Joris Joosen and Marcel Elbertse founded Backbone International in 2010. After decades of working in the entertainment industry alongside each other, the partners of Backbone discovered a mutual ambition; building a global production company focused on fulfilling complex and prestigious projects. At the start of this decade, more and more Dutch festivals and concepts spread their wings abroad. This was when we learned that proper and safe production was not a given compared to our home country, the Netherlands. After years of working abroad and traveling the world with several concepts and events, the time was right to join forces and realize the dream of building a global production agency known for serving the highest quality in the industry.
The work ethic and pro-active mentality we learned back home helped us produce efficiently abroad in different cultures, environments, and locations. We enjoy working on the largest challenges, the so-called ‘impossible projects, ’ and turning these into reality.
Marcel Elbertse and Joris Joosen started Backbone in 2010!
One of the first (big) productions of Backbone was SAIL Amsterdam. The event takes place once every five years and is one of the biggest events in the city.
In 2013 Backbone merges with Rutger Jansen’s BPM International and opens the first office New York City, USA. With this Backbone International is born!
In the same year Backbone merges with Pieter Lubbert’s Live Republic. Known for its Brand and Corporate events, Backbone now operates in the field of events plus brand- and corporate experiences in Europe and USA.
In 2018, by opening an office in Jakarta, Indonesia, Backbone International could build its Asian team with Reza Lesmana as Managing Director. As a senior production manager, Reza executes many shows with his team, from technical production for stadium concerts, corporate events for well-known brands, or overlay management for the most prominent festivals.
At the Ronde Tocht 11 in Zaandam, Backbone International had an office at the MainStage building. The neighbors are companies from different disciplines and have a heart for the event industry.
The Association of Global Event Suppliers (AGES) is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of temporary infrastructure at significant events. AGES member Backbone International was one of the hosts and organizers of this 2022 edition.
Eitan Wynalda has been an experienced event professional in the industry for over 20 years. He has taken on various projects and roles in his career, including that of the Head of Production at Nike. Rutger Jansen will remain a partner of Backbone North America.
Backbone started in 2010 with the two founders, Marcel Elbertse and Joris Joosen. As the number of projects increased rapidly in the Netherlands and abroad, the search began to expand the team with like-minded people with a heart for the events business. Pieter Lubberts and Rutger Jansen joined in 2013. The first expansion step was merging with Live Republic, owned by Pieter Lubberts, which had made a name for corporate and brand events in the Netherlands. Pieter is in charge of the Backbone Europe office.
Within the same year, Backbone merged with Rutger Jansen’s BPM International, which resulted in a Backbone office in North America, with Jansen in the lead. From this point, Backbone International became a fact. At the beginning of 2016, Backbone opened its third office in Hong Kong to be as close as possible to the fast-growing Asian market. Joris Joosen was based there to serve the Asian market and explore the exciting opportunities that came along with the rapid growth.
From the start in 2010 until today, we have been building a global network with like-minded people with a heart for the events business. We are eager to expand our knowledge, network, and experience to make even more ‘impossible projects’ possible.
WE’RE EVENT PRODUCTION SPECIALISTS THAT FIND INSPIRATION IN REALIZING COMPLEX AND PRESTIGIOUS PROJECTS. LED BY THE AMBITION TO PRODUCE UNIMAGINABLE EXPERIENCES. WE LOVE EVENTS, THE CROWDS AND THE ENDLESS TECHNICAL POSSIBILITIES.
