Australia - Lexair Entertainment has been appointed the exclusive Australian and New Zealand distributor for American followspot specialist Lycian Stage Lighting. “Lycian is proud to announce it has established a relationship with Lexair Entertainment to distribute Lycian followspots in Australia and New Zealand,” said Steve Lerman, director of sales for Lycian Stage Lighting. “We believe Lexair will aggressively market Lycian followspots and are happy to join their growing stable of entertainment products. I look forward to working with a company that is dedicated to customer service because that is our root belief.” “Lycian is the most reputable followspot manufacturer in the world, and we’re very happy to be working with them,” stated Alex Mair, managing director of Lexair Entertainment. “Their product quality and excellent reputation directly align
UK - With a broad stock of event production and AV equipment, production company SXS has launched a dry hire service. Available equipment includes arena-scale PA, high-resolution LED video walls, outdoor video screens, staging, marquees and one of the largest stocks of blackout drapery in the UK. “We now have one of the largest and definitely the broadest of stocks of AV and production equipment in the UK. The equipment we are using is high-end, industry and standard and typically rider friendly,” says SXS project handler Nathan Dunbar who will be heading up the dry hire customer services with assistance from production executive Lucy Payne. “I’ve been with SXS a while now and have been blown away by how well our team maintains some of the highest standards I have seen in every discipline in which we work. SXS is a genuine one-stop shop with technical an
South Africa - Not tip-toeing around what’s wrong and very wrong in the Rainbow Nation, South Africa, Mamba Republic is a rapidly-paced satirical sketch theatre comedy which reunites the talents of Ben Voss (Beauty Ramapelepele) and John van de Ruit (Spud). This brutally amusing production, from its opening at Durban's Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre through to its performances on the Main programme at the National Arts Festival in July, and its current run at The Theatre on the Square in Sandton ending 19th August, has continually had its audiences in stitches. The Mamba Republic team generously donated R13 000 towards the SOS Charity Fund from ticket sales. With their blend of sharp wit, hopeless optimism and clever characterization, the duo sank their fangs into the fiascos and foibles of South African life. “As a theatre show, Mamba Republic
UK/Taiwan - Coretronic Corporation Taiwan has completed the acquisition of Calibre, a privately held British image processing technology manufacturer based in Bradford, Yorkshire. Coretronic manufactures the largest number of DLP projectors in the world, and is the ODM supplier to the majority of the world’s Tier 1 DLP projector brands. The acquisition of Calibre expands Coretronic’s technology capability by the addition of Calibre’s compelling range of HQUltra image processing technology and in-house R&D capabilities. “It reflects Coretronic’s strategy to strengthen its leading position in display and image processing technology with a rich set of capabilities afforded by the Calibre team. This will help Coretronic Group with its plans to further advance in the pro-av markets as well as assisting with entry into the rapidly expanding direct-view LE
Singapore - Cloud Electronics has appointed Loud Technologies Asia (LTA) as its new distributor in Singapore. LTA, a subsidiary of Trektech, is a principal distributor in the region, providing the Singaporean market with a portfolio of products from a number of reputable brands, such as K-array, One Systems and Chauvet. Having confirmed the appointment following a productive meeting at ISE2017 earlier in the year, Cloud managing director Simon Curtis feels his decision to appoint LTA as their distribution partner has been fully justified. With offices in Singapore, Indonesia and Cambodia, LTA is managed by Colin Quek. ‘I’ve been a fan of Cloud’s engineering quality, such as the perennial Z4 and Z8 zone mixers for many years, representing the brand is a great honour’, Quek comments. “From an installer’s point of view, the reliability of their easy-to
South Africa - An energised and confident Malesela Josias Mashiane returned to South Africa after attending training at the Stagecraft Institute of Las Vegas (SILV). His journey abroad was made possible thanks to sponsorship from the SILV and the SOS Charity Fund, a DWR Distribution initiative. To further expand his knowledge and for him to gain hands on experience, SILV extended an offer to Josias to participate in the Stagecraft Institute of Las Vegas 2017 programme. He had already achieved good results in the 2016 SILV, and this year was admitted to the Track 2 Advanced Level which covered Movers, Media and Rock ‘n’ Roll! When Josias was asked what was the greatest thing he learnt, he answered that he found all the courses so interesting. He conceded that he gained so much like the correct process of ordering items from hiring companies, learning the importance
USA - Graeme Flegenheimer, owner of El Club in Detroit, Michigan, fell in love with music at a young age. That may explain his diverse taste in music and the wide variety of acts that play at the popular live music venue, which has featured a customisable Elation Professional lighting rig since opening in 2016. “I pride myself on El Club having an eclectic calendar,” says Flegenheimer, who has a background as a music publicist. “There’s not a typical night here. It’s always changing and Elation is able to meet every requirement of the artist coming in here and capture the vibe of the evening.” Since opening in May of 2016, El Club has arguably become Detroit’s hottest night-time venue with a mixture of acts that is attracting a wide audience. “It's really an amazing room that's giving a massive high-end light show experience to underground artists in a
UK - Jubilee Library is the main public library in Brighton and forms the centrepiece of the Jubilee square development in the city centre. Opened in 2005 by the Princess Royal, Jubilee Library stands at the heart of a multi-million pound scheme for redevelopment of a 40-year-old brownfield site and was recognised at the time of opening as one of the most energy efficient structures in England with a carbon footprint half that of a traditional public building of comparable size. In addition to an extensive literature collection, Jubilee Library offers local communities state of the art IT facilities within its IT Connect room, a full business suite with five conference rooms and a one-to-one meeting room. Kier Group Facilities Management, responsible for the management of Jubilee Library for Brighton & Hove City Council, called in unified business solutions provide
Belgium - With many music stages and event spaces throughout the city’s UNESCO protected medieval centre, the annual 10-day Gentse Feesten is a go-to event for Northern European music lovers. Shining brightly against the city’s beautiful gothic architecture was the festival’s Sint-Baafsplein square stage. Vince de Schinckel brought the stage (one of the festival’s largest) to glittering life with help from eight STRIKE 1, 20 Maverick MK2 Wash, and 16 Maverick MK2 Spot fixtures from Chauvet Professional, supplied by Belgian rental specialists Euro PA. The 230-watt single source STRIKE 1 fixtures provided de Schinckel with an impactful tungsten emulating blinder and wash tool for creating classic main stage looks. “After having a great experience with the STRIKE 4 on last year’s festival, I was excited to try out the single source STRIKE 1,” he said.
Europe - UK based creative design practice Okulus – James Scott and Louis Oliver – was asked to create a production design for rising Canadian singer songwriter Shawn Mendes’ tour. This followed their work for the launch of his second studio album, Illuminate at Madison Square Garden in September 2016, and Okulus’ penchant for bringing fresh and interesting visual perspectives to a show. 39 Robe Spikies are incorporated into the lighting scheme, crafted with Okulus dexterity and imagination in close collaboration with the show’s creative director, Paul Caslin and 24/7 Productions. The overall stage look is clean and definitive with attention focused on the artist. The set is built from a multi-layered fixed riser system with curved frontage and a high-gloss black floor, fabricated by TAIT. It keeps the band positions balanced across the upstage
Italy - Singer/songwriter and producer Tiziano Ferro is known as the modern face of Italian pop music and his phenomenally successful career has seen one chart-busting album and single after another earning him a dedicated fan following. His live shows are also known for their visual flamboyance and style and the recent Italian stadium tour was no exception. Belgian engineering and automation specialist WIcreations was commissioned to find solutions for two primary motion-control ‘brain-teasers’. The show was creatively directed by Claudio Santucci working in close collaboration with video designer Romain Sabella from Clonwerk and lighting designer Giovanni Pinna. The two automation challenges were to provide a fluid and smooth movement system for a large video ceiling weighing 11 tonnes, which moved in all directions and to track two massive upstage LED scre
UK - Now in its third year, the three-day Ramblin Man Fair is an annual music festival celebrating classic and contemporary rock, progressive rock, blues and country music. Promoted by Spirit Of Rock it is billed as “a rock festival designed for rock fans by rock fans”. Set in Maidstone’s familiar Mote Park, sound production company Capital Sound were contracted to provide the audio infrastructure for the first time this year, and they were eager to show off the power of Martin Audio’s MLA PA to Kent’s rock community. Project manager Robin Conway was himself responsible for winning the contract after meeting with the event’s technical production manager, Kev Sutherland. “I think he was impressed that we were able to come up with a total production package built around MLA,” he said. Capital provided sound reinforcement for all four stages b
Germany - Forty years on the air and 1,000 episodes are really a reason for celebrating 1, 2 or 3, the legendary children’s quiz show from ZDF - with a 150-minute prime time show from the MMC Studios in Cologne. Moderated by Steven Gätjen and Elton, prominent guests included actress Stephanie Stumph, comedian Bülent Ceylan and singer Mark Foster. Günther Jauch, who presents Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, also made an appearance and superstar Helene Fischer appeared on stage. For the lighting design of this special anniversary show, MBTV, the production company for ZDF, awarded the design work to mo2 design, run by lighting designer, Manfred "Ollie" Olma. Olma is one of the long-time users of GLP fixtures, and on this occasion he also made the most of it - specifying more than 100 impression X4 atom, as well as 92 GT-1 hybrids and 60 impression X4. "W
Europe - illumination Physics has opened a European office in Bremen, Germany. Martin Opolka will assume the role of European manager, effective immediately. Martin is a career lighting professional and his experience and specialisation are ideally suited to illumination Physics’ core business in architectural and architainment façade lighting, says the company. He has been involved in many international projects including The Chicago Bridges illumination, London Television Tower, London, and Aspire Sports Dome in Doha. "My new role as European manager for illumination Physics represents an exciting challenge that I'm honoured to accept," says Martin. "I have known the company directors and have been familiar with their work for many years and am delighted now to be part of its success story.” The office is located at Bruno-Bürgel-Strasse 11, 28759, Bremen,
UK - To best support and grow its rapidly expanding user-base, global design and BIM software developer Vectorworks has announced the formation of a new office in the UK. To facilitate this new corporate office, Vectorworks has acquired Design Software Solutions Limited, a long-time reseller of Vectorworks software. The Vectorworks UK office will build on the support, training and sales infrastructure developed by Design Software Solutions as a launch pad for further development in the region. The new office will be led by Tamsin Slatter and Adrian Slatter, former directors of Design Software Solutions. “With more than 10 years of experience helping users make the most of their investment in Vectorworks software, Design Software Solutions has provided significant input to the growth of the UK market while also providing valuable support and training materials,
UK – The 2017 Knight of Illumination (KOI) Awards has announced this year’s shortlist of lighting and video designers, recognised for their creative work in the Concert Touring & Events sector. The winners will be announced at the 10th anniversary KOI Awards ceremony, to be held at London’s Eventim Apollo, Hammersmith, on 17 September. The KOI Awards was established to publicly celebrate the achievements of lighting and video designers in the sectors of Television, Theatre and Concert Touring & Events. The annual Awards are open to designers whose work has been showcased in the UK in the previous twelve months. The Awards is now one of the most celebrated nights in the live entertainment design industry calendar, with more than 500 leading creatives and professionals in attendance at last year’s celebrations. The Concert Touring & Events shortlist is the
Ticket To Ride - Amazon could soon be entering yet another new market - working with US venue owners to sell event tickets. Sources told Reuters news agency that Amazon was in talks to offer event ticketing in America, seeing the market as ripe for a new entrant. If such a move were to go ahead, it would be the latest effort by the Seattle-based online retailer to use its huge customer base and bargaining power to enter a big market. It would also challenge Ticketmaster, which has a strong grip on the market. Ticketmaster is currently the exclusive seller of tickets for many top US venues, generating $1.6bn in revenue from initial sales in 2016, according to estimates by research firm BTIG. That figure does not include revenue from reselling tickets, which BTIG estimates at $250m. Price Sensitive - Producer Thelma Holt has become the latest figure to rail agains
Poland - Transcolor Lucjan Siwczyk, one of Poland's major rental companies, is located in greater Warsaw, since 2010 in a substantial purpose-built warehouse and office complex complete with two large studios which are regularly hired out by TV production companies to record a range of series and programmes. Television is a core market for Transcolor which also services other studios with lighting and video equipment – together with concert touring, special events and long term installations. To assist with the busy schedules, there are now over 300 Robe fixtures in the rental inventory including 200 plus LEDWash 800s and over 100 Spikies. They started looking at Robe in 2012 - having been a distributor for a competitor brand for several years and consequently having a big stock of their fixtures – it was a big moment - explained technical manager Szymon Kos
UK - A comprehensive seminar programme at the forthcoming PLASA 2017 exhibition at London Olympia, 17-19 September 2017 includes a presentation on Safety First by Helen Goddard, fellow member and vice president of The Institute of Sound & Communications Engineers (ISCE). On Monday 18 September, 11:00am-11:30am in the Fast Track Theatre at the exhibition, Helen will present a Safety First seminar outlining the ECS Certification Scheme and how it affects audio engineers working on sites and in venues. She will also outline how sound engineers can become accredited for this growing Health & Safety and core competencies standard within the construction industry. A recognised ECS trade card is increasingly requested by clients and main contractors in order for operatives to gain access to sites and venues for equipment upgrades and routine maintenance.
UK - To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Wholehog lighting control desk, the Flying Pig Systems team, along with an original Wholehog console, will reunite at the PLASA Show in September. In 1992, three young, twenty-something men - Nick Archdale, Tom Thorne and Nils Thorjussen - exhibited a new control system for live entertainment lighting at the PLASA Show in London. Called Wholehog, it had been conceived, developed, road-tested and launched in less than a year. Its disruptive power and features drew huge interest from the market, while its impact was recognised by the PLASA Show's Awards judges who unanimously named it Lighting Product of the Year. Wholehog was a landmark in the history of entertainment lighting control. For the three founders whose blood, sweat, tears and (no doubt) more tears had led them to this point, it was an extraordinary achievement ag
Belgium - Rental company EQS Pro-Rent has recently taken delivery of Elation Professional’s new Artiste DaVinci LED moving head spot luminaire, as well as the company’s ACL 360 Matrix LED moving head panel. Wouter de Loose, owner of EQS Pro-Rent, based in the town of Rijkevorsel, commented on the decision to add the fixtures to their rental inventory. “We have worked with various Elation products for several years,” he said. “Last year we bought 16 units of the Rayzor Beam 2R, a narrow beam moving head that we are still very pleased with today. Due to our growth in the rental sector the past year, we have been looking for new devices to expand our range. We found the road to Elation very quickly.” Together with Coen Criar of Elation partner Geronika and Bert Schmeits of Elation Professional, a comprehensive demo was undertaken of various Elation products. A
Italy - With its HQ in Milan, and a branch office in Rome, Communication Video Engineering (CVE) has been appointed new distribution partner for Italy by BroaMan. CVE brings nearly 40 years' experience in the design, implementation and support of advanced technical solutions for broadcast and telecommunications organisations. In addition to its operations in Italy, the company also has a subsidiary office in Dubai. “We had been looking for a fibre solution to handle point to multipoint,” explained CEO Luca Catalano. “Our tech team undertook research which is how we got to know BroaMan.” Munich-based BroaMan manufactures advanced solutions, which use a fibre infrastructure to integrate Video, Audio, IP, Intercom and other Data on a redundant low latency system. As well as broadcasters, these interfaces are targeted at production companies, sport facilities
USA - As a provider of laser hardware for nearly a decade in the US, X-Laser USA is expanding its reach and is now able to capitalize on opportunities in the international laser show market. X-Laser has chosen as its representative the firm Oso Colmenero, a solutions and equipment specialist for the professional lighting, audio and video industries in Latin America. Through this approach, X-Laser is now able to serve countries in South and Central America, plus Mexico. “We’ve been receiving inquiries about laser shows and laser systems from Mexico, Argentina and Colombia that we simply couldn’t support,” Adam Raugh, X-Laser’s president, said. “Now that we’re working with Jerry and his trusted team, we’ll be able to reach those markets and more with safe, high-quality laser systems.” “Jerry,” refers to Jerry Colmenero, the founder and presid
Poland - J&C Joel has announced the appointment of Step as its new bronze dealer in Poland. Step was established in Poland in 2008 by its founders Marcin Konieczek and Grzegorz Sikorski, who are both long-time active members of the Polish stage and event market, working as light and sound engineers for live shows and events for more than 20 years. In 2012 Step started to support theatres and rental companies, supplying them with a wide range of equipment including auditorium LED lighting systems manufactured by British GDS based in Bristol. Always focused on high quality products, Step has quickly become a reliable and dynamic partner for manufacturers. Step will offer J&C Joel’s flame retardant fabrics, flooring and stage engineering solutions as well as their bespoke design, manufacturing and installation services as a complimentary solution to their
