Lighting

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10 January 2025

Spain - Production Futures has announced that its team will be present at this year’s ISE in Barcelona, where it will take over the Live Events Stage on Friday 7 February for a focus on inspiration, networking, training, and career growth in live event technology and broadcast.

The organisation exists to create opportunities for young people to learn, train, network and develop careers in production across every area of the live event, music, touring, theatre, TV, broadcast and film industries, and this will be its first venture outside the UK.

Part of ISE’s Fast Forward Friday initiative, the takeover is targeted towards production newcomers in the first five years of their careers, and aims to promote a day of learning that will help develop the skills and confidence to meet career challenges head-on.

Mike Blackman, managing di

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10 January 2025

Canada - A lighting designer isn't always asked to create more light. Sometimes the client's request veers more toward darkness. Such was the case this December when Pierre E. Roy was called upon to light the holiday show Parapapam at la Maison Symphonique in Montreal.

Roy explained how it transpired: "At the request of the director, we held back on some brightness. He wanted the stage to be kind of dark – but not black – to make it dramatic. He also wanted to make the solo artists more prominent by having most of the stage a bit subdued. When the soloists weren't singing, the orchestra, and/or choir, became more prominent and brighter."

The darkness also created challenges when it came to key lighting a cast that included 30 musicians and more than twice as many chorists. Complicating matters further, the soloists often roamed the stage

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10 January 2025

USA - As the new year begins, ACT Entertainment is marking two promotions and a retirement in the company’s technical service department.

CTO Mario Collazo retires from the firm, while Ryan Kanarek has been promoted to director of technical services and Dustin Barnes has been elevated to the role of software support manager.

Mario Collazo retired after 29 years of service at ACT Entertainment; he joined ACT in 1996 and became CTO three years ago. One of the company’s longest tenured employees, Collazo leaves in place a roster of experienced technical personnel who ensure that ACT’s service and support will continue to be best in class.

“The technical service and support at ACT Entertainment is not only critical to our customers but vital to our culture as a company,” says ACT CEO Ben Saltzman. “We have been lucky to have leadershi

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09 January 2025

Europe - ISE 2025 returns to Fira de Barcelona Gran Via from 4-7 February 2025, offering a platform to connect with industry leaders, innovators, and peers.

With a wide range of categories and the experiential Audio Demo Room feature, ISE 2025 covers all technologies essential in creating impactful live events including stage lighting, rigging and staging equipment, loudspeakers, DIVA control consoles, spatial audio, holography, video mapping, intercom systems and more. ISE 2025 will showcase the tools and solutions that are driving the industry forward.

A ticket to ISE 2025 grants attendees access to eight expansive halls, including the newly added Hall 8.1. There are seven distinct Technology Zones and the Innovation Park, where startups showcase their groundbreaking ideas on the Pitching Stage.

ISE 2025 features an expanded Lighting and St

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09 January 2025

Sweden - Ant Wan, one of Sweden’s largest hip-hop artists, broke the attendance record at Stockholm’s Tele2 Arena recently, when a sell-out crowd of 40,899 fans gathered to see the concert. What is more remarkable is that not only did he steal the previous house record from Madonna, but it was only the artist’s second ever live concert (after selling out the Avicii Arena last year).

Such an auspicious occasion warranted a top lighting designer – both to fill the arena with light, and to sensitively interact with the concrete-based stage design and scenography created by visual artist Alexander Wessely, who doubled as show director. He brought in Jakob Larsson (of Light it Production), with whom he has worked in the past – notably with acts such as the Weeknd and Swedish House Mafia – and the LD was soon integrating a familiar family of hybrid pro

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09 January 2025

South Africa - Monster Productions & Events has expanded its lighting inventory with a substantial investment in Elation lighting equipment. Known for delivering event production, particularly in the corporate sector, Monster Productions’ latest acquisition includes Elation KL Panel softlights, Rayzor 760 moving head effect lights, and Artiste Picasso profile moving head luminaires.

Specialising in large-scale corporate events, awards ceremonies, press events, and year-end functions, Monster Productions has over 25 years of experience providing expert production solutions. With this new lighting investment, the company is further solidifying its ability to deliver spectacular event experiences.

Monster Productions’ owner and CEO, Lloyd Wild comments: "The KL Panel is a brilliant all-rounder for our day-to-day corporate events. Whether we need

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09 January 2025

Europe - In April 2019 Claypaky launched the HY B-Eye, with twice the power and brightness as the B-Eye. The success that followed was immediate and many lighting designers and rental companies began specifying HY B-Eye K25 and HY B-Eye K15 from the very first introduction on the market.

In mid-2019, German rock band Rammstein undertook a stadium tour in Europe with Claypaky HY B-Eye K25, selected by lighting designers Ronald Greil and Patrick Woodroffe. “We were one of the first shows that used a large quantity of K25s,” said Greil. “We were positively surprised by their brightness and reliability. The band loved a lot of brightness and fire power, and the K25s did a good job.”

A few months later, several K25 were used at the final stage of Russia’s National Amateur Teams Hockey Festival in Sochi, with Aleksey Inkov as lighting designer as

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09 January 2025

Europe - Michel Arntz has been appointed as global sales director for the Robe Group, a role involving oversight of all sales-related activities for the manufacturer and its associated businesses and brands, including Avolites, Anolis, LSC Systems and Artistic Licence.

Arntz has been working for Robe for the last two years as a key account manager for Europe, dealing with high-profile distributors and subsidiaries and integrating with Robe’s business MO and lively, people-focused management style.

“It is an extremely exciting time for Robe,” says Arntz, referring to a string of acquisitions over the last 18 months which position Robe to offer clients entire lighting and visual control solutions, from the luminaires, consoles and media servers to power distribution and complete systems integration.

“I look forward to managing the growt

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08 January 2025

Turkey - Sözcü TV, one of Turkey's prominent news channels headquartered in Istanbul, has upgraded its studio lighting to enhance its visual appeal and broadcast quality. The project, delivered by Prolights in collaboration with local distributor Modern Elektronik A.Ş., involved the integration of advanced LED technology, creating a vibrant and dynamic on-screen atmosphere that reflects the channel's identity.

Key lighting solutions included the Lumipar12UQPRO5 and Lumipix12QTOUR, which were used to add dynamic and vivid colours, seamlessly aligning with Sözcü TV's branding and studio aesthetics. Additionally, the EclPanelTWCJr was utilised across the studios to deliver superior general lighting, ensuring consistent illumination tailored for professional broadcast environments.

The integration of Prolights' products has enabled Sözcü TV to ach

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08 January 2025

UK - Cornwall’s Eden Project has transformed an abandoned clay pit into a series of geodesic domes containing biomes that celebrate the rich diversity of nature. The nonprofit attraction drew 1.8m visitors within a year after it opened in March 2001.

This tribute to nature is still going strong, engaging visitors in compelling ways, just as it is doing this year with its Winter Holiday Shows, which take place at its different domes. Artfully designed by Glenn Gridley and his team at GLX Productions, the immersive displays ‘capture the mystical quality of the season when winter light and nature interweave in a timeless transcendent dance’.

Helping the design team achieve this transformative effect is a collection of Chauvet Professional fixtures run by two ChamSys control systems with two GeNetix GN10 rack mount nodes for data distribut

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07 January 2025

USA - On New Year’s Day, LD Systems celebrated 50 years in business and took a significant step towards securing its future by becoming a part of the Clair Global Group through acquisition.

“This partnership honours LD Systems’ rich legacy while providing the resources and shared vision to ensure its continued growth and success for the future,” says a statement.

LD Systems, based in Houston, Texas, with additional offices in San Antonio and Austin, is a provider of audio, video, and lighting production services and installed solutions serving the US market and beyond.

“We were impressed with LD’s caring culture, long-term client relationships, and their commitment to quality, and that standard of unwavering service and excellence will continue with us,” said Clair Global CEO, Troy Clair. “The shared vision is exciting as we c

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07 January 2025

Norway - Netherlands-based manufacturer ELC Lighting has announced the appointment of Ghost Light as the exclusive distributor for the Green-GO ethernet-based comms systems in Norway.

Specialising in the live entertainment industry, Ghost Light provides services and solutions for clients in theatre, live music, rental and broadcast. Founder Johan Holmen entered the production industry in 2017 with experience solutions provider Bright Norway. Here he developed his interest in technical solutions, providing training for MA Lighting and support for various leading solutions including the Green-GO range.

Following Bright Group’s acquisition by NEP (parent company of Creative Technology), Holmen founded Ghost Light in January 2023. Maintaining the link with Green-GO, he continued to provide support for its users and, later in the year, was asked to be p

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07 January 2025

UK - NYC post-punk band, Interpol, concluded the penultimate leg of its world tour with five dates in the UK at the end of the year. The tour celebrated the 20th anniversary of the band’s seminal landmark album, Antics, which the band played in full.

In keeping with Interpol’s image, Ed Warren’s lighting carried a spartan quality which is a work of modern art in itself. The stripped-back design employed 21 Ayrton laser-sourced Cobra fixtures – Warren’s only moving lights – in what Warren terms an “extremely considered and precise” show.

“There was a lot of symmetry going on between all the elements, and paramount to the geometry of it all was to have clean straight beams emanating from above and below,” the lighting designer explains. 15 Cobra were flown on a staggered array of truss fingers over the band

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07 January 2025

Denmark - SL Production in Skive is a new lighting and sound rental company – founded in 2020 by Jesper Poulsen and his business partner, Kasper Holm Nielsen – who joined forces and merged their respective companies into one entity to offer quality production values for all types of events.

Before starting SL Productions, Poulsen ran his own company operating as a mobile DJ and LJ spinning tunes and utilising his skills mainly for tractor pulling events – a booming phenom in Denmark – and the numerous town festivals that are popular across the country.

As soon as the new company was formed, they purchased some Robe moving lights – six MegaPointes and eight LEDBeam 150s.

“We knew that if we wanted to grow the company and be taken seriously, we needed to offer lighting and visuals, so in addition to excellent audio, we also believed

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07 January 2025

USA - Bandit Lites rang in 2025 with its Annual General Meeting, a gathering of its team members to recap the previous year, celebrate milestones and forecast the upcoming year. Bandit Lites chair and founder Michael T. Strickland addressed Bandit’s continuing successes and robust career opportunities.

Multiple Bandits celebrated milestone anniversaries with the company, including Carter Hopkins and Jesse Poreca for five years, Sarah Eucker, Carter Fulghum, Craig Richter and Ty Veneziano for 10 years and Scot Sepe for 15 years. World renowned designer Chaz Martin reached the 40-year mark at Bandit in 2024.

“Bandit stands alone with full-time employees and longevity is our key,” stated Strickland. “We have numerous 20, 30 and 40-year Bandits. By providing a career rather than a job, Bandit is able to provide the same people every year for our

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07 January 2025

India - Goa’s Spectrum Audio Solutions has commissioned a further round of investments. The move aims to bolster the company’s audio, lighting, and trussing inventories to meet the evolving demands of high-profile live events.

Known for delivering unparalleled technical reinforcement for some of the most prestigious events in the region, the company continues to cement its reputation as a trusted partner for world-class productions. And Maria Rodrigues – the dynamic 23-year-old director of Spectrum Audio Solutions – has been instrumental in shaping the company’s success with her visionary leadership that has driven the company’s innovative approach, and her hands-on involvement in operations that has solidified its reputation for excellence.

She credits this success to the company’s unwavering commitment to quality, as she comments: “

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07 January 2025

USA - There were many magical moments in Boston’s 7,200-seat Agganis Arena on 14 December as Christmas came early for music fans with the arrival of Teddy Swims' Deck The Hall Ball. 

Contributing to the special mood at the show was a balanced production from the team at Events United led by project manager/systems engineer Chase Clark, which drew on the bright output and colour rendering prowess of 82 Chauvet Professional fixtures.

Rachael Fahey, production designer for the concert, described how the fixtures were used. "When I design a show, I try to give our lighting designers a variety of tools to work with," she said. "Our light director Meg Fiske consistently does a great job working with these lighting rigs with amazing success."

Playing a key role in making the show come alive were 82 Chauvet Professional fixtures from Even

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07 January 2025

Columbia - Esteban Gil Arcila, professionally known as Esteban Tosta, has risen to become a well-recognised reference in the lighting design community of South America. Working alongside stars like Colombian singer Maluma, Esteban turns to Elation’s new lighting technology to fulfil his clients’ vision and create stunning visual experiences that enhance their performances.

“Every show we imagine is tied to the type of equipment we use,” he says, adding, “That’s why the constant innovation of brands, offering new equipment and fresh ideas, is key. This not only facilitates the design but also allows for testing and experimenting with new setups, which boosts confidence when integrating them into the riders.”

Early in his career, working for one of Medellín’s biggest production companies, Genesis Producciones, gave him the chance to wo

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06 January 2025

UAE - Netherlands-based manufacturer ELC Lighting has announced the appointment of Sonic Evolution FZC as the new exclusive distributor for both its brands, ELC and Green-GO, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Based in Sharjah, Sonic Evolution FZC is now set to provide both of ELC Lighting’s award-winning product ranges – the ELC range of DMX-over-IP lighting control products and the Green-GO family of digital wireless intercom solutions – to its customer base throughout the UAE.

A distributor of specialist technologies for the professional production industry, Sonic Evolution was set up just last year by India-born Dr. Rajesh Khade (an actual medical doctor, as well as a drummer and live sound engineer) and his partner Arnold Coelho (an audio and mechanical engineer) to provide targeted technical solutions to entertainment production professio

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06 January 2025

Poland - Australian manufacturer LSC Control Systems has welcomed Prolight, a well-known provider of professional lighting equipment and services, as its new exclusive distributor for Poland.

Founded in 1996, Prolight has built a leading position in the Polish market and is now looking forward to providing its customers with access to LSC’s innovative range of power and data management products, all of which are designed and manufactured in Melbourne, Australia.

As well as representing a portfolio of leading brands in the fields of lighting, multimedia, and stage technology, Prolight provides services including maintenance, installation and training.

Kacper Rzeczkowski of Prolight believes the LSC range brings important synergies to its offering. He says: “Since its acquisition by Robe Lighting, awareness of LSC in Poland has significantl

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06 January 2025

Denmark - Travel up the Jutland peninsula to Denmark’s northwest coast and you find one of the country’s largest and most popular amusement parks, Fårup Sommerland. The park showcases a popular light festival each autumn, Lysfald, which this year ran for 16 days in October and attracted over 12,500 guests per day.

Pivotal in ensuring that the lighting installation ran smoothly were Netron EN6 IP nodes, award-winning data distribution devices by Obsidian Control Systems that played a critical role in managing the large-scale, synchronised lighting display.

Fårup Sommerland is home to seven roller coasters and the country’s largest amusement park water park. Four years ago, in collaboration with AV solutions provider Profox, the park sought to extend its season into the autumn by creating a new attraction – an immersive, park-wide li

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06 January 2025

Spain - Barcelona’s Palau Sant Jordi is the largest indoor arena in Spain, but even this sleek 18,000-capacity venue couldn't contain all the energy and excitement generated by the 19th edition of the annual Los 40 Music Awards held there this November.

First there was the music: with 17 international artists performing 40 songs, the ceremony celebrated virtually every facet of Latin and urban music. There were also the awards presentations – and this year an extra dimension, as Los 40 served as a telethon, partnering with The Red Cross to raise money for those affected by the 2024 Spanish floods.

Designer Alain Corthout with help from operator Timothy Demets supported the various dimensions of Los 40 by serving up a range of lighting looks that were equally at home pulsating to the music of performers like Rauw Alejandro, Ana Mena, Lola Índigo,

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06 January 2025

Mexico - The newly inaugurated Potosí Arena stands as a symbol of innovation in support of culture. With a capacity of over 20,000 people, this venue is set to host concerts by national and international artists and various sports and cultural events. The governor of San Luis Potosí, Ricardo Gallardo, officiated the opening of this new space, which is expected to boost the city's tourism and economic appeal after 23 years without a venue of this scale.

The construction of the Potosí Arena took approximately 22 months and involved more than 4,000 tons of steel. This arena was designed and built entirely by engineers and architects from the University of San Luis Potosí, making it a testament to the ingenuity and capability of its local talent.

The lighting system installation played a key role in the arena's opening, combining advanced technology

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06 January 2025

UK - Blue Thunder Sound provided full production for the London Film Music Orchestra concert at St Paul's Cathedral, using over 200 lighting fixtures, including 102 Prolights Smart Bat units.

Blue Thunder Sound strategically placed the lighting fixtures to enhance the architectural features of the cathedral, minimising cable runs by employing wireless signals for lighting and audio control. The setup focused on achieving stunning stage effects without the use of haze machines, utilising the power of the Smart Bat to create an immersive visual experience that highlighted the historical beauty of the structure.

"The Prolights lighting system played a crucial role in transforming St Paul's Cathedral into an immersive space, emphasising every architectural detail with extraordinary precision," commented the Blue Thunder Sound team. "Thanks to the flexibi