Australia - Five years in the making, the King Kong musical, produced by Australia's Global Creatures, has opened to thrilled and awed audiences Melbourne, Australia's Regent Theatre. The star of the show is undoubtedly the six metre, one tonne King Kong puppet, designed by Global Creature Technology.

Contracted by Production Resource Group, L.L.C., (PRG), Stage Technologies teams in the UK, the US and Australia worked closely with Global Creature Technology to supply the automation system which controls the eponymous ape. The automation package includes over 12 tonnes of steelwork, motors, winches, and cable management systems, which give the Kong puppet its sweeping movements; enable it to lift and rotate; and allow it to travel up, down and across the stage. The on-board winches control the height and rotation of the body, and allow Kong to fly in, leap, gallop, stand, etc.

UK - Allen & Heath has launched GLD OneMix, an iPad app that gives musicians wireless control of their personal monitor mix. GLD OneMix locks control to a single Aux mix, providing instant access to a customised easy-to-use monitor mix environment.

Multiple iPads can be set up by an admin user to give numerous musicians personalised monitor control without affecting each other or the FoH main mix. A musician's own aux monitor mix is assigned and locked into the 'My Mix' layer, and a selection of input splits dedicated to the individual musician can be added. Similarly, all other instrument send levels can be assigned to any of the three extra layers, allowing unique personal monitoring configuration. The range of accessible settings is defined by custom permissions for each layer.

When in User mode, the musician is presented with simple-to-use access and control of their aux m

UK - Staging and design professionals working in the entertainment industry have been passing on their knowledge to students on Backstage Academy's Foundation Degree in Live Events Production.

The 52 students currently taking the second annual degree course (validated by The University of Bolton) at the Wakefield training centre enjoyed training sessions, masterclasses and hands-on product demonstrations by leading companies and personnel during their month-long Staging Module.

General manager of Brilliant Stages, Tony Bowern, did his first ever educational talk. He explained: "I discussed the processes that we use to convert designers' dreams into reality involving project management, engineering, design, procurement and manufacturing. I feel it is important to pass on my knowledge of stage set building so it can give the Academy students a clear insight into what is req

UK - Black Light has been involved in two flagship projects under the Scottish Government £1.25bn Scotland's Schools for the Future Programme. The work saw the company provide and install a range of light, sound and stage equipment at Eastwood High School in East Renfrewshire and Lasswade High School in Midlothian.

The success of the projects shows that Black Light has the expertise to be involved in ground-breaking projects involving key decision makers in both government and education.

"The projects have been a great success and the schools are delighted with the equipment we installed," says Black Light's head of company development, Phil Haldane. Haldane explains that one of the key reasons for the project's success was that Black Light met with the end-users early on in the process. "We re-specified certain elements of the project in light of the feed

UK - Blitz North is supporting the BBC in delivering their Summer in the City programme, a season of sport, fun and family entertainment aimed to promote becoming active in sports.

Staged in the MediaCityUK Piazza, the series of events are planned around the summer's major sporting events, and recently featured the Women's European Football Championships. A comprehensive technical solution was provided by the Blitz team, featuring all-weather staging and audio systems, and IP rated power distribution for the entire site to cover every eventuality. Video support included a miniature HD outside broadcast system, enabling relay of VT, off-air and live camera images to MediaCity's big screen.

John Crompton, project manager for Blitz Manchester, commented, "Delivering the perfect solution required careful consultation with all parties involved, including the FA and the

UK - LS-Live was the facility of choice for both production rehearsals and staging rental for four headline acts at the Glastonbury Festival.

Arctic Monkeys, Dizzee Rascal, HURTS and Chase & Status all performed headline shows with production support from the stage & set, equipment rental and studio complex based in Wakefield, West Yorkshire.

The rental company welcomed Glastonbury's Friday night headliners Arctic Monkeys to the 17,664 sq.ft rehearsal studio for six days full pre-production in June where the band and crew made use of the 14 en-suite bedrooms on site to work round the clock.

Production manager Ian Calder oversaw the production build, which incorporated two huge letters 'A' and 'M' clad in LED lighting on stage, to represent the band's name, part of a show that frontman Alex Turner later hailed as "one of the best gigs we've ever done".

LS-Live was

USA / UK - TAIT has announced the acquisition of Stage Technologies and Delstar Engineering. A statement from TAIT says: "This acquisition sees the merger of the world's market leaders in the field of automation, staging and engineering for the live entertainment industry. The enhanced capacity of the groups provides the ability to offer unrivalled technology and expertise across the globe from locations on the East and West coasts of America, Belgium, Macau, Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, China and Australia.

"The increased breadth and depth of the company will provide clients with an extensive palette of cutting edge technologies, which will include eChameleon, Navigator, F:Light, Sculptor toolkit for 3ds Max, plus a comprehensive range of winches and staging solutions for concert touring, theatre, corporate events, film and television and permanent installations.&qu

UK - When the Barbican Theatre in the Barbican Centre Arts Complex closed its doors for a major 15 week overhaul in May, Unusual Rigging was brought in to put together an access platform to enable the replacement of the entire grid.

Originally a lyric theatre, and long term home to the Royal Shakespeare Company, the theatre is now called upon to host a far greater range of international touring productions as well as its own in-house productions. As such the entire flying grid and system needed replacing to keep up with the growing demands placed upon the theatre's technical team.

Ashley Pickles, theatre technical manager (systems and maintenance) at the Barbican Theatre said, "This is a major project for us, removing not just the existing flying grid and system but also some of the gallery and proscenium bridge structures in order to expand the width of the stage and gen

UK - Voting is now open for the Technical Theatre Awards, with 36 talented theatre workers shortlisted for the 12 'individual' awards, some of whom have been working within their speciality for over 20 years and are already extremely well established within the industry.

Alongside the awards dedicated to extraordinary individuals, four companies and three theatres will go head-to-head for the two company-based awards that are up for grabs: the Hire Company of the Year Award, and the 'Spotlight Accounting' Receiving Venue of the Year Award.

An additional award is dedicated to the theatre that has demonstrated the most effective awareness of venue sustainability and will be chosen and presented by leading industry specialists, :entertaining sustainability.

Voting is open to all members of the theatre industry and organisers are promoting each of the nominee's on the TTA websit

UK - Phil Christodolou and Graham Baker have announced that Alistage Ltd is open for business and currently operating out of Harlow, offering a full range of indoor and outdoor stage systems, dome roof systems, and front of stage barriers; available as both dry hire or with full service options for the event, conference, TV and film industries.

The stock includes the entire range of equipment previously available from Aliscaff Ltd who traded as Alistage.

The new company opened for business at the start of July and will be offering a newer streamlined service, with competitive pricing, as well as an option for full technical production support along with Centre Stage who currently operate within the live sound and lighting hire sectors.

Alistage Ltd can be contacted on 01279 406 270 or by email at sales@alistage.co.uk

(Claire Beeson)

Denmark - Martin Professional has announced its CO2 hazer, producing "outstanding fine-particulate atmospheric effects for large venues".

The Martin Jem Ready 365 Hazer uses advanced water-based fluid, which gives a comparable performance to industry-standard oils, producing the ultimate transparent haze, suitable for concerts, events, TV studios, theaters, clubs, cruise ships, theme parks and more.

The Jem Ready 365 Hazer houses advanced technology, including automatic shutdown with battery backup to prevent clogging and running out of gas by producing limited haze, even if gas pressure is lost. This allows the user to exchange the gas cylinder quickly without loss of effect. The Jem Ready is gas-efficient, sipping small amount of fluid per use and leaves no residue or smell.

The easy-to-use, plug and play system requires minimal setup time, runs nearly silent and

UK - Rigging is an area of the entertainment business where competency is an absolute requirement not just a preference. Load Cell Rental, who offer a fully customised weighing and load monitoring service using a calibrated weighing system, recently joined forces with Lift Turn Move (LTM) to offer opportunities for professional development for those working with motorised hoists. The first two LoadGuard Motor Schools of 2013 were two day courses hosted by Dave Ward (LTM technical manager) at the new training facility of Adlib Solutions in Liverpool at the end of February.

Using the LoadGuard brand of chain hoists, participants had the chance to strip down a machine to its separate component parts before rebuilding it and operating the hoist successfully. Going through that process gave attendees the opportunity to review and build on their technical competencies. From general el

USA - Le Maitre is delighted to be appointing Randy Segeren has been appointed as president of Le Maitre USA.

Segeren, who played a key role previously, when Le Maitre Special Effects was set up as the original distributor for the North American market 20 years ago, before the company began operating directly as Le Maitre USA LLC in 2011.

Having spent the past 12 years working for several top distribution companies in the entertainment industry, selling lighting, sound and fog equipment, most recently at Erikson Pro, Segeren has established himself as a successful industry specialist.

Commenting on his appointment Segeren says, "I am absolutely delighted to be re-joining Le Maitre. It is a world class manufacturing company; a leader in pyrotechnics, fog machines and paper effects. The company has a stellar reputation for innovative products, R&D and superior customer se

Germany - The electrical substation in Alexanderplatz built in 1960 was once East Berlin's principal source of energy. Even after German reunification in 1989, it continued to be used to generate electricity and was only shut down in 2002.

Now the substation has been converted into an events location and provides the setting for a wide variety of event productions with up to 1,600 guests. From meetings, conferences, parties and fashion shows to receptions and car presentations, any number of different types of event can be staged in the new location.

The venue was fitted with media equipment by Movecat partner Ambion, the installation featuring inter alia a total of 16 Movecat Plus-C 250-4 D8 Plus chain hoists with incremental encoders and the new LME load measuring eyelets in dual chainfall operation with safe working loads of 500 kg per drive.

The use of the fully integrat

South Africa - The South African Music Awards (SAMA) could be described as Africa's version of the Grammys. The Sun City Superbowl, situated in the North West Province of South Africa, awakens as the who's who in the music industry and their dedicated supporters witness the unveiling of the best artists and albums of the year.

Dream Sets was the chief technical supplier and an influential creative force on this production, commissioned by VL Productions to supply the full technical for the show, all except for the sound which was taken care by Audio Logic.

"You can create anything you want with the right people," said Robert Hoey from Dream Sets. Dream Sets subcontracted AV Unlimited to supply the video elements of the show including video mapping which played a massive part in this year's awards. MGG supplied additional lighting gear while LaserX worked their magic

UK - With their main theatre building in darkness during a two year, £22m refurbishment project, Chichester Festival Theatre have turned to event production company Entourage Live to oversee the construction and delivery of their temporary theatre-in-a-tent venue for the summer of 2013.

The state-of-the-art 1,400 seat venue has been built to provide an alternative space whilst the main theatre building is redeveloped as part of the Chichester Festival Theatre 'RENEW' project.

The Theatre in the Park venue plays host to Cameron Mackintosh's Barnum. "This is a great project to be involved with" commented Entourage Live managing director Andy Bartlett. "It's key that we work with all parties and stakeholders on a project of this size. We're working with the tent and site designers, production management, company management and the show's producers.&quo

UK - Over the last few months several high profile venues have adopted the National Rigging Certificate as it becomes the clearest way of benchmarking the skills and experience of riggers in the entertainment industry. The importance of this for venues and producers is being recognised and now ACC Liverpool, the NIA, LG Arena, Phones 4U Arena Manchester, Manchester Central and NEC have become full endorsing venues, while ExCeL London has committed to supporting the NRC and is working toward full endorsement.

"The endorsement by venues of qualifications such as this will help to further improve competency and safety standards across the industry. The NRC is another step towards meeting the rigging industry's aspirations of consistently high levels of competence and safety," says Nicky Norman, senior production and technical manager, ACC Liverpool, home to BT Convention

UK - When Tim Carter, technical team leader at the University of Westminster's department of Media, Art and Design, was asked for his input on a new entrance forum at the Harrow campus, he immediately brought Doughty Engineering on board to help make his vision a reality.

Having met Doughty Engineering at the Broadcast Video Expo (BVE) last year, Carter realised that of all the companies he'd considered for this project, Doughty was most evidently able to meet his brief for the new multi million pound space.

The new entrance to the department is just one aspect of the University's major redevelopment to make the Harrow Campus a world-class environment for students, with state-of-the-art facilities, new and improved social and learning spaces and an enhanced sense of community for students and staff. Harrow is also working to become a more sustainable site with reduced environm

Germany - Sommer Cable is releasing a fully reworked and unified MonoCAT cable family. The different hybrid cables all contain network lines complemented by signal or power supply elements. This allows to connect digital sound, light or video control desks using only one cable and, as the case may be, with only one plug-in procedure. This is also suitable for applications on OB vans or in the installation or conference sectors.

Owing to the reworked internal Cat 7 construction in SFTP with a line gauge of 0.22 mm2 even greater transmission paths are now possible. This allows a trouble-free transmission of signals based on gigabit ethernet over distances up to 100 m. The power wires have a cross-sectional area of 2.5 mm2 to avoid problems with longer distances here, too. The highly flexible overall structure with our proven and robust S-PVC jacket (temperature range -20 ... +75&d

UK - Pearce Hire was involved in the recent launch of Princess Cruises' latest addition to their fleet - the Royal Princess.

The cruise ship's naming ceremony and christening took place in June in Southampton, and was the Duchess of Cambridge's last solo official engagement before the birth of Prince George in July.

Pearce Hire was contracted to provide all the production and show power for the event, including a pair of synchronised 300kVA sets for the audio, screen, lighting and requirements for outside broadcast from a significant press contingent.

Pearce Hire also supplied a 40kVA generator for the outside production offices and temporary workshops which were set up on site specifically for the ship's naming ceremony.

Security was of paramount importance given the VIP guest list, and security and late night working were all managed under tower-lights provided by Pearce

UK - One of Europe's leading provider of ladders and low level access equipment is launching a new Training Centre at its UK head office in Milton Keynes.

Since the Work at Height Regulations came into being in 2005, anyone involved in working at height is required to demonstrate a competence to do so. This is most easily shown by passing a training course with a recognised body such as PASMA (for tower scaffolds) or The Ladder Association.

The lead trainer at the new centre will be Zarges (UK) Ltd's product manager Alistair Twigg who comments, "This is an exciting opportunity for us, we are often asked by members of the public, as well as other stakeholders in the industry, for advice on all aspects of ladders and working at height. Now we can offer this advice through a variety of specific training courses."

Twigg, who has been a member of the PASMA Technical Com

UK - Jennifer Lopez headed to London this summer to perform headline shows at two of the capital's landmark events.

Her shows at Chime for Change's Sound Of Change concert at Twickenham Stadium in June and Barclaycard's British Summer Time in Hyde Park in July were both performed from a stage set designed and delivered by LS-Live.

Chime for Change's global concert brought women's and girls' issues into the spotlight through a star-studded charity concert that invited each of the 50,000 guests to donate their ticket money to a project of their choice, which all promoted education, health and justice for females.

J-Lo performed alongside the likes of Beyoncé Ellie Goulding, Florence + The Machine, Haim, Jessie J and Rita Ora to a packed out stadium on 1 June.

The star returned to the capital on 14 July to perform at one of two weekend events in Hyde Park for Barclayca

UK - To coincide with the release of the Stagemaker SR Electric Chain Hoist from Verlinde, Hoist UK are offering free motor school's to all UK based customers.

The course is fully authorised and approved by Verlinde SAS and will take place over one full day at Hoist UK's premises on the Wirral. The course will be presented by Tony Dickson, who is a director of Hoist UK and in his past presented over 90% of the UK motor schools for Tomcat UK and PCM.

The course will give the delegate a basic understanding of the hoist mechanics and electrics as well as demonstrating how to operate the unit safely. There will also be a 'practical session' where you will get a real "hands on" experience with the Stagemaker SR, participate in fault finding tasks and receive guidance on how to identify spare parts.

"We feel that our clients deserve to be given the time to thoroughl

Spain - Mojo Barriers has announced Sensei Producciones, as part of Live Nation Barcelona, as its first exclusive Spanish distributor; building on the company's success providing its patented barrier systems across the country.

Sensei's director Kata has worked in the Spanish production industry for over 30 years on major tours and festivals. An admirer of Mojo Barriers' system since it was first developed by John Mulder in Holland in 1988, Kata was announced as official Spanish distributor earlier this month.

Kata comments, "Mojo Barriers are known for being the very best at what they do. There are many suppliers throughout the world who have tried to copy their crowd barrier equipment but there is only one original. They are the first and most trusted crowd safety experts and I'm confident that that every event I put on will be as safe as it can be now that we have thei

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