Vari-Lite has appointed Geralyn Harvey as marketing communications manager. Harvey, a 13-year marketing veteran, most recently with Canadian firm Milltronics, will oversee all advertising, promotion, public relations and trade show activities for the company. She will work closely with Ken Matthews, who was brought in as vice president of sales and marketing last year to develop Vari-Lite’s direct sales organisation.
Vari-Lite Production Services (VLPS) London has won the prestigious contract to light the biggest stage set ever built at Earl's Court - for the BRIT Awards 2000 night tonight.VLPS is supplying the automated lighting systems, not only for the Awards ceremony itself, through BRITs production company MJK Productions, but the pre-show Mastercard Reception and the massive after-show party too. VLPS won the huge contract after proving the cost effectiveness of choosing one specialist supplier for all of the event'' major lighting elements.
Overt Light to Sound - a new distribution company, handling both lighting and sound equipment - has been launched by Malcolm Burlow. Burlow has been in the industry for more than 15 years, most recently working with Electrovbision, but prior to that with DJ2000 which had the sole UK distributor rights to Numark. The company will distribute a wide range of products from major manufacturers worldwide.
Vari-Lite Production Services (VLPS) London and AC Lighting have teamed up to create two interactive technical workshops under the banner of 'Outreach 2000'. The workshops, held in Edinburgh and Oldham, were designed to give entertainment technology students first-hand experience of the Vari*Lite automated lighting system, WYSIWYG programming, Wholehog and other DMX lighting consoles and DMX protocol. For the first course at Queen Margaret University College, Edinburgh, VLPS training manager Coral Cooper and AC Lighting's Mike Falconer devised a workshop for students on the lighting technical course, whilst Northern Light's Mike Pendlowski provided instruction on the Strand 520 and Blacklight's Simon Wilkinson added guidance on the Sirius 250 console. For the second workshop at Oldham College, Coral and Mike gave the 60 students a two-day course, again covering the Vari*Lite system, the
Avolites is expanding into a new 500sq.m building in the same street. The move has become necessary because of the success of the ART dimming range, and the new premises are custom-designed to accommodate ART dimmer production. Recent sales include those to Skyscape at The Dome, The Royal Festival Hall, Hawthorn Theatrical, White Light, Stage Electrics and The Northern Ballet in Leeds - in addition to all the usual rock and roll suspects!
Stage Electrics are holding another sale on 1st April 2000. The Auction is being held near the company's Birmingham branch in Smethwick (one minute from Junction 1 off the M5). Lots will include Strand spotlights, including Brio, Prelude, Optique and Cantata. Follow spots, Martin Roboscans, smoke machines, radio mics, LCD video projector, Spirit Soundmixer, flight cases, trussing and corners and much more. Auction catalogues can be obtained by faxing 0121 525 2413 or emailing auction@stage-electrics.co.uk Catalogues will be mailed out after the 20 th March.
West Yorkshire-based Futurist has been appointed a Strand Lighting main distributor. The agreement will provide Futurist with Strand's full range of stage, studio, location and architectural lighting products. Significant sales stocks are now in place and Futurist are planning a major launch event at the end of April, which will include a product showcase of Strand's new 300 series memory consoles.
A new company, set up to provide lighting and power solutions for design agencies, production companies, event organisers and theming specialists, has started operating from Bristol, London and a dedicated internet site. The company has been established by Richard Cross, Mike Matthews and Elise Tregaskis - all former SLX employees - who bring to the company a combined 40 years experience in the theatre, entertainment and conference industries. Fulcrum will provide creative design, development and project management, including equipment sourcing, co-ordination of equipment hire and sales, transport, personnel, travel and accommodation for both permanent and temporary projects.
The STLD recently held its annual Sponsors Dinner at the RAF Museum in Hendon. The Society has some 65 active sponsors and there was an excellent turn-out from many of these, most notably Strand Lighting, DHA, Rosco, Vari-Lite, ARRI and Le Mark. Guests had the opportunity to view in private the aircraft displays at the Museum and not surprisingly, a great deal of interest was shown in the flight simulator, with a steady stream of enthusiasts queuing on one side and a not-so-steady stream of green faces exiting at the other side.
Following on from the success of previous years, the DI UK Light Jockey Contest 2000 - sponsored by Clay Paky and Pulsar - has attracted a large number of contestants and is now underway. Pulsar has organised a number of seminars for contestants at all levels. The preliminary heats - first introduced last year and aimed at Light Jockeys new to the Clay Paky and Pulsar range of products - have proved popular. During the month of March these took place at Pulsar's headquarters in Cambridge, making use of its recently refitted showroom. The three highest scoring contestants will go through to the main heats which will be hosted at the famous Limelight club in London.
Northern Light will be showing its latest touchscreen programmable SM desk at this year's ABTT show in London (April 5-6). This desk is similar in type to those now in use at the Royal Opera House. As sole UK distributor for Austrian Company Lighting Innovation, Northern light will also be exhibiting the Motoryoke, a lightweight remote control yoke giving pan tilt and iris control and with an adaptor for a scroller for use with the Strand SL, Source Four or other spotlights.
As a repertory theatre, in theory Sadler's Wells could play host to a different company each week, so to make chief electrician Martin Hunt's life a little easier, he's installed 36 of Wybron's new CXI (Colour X Infinity) Colour Fusion colour changers. Offering an extensive palette, the CXIs enable Sadler's Wells to call up virtually every colour of the spectrum. Each scroller uses just two gel strings made up of graduated frames of cyan, yellow and magenta to make the commonly used gel colours from Rosco, Lee and GAM, plus a host of shades in between. For Hunt, this means that the gel strings don't have to be changed for each different production. The first production at Sadler's Wells to benefit was Dick Whittington, which was lit by Andy Bridge who is also using Wybron equipment on the UK production of Fosse.
Dial Sound & Lighting has just announced the launch of ShowMagic 128, the latest addition to the ShowMagic range of lighting and sound controllers for the PC. To coincide with the launch, both Dial and distributors Cerebrum ran a series of workshops to introduce the new 128 to a wider audience. In essence, the latest release is an entry-level version of the flagship 512 channel version. The software enables you to control literally all the technical aspects of any performance or presentation that uses sound, lighting and special effects equipment from a single PC. It uses a 'Virtual Desk' - the software equivalent of a lighting control desk, sound playback and mixing desk all rolled into one. With the new version, the virtual desk enables control of up to 128 DMX512 channels and six stereo audio channels and comes with upgrade versions which feature RS232 control and a seven-day auto-sch
ARRI and Strand are among the first companies to take space at Showlight 2001. To date, 15 of the lighting industry's most famous names are taking advantage of the opportunity to be a part of the event which allows lighting designers, manufacturers and suppliers to meet and discuss ideas. The current list of sponsors includes ADB, ARRI, Avolites, Cirro Lite, DedoLight, DHA Lighting, ETC Europe, High End Systems/Flying Pig, Howard Eaton Lighting, Lee Filters, Northern Light, Optikinetics, Philips, Strand and White Light. Taking place every four years, Showlight is organised by lighting professionals for lighting professionals and allows attendees the opportunity to mix with some of the top names in theatre, film, television and architectural and themed lighting design.
MAD Lighting is to launch two new products. The new Axis 250MR is a single-arm moving head effect: everything you expect from a moving head unit is fitted as standard including E size indexable rotating gobos, trapezoid dichroic colours, a shutter and selectable Fresnel lens. The ITM 250 is available in scanner, star effect and colour changer versions. All fixtures have E sized gobos, rotating on the Scan 250R version, a separate shutter, trapezoid dichroic colours and digital address system.
Richard Belliveau, who for many years was the driving force behind High End Systems’ R&D efforts, has finalised an exclusive agreement as an external consultant to the Austin, Texas-based automated lighting manufacturer. Belliveau left High End in 1998 and has spent the last year and a half developing new ideas. This agreement formalises Belliveau’s new role and allows him to focus on innovative ideas. Pictured are High End Systems chairman Lowell Fowler, consultant Richard Belliveau and CEO Frank Gordon.
Christie Lites has announced the opening of Christie Lites Dallas (CLD). The company's new operation will be headed up by Kevin Leckey (operations) and Alan Niebur (sales). The 16,000sq.ft facility, located minutes from downtown Dallas, will support the Christie Lites multi-office network, which already covers Calgary, Toronto, Vancouver and Orlando, serving both the regional and touring markets. The company can be contacted at 4801 Reading Street, Dallas, TX 75247. T: +1 (214) 352 5252, F: +1 (214) 357 5757.
Stagetec has recently completed the supply and the installation of the performance lighting control systems, sound reinforcement and communication systems for two new music performance spaces and a sound recording studio at the new Mick Jagger Centre in Dartford. The project involved the redevelopment of parts of Dartford Grammar School, including the existing school hall, old gymnasium and old school library. The new spaces were integrated into the existing buildings and incorporate new foyer and administration areas. Theatre consultants Carr & Angier designed all aspects of the stage technical equipment. Full story in April L&SI.
Status Quo is to be the subject of a major documentary by BBC TV. The band will perform a live concert, recorded at the Shepherds Bush Empire between 25-28 March, which will be included in the TV special. LD Pat Marks plundered his design from the band's tour at the end of last year. He will use the house Par system and the 12 Clay Paky Golden Scan HPEs the Empire possesses, plus Mac 500s, Mini-Mags, ColourMags and ETC Source Fours all supplied by LSD. Marks will also use an Avolites Sapphire for the moving lights, and put the conventionals on an Avolites Pearl. The band will play a 40-minute set in front of a live audience, which, sadly, is destined to be cut to just a two-minute insert for the documentary.
Zero 88 Lighting welcomes the return of Claire House to run the recently-expanded marketing department. She returns to Zero 88 following a short ‘sabbatical’ at a PR and Marketing agency, where she provided marketing consultancy and services to companies in the Telecomms, Data Networking and Internet Industries.
AC Lighting has appointed Paul Biggerstaff to its growing UK sales force. Paul has been with the company for three years and was previously, managing the UK Goods Out department of the company's warehouse facility in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. Paul will be reporting directly to AC’s recently-promoted sales manager, Kevin Coker.
Rosco has appointed Andreas dessloch as its new development manager for German-speaking and former Eastern-bloc countries. Previously sales manager with Lightpower in Germany, Dessloch brings extensive experience of Rosco and ETC products, and of the German marketplace. Before working with Lightpower, Dessloch was also one of the organisers of the Frankfurt MusikMesse exhibition.Other recent changes at Rosco include the appointments of Kirsty Third to the UK sales team and Zoe Castle, previously scenic product specialist, taking overall responsibility for Rosco’s sales in France and Benelux, while continuing her specialist role in scenic products.
Lighting Unlimited has appointed industry veteran Mick ‘Jaggie’ Scullion as sales director, following his six years as sales and operations director with Spot Co. Scullion will be responsible for the company’s new business development programme, as well as account handling and management. At the same time, Lighting Unlimited has appointed two new project managers - Tony Fagan and Theo Cox - both also ex-Spot Co employees.
Multiform Technology Group has announced the availability of the Elip-Scan from Meteor Lighting. The Elip-Scan is a low-cost DMX-controlled pan and tilt mirror attachment for ellipsoidal spotlights. The mounting plate fits on standard 6.25" colour frame holders. Motors employ 16-bit stepping, with real-time speed-sensitive tracking for continually variable speed. In addition, the independent pan and tilt speed settings allow for flexible variations in design.
