Israel - Robe continues to make an impression on the theatre scene in Israel with the specification and installation of DL7S Profiles and LEDWash 1200 moving lights - 54 in total - in the Bet Lessin Theatre, Tel Aviv, the city and Israel’s third-largest theatre venue, just reopened after complete refurbishment, a project ongoing over the last three years. The tender for supplying and installing new lighting and stage machinery was initially issued in 2015 and won via by Danor Theatre and Studio Systems who proposed Robe moving lights to bring modern-day flexibility and dynamics to the two constantly busy stages. Influential in the decision to choose the Robe option was leading lighting designer Amir Brenner, who was brought onboard the project as a lighting consultant. He worked in the theatre extensively during his early career in the 1990s lighting numerous product
USA - Ginny Wynn and Joe Muncy have joined the Bandit Lites world headquarters as inside sales representative and a sales floor technician, respectively. Muncy will assist in the daily operations at the warehouse, including sales and production preps, facilitating used gear sales and listings as well as testing and prepping new gear for customer distribution. He has experience in both national tours and regional theatre and worked at VSA as a facilities coordinator in the College of the Arts as well as the technical director of the Valdosta Symphony Orchestra, lighting and scenic designer of the TSU Opera, and the technical director and lighting designer of many local dance schools. As the inside sales representative, Wynn works with Bandit’s sales and purchasing department in client relations, project management, inventory control, quoting, purchasing and shipp
USA - Magmatic atmospheric effects has introduced the first haze machine in its Magma series of haze and fog machines. Now in stock and shipping is the Magma Prime, a durable water-based hazer with advanced technology providing a high output, dry haze effect with low fluid consumption. Already proving popular since its debut at the 2019 LDI Show, Magma Prime is a tough, all-purpose haze effect that appeals to entry-level users and professionals alike. A large fluid intake and advanced HPA (High Pressure Air) pump technology reduce the risk of heater clogging while automatic self-cleaning and energy-saving auto shut-off (when no fluid is detected) make operation even more effortless and economical. Thanks to its compact size and easy mobility - the unit weighs only 22.5lb (10.2kg) with convenient carrying handle - Magma Prime is easy to set in a corner, position side s
USA - The Interrupters wanted a new look for their shows when they contacted Peter Therrien and JDI Productions through an intermediary. “I was touring with Flogging Molly when someone, I still don’t know who, gave the band contact info for JDI and me,” says Therrien. “Their management reached out to us. My Flogging Molly tour was over and I had time, so here we are.” The LA-based quartet are in the midst of an extended North American tour in support of their Top Ten Fight The Good Fight album. For Therrien, the tour not only represents the chance to spread his creative wings with a first-time client, but also an opportunity to run a different kind of show with his new ChamSys MagicQ MQ80 console. “Cody James of JDI tried the ChamSys MagicQ MQ 500 Stadium lasts year, and told Derek Iorfida (owner of JDI Productions) great things about it, so Derek p
South Africa - Vectorworks trainer Dylan Jones of DWR Distribution, will present Vectorworks Spotlight training from 2-6 March in Johannesburg. The course will be split up into Basic (2 March) at R800 per person, Intermediate (3 - 4 March) at R1,400 per person and Advanced training (5 - 6 March) at R1,400 per person. Subjects include layouts and palettes, basic tools, classes and layers, Spotlight tools, intermediate tools, worksheets and reports, 3D modelling, resource management and file import and export. The training will be hosted at DWR Distribution, C1, Kimbult Industrial Park, 9 Zeiss Road, Laserpark, Honeydew. Bookings online at dwrdistribution.co.za/register/vectorworks-spotlight-training-march-2020.
Belgium - Dana Winner’s enduring popularity was emphatically demonstrated at her recent televised 30th anniversary show at Antwerp’s Lotto Arena, which drew 5,200 enthusiastic fans. Reflecting the upbeat mood of the crowd and providing an appropriately lively background for the irrepressible star’s performance as she sang hits like Westenwind, One moment In Time and Beautiful Life, was a bright, fast and dynamic lightshow designed by Maarten De Man of MDM Productions. Anchoring De Man’s versatile rig were 12 Maverick MK3 Profile CX and 26 STRIKE P38 fixtures from Chauvet Professional, supplied by Splendit. Although Dana Winner’s ongoing musical formula has essentially retained the same hallmarks of her early pop hits, her sound has nevertheless evolved and adapted with each new generation of fans. To capture the visual essence of Dana Wi
USA - The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon is already enjoying TurboRay fixtures this season in its New York City studio, under lighting director Fred Bock. So when the show trekked to Texas for a taping in Austin, 24 of the special effect LED wash lights were designed into the rig at Bass Concert Hall. Mick Smith of Eastern Lighting Design serves as lighting designer for the remote shows outside the NBC studios. His choice to continue using TurboRay was simple. “I was wanting a fixture with a larger aperture and more homogenised, attractive look to it. The diffusers on the TurboRay checked that box,” he explains. “Secondly, I wanted a fixture with a decent zoom range that could especially give me great beams. A real bonus was having quad control of the LED engines - and the aerial effects we were able to quickly achieve - to give us unique looks for the
UK - Southampton-based lighting rental specialist Liteup supplied lighting, video server and control plus rigging equipment for all technical departments for the recent UK and European leg of Björk’s Cornucopia tour, for which the dramatic lighting was a co-design by Bruno Poet and Richard White. Bruno is well known as a theatre and opera LD and for his creative lighting for bands like avant-rockers Sigur Ros, also from Iceland. Richard White has worked for Björk as a programmer and lighting director on the road for the last six years, and together the two enjoyed a fantastic synergy that has produced some stunning lighting. The focus of the Cornucopia show - initially produced as a series of one-off shows at new arts venue The Shed in New York, mid-2019 - was nature and the environment, touching on some of its frontline issues. The visual start
UK - Bristol-based specialist hire and events business SLX has completed the move to a new warehouse as a result of planned growth and continued investment. The business, which has heritage dating back more than 40 years and serves the live events, hire and broadcast markets throughout the UK and Europe, remains in a Bristol location, moving from its warehouse on Third Way, Avonmouth, to another nearby Avonmouth location. SLX CEO Alastair Currie comments: “After only four years since our previous warehouse upgrade, we are moving again to allow for further expansion. We’re doing so as we believe this is essential for the ambitions we have for the business. It will see improved preparation spaces, improved flow of equipment into and out of the warehouse, and markedly better facilities for both our team and those who come to prep shows and events at the warehouse.
Europe - LG Electronics and German Light Products (GLP) are among the companies to announce their withdrawal from next week’s Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) event in Amsterdam in response to the Coronavirus outbreak. Seoul-based LG Electronics, one of the show’s top 250 exhibitors, was the first to announce that it will not be attending the exhibition. “LG regrets having to make this difficult decision but the safety of its employees and customers continues to be its number one priority,” said a company statement. “With the World Health Organization (WHO) recommending that individuals ‘promote social distancing’, LG management believed that the most responsible decision is to avoid participating in large public events until the situation stabilizes.” GLP’s CEO and founder Udo Künzler stated: “As I’m sure you know, business meetings and exh
UK - Having recently completed a lighting contract at Cheshire Oaks Tenpin, Leicester-based provider of specialist electrical LED lighting installations Ventola Projects has gone on to apply their lighting skills to another popular leisure venue, this time in Cambridgeshire. Cambridge Tenpin is an entertainment hub with bowling lanes, karaoke pods, pool tables and a cafe. Lighting is one of the most important elements in creating the right atmosphere and level of excitement for visitors to the facility. The venue’s owners wanted a multi-functional LED system which incorporated the highest quality white light and a multitude of vibrant colours. Ease of control was high on their wish list too, as they needed to be able to manage the whole system in one action from a central PC, whilst also having the capability to control specific areas separately and remotely via an a
UK - Marking the finale to the flat racing season, QIPCO British Champions Day is renowned within the horse racing community. Bringing together leading jockeys, horses, trainers and owners from Europe and beyond to compete in six top class races, this event has become a key fixture in the UK sporting calendar. The 2019 Champions Day concluded with a lively musical celebration for over 500 guests housed in a giant Igloo domed roof structure, provided by Fews Marquees, built directly adjacent to the Ascot Racecourse Main Grandstand. Returning to Ascot for the second year running on behalf of clients Generate Events, LFPS once again provided full technical support to the exclusive QIPCO closing party. In creating the suitably glittering venue the team handled all aspects of the lighting, audio, video, staging and rigging requirement, along with the design and fabrication
UK - TMB has been appointed as the exclusive distributor for CLF Lighting for the UK and Ireland. TMB already has experience with CLF products as it offers the lighting brand Nuri*Lites by CLF in the US. Now, TMB UK will offer a broader range of CLF products under the banner Nuri*Lites by CLF. These will include LED fixtures, moving heads, and the Spectrum series. “We are extremely happy to offer CLF’s wide product range to our customers in the UK and Ireland,” comments TMB’s EU sales manager, Tim Obermann. “Nuri*Lites by CLF represents a new range of LED PARs, bars, wall washers, special effects lights, and moving heads, all of which complement our current product line-up. Customers will certainly benefit from this expanded product selection for many applications and every budget.” TMB’s Lauren Drinkwater and Nuri Waheishi agree. “We can’t wai
Italy Prolights has appointed Andrea Gabrielli as the company’s technical director. Gabrielli brings a broad experience and extensive knowledge to the position, having been involved in the design and manufacturing of professional stage lighting and architectural lighting products for more than 20 years. Fabio Sorabella, Prolights MD, comments: “I look forward to work closely with Andrea, as his addition to our team will play a strategic role to consolidate and elevate the technological development of the brand. He boasts a complete background, from design to manufacturing of products intended for the professional lighting market. Andrea will surely be an important asset for the company, leading a dynamic team towards the process of international growth and products recognition the company is experiencing”. Gabrielli says: “I am happy to have joined Prolights. I
The Netherlands - ADJ will be using the up-coming ISE to host the European debut of a variety the company’s latest professional lighting and LED video products. These will include the next evolution of the popular Vizi Beam moving head series, a new range of LED-powered ellipsoidals, the latest addition to the Hydro Series of IP65-rated moving heads and a complete new range of LED video panels. ADJ’s new ‘VS’ Vision Series of LED video panels offers a versatile modular solution that has been developed to make life easier for video professionals installing LED walls on either a temporary or permanent basis. Each model in the range features four individual modules, which are both front and rear serviceable, making it suitable for temporary hanging as well as permanent installation. The Focus Series is ADJ’s range of feature-packed and compact LED-powered moving
Slovakia - The Farm (Farma) is a reality show competition that has been airing on TV Markiza since 2011. In December, long-time Bratislava-based production rental company and Elation distributor Adam A Syn installed 15 Rayzor 760 LED moving heads on The Farm set in a lighting upgrade that has increased the creative possibilities for lighting designers Michal Schmidt and Ondrej Štalbaský and boosted the overall appearance of the show. Filmed at Shining Studio in the city of Stupava, The Farm takes a group of city dwellers and casts them out on a rural farm to fend for themselves. Living without modern conveniences and having to procure the necessities of life themselves, the contestant who best endures the trial and conquers a series of challenges emerges as the winner. Extremely popular, a quarter of the Slovakian population often tune in to
USA - Cinematographer Donald A. Morgan utilised Chroma-Q Space Force LED fixtures to provide tunable soft lighting for filming the latest seasons of Netflix television show, The Ranch - for which he won a Primetime Creative Arts Emmy for Outstanding Cinematography for a Multi-Camera Series - and ABC series, The Conners. Both filmed at Warner Brothers Burbank Studios in LA, Donald was keen to switch from conventional space lights to LED for filming The Ranch. The show stars Ashton Kutcher as Colt, who returns home to his family's ranch in Colorado after his semi-pro football career ends in failure. He comments: “In the past I had used tungsten space lights for filming the show. However, as they weren’t tunable, it meant having to change the gels constantly, to differ the glows produced. This was important as even though it was filmed inside of a
Belgium - Teenager Cedric Duré is making a name for himself in the world of entertainment lighting. Demonstrating a level of sophistication beyond his years, the Antwerp teen has been immersing crowds with deeply evocative lighting designs that command attention without detracting from the performance on stage. This was evident in a recent sold out show that he did for DJ Divs(16-year old David Demuynck) at Gildenhuis Reet, using a rig anchored by Chauvet Professional fixtures supplied by BOS Events. “The main goal of this event was not to make money, but to show the world what we can do and that age is not a mattering factor,” says Duré, who worked with friend vee jay Nikolay Gelshtein, on the show, which was run with a ChamSys MagicQ MQ500 Stadium console. “Club Divs 2019 was the first edition but we want to do this every year. Club Divs 2020 will take place
UK - At the age of 16, Elliott Mountford set up his Ti22 lighting design company with a view to providing lighting and video integration on live shows. Little more than a few months later, he was handling his first arena show at Wembley. Now still only 19, and from a background in programming, Elliott has developed into a fully-fledged lighting designer. Most recently, he has been out with Charli XCX - with an armoury of GLP fixtures for company, supplied by Liteup. “We had 34 X4 Bars and 34 JDC1 [hybrid strobes] on the European and USA tour, and then the show at Brixton Academy was a total upscale, with 96 JDC1s and 36 X4 Bars,” he reveals. The rig comprised both the touring and Brixton package. “It needed to be bright, and be able to create a thousand different looks out of a single unit - and the JDC1 always smashes that.” Elliott has certainly earned
The Netherlands - The latest fixtures from Chinese professional stage lighting manufacturer ACME Lighting are being showcased at ISE 2020 on booth 5-S140. It will mark the third time that the ACME team has taken a stand at the Amsterdam show. At the helm of ACME’s European operations is Marco Galli, EMEA sales director, who is spearheading the company’s growth in Europe and North America. “We’re thrilled to be demonstrating our latest product developments at ISE, including our breakthrough Solar Impulse - a powerful, high-performing, CMY colour mixing, hybrid LED moving head with a 1000W LED engine producing an impressive 35,000 lumens,” comments Galli. “We’re very proud of this versatile and reliable unit, which can be used as a beam, spot and wash solution, with a four-blade framing shutter, and we can’t wait to showcase what it can do.” Of IS
USA - Times Square has its giant crystal ball. Atlanta has its Peach Drop. And in a town that’s world-famous as Music City, the arrival of the New Year is heralded by the dropping of a giant red music note. This New Year’s Eve, some 200,000 people gathered in downtown Nashville to watch the descent of this 16ft, 400lb red note during the final seconds of 2019. Adding to the spectacle they enjoyed were 36 Chauvet Professional COLORado Solo Batten fixtures supplied by Bandit Lites. Chris Lisle and Erik Parker of CLLD, LLC, positioned 18 of the RGBAW IP65 rated batten units on each side of the three-dimensional note. Positioned this way, they provided a dynamic and vividly coloured setting to highlight the giant three-dimensional music note as it made its annual passage down its 138ft tall tower. “The COLORado Solo Battens were pixel mapped,” says Parker.
UK - The Leeds Playhouse production of The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe is enjoying a successful London run at The Bridge Theatre, produced by The London Theatre Company via special arrangement with Elliot & Harper Productions and Catherine Schreiber. Award-winning lighting designer Bruno Poet has revived his magical lighting scheme in the new venue, this time choosing to use Robe T1 Profiles as the followspots, which are being operated with RoboSpot remote follow spotting systems. Having used the same combination of T1 Profile fixtures and RoboSpots for recent Tina The Musical runs on Broadway and in Hamburg and London, he did not hesitate to specify the products again for this show. At The Bridge, there is no position at FOH for manually operated follow spots, so the two T1 Profiles are located on an auditorium bridge with a steep angle sh
The Philippines - A large complement of Claypaky lighting fixtures was utilised by Stage Craft International for the opening ceremony of the 2019 SEA Games at the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan, The Philippines. The 2019 SEA Games, held from 30 November to 11 December, was the 30th edition of the biennial regional sports event. More than 5,500 athletes competed in 56 sports. The 90-minute opening ceremony featured traditional and contemporary dance and song against a backdrop of LED strips and panels representing a bamboo forest. The design of the show included lighting effects and specialty lighting by Stage Craft International. The company selected 120 Claypaky Sharpy Plus, 40 A.leda B-EYE K10 and 40 Stormy CC strobes for the rig in what is billed as the world’s largest indoor arena. “We chose Claypaky fixtures for their low power consumption and ligh
USA - Ayrton’s Diablo LED profile fixture was awarded the ESTA Members' Choice Award 2020 in the Equipment Category at this year’s NAMM Show in Anaheim. Diablo weighs just over 20kg, with a record output of 19,000 lumens from its 300W source. Diablo, like its sister fixtures, Levante wash light and Mistral spot, is available in two versions: Diablo-S is specially designed for stage applications and utilises a monochromatic LED light source that can generate an ultra-high output and metallic white light calibrated at 6500K. Diablo-TC is geared for applications requiring perfect colour rendition, and uses a monochromatic LED source with a native CRI greater than 90, high TM30 readings and a 5700K colour temperature. The Award was collected by Brad Nelms, Western regional sales manager for ACT Lighting, Ayrton’s exclusive distributor for North America,
