The STLD (Society of Television Lighting and Design) visit was made possible by Clay Paky, which has been profitably working for years with the British association and, most recently, has partnered with it in organising the annual competition called The Clay Paky Knight of Illumination. The competition gives awards to the best British LDs in the TV, theatre and live event sectors.
The professional relationship between Clay Paky and RAI is equally well consolidated. It is based on mutual respect that has built up over the years, during which the Bergamo-based company has supplied RAI with the most modern TV studio lighting technology. On many occasions, RAI executives and directors of photography have chosen Clay Paky lights as the best equipment for their scheduled programmes.
STLD was able to visit the Italian public TV headquarters, the historical Corso Sempione studios and the ultra-modern Via Mecenate studios for the whole day. The new studios are home to some of the biggest TV shows, including L'Isola dei Famosi (the Italian version of Celebrity Survivor), X Factor, and Quelli che il Calcio (a sports entertainment show). Renato Ferrari, Clay Paky's sales manager for the Italian market, who was escorting the visitors, had the opportunity to show them that all of these productions are illuminated by Clay Paky.
An in-depth technical meeting also took place between the STLD delegation and RAI staff consisting of directors of photography, studio managers and design managers, with an official speech by the executive in charge of the RAI TV Production Centre in Milan, Massimo Ferrario.
The discussion between these lighting professionals was not purely technical, but also included a comparison of daily working methods, as Stuart Gain, chairman of STLD emphasised, "The meeting with the RAI staff was extraordinarily useful since we were able to compare two different organisational models, in which each one of us was able to fit their own working situation. We openly tackled subjects of a general nature, but also described details of our everyday work. We are grateful to Clay Paky for organising this meeting."
During their stay in Italy, STLD also visited the Clay Paky premises at Seriate (BG). Pio Nahum, company sales director, said, "We are proud we were able to organise an opportunity for two important institutions in our sector to meet. It was a valuable chance for us to get to know the needs of leading figures face-to-face. Television is one of our most important markets and it is essential to keep up to date on how our products are being used."
Enrico Caironi, Clay Paky corporate advisor and co-organiser of the event with Bernie Davis, echoed his words, "The STLD lighting designers boast years of experience both in TV and live theatre in Great Britain and the rest of the world. Their suggestions are very valuable to Clay Paky, since our company is strongly oriented towards the professional market."
Clay Paky will be profiled in the June issue of Lighting&Sound magazine.
(Jim Evans)
