Lighting

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30 May 2025

USA - GLP fielded its largest ever deployment of fixtures at Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival for the recent 2025 event – including all its latest in-demand touring products.

The massive global event has been staged successfully across two weekends since 1999 at its Empire Polo Club location in the Californian desert, close to Palm Springs.

Various stages – including the main stage and Sahara tent, as well as the Yuma club tent – were awash with GLP fixtures specified by international LDs, adding extra floor package drama to the existing generic house rigs.

The industry was eager for a first look at the might of the super-powerful Mad Maxx – used by Dan Norman with rapper Travis Scott on the main Coachella Stage – while production designer Rob Sinclair gave a sneak preview of the JDC Burst 1 in a taste of what to

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30 May 2025

USA - Elation invites lighting professionals to Experience Tomorrow at Booth #7671 at InfoComm in Orlando.

Elation will showcase new product lines including the award-winning Paragon, Elation’s new flagship automated lighting series. With TruTone variable CRI technology, interchangeable lenses, a comprehensive FX package, and a weatherproof IP54 rating, Paragon combines multiple fixture roles in a single design, representing ‘a leap forward in intelligent lighting for entertainment’.

Also new is the first luminaire in a bolder breed of workhorse lighting, Rebel. The Rebel Profile is a powerful yet compact LED profile moving-head with IP65 rating designed for attention-grabbing visuals in both indoor and outdoor applications. The fixture delivers intense beams, sharp projections, and a comprehensive effects package for captivating mid-a

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30 May 2025

USA - The lighting design community is mourning the loss of Paul Marantz, co-founder of Fisher Marantz Stone, who has passed away. A lighting visionary, he helped to transform the perception of lighting design as a profession.

Alongside Jules Fisher, Marantz co-founded the company that would become Fisher Marantz Stone in 1971, creating a legacy of creativity and genius that continues to inspire to this day.

Paula Martinez-Nobles, president, Fisher Marantz Stone said: “We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of Paul Marantz. Paul and Jules founded the company that would become FMS in 1971, creating a legacy of creativity and genius that continues to brighten our lives and the world around us. Thank you, Paul, for your wit and wisdom. We honour your life and legacy.”

Initially working in theatre lighting, Marantz held a strong inter

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29 May 2025

UK - Teddy Swims’ record-breaking and sold out I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy tour headed across the UK and Europe with PRG providing video, automation and lighting, including their brand-new GroundControl Multi for the Followspot system.

Having amassed over 8.7bn streams globally, Teddy Swims has captured the hearts of music fans worldwide with his live show and chart-topping hits such Lose Control and The Door. For his 2025 UK and European leg of the I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy tour, the team once again chose PRG to provide lighting, automation and video, but this time upgrading to PRG’s latest followspot innovation – the GroundControl Multi.

The GroundControl Multi is the newest addition to PRG’s GroundControl Followspot family. This system can control up to 16 lights through a single Ground

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29 May 2025

The Netherlands - The 3,000-capacity Poppodium 013 concert hall was transformed into a nightclub when NachtCollege brought its all-night party to the Dutch city of Tilburg in mid-April. Technical production was led by the venue’s in-house team, headed by senior lighting designer Paul Cox.

To help deliver the immersive experience the event called for, 48 ADJ Vizi Beam CMY fixtures were dry-hired from local rental supplier Spectrum AV to supplement the venue’s house rig. Paul arranged the fixtures across four trusses – two on each side of the dance floor – running the length of the hall. The upper trusses were mounted near the ceiling with fixtures suspended downward, while the lower trusses hung directly below, with fixtures positioned upright. This layered setup allowed Paul to fill the air above the crowd with intricate, overlapping beam patterns th

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29 May 2025

Europe - Wireless LED lighting manufacturer Astera has launched QuikPunch, the latest in its innovative ‘Quik’ series, which started with the QuikSpot launched at the end of 2024.

QuikPunch delivers precise, high-quality light via its Fresnel lens, featuring a 13º – 60º zoom, with no stray light and 8,000 lux at 3m. It is optimised for fast set-up and practical operation and comes complete with a battery-driven PrepBox and ChargingPlate. It delivers Astera’s colour science, based on its high-colour-rendering RGBMA Titan LED Engine – but as it happens with QuikSpot, QuikPunch adds OutputGain for deeper colour saturates.

It does exactly what the name suggests, ‘punching’ high-quality light into the picture while consuming just 75W of power, producing an output equivalent to a 200W LED PAR for stage and event use. All this plus an impres

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29 May 2025

USA - InfoComm is offering visitors to this year’s show a ’2030 Vision’ into the future.  Attendees who drop by the Chauvet Professional booth (6453) at the Orange County Convention Centre will be able to experience a sampling of that promising time.

The company is ensuring that the future is bolder and brighter than ever thanks to technologically advanced products like those in Chauvet Professional’s Ovation Rêve family, which includes the Rêve E-3, a full-spectrum LED ERS-style ellipsoidal. With colour temperature presets ranging from 2800 to 8000K, the Ovation Rêve E-3 maintains remarkable brightness and high-quality light with emulated redshift for a tungsten feel.

Also representing the Rêve family at the show will be the ultra-bright Rêve P-3 IP, an IP65-rated multi-colour full-spectrum-white LED PAR with power and quality of light

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29 May 2025

Canada - Denis Richard, who unexpectedly died on 29 March 2025, was a pioneer in the Canadian music touring and production industry. During his nearly 50-year career, he made a significant and lasting impact on the growth of the entertainment lighting production and rental industry in Canada. In that time, he toured with and managed lighting and production services for live artists and supported multiple popular TV productions. Christie Lites has paid tribute:

“For the last 30 years, Denis was a key account handler for Christie Lites’ Toronto office. His professional life exemplified his exacting high standards. Denis led by example, always demanding as much from himself as he did of others. He loved and was fascinated by people. His curiosity about what drove others meant Denis got to know those he worked with and what they wanted swiftly. Many of the l

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28 May 2025

Switzerland - Tim Routledge became one of the first production designers to specify GLP’s new versatile and supercharged Creos – part of a cornucopia of lighting that animated Florian Wieder’s set design at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) in Basel.

These washlights were joined in the designer’s toolkit by another newly released GLP fixture, in the shape of 12 Mad Maxx CW fat beam searchlights, along with 200 impression X5 IP Bars and well over 100 randomly dispersed JDC1 hybrid strobes.

But it was Creos, with its 18 × 40W RGBL LEDs, motorised 1:12 zoom and seamless pixel clustering that took the accolades at the 12,400-capacity St Jakobshalle.

Tim Routledge had been seeking a particular fixture to sit underneath the transparent LED screen. He contacted Simon Barrett at GLP UK, who instinctively suggested Creos.

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28 May 2025

USA - Ayrton Rivale Profiles and grandMA3 full-size consoles with two grandMA3 Processing Unit L packages played key roles when Wooli made his headline debut at Red Rocks Amphitheatre on 12 April.

Wooli, the dubstep producer and DJ also known as Adam Puleo, brought his Mammoth Mountain III show to the Red Rocks venue in Morisson, Colorado. The third edition of the production marked his first time headlining at the outdoor amphitheatre where he was accompanied by guest artists.  Red Rocks is on the bucket list for a wide variety of artists,” says Alex Wroblewski, who has been Wooli’s tour director for more than two years. 

“For Wooli’s first show at Red Rocks we wanted to go bigger than we ever have before and use every available foot of that stage. We even added lighting and lasers to the audience bowl to create a more immersive ex

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28 May 2025

Slovenia - Making a “simple wall of light” uncluttered by any scenic pieces or barriers, and not disrupted by any restrictions has been a long-held dream of Crt Birsa. “It was on my wish list,” said the co-founder of Blackout Lighting Design. “I’ve always wanted to create a simple wall of light, very populated, mathematical, and clean – that’s it!”

Birsa got the opportunity to create such a wall when he lit EMA 2025, the Slovenian national Eurovision pre-selection event, which was held at Studio 1 of Slovenian National Television in Ljubljana. The results speak for themselves. Working with his fellow Blackout designer Anze Trstenjak, and frequent collaborator, set designer Greta Godnic, he created a 3D light wall that actually acts more like a window – a window that opens the imagination to unlimited vistas of mind-bendi

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28 May 2025

Canada - Mr. Light Solutions, a full-service production company based in Toronto and led by founder Matthew Reicker, recently deployed a robust lighting data distribution system built around Obsidian Control Systems’ Netron product line for season one of a yet-to-be-announced streaming series.

Filmed in both studio and outdoor locations around Toronto, the winter-themed series faced some of the harshest weather conditions in recent memory - including temperatures dipping below -20°C, heavy snowfall, and freezing rain.

Reicker has worked on many different types of productions in his nearly 15 years in the entertainment lighting industry - theatre, corporate events, concerts, and film - and in many capacities from lighting designer and programmer to crew chief and production manager. A member of IATSE Local 873, he launched Mr. Light Solutions in 20

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28 May 2025

USA - Harman Professional Solutions has announced the appointment of Sebastien Laffoux as director of lighting sales for North America. In this role, Laffoux will drive strategic growth and lead the sales organisation for Harman’s portfolio of professional lighting solutions, with a focus on expanding market share across the live entertainment, install, and architectural sectors.

Laffoux brings more than 15 years of senior leadership experience in the professional lighting and entertainment technology space. Prior to joining Harman, he served as vice president of sales at ARRI, where he oversaw B2B and SMB sales operations across North and South America.

“Sebastien brings a high degree of business acumen to the Martin sales team, as well as a deep understanding of consultative selling techniques and how to grow the sales pipeline,” said Mike Sc

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27 May 2025

UK - Sterling Event Group has announced a major expansion in facilities, a strengthened specialist team, investment in the latest production technologies, and a new brand identity.

With an impressive 25-year track record of delivering high-end production for corporate, private, public sector and live entertainment events, Sterling is now scaling its capabilities to support national and international growth. The company has built deep-rooted relationships with clients across the North of England and has consistently delivered strong growth year on year.

Sterling’s move to a new 102,000sq.ft warehouse at Manchester’s ICON Business Park more than doubles its existing capacity. The site will house a comprehensive inventory of professional-grade production technology, which is meticulously serviced and maintained by Sterling’s in-house team, for dep

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27 May 2025

Switzerland - Robe was an official technical partner of Eurovision 2025 in Basel, where lighting designer Tim Routledge and his team, together with London UK-based lighting supplier Neg Earth Lights, helped deliver an outstanding production for the world’s largest live music broadcast event, staged this year at the St. Jakobshalle arena by Swiss host broadcaster SRG SSR, co-ordinated by the EBU (European Broadcasting Union).

The stage and production design by Florian Wieder included an impressive 750sq.m of transparent upstage LED screen, striking mountain set pieces and a three-dimensional industrial scale video frame at the front which defined the space. This worked in conjunction with a 250sq.m black video floor, assorted other video and mapped surfaces including scenic mountains plus approximately 4,500 lights to deliver nearly 50 distinctive

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27 May 2025

India - Obsidian Control Systems recently delivered a three-day training in India supported by VMT, the brand’s official Indian distribution partner. Spearheaded by Obsidian’s business development director Koy Neminathan and lighting designer Giancarlo Vannetti, the training series attracted over 100 lighting professionals eager to get hands-on with the NX1, NX2, and NX4 consoles.

Designed to empower and elevate, the sessions offered deep insights into Obsidian’s advanced architecture and functionality. “Watching participants gain confidence with the NX1, NX2, and NX4 through hands-on experience was truly rewarding. The passion for lighting control in India is inspiring, and we’re excited to see how these professionals take their skills forward,” noted Giancarlo Vannetti.

Neminathan echoed this sentiment: “It was incredible to see the e

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27 May 2025

Singapore - Locally-based lighting designer Adrian Tan of The Light Project recently utilised 32 x Robe Esprite moving lights – 16 x Profiles and 16 x Fresnels – to light a production of Swan Lake staged by the Singapore Ballet at Esplanade Theatres by the Bay.

Twenty-eight of these fixtures were part of a new lighting package which has been added to the theatre’s house rig, and, as Adrian needed a couple more of each type to complete the detail of his design, more were sourced through Robe’s Asia Pacific office, also in Singapore.

This was the third re-light of this Swan Lake production at the high-profile venue, the second time that the Singapore Ballet has been accompanied by the Metropolitan Festival Orchestra, and the first time that Esprites were used as the main workhorse lighting fixture.

Adrian has worked at

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27 May 2025

UK - The Profile Awards 2025 Television nominations have been released by the STLD and are now published on the TPA web page.

The TV section of The 2025 Profile Awards is judged by a panel consisting of theatre lighting designer Peter Small, TV lighting designer Martin Kempton, TV director Stephen Neil and chaired by STLD honorary secretary and lighting designer Stuart Gain. (https://profileawards.com/television-nominations-2025/)

The Profile Awards TV sponsors are:

@rosco_labs - TV Entertainment Series Award

@lightscontrolrigging - TV Entertainment One-Off Award

@chamsysltd - TV Drama Award

@elpelstree - TV Small studio Award

@cameo_light - TV Non Scripted Entertainment Award

@led_creative_limited - TV Continuing Drama Award

@

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27 May 2025

South Africa - When Dr Ismail Mahomed, writer, director, and former artistic director of the National Arts Festival, reached out for help after TX Theatre Productions in Tembisa had their console stolen just before their annual festival, DWR Distribution responded with a donation of a Signify Vari-Lite FLX S24 lighting console, a 24-fader surface designed to create beautiful looks fast and easily.

In the heart of Tembisa, TX Theatre Productions has been a hub for drama, music, and dance since 2008. Founded by Mxolisi Masilela and registered as an NPO in 2014, this multi-Naledi Award-winning company produces around 50 shows annually, regularly earns plays at festivals like the National Arts Festival, and supports local talent through awards, publications, and its Writers Lab.

Tembisa was established in 1957 during apartheid-era forced removals, reloca

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23 May 2025

Europe - GLP has appointed Paris-based MiD (Musique Industrie Développement) as its new French distributor – coinciding with the latest edition of the GLP-sponsored Showlight lighting networking show being held in Dijon this week.

With a dedicated GLP showroom hosted by Artbox located at the Parc de l'Évènement in Longjumeau (south of Paris), MiD operates throughout the country, carrying more than 36 AV brands in its catalogue. Historically strong in pro-audio, it is now starting to develop its lighting brands. MiD sales director Julien Seillier says GLP is central to this mission, in the event, concert touring and architectural segments.

He says that GLP recognised MiD’s flexibility, energy and above all a desire to develop the lighting market and propel this brand to the forefront: “I come from a rental background, having spent se

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23 May 2025

Brazil - Follow-Me has announced a strategic partnership with Newart Iluminação Ltda as its sales partner in Brazil. The collaboration marks a significant expansion of Follow-Me's presence in South America.

Newart Iluminação, established in 2001, has built a strong reputation as a trusted provider of advanced lighting solutions across Brazil. The company offers a comprehensive range of lighting products and services for entertainment, architectural, and commercial applications. With headquarters and workshop facilities in São Paulo, Newart brings over two decades of experience and deep market knowledge to this partnership.

Francisco Pinheiro, owner and managing director of Newart, comments: "We are always looking for innovative solutions to bring the latest lighting technology to our clients. Follow-Me really stood out as a game-changing system

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23 May 2025

UK - Adolescence, the bold and emotionally charged four-part British mini-series debuted on Netflix this March.

Created by Jack Thorne and Stephen Graham and directed by Philip Barantini, Adolescence has captivated global audiences not only with its intense subject matter - exploring the emotional fallout of school violence - but also with its daring approach to storytelling. Every episode was filmed in a single continuous take, a technical and artistic feat demanding extraordinary precision across all departments.

The show quickly made history, becoming the first streaming-only series to top the UK’s weekly TV ratings. By April 2025, it was Netflix’s third most-watched series of all time, amassing over 124m views worldwide.

Behind the scenes, the complex challenge of lighting a production filmed entirely in one take fel

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23 May 2025

South Africa - DWR Distribution’s Jaques Pretorius recently spent two busy days with third-year lighting students from the Department of Performing Arts at Tshwane University of Technology (TUT), offering hands-on training on the grandMA3 lighting control platform.

Over the past year, TUT has invested in two grandMA3 onPC command wings – one for its Breytenbach Theatre and another for its practical teaching space – making this training especially timely.

Wandile Mgcodo, a long-standing lecturer at TUT and a passionate supporter of the next generation of creatives, helped organise the workshop. “There’s nothing more rewarding than seeing students grow in confidence, find their artistic voice, and master tools they’ll use in their careers,” he said.

The journey began when TUT decided to upgrade from their previous MA2 system, keep

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23 May 2025

UK - Highlite International showcased several new products at PLASA Focus Leeds 2025, with the Showtec IP Pixelstrip 40 and Showtec Goliath light fixtures making their UK debuts, alongside the DAP TA amplifiers.

The new products were joined by existing favourites, including the Infinity Furion S402 Spot, the Furion W402 Wash and the Furion P602 Profile. DAP’s active PA system, Frigga, was there too. Several of Showgear’s innovative rigging solutions were also on display and Wentex’s popular FOH Drape case also made an appearance.

In addition to demonstrating some of Highlite’s newest and most popular products, Highlite’s UK team took the opportunity to reconnect with familiar faces and foster new relationships.

Highlite’s UK sales director, David Drane, was extremely enthusiastic about the event: “It was incredibly exci