The Week in Light & Sound
- Details
“The live event industry has been pushing to pass the Restart Act for months. Most national media have not carried our story and we are unsure why. We pray they carry this story. The Restart Act as part of the next relief bill is the only thing that will save all of the live events industry. No other Act will save us all. If the Restart Act is not passed by 1 October, over 70% of our industry will face extinction. That means when you want a concert, movie, play, trade show, conference, special event, wedding, birthday party and all of the other events that make our lives great, most of us will simply not be there to deliver a service for you. Our companies will be bankrupt and our people in other industries.
“The live event industry is begging the Congress, the media, and you the people to realize we are here and in need. We love what we do, and we love all of you that make our lives possible. Please help us. Time is short, we only have this week. Please pass Restart. It is time the live event industry has some Live Aid Too.”
Freelance Grants - A £7m fund has been set up to provide grants to creative freelancers in Wales who have been affected by COVID-19. They will be offered £2,500 each if they are eligible and their submission is successful, with applications opening on 5 October. The fund, established by the Welsh government, will be run over two phases, specifically targeting freelance workers in the arts, creative industries and heritage sectors.
The Welsh government’s deputy minister for culture, sport and tourism Dafydd Elis-Thomas described the freelance workforce as "such an important part of the Welsh economy" and said the fund recognised their contributions to Wales’ communities, creativity and economy.
Research by the Wales Freelance Taskforce found that more than a third of freelancers working in the cultural sector do not have sufficient income to live on as a result of the pandemic, with around a third of freelancers working in the performing arts considering leaving their profession due to the effects of COVID-19.
Olivier Awards - Winners of this year’s Olivier awards will be revealed in a special programme to be broadcast on ITV in October. It comes as the Society of London Theatre - which produces the awards - said it had established a group to “carefully review criteria for the awards in future years”, aimed at ensuring all aspects of diversity and inclusion are considered. This year’s winners will be announced on 25 October in a show hosted by Jason Manford.
Originally set to be announced at a ceremony in April at the Royal Albert Hall, SOLT said the new format would be “innovative” and would celebrate the UK’s “globally renowned artists, both on stage and behind the scenes”. The awards show will be filmed from different areas within the London Palladium and contain a mixture of the awards themselves, performances, interviews and “some very special moments”, according to SOLT.
Big Hit - All seven members of South Korean K-pop group BTS are set to become multi-millionaires when their label Big Hit Entertainment goes public in October. Soaring demand for shares in Big Hit has given it a market valuation of £3.2bn, with shares priced at the top of the expected price range.
Currently priced at between £70.03-£88.70 per share, Big Hit expects to raise about £638.3m with the sale of 7.13m new shares when it is listed on Korea's Stock Exchange, the KOSPI, on 15 October. BTS set a new record on Monday when it took just hours for underwriters to find investors to take a stake in the firm when order books opened, with demand 1,000 times higher than the available stock.
(Jim Evans)
29 September 2020
