AN OPEN LETTER TO RENTAL HOUSES

The Rental Industry Needs a Voice — That Starts Today

After 18 years in rental — and supporting over 250 rental houses across more than 50 countries — one thing has become increasingly clear:

The current model is struggling.

That’s why I’ve come together with a group of rental professionals to launch CINEHIGHER 

Costs are rising. Gear is saturating the market. Product cycles are getting shorter, and returns are harder to find. Meanwhile, the people who carry all the risk — rental houses — are expected to keep investing, often without protection, leverage, or input into how the market evolves.

Built by rental people, for rental people, CINEHIGHER is a membership-based network designed to give our industry a unified voice — something we’ve never had, despite being the largest buyers of professional equipment for decades.

Here’s what it does:

Brings rental voices together — so we can advocate for smarter product release strategies and HIGHER returns on assets.


Launches with a historic event — the Rental House Summit, January 12th & 13th, 2026, in Burbank, CA.
This will be the largest gathering of rental houses ever held — a real moment to reset the conversation with manufacturers, studios, and each other.

Creates a digital platform for collaboration — rental houses can support each other on technical issues, share insight and trade equipment via a cloudbased messaging system.

Yes, it costs $600/month to join. Why?

Because this is 100% powered by rental houses.
There are no sponsors yet. No outside investors.
Your early support funds the network and the summit.

As the community grows and sponsors come in, the cost will come down.
If they don’t? We keep it independent.
And after the summit — if you don’t see the value? You can walk away.

I know not everyone can travel — and I respect that deeply. But I also believe that the conversations over breakfast, dinner, and at the bar are where the real alignment happens. That’s why the in-person summit matters so much. That’s where this starts.

This isn’t a sales pitch. It’s a call to action.
We all know this model is under pressure.
So the question is: do we keep waiting for someone to fix it — or do we build it ourselves?

We’re building it now.
Join us.

I’d love to hear your thoughts — comment below or message me directly.
And if you’d like to read the full overview, I’ll happily send you the PDF.

—
Tom Jay Smith
Founder, CINEHIGHER