The long-running stand-off between Vari-Lite International and Martin Professional has come to something of a temporary conclusion following the affirmation by the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit of an injunction issued by the United States District Court on September 2, 1999 against Martin Gruppen A/S and Martin Professional A/S. As we've reported previously, the injunction prohibits Martin from manufacturing, selling or hiring the Martin MAC 600s, MAC 500s and MAC 300s, and also extends to the Case series controller when sold in conjunction with any of the MAC units. Martin had already appealed against the decision in a separate hearing when it filed a motion asking the District Court to lift the injunction in July 2000, the date when Martin claimed the patent would expire. The Court rejected Martin's claim and ruled that the patent held by Vari-Lite did not expi
Vari-Lite inc has recently signed a dealer agreement which bolsters the company's presence in the Florida market. Miami-based Stage Equipment & Lighting, with offices in Orlando and Tampa, will now offer the new Vari*Lite Series 2000 line of automated luminaires in Florida, the Caribbean, Mexico and South America. Rick Rudolph, Stage Equipment & Lighting's vice-president, told L&SI: "This relationship with Vari-Lite will broaden the tool base that we can present to lighting designers who work in this area. It's a wonderfull opportunity for both ourselves and the lighting designers we work with."
Lighting effects manufacturer Ryger Electronics has announced a management re-shuffle. Matthew Cano, who has been test engineer for four years, takes over the role of production manager from Andrew Eastwood who after nine years in the role, moves up to the position of general manager.
Martin Pro's MiniMAC won the Best of Lightfair 2000 award from Design Journal magazine recently - the latest in a string of awards for the product. In the past month it has also picked up the Lightfair Innovator award and the inaugural Roeder Award. It also won last year's LDI Award for Lighting Product of the Year/Architecture and more recently the Best New Product of the Year Award at the Electricity and Lighting Show in Montreal.
Martin Professional UK's sales director David Faulkes is leaving the company to form his own distribution company, Miltec, which will concentrate on the distribution of audio and lighting products within the UK and Ireland. Faulkes told PLASA Publishing: "Over the past six years I have built up a strong relationship with many of the industry's key accounts. Having attended a number of International exhibitions, I believe there are a number of important product lines that have very little or no presence within the UK and Ireland."Miltec can be contacted at: Unit 1, Leddingford Farm, Darman Lane, Laddingford, Maidstone, Kent ME18 6BL.
Peter Maddison has joined Performance Light & Sound as sales representative. Maddison has extensive industry experience, and has previously worked for companies such as Adam Hall. John Ridley, managing director of Performance Light & Sound, told PLASA Publishing that is looking forward to working with Peter and will take full advantage of his extensive industry knowledge.
Tony Rodber is to join Stage Electrics as business development manager for Wales and the West. He brings with him a wealth of experience from the industry where he has been a well-known figure for the last 13 years, principally with Lighting Technology.
The Danish Design Centre, in the heart of Copenhagen, opened its doors to the public in January of this year. The centre aims to be a hothouse for ideas and development in Danish industry, as well as providing, amongst other things, an international exhibition venue for industrial design, public exhibition areas, a shop and café, conference rooms and office space. For the Conference Hall, which will play host to a number of different types of events and will hold up to 200 people, lighting and AV consultants 1001 Watt.dk specified ETC Source Four Jr Zooms which were supplied by ETC's local distributor, Bico Professionel. In addition, 24 ETC Irideon AR6, launched at PLASA last year, were supplied by SFL of Sweden.
Over 70 people from 51 countries joined members of the Clay Paky and Pulsar teams in Bergamo in mid-May for a conference outlining the long term goals of both companies. In his opening speech, President Pasquale Quadri welcomed delegates and highlighted the continuing growth in sales, ongoing research into ISO 9001 certification and the company's plans for expansion, which include a move to new headquarters. Other members of the Clay Paky and Pulsar teams then took to the floor to cover recent technical and marketing developments, before paving the way for a number of distributors from across the world to outline numerous projects where Clay Paky and Pulsar equipment had been part of the project specification.
Adding to its continually-expanding range of dramatic lighting fixtures, the ultra-high-power Titan 7kW Xenon searchlight is now available from Lighting Technology. It is the latest unit in the architectural range from manufacturers Astralux, for which Lighting Technology is an exclusive distributor. Ideal for situations where organisers want to attract the attention of the general public, the Titan can send out a call-sign in the form of a dramatic shaft of light. It has a range of 1 lux at 24 kilometres.
Lighting designer and theatre consultant Richard Pilbrow will join the Broadway Lighting Master Class (BLMC) 2000 faculty from 6-10 December, 2000 in New York City. In his first BLMC appearance, the British-born designer will discuss the influence of European traditions on lighting design in the United States. Tony Award-winning lighting designer Jules Fisher will again head the BLMC 2000 faculty roster, which includes Donald Holder, Tony Award-winning LD of Disney's The Lion King, and Peggy Eisenhauer, Tony Award winner for Cabaret. BLMC is offering discounts for members of ESTA, PLASA, USITT, TEA, IATSE, CITT, ATHE and members of other theatrical education associations worldwide; schools sending two or more students or faculty members receive special prices.E-mail blmc@intertec.com
Following his epic 480km bicycle ride that incorporated visits to the scenic areas in the vicinity of Beijing - including the Great Wall of China - Lighting Technology Projects' Jonathan Hilton is now busy collecting in over £3000 worth of promised donations for Mencap. Within the sum is £1000 that was sanctioned by director Bruce Kirk on behalf of LTP. Organised by Mencap in the UK, the trip turned out to be a never-to-be-forgotten experience. "I can tell you quite categorically that Chinese bicycles do not have saddles," said Jonathan. "They have a multi-functional device which splits a person into two halves and also acts as a 'no anaesthetic' vasectomy." In his spare time, Hilton is Lighting Technology's product manager for searchlights and Light Pipe and was project manager for one of the company's latest major contracts, the Light Pipe installation on the Mill
Thommy Hall recently joined High End Systems as the Northeast sales representative for High End's soon-to-open New York office. Most recently Hall was the stage lighting director for the Maui Myth and Magic Theatre's production of 'Ulalena', which received the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Board's awards for Best Show, Best Attraction and Best Performing Arts presentation. Prior to that he was the sales manager for Hawaii Stage and Lighting.
Phay MacMahon has been appointed managing director of Bandit Lites London and Bandit Lites Ireland which has recently relocated to new premises in Dublin. MacMahon has been a director of all Bandit companies since 1992 and remains such to this day. He is now directly in charge of operations for both European offices. In London, Jason Tang is the general manager and he reports directly to MacMahon on a daily basis. Bandit's new, larger premise in Dublin can now be found at Unit 10, Solus Tower Industrial Estate, Corke Abbey, Bray, County Dublin, Ireland.
Artistic Licence has launched a new show control system. 'Common-Sense' provides a protocol interface that supports contact closures, switch matrices, analogue control voltage, real-time clock, MIDI, MIDI show control, Infrared, RS232, RS485 and of course DMX512. All of these interfaces are software-controlled in a self-contained wall-mount enclosure. The product is configured using a user-friendly graphic software package, Sense-Edit. Common-Sense has been nominated for the PLASA 2000 Best New Product Award.
Surrey-based installation company, Audioplan, has recently taken delivery of a total of 21 PS-8 cabinets and seven LS-400 subs. Indeed, the demand for these loudspeakers has been so intense that the very first shipment to arrive at UK distributor, Fuzion, went straight out to Audioplan who installed them within 36 hours of arriving in the country. The first recipient of the PS-8 was St John's Church in Ealing who took delivery of four PS-8s and two PS-15s. Other interesting applications from Audioplan's initial delivery include a sale to Surrey-based BallRacing Developments who develop high-end motor sport simulators for PC and Playstation.
Artistic Licence (UK) Ltd is now able to supply the full range of Tourflex Datasafe cable manufactured by AC Lighting Ltd. Tourflex Datasafe cables are engineered specifically to handle the requirements of DMX512 and the range includes single pair, twin pair and digital colour changer cable, all types are UL listed.
Power Gems, the manufacturer of electronic ballasts for entertainment lighting, has merged with Quartermaster, specialist supplier of products to the entertainment lighting industry. The Power Gems London office will form the sales and marketing division of Power Gems Ltd, and will be headed by Patrick McGuane, who joins the board of directors. Power Gems will exhibit at the PLASA Show at Earls Court, 10-13 September 2000.
André Tammes, the founder of the Lighting Design Partnership and a number of well-known figures in the field have this week launched under the new Lighting Design Partnership International (LDPI) banner. Tammes, continuing to work with long-standing colleagues Lawrie Nisbet and Kevin Sturrock, will now be joined by Alan Mitchell and Gavin Fraser, formerly director and principal designer respectively with Jonathan Spiers Associates. Douglas Hamilton, who has worked for the past six years with Lawrie Nisbet at Edinburgh-based Architectural Lighting Design (now merged with LDPI) completes the senior LDPI team. LDPI, in addition to its London and Edinburgh offices, will be based in Sydney Australia, under the direction of Tammes and Sturrock, with a design team of eight.
The West Yorkshire Playhouse's production of the classic Hollywood musical Singin' in the Rain, which opened to excellent reviews on 22 June at London's Royal National Theatre, has seen the UK debut of Vari-Lite's first for-sale product - the VL2201 zooming spot. In addition to the new fixtures, the rig also includes VL6 and VL6B spot luminaires, augmenting the National's installed rig of 36 VL5B was luminaires and seven VL6 spots, all run from an Artisan II console. Lighting design is by Andrew Bridge, assisted by Mike Odam. The VL2201s were purchased by the West Yorkshire Playhouse as part of their sales and leasing agreement with VLPS.
ESTA (Entertainment Services and Technology Association) in the United States has announced that the following draft standards have been made available for public review. - BSR E1.3, Entertainment Technology - Lighting Control Systems - 0 to 10V Analog Control Specification - BSR E1.7, Entertainment Technology - Recommended Practice for the Design and Use of Manual Systems for Flying Performers - BSR E1.10, Entertainment Technology - Minimum Loading requrements for Theatre Stage HousesIn each case, the review period closes on September 12, 2000.ESTA has also announced the start of a Standards-Drafting Project for Theatrical Boom & Base Assemblies.
One of the masterminds behind the birth of concert video support nearly a decade ago, Malcolm Mellows has returned to the UK from California to become manager of the Concert Touring Division of Presentation Services Ltd (PSL). A familiar face among road crews from his 18-year career as a lighting designer, Mellows will head a dedicated team at PSL's Cricklewood HQ that also includes Mick Ryder, Scott Russell and Stephanie Jefcoate. Malcolm headed up the original Presentation Services Ltd for three-and-a-half years when it was based at Scrubs Lane. After becoming lighting designer for Suede's Dog Man Star world tour, he then persuaded PSL chief Gary Davis to set up a US office for PSL in Burbank, California, which he established and ran for nearly three years. During his first two stints with the company, Malcolm Mellows was responsible for project managing on PSL's behalf ground-breaking
White Light's Lighting Design Bursary - now in its third year - has been extended to include any student over the age of 18 studying lighting design in the UK. Launched in 1998 as part of The Training Inititaive, White Light's wide-ranging training and education programme, the Bursary was only open to Lighting Design students at Rose Bruford for its first two years. As in earlier years, the Bursary involves students initially producing a short synopsis outlining a project they would like to light. Students selected at this stage are then invited to develop their concept into a full lighting design proposal (within a theoretical budget) and a 'pitch' for that proposal, which they must present to a panel of industry professionals. This year's competition offers a prize of £500 for each of up to three winners; the prize presentation, which for the last two years has taken place at the Roya
Following considerable success at the top end of the market, Starlite Mk5 distributor Lane Lighting has passed the baton to High Wycombe-based AC Lighting to launch the product into the mainstream market. At the same time, the latest generation of the fixture has been launched, featuring an 18º - 35º zoom module. To coincide with the launch, AC has also announced a substantial price reduction with the aim of making the product affordable to a much wider market.During the past two years the Starlite Mk5 has been a feature of many of the major UK festivals and events, with appearances at Glastonbury, V98 & V99, Reading, Party in the Park and Homelands. In addition, the fixture was used in abundance at the opening of London's Millennium Dome. The first customer for the new zoom fixtures was lighting design specialist Metropolis Lighting, who have just installed six of the units into the b
