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UK - The Knight of Illumination Awards has revealed details of this year's much anticipated glittering ceremony in London.

For the first time London ExCel's Platinum Suite will host the KOI Awards. The event will kick off at 18:30 on Sunday 6 October to allow plenty of time for networking between old friends and colleagues. As is traditional the Awards coincide with the opening day of PLASA London, which also takes place at ExCel for the first time this year.

"Last year, hundreds of top creative lighting professionals donned their finery and put on their dancing shoes to celebrate the outstanding creative achievements of lighting designers working on productions in the UK," says Pio Nahum, chief commercial officer for Clay Paky. "This year's KOI Awards have already seen a record number of submissions, so we will be showcasing an incredibly high level of talent f

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Free Theatre - Jersey Boys and Les Miserables have been announced as shows performing free songs to the public to coincide with 350 years of West End theatre. West End Live - the annual festival of musical and theatre, now in its ninth year - will be staged in Trafalgar Square on 22 and 23 June. Performances will coincide with 350 years since a theatre was built on the site of Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. Sir Tim Rice's new musical From Here to Eternity will be previewed at the show.

West End Live, organised by Westminster City Council and the Society of London Theatre, attracted over half a million people last year. London Mayor Boris Johnson said, "West End Live brings the roar of the greasepaint to the heart of the capital and all for free. From curtain up, to the encore, London Theatreland is unbeatable and this is a fabulous way

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UK - MediaCityUK-based media services provider, dock10, has formalised the appointment of technical support firm Gallowglass to fulfil the vast majority of its labour requirements at The Studios - the studio complex at the heart of MediaCityUK.

One of the largest television studios in the UK and home to the BBC and, progressively, ITV, the new complex offers the largest high definition facilities in Europe. Operated by dock10, The Studios contain seven HDTV studios, two audio studios, digital post production cloud media management services.

Gallowglass will provide a workforce of technical support staff, including carpenters, scenic artists, gaffers and stage-hands, to work at The Studios - and also at production base The Pie Factory, home to three large sound stages, and location for a wide range of productions, from feature films to sofa commercials.

Gallowglass regional m

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Czech Republic - In 2013, the Showlight Conference was staged in the Czech Republic for the first time, at Cesky Krumlov and with Robe Lighting as the main sponsor.

Nearly 400 visitors embraced the mediaeval town for the three days to enjoy a lively mix of presentations by industry professionals working in all areas of lighting and visuals plus networking opportunities as well as getting a taste of life in and around Cesky Krumlov.

Various fact-finding and sightseeing visits were an integral part of the conference itinerary, allowing delegates to see some of the local commerce and business activities first hand.

This included a tour of the city's famous Baroque Theatre complete with original wooden and rope stage machinery, and other specially arranged visits encompassed pencil and cosmetics factories and a graphite mine.The visit programme also took in the Mestske Theatre,

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Glastonbury Countdown - The BBC has said it is having "ongoing conversations" with the Rolling Stones over how much of their Glastonbury performance can be broadcast on TV. Press reports suggested the band had refused to let their full set be aired. "Discussions with artists are business as usual for this stage of our festival planning," a BBC spokesperson said.

Speaking to The Independent, the BBC's head of music television Mark Cooper said the rock legends were "nervous about how much they should share". The Stones, he told the paper, were "stepping out of their comfort zone". He added: "At this point, I'm quite optimistic we'll get a sufficient amount of music." The BBC statement said: "We're confident that we'll be able to deliver fantastic coverage of this year's amazing Glastonbury line-up." The Rolling Sto

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UK - Based on a vast site in the UK's North West, Electrovision has plenty of space to grow, and that's exactly what they're doing as they continue with their expansion plans, most recently marked by a move to new offices at the group's Electrovision Campus in St. Helens.

With investment in the ongoing project now standing at £2m, including fitting the new offices and beginning work to convert the old offices to extra warehousing space, the directors are delighted with the response from staff and customers to their new 'home'.

Richard Fox, managing director of Electrovision Ltd, comments, "The move to a new building on the existing St. Helens site was planned for several years and we couldn't be happier with how smooth the transition has been with very few issues. It's given our staff a real boost, which is a great way to reward the team here for their efforts. Cust

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USA - Wybron, a leading stage lighting supplier has announced that the company will close its doors on 30 June 2013.

The company is best known for transforming entertainment, church and architectural industries with its innovation of cutting-edge lighting products.

"For years, the stage lighting industry has been led by companies with three-letter names," said president and CEO Keny Whitright. "PRG, ETC, ELS, TMB, and BMI are just a few of these. For 35 years Wybron struggled through with the burden of a six-letter name," Whitright said laughing, "We finally realised we have too many letters in the company name. It was time to close the doors."

Whitright said that closing the Wybron manufacturing plant is bittersweet. "I will miss the business that I know and love. But, I am looking forward to scaling back and becoming an FTD man. Fishing,

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Kinky Hit - Kinky Boots, the musical adaptation of the 2005 British comedy film, was a hit at the Tony awards in New York, picking up six trophies. It won best musical, original score for its writer - 80s pop star Cyndi Lauper - and best leading man for Bill Porter.

The Broadway transfer of the West End stage hit Matilda also won four awards including best book of a musical. Pam MacKinnon and Diane Paulus took home the awards for best direction of a play and a musical respectively. It is the first time in 15 years that two women have won the honours for direction in the same year.

Silver Clef - Alison Moyet is to be honoured with the Icon Award at this year's Silver Clef Awards. The annual event, which takes place at the end of June, is in aid of the music therapy charity Nordoff Robbins. Moyet said she was honoured to be recognised by the charity. "I've adm

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UK - Global brand experience agency Jack Morton Worldwide recently executed what has been classed as "a spectacular open air experience" in London's Covent Garden. The campaign for Nivea, one of the most recognised and trusted global skin and beauty care brands was created in partnership with Jack Morton, Draftfcb and Agency Republic.

The Dare to Dip campaign tour which began in Copenhagen has been travelling through cities in Europe including locations in the UK. It invites women to take part in public swims with friends in a branded repurposed skip which doubles as a pool. The event challenged women to join in a series of events designed to take their confidence to the next level by sharing their first of many dips this summer at an iconic location. With captured content shared from the first dip at every location being used across TV, radio, online and print

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UK - 2013 saw the annual Boishakhi Mela move from London's Brick Lane and Weaver's Fields to a new venue at nearby Victoria Park. For the fifth year AP Security was tasked with stewarding the event.

The Mela is Europe's largest Asian open air festival and the 2013 event attracted well over 200,000 people to celebrate the Bengali New Year with a mix of parades, stalls, exhibitions, funfairs and live music. It is a complex and sensitive event to steward, but AP's knowledge of the event and local area ensured that the company's staff made a significant contribution to its smooth running.

"We have been working at major events in Victoria Park and the surrounding area for many years, so it was a natural process for us to bring that together with our previous years experience of the Mela," says AP national sales manager John Phillips. "Of course that didn't mean we co

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UK - trackingThis, the specialist in dynamic data and collaborative asset management systems, launched new functionalities for the Technical Access Passport (TAP) system, including a Trainer Module, at ABTT show in London last week.

trackingThis is offering "an unmissable deal for training companies". They can sign up for a single user license for just 10% of the standard commercial license price, as long as they sign up before October.

Besides demonstrating TAP and the trackingThis asset management system, Chris Paul, trackingThis director, presented TAP's new features and trainer module during a seminar at ABTT.

"TAP is the must have card for freelancers and contractors," says Paul. "We've been successfully running the scheme with the ABTT for two years now. The ATG and ENO are both early supporters of the scheme. The principal aim of TAP is to mak

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UK - The 2013 National Stage Management Awards Ceremony was held recently at the Old Truman Brewery in London, during the ABTT Theatre Show. The award for 'Stage Management Student of the Year' is sponsored by GDS, itself an award winning manufacturer, and was won this year by Alex Bradford of Rose Bruford College.

The award honours outstanding student achievement and Alex was considered to have truly risen above the competition, fully demonstrating her ability to take responsibility and apply herself skilfully and passionately to her work.

MD of GDS, Matt Lloyd expressed great pleasure in sponsoring the award: "This is the third year that we have been the proud sponsors of this award. As manufacturers of essential stage management equipment, some of which has been developed directly in conjunction with educators in the stage-management field, we are only too well aware o

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UK - Championship water skier Jeremy (Jez) Harford commissioned 5 Star cases to design and build a custom lightweight flightcase for his slalom skis, to ensure that they can safely be transported overseas for training and competitions - without costing a small fortune in excess baggage!

Packing the skis for travel has always been a challenge explains Jez, and it was time to move permanently on from bubble-wrap, soft bags and keeping fingers crossed that they arrived in one piece ... to something more serious!

Water skis are constructed from hollow fiberglass resin materials which are brittle on the outside and a fall onto concrete, even from a short distance, can damage a ski beyond repair, so protection during transport is imperative.

UK based Jeremy was recommended to 5 Star, where he met Keith Sykes and the design team, who listened to his requirements and set to work to

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Fundraising Fellowship - The Arts Council is to fund a new fellowship programme to train arts fundraisers of the future. The Arts Fundraising and Philanthropy Fellowship will offer 11 places for entrepreneurial graduates at organisations including Opera North and Tate Liverpool. The programme is the first of its kind in the UK. With continuing spending cuts it is thought fundraisers will be increasingly important for the arts. A recent study by the charity Arts & Business suggested a growing divide in donations to the arts between London and the rest of England. Philanthropic giving to theatres and galleries rose 10% in London between 2011 and 2012. while donations elsewhere fell 3.5%. The trainee fundraisers will take part in an intensive 12 month training programme and it is hoped that they will go on to be leading directors of arts organisations in the future.

Budget Cuts<

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UK - Members of PLASA attending the 2013 European AGM at BAFTA in central London recently were presented with the Association's Strategic Plan for the next five years by Matthew Griffiths, PLASA's CEO, and Ed Pagett, Managing Director of Panalux Broadcast & Event and current Chairman of PLASA's European Regional Board and overarching Governing Body.

The Strategic Plan is a blueprint for PLASA's future growth and will inform the tactical and operational plans needed to transform this collaborative document into a reality. It was clear that effective implementation would only be possible with the full support and involvement of the membership and, with this in mind, a concise version of the Strategic Plan would be delivered to all members during the summer.

PLASA worked to set the scene through 2012 in support of launching the plan and members were informed that the most signifi

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USA - The submission deadline for the fifth annual Rock Our World Awards is one week away; all nominations need to be in by 21June 2013. The awards, which recognize extraordinary achievement of products, projects or product application by PLASA members, were designed to acknowledge the genius of both the creator of technology and the designers or integrators who apply it. The process is easy and helps make your colleagues shine.

Anyone may nominate a PLASA Member for an award, so if you've seen something revolutionary that has rocked your world in the last year, now is your chance to tell us. It could be a piece of equipment you worked with, something you saw at a trade show, read about in an industry magazine, or an event you experienced. It could also be something your company created. Nominations for the 2013 awards must have been available in the market or premiered between

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UK - Le Maitre effects were on full view this past weekend at major festivals around the UK.

The Killers were the headline act at the Isle of Wight Festival where Le Maitre effects included 25' Silver Mines; Mortar Hits; 30' Silver Comets with tail; Flash Reports;1x25' Silver Gerbs; 30x20' Silver Cascades; 30' Red Comets'; 25' Red & Purple Mines; Blue & Purple 30' Comets with tail; 25' Gold Glitter Mines; and 30 Air Canons.

In addition, Mines, Gerbs, Mortar Hits, Flash Reports, Flame Projectors were also going off at the Download Festival for Iron Maiden and Airbourne.

Le Maitre were working in collaboration with Pyrotek Special Effects Inc.

(Jim Evans)

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UK - Illuminate Design, which offers a complete technical support service, specialising in event deliverance and system support has recently appointed Keith Norman as sales executive. His role is to further develop the company's work in the hire and event market.

Norman has come from Adphonic where he was sales director. During his career, Norman's attention to detail and his utmost care for his clients will bring a new level of support to the Illuminate Design team, says the company.

(Jim Evans)

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South Aftrica - The first ever Vectorworks course for the entertainment industry in South Africa was presented by Francois van der Merwe from Wizardry Group on the 30 and 31 May at DWR Distribution, Johannesburg. Even though this was a basic introduction to Vectorworks Spotlight, the demand and interest was overwhelming and it was an eye-opener for all who attended.

"The industry has changed so much that we can't just do drawings on the back of a match box," said presenter Francois van der Merwe. "Health and Safety is imperative and from the Wizardry Group side, we believe in skills and the big need to transfer skills to the younger guys."

Van der Merwe has worked on Vectorworks since Version 9 - some years ago - and has become an expert as he daily uses the software design programme. "This was not a course with accreditation," he explained. "

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London Calling - Punk pioneers The Clash are to be given an honorary award recognising their contribution to the music industry at the Silver Clef Awards next week. Mick Jones, the guitarist and co-frontman of the group which split up almost 30 years ago, said it was a "real honour" to receive the award..

David Munns, chairman of music charity Nordoff Robbins, which organises the awards, said, "The Clash's music has just as much influence today as it did when they first came onto the music scene in 1976." Other award winners to be honoured at the event in London on 28 June include Coldplay, Labrinth, Alison Moyet and Barry Gibb. The winner of the best live act prize will be announced on the day. The Kinks' Ray Davies will get an ambassador of rock award. New York band Vampire Weekend will also receive the international award.

Glastonbury Live - The B

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Germany - ETC's stand at Showtech in Berlin was busy throughout the three days of the show, with visitors often spilling into the aisles. And regular presentations at the Layers of Light Theatre in both German and English drew large crowds who found out more about how LED fixtures work and how they can work as part of a mixed traditional and LED rig.

Given the 34º heat outside, ETC was keen to proving how cool the LED fixtures run - a plastic gobo would melt in front of a tungsten lamp, but they work perfectly with Source Four LED fixtures.

Visitors to the ETC stand were invited to draw a gobo on a square of plastic, with ETC's Facebook friends deciding which were good enough to win a Source Four Mini. Hundreds took part in the public vote, with Linus Zahn, Lilith Gardell and Elana Siberski the clear winners.

European Promotion & Advertising Manager for ETC GmbH Rosi Marx s

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UK - A technical theatre course offered by The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA) has received national accreditation, as the sector continues to thrive despite the economic climate.

A team of theatre production experts from industry training body Drama UK said LIPA's BA (Hons) in Theatre and Performance Technology prepared students well for life after graduation.

Joe Stathers-Tracey, head of the programme at LIPA, enthused, "It's a great benchmark that takes into account not only the quality of our training and facilities but also the fact that our graduates are proving very employable.

"We had to meet a lot of criteria and the people putting us under the spotlight know this industry inside out. I'm proud of the programme and, especially, the students, some of whom were interviewed by the panel as part of the accreditation process."

Drama UK exp

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UK - The concert production industry has lost one of its most influential figures this week, with the death of the legendary concert stage designer, Mark Fisher.

Having been responsible for the design of most of the landmark touring stadium shows of the past three decades, Fisher occupied a unique position in the industry. He trained as an architect at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, graduating in 1971, and later, having already made his name in the world of concert design with his work on Pink Floyd's The Wall (1980), he teamed up with Jonathan Park to create the Fisher Park Partnership in 1984. The Mark Fisher Studio, Stufish, was founded in 1994.

Fisher's designs throughout this period encompass many of the largest, most innovative, most complex and most memorable touring concert productions of recent times. In addition to Pink Floyd,

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UK - Creative England invites PLASA members to the 'Creative England crew night' in partnership with Equity on Thursday 11 July from 6pm-8pm at The Sharp Project as part of the organisation's nationwide programme of networking evenings for industry professionals working in film, TV and digital media.

"Hosted by the Production Services team we aim to bring together crew, production and facility companies with broadcasters, talent executives and film makers as well as those in the digital and creative market," says a statement.

Creative England is a national agency that invests in and supports creative ideas, talent and businesses in film, TV, games and digital media. The engaging event is being held in partnership with Equity, the performers' trade union, as part of its on-going relationship with Creative England. This collaboration for the Manchester event provides a

  1. The Week in Lighting & Sound
  2. Britannia Row training up and running
  3. MJ Event Gear in corporate mode
  4. In Memoriam - Kevin Maybury 1929 - 2013
  5. K.M.E. extends Pano user pool
  6. Cadac expands marketing team with key appointments
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