UK - Since 2011, Sam & Mark's Big Friday Wind-Up has been a highly rated programme in the all-important 5:30pm after-school slot on British children's entertainment channel CBBC. Presented by the popular duo Sam Nixon and Mark Rhodes, the show is all about fun and games, giving children in the audience the opportunity to get back at their parents through various pranks.

However, when it comes to creating clean crisp looks on the set, this nationally aired programme is strictly serious, as evidenced by the sleek looking design created by LD Lee Allen that features 48 Chauvet Professional Nexus 4x4 LED panels supplied by Richard Martin Lighting.

For Allen, the decision to incorporate the Nexus panels into his design was beneficial for two key reasons. Firstly, the Nexus p

Denmark - Pascal is marking its 10th anniversary, having formed on 1 February 2006. It has been 10 years in which the company has achieved a remarkable growth rate and established itself as the "number one power-partner" for loudspeaker manufacturers working in the self-powered PA sector.

The Danish based OEM manufacturer of high-power amplifier modules for the professional audio industry has achieved substantial and increasing year-on-year growth in its business over the last six years. That has seen it achieve a market position as the number one player in the pro-audio self-powered PA sector, where its proprietary patented UMAC class-D amplifier and UREC power supply technologies provide for benchmark designs, optimising audiophile sound quality and performance efficiency.

Senior VP business development Peter Frentz, explains, "Our remarkable growth rate is

The Netherlands - Allen & Heath's new dLive digital mixing system has been installed by popular Dutch regional TV and Radio station, RTV Drenthe.

RTV Drenthe recently moved to a larger premises to house the company's growing TV, radio and online news channels, and required a versatile new audio console to manage live music, pre-production and multi-tracking. Consulting pro audio and broadcast specialists, D.I.A Assen, the company selected the mid-sized S5000 Control Surface and DM48 MixRack.

"RTV needed a console which could work as a standalone pro mixing system, and also satisfy the requirements of a professional engineer as well as someone with no audio mixing knowledge. After a preview of the new dLive system, the purchase decision was easy," comments Jan Giezen from D.I.A Sound Light & Visual in Assen.

RTV Drenthe has TV and Radio channels, as well as mobil

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ETC Ministar

ETC introduces the High End Systems Ministar, a game-changer in our automated lighting product line. Ministar brings exceptional versatility and performance at an affordable price point; with a compact footprint, punchy output, and a professional feature set, Ministar fits the spec and budget for small to medium-sized venues.

UK - The O2 London has purchased Mojo Barriers to keep concert and event audiences safe.

The Mojo Barriers UK office has sold front of stage crowd barrier systems to the The O2, extending its long term relationship with the venue.

UK manager Kevin Thorborn states, "This flagship UK venue is passionate about the safety and wellbeing of its audiences. We have rented barriers to them for many years, but this purchase reinforces its commitment to their patrons and artists.

"Having delivered the barriers to The O2, we then trained its staff in the installation and dismantling of the system enabling them to deploy their in-house systems for their clients when required. If ever the arena needs to extend the barriers configuration we can supply additional compatible barriers, including our wide range of special pieces, such as curves or gates."

Operations direct

UK - A searing exploration of power, control, death and life, The Master Builder opens at The Old Vic theatre this evening. In this lively new adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's classic play, the show stars Academy Award nominee Ralph Fiennes as master builder Halvard Solnessand and has been adapted by award-winning playwright David Hare. White Light is supplying the equipment on what promises to be an unforgettable production.

Following its opening performance, The Master Builder will run until 19 March 2016. It is being lit by Hugh Vanstone, who is working on the play for the first time. He comments, "This is a fantastic piece that deals with many dark and sometimes unexplained strands. Throughout the evening, the mood veers from naturalism to heightened reality and sometimes into the mythic".

Alongside the themes, Hugh's design was largely centred around

UK - The Theatres Trust reports that five small theatres in London will benefit from the first round of its new London Theatres Small Grants Scheme, made possible through a donation from the Mackintosh Foundation.

The five successful projects are:

Battersea Arts Centre (BAC) in Wandsworth is awarded £5,000 to replace their temporary wheelchair ramp leading to the café / bar and first floor performance space with a new permanent ramp. This improves access to BAC and contributes to the major Haworth Tompkins-led BAC capital redevelopment and restoration project.

Bush Theatre in Hammersmith & Fulham is awarded £5,000 to repair the pitched roofs and dormer windows of their former Old Library building. These repairs help to maintain the condition of this locally listed theatre's façade.

The Cockpit in Camden is awarded £5,000 to repair their leaky

Germany - After half a century, German hard rockers the Scorpions are still playing live all over the world and showing no signs of slowing down. Ticket demand for the 60 shows of the band's 50th Anniversary world tour in 2015 was so great that more than 30 extra dates have (so far) been added for 2016.

With Yamaha CL5 digital consoles available to rent wherever they go - even in the Faeroe Islands - the cost and logistics of touring are kept down and the band can continue taking their music to their fans - in even in the most remote territories!

Achim Schulze and Glen Schmeling - respectively the band's front of house and monitor engineers - first used the CL5 in 2013, when the band played three MTV Unplugged shows at the open air Lycabettus Theatre in Athens. Supplied by Hamburg-based Blue Noise and supported by the company's chief audio technician Michi Gerhards, three CL

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Strictly FX Highlights

Strictly FX was founded in 1996 by industry veterans Mark Grega and Ted Maccabee. Our expertise and knowledge of the world’s leading pyrotechnic, laser, and flame manufacturers allows us to curate astonishing live events. With over 500+ shows performed a year, there’s good chance you’ve seen some of our work!

Namibia - The first dot2 XL-F lighting console has recently entered Namibia, a new investment by leading full production solution and rental company, dB Audio Namibia, based in capital Windhoek.

The company is active in all areas of corporate and entertainment live event production - from boardroom meetings to stadium concerts - which is currently a buoyant and developing sector in Namibia.

dB Audio Namibia's David Benade explained that the decision to purchase the dot2 was made by a combination of people from company's management and lighting department, including himself and head of lighting, Desmond Coetzee. It is also dB Audio's first MA purchase. They had been considering getting a new console for some time, then an extremely busy peak event season started to ramp up and decided the time was right to make the commitment.

The dot2 XLF was delivered by MA Lighting's So

Germany Rock band KARAT's recent acoustic tour featured an old school rock and roll floor package lighting design by LD Michael Kiefert programmed on the latest addition to the Philips Strand Lighting line of consoles, the 500ML.

The band - who formed in 1975 and celebrated their 40th anniversary in 2015 - played such cities as Cottbus, Magdeburg and Wismarin in venues of varying sizes. Kiefert therefore needed a versatile control solution and so turned to the compact and intuitive 500ML, supplied by Philips Entertainment German distributor Feiner Lichttechnik.

"When planning this tour, my main interest was to use a console with the ability to include local venue lights," explains Kiefert. "With the 500ML I was able to shrink the setup to one single universe, which meant I could use the second universe to accomodate the floor package and swap between the two w

USA - Technical Productions, Inc. has added award-winning lighting/set/production designer Seth Jackson as a full time member of its executive creative team.

"This is a huge step forward for both of us, and we're both able to service our existing and potential clients better because of this synergy," says Michael O'Keefe, CEO of Technical Productions Inc. (TPI). "For Seth, he has better facilities at his disposal and the support of a full service office. And TPI gains full-time access to his design talent - Seth is absolutely one of the most creative designers working today."

This merger comes at an opportune time for both. "TPI is expanding in a lot of new areas, and we need what Seth brings to the table on a daily basis, from conceptual ideas to final design," he says. "At the same time, Seth found himself increasingly in demand and spend

UK - To continue its dedication to supporting the lighting and stage technology markets in the Middle East, ETC is introducing Darren Beckley as its new regional manager for the area. He brings to ETC many years of experience working in the industry and across the Middle East.

In his new position, Beckley will be responsible for the sales territory that includes the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain and Iraq. He will be based out of ETC's London office, with much of his time spent in the Middle East, working in symphony with ETC's distributors, dealers and integrators.

The son of a theatre manager, Beckley spent much of his childhood in the theatre, which sparked a lifelong passion for the entertainment industry. After completing his studies, he did a vocational apprenticeship in mechanics and engineering, where he gained valuable fabrication a

The Netherlands - A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET) will be showcasing a selection of the very latest products available from their vast portfolio of over 200 marques and five specialist sales divisions - on stand 7-A220 at the Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) 2016 tradeshow next week.

Chroma-Q's premium performance lighting solutions are designed and built in North America, and have been adopted by many leading designers and specifiers for some of today's most demanding and prestigious lighting applications, from Broadway to airports. The stand will showcase the award-winning Inspire family of colour-changing LED house lights, which enables users to integrate practical illumination requirements with their artistic vision. In addition, catch the innovative Color One 100 LED PAR, which features a fully homogenised beam delivering above PAR performance from one source, and t

USA - With only weeks away until the music industry gathers for the 58th Annual Grammy Awards, Nashville's Grammy chapter gathered for an evening of celebration with nominees such as Little Big Town, Ashley Monroe, Point of Grace and Mr. Talkbox.

Bandit Lites provided a lighting package for the event with Chris Lisle Lighting Design and Erik Parker as programmer. Clay Paky's Scenius fixtures helped to set the mood for the evening, with some placed in the media room for texture along the back wall while others were placed in the gathering space with a small stage and cocktail tables. VL 2500s were loaded with custom Grammy gobos and projected in each room along with an additional 2500 fixture as a special on the stage.

GRN Battens and ColorBlazes illuminated the set pieces in the media room, while Par 64s and Lekos provided general washes on both the step and repeat and the s

USA - High End Systems and LightParts have announced an updated agreement between the companies for service and repair of High End's Legacy products. Since their inception over a decade ago, LightParts has served as the authorized service provider for the automated lighting manufacturer's early fixtures. Products such as Intellabeam, Emulator and Dataflash raised the bar for performance in the industry by continuing to operate decades after their introduction, in part due to LightParts continued service and support of these fixtures.

The new agreement has been expanded to include the second wave of High End's 'Legacy' lighting instruments; the expansive list of products covered includes Trackspot, AF1000, Studio 250 and 575 Series, Studio Beam, x.spot, Hog 500/1000, SHOWGUN, Studio Command series, DL 1/2, Hog 3 console series (including RH3, FB3 and wings), Cyberlight and Cyber

UK - Kevin Hart is one of the most in-demand comedians in Hollywood, having starred in countless films such as Think Like a Man and About Last Night, in addition to several TV and stand-up appearances. He has also been making considerable waves on the other side of the pond.

As part of his What Now? stand-up comedy tour, Hart recently headlined two sold-out shows at London's 20,000-capacity O2 Arena. Tour lighting designer Ken Delvo turned to Chauvet Professional's Rogue Series to provide stunning wash effects for the shows that were every bit as smooth, fast and multi-faceted as the star performer's comedic style.

Delvo specified 24 Rogue R2 Washes and eight Rogue R1 Washes for the shows from London-based SXS Event. So confident was the LD in the Rogue's capabilities, that, in fact, they were the only wash fixtures to be specified on the entire lighting rig. H

Australia - Lexair Entertainment has announced that it has entered into an exclusive distribution agreement with Elation Professional for Australia and New Zealand.

Alex Mair, managing director of Lexair Entertainment, comments, "Elation is a very strong and exciting brand to add to Lexair's portfolio. Sitting alongside High End Systems, Green Hippo and TMB, the Elation product family fits within our vision to offer entertainment lighting customers in the region a much wider breadth of quality products, offering the 'one stop shop solution' our customers expect in the current market. We are very excited and proud that Elation has chosen us as a long term partner in Oceania, and we look forward to bringing their extensive, high quality product range to our customers, delivered with the same best-in-class service and support we are known for."

Chuck Green, internatio

UK - For more than 25 years, the charity Children on the Edge has helped marginalised and forgotten children living on the edge of their societies. Working in partnership with local communities, they create safe, friendly environments to ensure that those who may possibly be ignored receive the childhood they deserve. The organisation is constantly looking to raise funds to support its work and recently held a fundraising evening as part of Chichester Festival Theatre's Winter Season. With its strong reputation in theatre, along with its frequent charity work, White Light was asked to provide its support on this occasion.

The fundraiser, entitled Spotlight on the Edge, was held on Sunday 24 January at the Festival Theatre, Chichester. The evening featured a colourful array of music, songs and dance, with all of the proceeds going directly to the work of Children on the E

UK - The family business of ASG Stage Products Ltd. has been sold; hence the current directors Stan, Marion and Paul McFerran will no longer be involved, effective from close of business on Friday 12 February 2016. The new owners will retain the ASG name, personnel and premises, so for suppliers and clients, most business will continue as normal.

Says a statement, "The company has been purchased by one of our primary suppliers and installation partners, Daniel Slade, managing director of Lighting Controlled, together with other investors. They will focus on the well-established name, customer base and 43-year history of ASG to further develop the scope and complementary services offered by the combined companies.

ASG has been successful over many years, but the time is now right for the present directors to move on, allowing ASG to progress and grow with a new dynamic m

UK - Hastings-based LED lighting specialist CLD - part of the Penn Elcom Group - has supplied Osram Colormix Protect Flex IP67 rated LED tape, complete with drivers to a spectacular swimming pool lighting installation at a private residence in Northamptonshire.

This was specified by CLD's Nigel Howes and Razvan Vasiliu in close conjunction with Keith McCormack of KM Specialist Electrical Services from Banbury, Oxfordshire, who delivered all the electrical installation elements including lighting control design, specification and installation of the project.

The new pool area is designed by architect Juliet Colman from Towcester, Northamptonshire. It has involved the complete refurbishment of an existing building the construction for which was undertaken by RC Spencer building contractors.

The Colormix Flex is ensconced in a series of recessed ceiling coves around the styl

UK - Cable specialists VDC Trading have recently supplied essential cabling assemblies to Paul Hatt at CS Audio for the 2016 Massive Attack Tour.

Paul explains, "I've worked with Massive Attack for the past few years mixing monitors, and also supplied equipment for their 2014 festival tour via my company, CS Audio. VDC Trading manufactured a new 64 channel splitter and line system for that tour, which I was very happy with.

"I was invited to work with the group again for the current European tour, for which again CS Audio are providing the monitor system & stage package.

I felt the time was right this time to invest in a new multicore system, and so approached Adam Jafrabati at VDC to assist with this."

The band is visiting a wide variety of venues on this leg of the tour, using house PAs in the smaller places and bringing in PA for the bigger rooms, and

UK/USA - After 25 years of working at Allen & Heath and being an integral part of their Xone DJ division, Andy Rigby-Jones left the company in 2014 and partnered with Richie Hawtin to combine their expertise and vision to create new innovative instruments for the DJ and electronic music market.

Over the past two years, the pair have been developing and testing their first prototype of an instrument that they feel is missing from the professional segment of the market. Assessed at various leading worldwide events including ENTER.Ibiza, Glastonbury Festival and the BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix in Los Angeles last month, the first prototype has already seen a number of iterations and is nearing completion.

At the recent NAMM show (Anaheim, California), the pair revealed their PLAYdifferently brand, a partnership with the Audiotonix group, known for their strength in audio engineer

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