meet the Focusbug Team
Laird Pierce
Owner/Product Manager
Laird is a former 2nd AC and focus puller with an educational background in photographic fine arts media and film production. He joined the camera department as a IATSE ICG 669 camera trainee in 1999 and his production experience spans feature films, episodic television, commercials, and documentaries.
Jonathan Ritchie
Owner/Technical Designer
Jon is a computer programmer with a 20-year multi-disciplinary background in film production as a sound engineer and a drone specialist. His former company, Fourth Dimension Aerials, was amongst the first of its kind to build and pilot high-payload capacity drones for use in world-class documentary and television production.
Shane McLeod
Product Designer
Shane is an IATSE 669 1st Assistant who has merged his decade of focus pulling experience with a computer programming and prototyping skillset to develop innovative filmmaking technologies.
The Focusbug Community
