USA - LEA Professional has partnered with Lienau AV to serve the company’s growing market in the US Mid-Atlantic Region. Lienau AV was established in 1948 by founder Charlie Lienau to help electronics manufacturers develop their brands and connect them with the right distribution partners. “We look for manufacturing partners that have a strong sense of brand identity and unique technologies that provide real value,” commented Chris Hutnick, partner, Lienau AV Associates. “We also like partners with a clear long-term vision. As you might expect from a company that’s been around for three generations, we like to grow things deliberately from the ground up. Establishing strong roots early to provide a stable foundation for maximum growth over time is what we’re all about.” While 2020 was a challenging year for the industry as a whole, LEA Professional
UK - To mark the centenary of Stephen Joseph’s birth and the 60th anniversary of the founding of ABTT, the ABTT Stephen Joseph Committee has announced an award to commemorate the life and work of the influential theatre practitioner and pioneer of theatre in-the-round. A statement from the ABTT says: “Stephen Joseph was one of the most influential theatre practitioners of the last century. He was one of the founders of the ABTT and the Society of Theatre Consultants, now the Institute of Theatre Consultants. He promoted new writing, architectural standards and technical excellence, and was an inspiring university teacher. His pioneering work has given rise to the use of myriad forms of theatre and open staging in current practice. At the heart of his philosophy was the close and fundamental relationship between performer and audience. Above all, he established theatre-i
World - Following the recent announcement of Virtual Showlight 2021 which will take place online on 25 May, 2021, Showlight is renewing its Call for Papers from speakers keen to be a part of this inaugural event. Showlight has always centred on its fascinating programme of papers, delivered by lighting practitioners from around the world. Determined to uphold the spirit of the popular quadrennial event despite the global restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Showlight will treat its delegates to a day of talks and networking opportunities online that give a flavour of the full event. Submit your ideas The organisers are therefore issuing a fresh call for papers to anyone involved in lighting - be they lighting designers, lighting directors, directors of photography, architectural lighting designers or associated crafts like programmers and manufac
UK - Zero 88 has announced a new array of online product training sessions running through February and March 2021, presented in-person by product specialist Edward Smith. Running via Zoom, participants can also request a link to the recording for re-watching ‘and use these assets as a tool for refreshing and reinvigorating their lighting console programming skills’. Most of the training is focussed on Zero 88’s popular and powerful FLX range of lighting control consoles. These first sessions of the year will cover the FLX, FLX S24 and FLX S48, plus the ZerOS Server, and will also be applicable to other Zero 88 consoles running the ZerOS operating system. This follows on from a considerable number of regular training seminars initiated by Zero 88 throughout 2020, taking advantage of the unexpected free time that so many lighting professionals found thems
UK - MTN Shop EMEA, an E-commerce platform offering workwear, safety products, and rigging & lifting equipment, has proved popular across Europe since entering the international market in 2017. Building on this success, MTN has recently launched its exclusive UK website, shopmtn.co.uk, to provide their UK customers with a Brexit-proof shopping experience. UK visitors will now experience seamless navigation across multiple collections, with over 5,000 products from over 20 industry-leading brands available from a one stop shop for businesses and consumers alike, says the company. “Over the past five years in the EMEA market, MTN Shop has adapted based on our customers’ needs. Launching a UK based site with a Brexit friendly purchasing process for our UK friends and colleagues is an e
UAE - Creative Technology Middle East (CTME) is supporting Sharjah Performing Arts Academy (SPAA) in their mission to train undergraduate students in performing arts sectors, with a particular focus on supporting students in the production arts. CTME has partnered with SPAA to deliver technical information and guidance to students to further their knowledge and passion for entering the production world. CTME’s industry professionals have already provided several engaging classes, sharing their years of experience and expertise around video elements within the live events industry. The partnership has progressed well over the past six months, and CTME is now providing additional support by supplying various video equipment for the students to train on. CTME is keen to engage with the academic sector and with SPAA in particular as this will help increase the nu
UK - Loudspeaker pioneer PMC is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, marking three decades of ‘Best of British’ loudspeaker design and manufacture for both the international professional music production and audiophile markets. Peter Thomas, PMC founder and owner, comments on the occasion: “When I started the company with my friend and colleague, Adrian Loader, I had no idea that our audio knowledge and passion for music would one day end up with our small company designing and building universally respected loudspeakers for audiophiles and for some of the biggest artists, producers and audio facilities in the world.” PMC was established in 1991 by Thomas who was then a BBC engineer, and FWO Bauch engineer Adrian Loader, in response to requirements from the BBC for a monitor speaker that could handle the high sound levels required for pop and rock monito
UK - The Stagehand COVID-19 Crew Relief Fund, launched in September 2020, achieved its target of raising £1m by the end of 2020 and now looks to building on the £1.17m raised in order to continue supporting live events industry workers experiencing hardship in 2021. As a result, a third round of grant applications will be open until 12pm on 12 February. The grants of £500 help crew facing financial crisis and experiencing food poverty. Donations to the COVID-19 Crew Relief Fund have been received from PPL, BPI / BRIT Awards, Universal Music Group, Sony Music, The Co-Op, SJM Concerts, artists, artist managers and many individuals including some by anonymous donors. Prints for Music, the photography sale created by Ed Robinson who, together with 39 other photographers, donated images depicting musical heroes throughout the ages. The campaign saw significant f
Pay Freeze - Backstage theatre workers across the UK will have their pay frozen until April next year, under temporary contract changes aimed at helping the industry reopen following the pandemic. UK Theatre and BECTU have concluded a temporary COVID-19 Variation Agreement, which came into effect on 18 January and replaces the current UK Theatre/BECTU agreement until 2022. Although BECTU members voted in favour of the amendments, the union said they were not happy with the changes. The changes will not impact separately negotiated house agreements with individual venues, but local negotiations can take place to vary house agreements in line with the temporary COVID-19 Variation Agreement. The UK Theatre/BECTU agreement covers pay and working conditions for offstage roles in theatres across the UK in areas including box office, administration, technical, front of house,
UK - Source Distribution, exclusive distributor in the UK & Ireland of Arturia products, has been presented with the award of Arturia Best Distributor for 2020. This award, given by Arturia company directors, recognises efforts across a multitude of activities, from sales and fulfilment, to marketing, communications and support. Commenting on the award, Arturia area sales manager Patrice Martin-Coulibaly said: "2020 was a year of unpredictable challenges and enormous shifts in the way that our industry operates, further amplified by the fact that it was one of our most ambitious as a company. Our partners in distribution play a crucial role in communicating this ambition, our passion, and our message to musicians worldwide - and none more so than Source Distribution. Once again, they've not just risen to the challenges that 2020 presented, but proven themselves to be ins
Singapore - Audio conversion specialist Prism Sound has appointed SSL Asia Pte as its new distributor for Singapore, Malaysia and Myanmar, with responsibility for its entire product range including the recently launched ADA-128 modular audio conversion system and its range of audio interfaces such as Lyra, Titan and Atlas. Covering the South East Asia region, SSL Asia was originally established to represent console manufacturer SSL but now handles distribution for many other well know pro audio brands including Quested Speakers, Warm Audio, JoeCo, Antelope Audio, Konig&Meyer, AEA Ribbon Microphones and Chandler Limited. Its client base covers all section of the audio industry, from recording and broadcast through to live sound and the home studio market. The company’s headquarters in Singapore has a fully equipped demo facility where customers can try out variou
UK - The Media Production & Technology Show, scheduled for May 2021, has been postponed until next year. The event will now take place from 11-12 May 2022 back at Olympia and for the first time will be held in the National Hall. The decision to move the show a full 12-months and reschedule into May 2022 has not been taken lightly, say the organisers. It has been made because of continued questions about the rest of 2021 and the possibility of hosting large scale events, as well as the availability of venues and other industry events already booked into the latter part of this year. Additionally, with some form of social distancing and limitations on public gatherings likely to be in place for some time to come, organisers decided that its customers and partners would need time to reasonably plan and invest in the event to maximise their attendance at the sho
UK - Artists including Sir Elton John and Radiohead are putting pressure on the government to resolve the problems around post-Brexit EU touring. UK artists will face red tape and fees for visas to play in some EU countries. Sir Elton John told The Guardian: "Either the Brexit negotiators didn't care about musicians, or didn't think about them, or weren't prepared." But Culture Minister Caroline Dinenage said the government had "pushed" for a solution and the door was still "open". She told MPs on Monday that the government had put forward a "very straightforward" plan to allow musicians to travel without work permits, drafted "in consultation with experts from the UK to creative sectors". She added: "Quite simply the EU rejected this proposal." Brussels has previously argued the opposite, saying it was in fact the UK that turned down its offer. Mean
USA - Shoreline City Church (SCC) held a fully social distanced and masked Covid-safe Christmas Eve service and celebration at the American Airlines Center (AAC) in Dallas which featured a diversity of performances by multiple artists and a flurry of different vocalists from the church, all backed by their house band. The church asked Josh Beard and Jacob Vanvlymen from Houston, Texas-based production design specialist Visual Edge to create a memorable production design. They chose Robe BMFL moving lights – a mix of BMFL Blades, BMFL WashBeams and BMFL FollowSpots – to be at the core of the lighting rig. Visual Edge was initially asked to present some design ideas which would incorporate lighting and video by SCC’s technical director Jeremy Hix. Three concepts were presented and one selected in which automation was also central to the design. Taki
UK - SLX, specialist technical supplier to theatres, touring productions, broadcast and live events, worked alongside young artist, Cameron Flynn - a member of New Adventures dance company on tour with Matthew Bourne’s production of The Red Shoes until the pandemic hit – as he created a digital performance that would speak to the challenges faced by artists nationwide. The performance, titled Unskilled, is available to watch online. Cameron says: “I was determined to use this time to do something meaningful. I didn’t want to moan about it but I wanted to convey a world where dance, performance and theatre didn’t exist yet all around were individuals trying to fit uncomfortably into other jobs, with their performative skill invisible and dreams to perform bursting to get out of them. It certainly has parallels
UK - On 21 April 2007, The Grove Theatre in Dunstable held its opening gala hosted by actor Brian Blessed. The following day, its first show, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, began a one-week run. From that point on, the 750-seat venue looked like it would never slow down, staging over 5,000 shows and events in a 13-year period. Then the COVID-19 pandemic brought its busy schedule to an abrupt halt. Although the theatre had to close its doors to the public during the lockdown, activity within its walls didn’t stop. With the popular venue empty, its technical director Richard Shrubb and his team were more readily able to upgrade its lighting rig by adding 16 of the new Chauvet Professional Force series fixtures supplied by its long-time vendor 10 out of 10 Productions. “Grove Theatre was opened well over a decade ago, and was still using a sizeab
Europe - Genelec has confirmed the appointment of Audio-Technica France to handle the French distribution of its studio and AV loudspeaker ranges, with Gilles Pétrotey joining the Audio-Technica team to spearhead Genelec sales in the region. This new distribution partnership is effective from 1 March 2021. With Audio-Technica already handling the distribution of Genelec products in the Netherlands and Spain, this move further strengthens the relationship between both companies, which will also benefit from the three decades of pro audio experience that the highly regarded Pétrotey brings, says the company. Having held senior positions at Yamaha, Beyer, Lexicon and the TC Group, Pétrotey joined the Music Tribe organisation to oversee Western European sales - with particular responsibility for the TC Electronic, Tannoy, Lab Gruppen and Midas brands. His appointmen
UK - Guildhall School of Music & Drama has announced 15 new online courses that will run from April – July 2021. The school has transferred its most popular short courses online and created a range of new ones, working with tutors to ensure that they are “just as enriching and memorable as they would be within the building”. The courses cover music, drama, music production for young women and girls, sound design for theatre, video mapping and an introduction to game audio. Participants will have the opportunity to learn with Guildhall School staff members, as well as guest tutors, in a range of workshops all held on Zoom. In addition to these courses, Guildhall School is hoping to run several in-person Summer Schools from July - August. For a full list of in-person courses and to register your interest, you can go to the website
World - Following the postponement of Showlight 2021 which had been set to take place this May in Fontainebleau, France, its organisers have announced that a one-day Virtual Showlight will be held in its place “as a temporary interlude”. The live online event will take place on Tuesday 25 May 2021 between the hours of 15.00 – 23.00 BST. The date coincides with the final day of the original event and the time has been chosen to best accommodate a global audience. Virtual Showlight will host an online presentation of papers, each up to 30 minutes in length, from international keynote speakers, plus a live Panel Discussion. Q&A sessions will follow each paper with delegates able to message their questions via the chairperson. The remainder of the time will stay true to the spirit of Showlight with scheduled breaks between sessions providing opportunities for d
UK - On Tuesday 2 February, #WeMakeEvents gave evidence during the DCMS select committee inquiry into the future of UK festivals. The campaign’s political group leader Duncan Bell detailed the ongoing challenges faced by the live events and entertainment industry. When asked if there is a problem with people leaving the industry due to COVID-19, he stated: "Freelancers have been forced to find work elsewhere. In a recent survey of 2,800 people over 30% of freelancers said they have had to leave the industry, and 20% say they hope to come back but are very unsure whether they are able to because of the lack of certainty." #WeMakeEvents is currently verifying the data from this survey and will be publishing the full report in the coming weeks. One of the central aims of #WeMakeEvents is to get government-backed cancellation insurance for events, and follo
Europe - The organisers of Integrated Systems Europe 2021, scheduled for June in Barcelona, have set a 1 March deadline for making a decision as to whether the physical event will go head. ISE managing director Mike Blackman remains hopeful that the show will go on. However, in his most recent statement, in view of the unpredictable nature of the pandemic and continuing travel restrictions, he remains guarded. “Following the announcement that the InfoComm 2021 show will now take place in Orlando in October 2021, we want to confirm that Integrated Systems Europe, remains scheduled to open live and online on 1-4 June in its new home at the Fira, Barcelona,” says Blackman. “Whilst we recognise there continue to be challenges ahead, we are in touch with government and the relevant health authorities to constantly monitor the situation. None of us can predict
UK - Leading trade associations have backed a campaign to keep UK’s VAT rate on ticket sales at 5% to aid the live events sector’s recovery. Last July, the government temporarily slashed the VAT rate to 5% from the standard rate of 20% to support businesses severely affected by the pandemic. The cut currently applies until 31 March 2021. #KeepVATat5, initiated by LIVE (Live music Industry Venues & Entertainment), aims to convince the Treasury to extend the VAT rate cut for the next three years and comes ahead of chancellor Rishi Sunak’s hotly-anticipated budget announcement on 3 March. “With the budget approaching, we must act now to convince the chancellor to #KeepVATat5,” says LIVE in a statement. “Of all the industry’s asks from government currently, keeping the VAT rate on tickets at 5% for the next three years will make the single biggest i
Taiwan - J.studio, a commercial recording studio in the centre of Taipei, has made a Neve 8424 console the centrepiece of its main control room because it gives the facility the routing flexibility, modularity and freedom it needs to combine a modern, digital workflow with its extensive collection of analogue outboard equipment. and is now offering recording, mixing and mastering facilities to all types of musical genres including classical, jazz, EDM, and pop. “We especially love working with Taiwanese indie bands as many of the bands we have worked with have had their full creative potentAudio engineer Zhu Chiao Chen opened J.studio in 2019 ial realized in our studio space,” Zhu Chiao Chen explains. “Our approach is to bridge old school gear and apply modern techniques to achieve sonically unique results. The studio is equipped with Urei 813C main monitors and
USA - Nautilus Entertainment Design, Inc. (NED) has announced that after 30 years in business, the company founders Laura and Jim Tetlow, are selling their stock to the company ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan.) With this sale, the company will become 100% employee-owned. Jim Tetlow will continue in a consultancy role as principal consultant and lighting designer for select shows and projects in an effort to provide NED’s clients with a multi-year seamless transition. Jim Tetlow comments, “When we started the business 30 years ago, our focus was on lighting design for TV and live events. At that time, it never occurred to us that we would expand into so many more disciplines including architectural lighting design, A/V system design, and theatre consulting. One of our proudest achievements is the fact that we have built a team of professionals that excel in their wor
![Mike Blackman: ‘If circumstances impact our ability to host an in-person event [...], we will make this decision by 1 March’](/images/122007/mike-blackman-tn.jpg "Mike Blackman: ‘If circumstances impact our ability to host an in-person event [...], we will make this decision by 1 March’")
