South Africa - Known for working together as technical director and supplier on popular art and music festivals across South Africa like Innibos, Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees (KKNK) and Aarkloop, Pieter Jan-Kapp (Kappie) from PJK Management and Christiaan Ballot of technical supplier Blond Productions took the road less travelled over the COVID-19 lockdown and established their own online platform, Platform ZA which went live last Friday. Platform ZA, a digital pay-per-view channel, has opened doors and created work for over 200 people, ranging from actors, musicians, cameramen and technical crew. Kappie and Christiaan did not only create Platform ZA, but even the content thereof such as Stroom, a music programme featuring some of South Africa’s finest artists, cooking and lifestyle programmes, a fishing show and spectacularly, produced and filmed sitcoms and co
USA - With the recent increase in online and broadcast delivery of a near limitless array of information, entertainment, and social information, the AES Show Fall 2020 Convention’s Broadcast and Online Delivery Track will examine key technologies and applications while taking a look back at broadcast history and a look forward to the opportunities that lie ahead. The session Practical Tips for Using Digital Audio in a 2110 Facility will offer in-depth expertise on IP Architecture and the SMPTE ST 2110 media networking protocol, of which the Audio Engineering Society’s AES3 and AES67 standards are key components, as well as related technologies and workflows. Track sessions of historical importance include Pass the Mic which will celebrate this year’s 100th anniversary of radio broadcasting and its innovations with host John Holt, and A Century of
UK - The We Make Events campaign has said that the economic relief actions announced by the UK chancellor Rishi Sunak are set to provide “a measure of relief” for the live events industry, but increased restrictions would likely mean that few businesses will be able to trade viably during the next half a year. The chancellor launched the much-anticipated replacement of the furlough scheme - the Job Support Scheme - which will see the government pay 22% of the wages of workers who are able to return to work for at least a third of their normal hours, in a drive to prevent mass redundancies. The Self-Employment Income Support Scheme was also extended, as were several loan schemes and the VAT holiday for hospitality and tourism. The campaign organisers say in a statement: “We welcome the announcement of the new job support schemes in the UK, which will provide a
Germany - Restart-19 is an evidence-based scientific study conducted by the University Medical Center, Halle, in conjunction with regional government, aimed at investigating the coronavirus risks associated with staging major cultural or sporting events in indoor arenas. The project has received almost a million euros in funding, a measure of just how desperate the situation facing the future of such events has become. The principle aim of the study was to determine which technical and organisational actions can most effectively minimise the risk of infection. Comprising several sub-projects, the most visible element of Restart-19 was a large experiment conducted in the Leipzig Arena, featuring singer Tim Bendzko and his band, where 1,800 audience members attended to participate in different real-life simulations of the concert experience. Every measure was taken to ensure
South Africa - It’s a step in the right direction for the live events industry in South Africa as the country is scheduled to move to Level 1 of the risk reduction strategy implemented to slow the spread of COVID-19, this week. The eased restrictions will allow up to 500 people for outdoor gatherings, a maximum of 250 people for indoor gatherings and a max of 100 people for funerals, while the existing restrictions on sporting events remain in place. The news has been met with mixed emotions. For six months, the live events and technical production industry has been unable to work due to the ban on gatherings made on 15 March. Movements such as #LightSAred and the #Flightcasemovement have organically grown to represent, to government, thousands of people who have had no income during this time. Companies have retrenched or have been forced to let staff go, while many other
UK - The #WeMakeEvents campaign aims to raise awareness around the current plight of the live entertainments sector and its urgent need for financial support if it is to support the COVID-19 crisis. Last month, it was announced that it would be steered by a collective of industry trade bodies, businesses and freelancers; all working in collaboration with each other. Over the past few weeks, the team has continued to build momentum around the campaign, working endlessly to rally the government for much needed support. Following last month’s Day of Action which saw buildings across the UK lit up in red as a show of support, the #WeMakeEvents team has been busy capitalising on the extensive media coverage and attention this received. One of those involved is White Light’s managing director Bryan Raven, who comments: “The Day of Action was vitally important for our
Spain - The organisers of Integrated Systems Europe have announced new dates for the recently-postponed tradeshow. Instead of 2-5 February, ISE 2021 will take place on 1-4 June at the Fira Gran Via, Barcelona. “The decision to reschedule the exhibition from early February came after a period of consultation with exhibitors, the venue and local authorities,” comments Mike Blackman, managing director Integrated Systems Events. “In recent weeks we have been working closely with the venue and local suppliers to ensure that the move can take place as smoothly as possible. “From our many conversations, it is clear the industry can’t wait to get back together doing business face to face and we are committed to delivering an engaging and safe in-person ISE in 2021. The postponement of the event to early June provides additional time for the industry to adapt a
Europe - After a period of consultation with the industry and the impact of the ongoing pandemic, Integrated Systems Events has announced that ISE, scheduled for 2-5 February 2021 in Barcelona, has been postponed and will now take place in June (dates to be confirmed), alongside a virtual offering. Additionally, ISE will launch RISE Digital, a regular programme of content and networking events which will run throughout the year and support the live show. Integrated Systems Events released the following statement: “We’ve been monitoring the conditions in Europe since the beginning of this year and have worked hard on your behalf to balance health and safety concerns with the need for commerce and F2F interaction. These two factors have had shifting weight throughout the calendar year and although we’ve felt confident and hopeful regarding delivering this show in F
USA - High End Systems has announced the finalist teams for the 2020 Hog Factor USA Collegiate Lighting Programming Competition. First held in North America in 2015, Hog Factor has become one of the premier lighting programming contests in the United States and across the globe. For Phase One, each submitting team provided a performance lighting piece, programmed on a Hog or Hog 4 PC. The collegiate teams were judged by a panel of High End Systems and ETC employees. The three Hog Factor USA finalist teams are The Ghost Lights from Webster University, Bacon Powers from Southern Methodist University, and Hamburglers from Texas State University. With the LDI 2020 Exhibition now cancelled, this year’s contest will take place online as part of ETC/HES’ Study Hall events in October. Details on the contest date, format and judging will be announced soon.
USA - With the AES Show Fall 2020 Convention coming up in October, newly announced technical programme details showcase a variety of sessions covering both audio science and research, as well as topical discussions of key issues in the audio industry. Now in its expanded, virtual format, as Audio Engineering Month, the AES Show 2020 ‘offers attendees their own in-house convention’. Several recently added sessions have been announced to the AES Show Technical Programme. Grammy-winning producer, engineer and mixer Vance Powell will detail some of his most successful mixing and recording techniques with the session Behind the Mix, hosted by AES recording and production track co-chair Peter Doell. Doell further delves into the recording workflows taking plac
South Africa - For the South African live events industry, 8 September was an emotional day that will be tattooed in the hearts and souls of the 200 people consisting of business owners, technicians and freelancers, who gathered at the Paul Kruger Statue in Central Pretoria to hand over a memorandum of demands to the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture. Under the banner of the #Flightcasemovement, this historic event saw the industry standing united, marching and pushing flightcases to represent their cause. The industry players joined in spirit by those who could not afford the transportation cost to be there. “I felt like I was part of a huge national movement that will never be seen for another hundred years, I was proud to be part of this committee,” said Sizwe Mokoena of Ugozi Entertainment, a member of the #Flightcasemovement and who led the protestors in peacef
USA - Around 2,000 venues, places, landmarks, and monuments all over the US were lit in red for the #RedAlertRESTART campaign on 1 September to highlight the critical situation facing the live events and entertainment industry and the need for lawmaker’s support of the Restart Act (S.3814) to offer some sort of relief to the industry. This latest red day of action was part of a wider industry campaign being led by the #WeMakeEvents movement, a collective of trade organisations including PLASA (the Professional Lighting & Sound Association). The idea of lighting buildings in ‘emergency red’ started in Germany with #NightofLight in June, and the concept caught on with red days of action organised in many European countries and the UK (initiated by #LightiItInRed on 6th July, followed up by PLASA’s #WeMakeEvents action on 11 August) as well as South Africa (#
Germany - On 9 September, the Red Alert Action Alliance - Initiatives & Associations of the Event Industry (Aktionsbündnis AlarmstufeRot - Initiativen & Verbände der Veranstaltungswirtschaft) assembled at a large demonstration in Berlin in response to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic to the event industry. With numerous companies having experienced hardly any sales for six months and a significant drop in revenue, the crisis is now threatening both businesses and jobs. The demonstration was conceived as a concerted action by all stakeholders in the event industry - from agencies and artists to event technicians and showmen. According to the organisers, up to 15,000 employees in the event industry heeded the call. After countless had already taken off their ‘last shirts’ and laid them down in a symbolic action on the meadow in front of the German Bunde
USA - The Meyer Sound education team has returned with a series of MAPP 3D round table discussions every Thursday in September. Each session will welcome questions from attendees and be answered by a team of panelists. The sessions will also focus on different features of Meyer Sound’s new MAPP 3D system design and prediction tool. The first round table - which took place on Thursday, 3 September - addressed overall MAPP 3D help, feature requests and bug reports, main graphical user interface (GUI), viewports, importing CAD and SketchUp drawings, and SPL vs. Attenuation in model view. This Thursday, 10 September, the session will focus on primitives, modifiers, and tweaking SPL range and resolution for quick design. The third round table, scheduled for 17 September, will teach attendees how to interpret Δ dB and connect to the Galileo Galaxy Network Platform,
USA - In an effort ranging from coast to coast - and also taking in the Pacific and Caribbean Oceans - the Red Alert RESTART event, organized by members of the live industry, cast a red glow on the night of 1 September. More than 1,600 buildings, iconic structures, and residences, as theatres, production houses, hotels, casinos, recording studios, opera houses, ballrooms, nightclubs, arenas, and individual homes were part of the event, which also included demonstrations in many cities. The goal of #RedAlert RESTART is to urge Congress to vote for the RESTART Act and to support the efforts of ExtendPUA.org by pushing for an extension and expansion of PUA benefits for 1099 and freelance workers, i.e. independent contractors; and an extension of the $600 FPUC as part of a comprehensive pandemic relief package. A four-and-a-half-hour livestream on Facebook, ho
USA - As the industry continues to be largely shut down, entertainment industry workers are dealing with increased levels of depression and anxiety and many are struggling to maintain their mental and emotional wellbeing. Joblessness, isolation, and worry about the future are all contributing to the negative impact on mental health. The reality is that many are not coping well and reports of suicide are on the rise. National Suicide Prevention Week is an opportunity to learn what can you do to help colleagues or family and friends you are concerned about, as well as find resources that may help you today or in the future. Visit btshelp.org/bethe1to see the warning signs of suicide, because the more familiar you are with the signs the more likely you are to recognise them. Then learn about the 5 Steps you can take to help keep
UK - Following the recent announcement of the expansion of UKickstart Event 2020, the first UK-wide live and virtual gathering of event professionals post-lockdown, it has once again extended its programme to include a Live Performance panel discussion on kickstarting the events industry. The panel discussion will take place at one of White Light’s managed venues, Illuminate at the Science Museum, and will be chaired by managing director Bryan Raven. The panel is called Working in a Post-COVID World – How to Kick-Start Live Performance and will take place on Tuesday 8 September at 4.30pm. Alongside Bryan, industry experts speaking will include Adam Blackwood, founder and creative director of Private Drama; Jon Drape, director of Engine No 4; Clara Cullen, venue support manager and Nicholas Wells, owner of Power Plan Services. The panel will discuss is
UK - Acclaimed lighting designer Paule Constable will deliver this year's Trotter Paterson Lecture, the Society of Light and Lighting (SLL) has announced. Taking place on 10 September (Thursday) from 1pm, the event will for the first time be held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with free access to those registered. Constable will discuss her award-winning work, motivations, and experience as a lighting designer. Following the lecture, there will be a live Q&A session, where attendees will have the opportunity to submit questions. Constable is an honorary fellow of Goldsmith’s College, Rose Bruford College and the Central School of Speech and Drama. She also received an honorary doctorate from the Royal Scottish Academy and has been leading the freelance lobbying of the UK government, which contributed to securing the £1.57bn investment to protect Britain’
UK - Initially launched by PLASA in response to calls from its membership, the #WeMakeEvents campaign aims to raise awareness around the current plight of the live events sector and how it urgently needs financial support in order to survive the COVID-19 crisis. The initial response resulted in a collective Day of Action on 11 August, with creative expressions across the country, including over 700 buildings lit up in red and other activities that culminated with 4,000 socially distanced event professionals lining bridges and the bankside of the Thames, expressing their need for support with the red alert theme. (Read extensive coverage of the Red Alert day of action in LSi September – out now!) In order to r
South Africa - South African technical companies, technical crew and freelance technicians have initiated the Flightcase Movement – a campaign to hand-deliver a memorandum of demands to the country’s Department of Sports, Arts and Culture (DSAC) on 8 September (next Tuesday). The aim of the movement is to enable the resumption of live events whilst maintaining social distancing by following protocols set out by the Event Safety Council. The action will take place in Pretoria, with business owners, technicians and freelancers in the live events industry meeting at Paul Kruger Statue in church Square at 9am. They will push 250 flight cases to the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture building, where a memorandum will be handed over at noon. Campaigners will be dressed in black with full PPE including masks, gloves, safety shoes and hard hats. The South African
UK - Each Wednesday from 9 to 30 September, a line-up of the West End’s most well-loved singers will perform alongside some of theatre’s top musicians in West End Unplugged (live from L-Acoustics Creations), a series of four 45-minute charity concerts. Featuring top Olivier Award-winning talent from hit productions like We Will Rock You, Wicked, Beautiful, Come From Away, The Tina Turner Musical, the concerts will feature a mixture of show tunes and some of the performers’ personal favourite songs. The series is presented by choreographer Anthony Van Last and music director Ben Goddard and promises to be a joyful mix of music and relaxed chat. Guests stars include Mazz Murray, Alice Fearn, Sandra Marvin, Hugh Maynard, Aisha Jawando, Richard Fleeshman and Celinde Schoenmaker, Tim Howar, Siobhan McCarthy, Joe Stilgoe, Hanna
China - Prolight+Sound Guangzhou (PLSG) 2020 is taking place from 21-24 August at the China Import and Export Fair Complex. Organisers Messe Frankfurt and the Guangdong International Science and Technology Exhibition Company say they have put all of the necessary safety precautions in place to provide a safe and effective business platform for the industry. “Participants will be able to reconnect with industry peers and explore sourcing and networking opportunities to help the industry reboot,” say the organisers, “677 exhibitors will utilise 80,000sq.m across eight halls. The fair will also provide enhanced services including online participation to facilitate interactions between buyers and exhibitors. Furthermore, over 40 seminars, forums and product demonstrations will be featured concurrently, highlighting the latest industry knowledge in the entertainment,
USA - Inspired by efforts in the UK, mainland Europe and South Africa, the US live events industry is set to host its own #WeMakeEvents ‘Red Alert’ day of action on 1 September. Using the hashtags #WeMakeEvents #RedAlertRESTART and #ExtendPUA to gain momentum, the move represents a major call to action on Tuesday, 1 September, imploring the US Congress to pass the RESTART Act (S.3814) as quickly as possible, offering economic relief to America’s live events industry, which has been shuttered since March, 2020, putting millions of people out of work. Additionally, the movement is to support ExtendPUA.org in their efforts towards continuation and extension of the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance to provide relief to those without work due to COVID-19. #WeMakeEvents North American director, Brad Nelms comments: "The group has managed to gather incredible support fo
Europe - Sennheiser’s popular live Crew Calls continue with four members from Ed Sheeran’s live touring crew from the world record-breaking Divide Tour On 8 September at 8pm CET, Sennheiser hosts Andy Egerton and Tim Moore will welcome Chris Marsh (production manager, FOH sound), Mark Friend (tour manager), Matt Jones (lighting director) and Dave White (guitar/Chewie tech). Organisers are urging those wishing to tune in to register early for the live round table with the touring crew behind Ed Sheeran’s. During the 90-minute Crew Call, Chris Marsh and Mark Friend will discuss production and tour management and speak about the FOH sound, while Matt Jones will give insights into the tour’s lighting design. Guitar fans will be delighted to see David White on board, who designed and built Ed Sheeran’s Chewie looper pedalboard. As always, all panelli
