UK - John Hornby Skewes & Co (JHS) has announced the appointment of Paul Smith as managing director, along with further changes in management, sales and administration. Founded in 1965, JHS is a family owned and led SME, distributing a range of over 4,500 products across a blend of third-party distributed and proprietary brands through a variety of channels in over 150 countries. With effect 1 April, Adam Butterworth, who joined the company in May 2006, is appointed to the position of director of sales. Adam, who has been instrumental in the growth and consolidation and success of JHS’ export business, will be bringing his considerable commercial acumen and sales skills to bear across JHS’ export and domestic sales activities. Simon Turnbull, another long serving JHS team member is appointed to the position of media and communications manager. Simon, wh
USA - This week, Main Light officially opened its new facility in Nashville. The new 70,000 sq.ft. Main Light, South shop - under the direction of Main Light CEO, Randy Mullican - is located at 12630 Old Hickory Blvd, Antioch, TN. Locally, Main Light, South will be led by account executive Cathie Berbena Lloyd and operations manager Jim Gregory. This new facility is the company's third location, joining Main Light, East in Wilmington, DE and Main Light, West in Las Vegas. Berbena Lloyd was a long-time client of Main Light over the years. On the opening, Berbena Lloyd wants Main Light’s clients to know that “we are all about customer service and that having clients taken care of as efficiently as possible is our prime directive at Main Light. We understand that our customer partners are putting their trust in us, and we always want to deliver in the best way possible.”
The Netherlands - At the Enchanted Gardens light art festival, the ‘sound’ of flowers harmonised with the human voice, thanks to the work of Dynamic Beeld, Licht & Geluid. Designing the Rosarium section of this 17-day festival, which takes place at the 42-hectare Kasteeltuinen Arcen garden complex, Dynamic Beeld, Licht & Geluid combined colourful lighting with a song written by Dutch recording artist Stef Classens. “To honour the 90th anniversary of Het Limburgs Landschap, Stef Classens wrote a song called In The Forest,” said Paul Winters of Dynamic Beeld, Licht & Geluid. “This song formed the basis of the light show that we programmed. The chosen colour scheme worked really well with the lyrics of the song. This created a beautiful synergy between light and sound.” Key to creating this evocative color scheme of graduated reds and
Norway - V Sport, a group of television channels owned by Nordic Entertainment Group (NENT) and a part of the pan-Nordic V Sport brand, has fitted two of their new spaces with Prolights studio fixtures. When Nordic Entertainment Group were about to build their new studios located in Halse, Oslo, they turned to Hilux AS and Jørn Wangensteen for lighting design. Jørn is a lighting designer with vast experience in studio and film production, and already had experience with the EclPanels from several high-profile productions. “We immediately talked with Prostage, Prolights' distributor in the region, and told them the EclPanels were the perfect fit for this job,” said Jørn. “The panels' reputation is outstanding and ticked all of the boxes for this project.” Studio 1 was built mainly to house the new Visat winter sports studio and is fitted exclusively wit
UK - Avolites has announced its first AVOLab partnership with Visional, a multidisciplinary experience-focused creative production agency headquartered in Atlanta. An AVOLab is ‘a hub for expertise, training and product knowledge, around which a community of skilled practitioners is built’. Visional, based in Atlanta with studios in Denver, Orlando, and Los Angeles, have been using Avolites lighting and video products for almost a decade. Visional specialises in creative design, live production, virtual engagements, interactive experiences, and immersive environmental installations. “By combining cutting-edge technology, like Avolites Ai, with years of expertise, we help our clients create mind blowing visual experiences.” said Kyle Means, co-founder and principal of Visional. “This partnership has existed for some years now, and it’s nice to put i
USA - A large complement of Claypaky’s Sharpy Plus hybrid beam lights and spotlights were something to cheer about when Richmond-based Lite-Tek Entertainment deployed them on the Spirit Sports Ultimate Battle cheerleading competition on 25 March. The Myrtle Beach (SC) Convention Centre hosted Ultimate Battle, a one-night event showcasing the talented teams that have reached the pinnacle of cheerleading excellence and are headed to the 2022 Cheerleading World Championships in Orlando. Lite-Tek spends most of the winter months working on cheerleading events throughout the southeast; the rest of the year the company acts as a tour vendor and local lighting vendor for numerous music venues. Lite-Tek was the first company in the US to take delivery of Claypaky’s Sharpy Plus, and the fixtures have been busy ever since. Lite-Tek founder Darren Lewis designed the rig, acte
UK - The Association for Lighting Production and Design (ALPD) has opened its Design Lumière Scheme 2022 for applicants. The aim of this professional development scheme is to establish assistants who are employable by producers and lighting designers. The Lumière will gain first-hand experience as an assistant lighting designer with industry-recognised skills. This year, the ALPD has partnered with Glyndebourne, one of the world’s most celebrated opera houses. Charlotte Burton, ALPD’s Lumière Working Group Chair, comments: “It is a joy to be partnering with Glyndebourne for the Design Lumière Scheme in 2022. It will give the Lumière a unique experience to work in one of the world’s most renowned opera houses alongside the incredible in-house lighting team and this season’s wonderful lighting designers. “As a former Lumière, I know that work exp
The Netherlands - Showtec has introduced a new series of smoke machines, named QubiQ. Three new foggers and a fazer are featured in this series, the QubiQ S1000, QubiQ S1500, and QubiQ S2500 fog machines, and the QubiQ F1500 fazer, with more models in the pipeline. They are billed as ‘feature-rich, safe, and reliable, with a practical and unique-looking design’. The QubiQ series of smoke machines are Showtec’s latest addition to their arsenal of FX hardware. All four of them are controlled manually, through DMX, or via remote control, offering the usual control parameters like output level (0-100 %) and timer settings. The heater temperature can be monitored in real-time on the display (in % of the normal operating temperature). This offers the possibility of adjusting the output to a level at which the vaporiser isn’t cooled down to a point where it would cause the
Austria - Designer/programmer Niklas Fuchs was called upon to light Red Bull Symphonic, an event where ‘Austropop meets Classics’, held on three consecutive February nights at Vienna’s historic Wiener Konzerthaus concert hall. In this capacity, he would have to reflect the music of a symphonic orchestra in light, in addition to supporting the usual pop and rock artists that he typically lit. “I was asked to light the three concerts they did with Max Steiner Orchestra conducted by Christian Kolonovits,” said Fuchs. “For me it was a new challenge to design a lighting system for an orchestra, especially challenging was lighting the orchestra and the band in a way that is suitable for a TV recording as well as a live audience.” Helping Fuchs rise to the occasion was his ChamSys PC Wing Compact and Extra Wing Compact. “I used the Extra Wing only for Master I
Croatia - Pop superstar Petar Grašo wanted to make a spectacular impact with his first post-pandemic live shows - which were also the first arena music shows in the country as pandemic restrictions were lifted – so his brief to lighting designer Sven Kučinić was to “make it absolutely awesome”. Sven, who took on the full visual design - lighting, set and video - chose to use nearly 200 Robe moving lights to help him achieve the desired results - which were supplied to the production together with the other lighting kit by Zagreb-based rental company, Promo Logistika. The Zagreb Arena shows were followed by performances in Split and Slovenia in this high-profile mini-tour which delighted the artist’s many fans in the region, going ahead in truly “seat of the pants” fashion as the Covid restrictions relating to large audiences were lifted on the morning of
Germany - Ayrton recently received this message from lighting designer Phil Kong of Kong Design: “We just used 20 Ayrton Diablos on Ghost: Nachricht von Sam for ShowSlot and I wanted to let you know I was very happy with them for all of the things they were able to do, and how fast they were. The flat field, the gobos, the colour rendering - a lot of good things going on with them - and the size and price point are great. I was so glad to have these Ayrton fixtures on the show.” Co-written by Glen Ballard and Eurythmics' Dave Stewart, Ghost: Nachricht von Sam is a re-telling of the film classic which is currently touring several major German-speaking cities until the end of April. As the tour’s lighting designer, Kong rigged five of Ayrton's versatile, feature-rich, ultra-compact 300W Diablo fixtures across the downstage truss, three across the ups
Taiwan - Robert Juliat reports that 36 of its Dalis 860 cyclorama lights, complete with mini yoke and Quickrig systems, have been supplied to the National Taichung Theatre in Taiwan by DLHG Co. The National Taichung Theatre (NTT) has three main venues: the 2007-seat Grand Theatre, the 794-seat Playhouse and the 200-seat Black Box theatre. The main location for the Dalis 860 fixtures will be the Grand Theatre which hosts a broad programme of musicals, opera, ballet, modern dance and drama. The Dalis 860 cyclorama fixtures will be installed in truss and groundrow positions to light the venue’s impressive 18m wide x 10m high cyclorama with a smooth, even, highly controllable coverage. “However, the mini yoke and Quickrig system make it easy for us to transfer the Dalis units to our other venues as required,” says the venue’s head of lighting, Simon Hsieh. No
UK - Spectacular sell-out lighting trail Woodyfest saw Vari-Lite VL2600 Profile fixtures from Signify deliver stunning projections, punchy colour-rich washes and breakup patterns on the rear façade of Scotland’s finest stately home, Hopetoun House in South Queensferry. These effects were augmented by far-reaching aerial light effects, created by the Vari-Lite VL10 BeamWash, which reportedly attracted the local community’s attention some distance away, and even caused some to speculate that the aliens were coming! Woodyfest, produced by Wondrous Woods, with creative design and technical production from 21CC Group, ran for the second year within the magnificent woods and grounds surrounding Hopetoun House. The popular, and celebrated, annual lighting event took audiences on a magical journey along winding pathways, each of which led to exciting and dynamic
UK - Christie Lites has welcomed Mark Burnett as a new rentals rep. Burnett will be based out of Christie Lites Coventry and will focus on developing market share in theatrical rentals. He will also be working closely with the growing team of CL Reps on both sides of the Atlantic. Huntly Christie, CEO of Christie Lites says: “As a pivotal member of the Christie Lites team, Mark will support the company’s UK and North American clients to strengthen our growth directive across our 10 multi-office network locations. Mark’s 20 years of experience in the UK rental market, and the strong relationships and friends he has nurtured along the way, are both huge assets to our company. We are all delighted to welcome his expertise, knowledge, and great humour to our global Christie team.” Burnett comments: “This is an exciting time for Christie Lites, the industry and f
UK - Grammy award-winning musician, singer, songwriter, actress and producer St Vincent is renowned for her visual performances, an invigorating mix of grittiness, conceptual art and superlative music - a great match with lighting designer Paul Normandale, who also has a penchant for imaginative risk taking. Normandale designed the set and lighting for St Vincent’s most recent Daddy’s Home tour following the launch of the album of the same name. He worked closely with the artist who had numerous ideas about the style she wanted onstage, and after some creative brainstorming, Paul evolved a dynamic set and lighting scheme to bring flexibility, texture, depth, and dimension to the stage that was also practical and tourable. At the core of the touring lighting system were 19 Astera Titan Tubes. These were fully maximised as scenic, practical and effects light
UK - Ollie Wilkinson put together the lighting rig for the Panto performance of Snow White and Seven Dwarfs at Blackpool’s Grand Theatre. “I took on many hats with this project,” said Wilkinson. “One of the first was to prep the equipment at Arranpaul's warehouse for the show, and coordinate with the venue regarding the rigging and weight of the equipment that was being flown on their mother grid. My next role was to manage the load in team to ensure the equipment was placed, rigged and cabled ready for the first day of technical rehearsals. I also specified the Chauvet Professional Net-X, one main and one back up, to provide key ArtNet control.” Given the long Covid layoff, Wilkinson didn’t mind all the activity, especially when he saw the final production, a wonderfully joyful retelling of the classic tale filled with exuberant singing, dancing, co
USA - Lighting designer Matt Mills is currently on tour in USA with the Californian Nu Metal, Rock band KoRn. Due to international travel restrictions the booked LD for KoRn was unable to join the tour in USA. Stepping in, Matt saw this as an opportunity to tour with his Follow-Me 3D SIX remote follow-spot system. Having been Introduced to Follow Me-2D in 2017 on a Europe run with Avenged Sevenfold and Disturbed, Matt immediately saw what this could add to his shows: “Since then I have bought several Follow-Me 2D licenses and early January 2019 our design firm, Touch Light & Media, invested in the new Follow-Me 3D systems. We have rented our systems to several international tours, Shinedown, The Killers, many corporate events, and several high-profile political events.” On previous shows, the band was bothered by the traditional follow-spots being at lower angl
Czech Republic - LED and architectural lighting brand Anolis, a Robe business, has launched a new brand identity including refreshed visuals and optimised website ahead of the release of its new Calumma range of products. This follows the growth and expansion of Anolis’ business over the last two years and its close alignment to and connection with entertainment brand Robe. The new streamlined and contemporary Anolis look reflects the changing nature of installation lighting and technology, says the company. It underlines "the enhanced commitment to sustainability, creativity and invention which has always been at the heart of Anolis since its launch in 2005". The brand identity is designed by creative agency KHS and is led by a new logo. The original chameleon is retained as a fine detail in the form of an eye in the upper right-hand corner. The new ide
Europe - With an increasing presence in Film, TV and theatre markets, Prolights has been strengthening its efforts in Research and Development to implement new innovations within its colour science, to ensure colour consistency and advanced colour control across its product lines. Every fixture marked as ‘Spektra’ meets a standard set by Prolights, and its colours will match with other units with the same marking and guarantee batch consistency over time. The fixtures balance precisely in a controlled and predefined colour space, such as XY/HSI/RGB and CCT modes, gels or source emulation. Spektra categorises individual light sources during the calibration process, making different luminaires operate in the same CIE1931 colour space. Any fixture with this calibration matches precisely in whites and colours defined during production. The internal algorithm mana
USA - Both performance stages at this year’s Black Joy Parade celebration in California were illuminated primarily by ADJ fixtures, alongside a handful of additional units from sister company Elation Professional. IP65-rated fixtures were chosen by production company Islay Events for this outdoor event, which took place in the heart of downtown Oakland, CA. 18P HEX IP LED pars illuminated the performers on stage, while Hydro Beam X2 moving heads created piercing beam effects that shot out from the stage over the heads of the huge crowd. The mainstage rig was controlled from an ADJ LINK, while the PA system for the second stage utilised the Imperio mini line array system from ADJ’s Avante Audio brand. The Black Joy Parade is a celebration of the black community’s influence on cultures past, present and future. This year it involved a parade that started at 13th St
UK - PTZOptics, manufacturer of robotic cameras, has announced an extension to their distribution partnership with the Midwich Group into the UK and Ireland. Midwich (UK) and Square One (Ireland) now offer the full range of PTZOptics products, including from sister brands HuddleCamHD and TallyLights. This partnership expands PTZOptics’s relationship with the Midwich Group, the global distributor of AV products that includes Midwich, Square One, and Starin, a current distribution partner for PTZOptics in North America. “It’s been amazing to see, in less than a decade, the growth of PTZOptics into a truly international brand,” says Will Golde, director of channel development for PTZOptics. “Midwich Group is the ideal partner to help bring PTZOptics into new markets in the UK and Ireland. With their deep understanding of customer needs in the broadcast space, te
Australia - Canberra-based Elite Event Technology has made a new investment in 16 x Robe MegaPointe moving lights for general stock, which join the 16 that they already owned, purchased when the product was launched in 2018. “MegaPointe is a go-to lighting fixture for so many entertainment and corporate event scenarios,” commented EET’s Darren Russell. “It is highly versatile, so we knew it was a solid investment with a good ROI, and that the kit will be busy all the time,” he stated, adding “it’s a great all-purpose fixture with an amazing output for the size and weight.” EET has several other Robe products in its rental inventory, including Spiiders, Pointes, BMFL Spots and BMFL WashBeams, Spikies, LEDBeam 100s, LEDWash 600s and LEDWash 300+s, MiniMe’s, MMX Spots, DLX Spots and 600E Spots. Darren was an early adopter and started purchasing Robe prod
UK - Production designer Owen Pritchard-Smith used multiples of GLP’s impression X4 Bar 20 battens and JDC1 hybrid strobes for several rescheduled UK shows on Dermot Kennedy’s recent Better Days tour. These included dates at Alexandra Palace in London before the Irish singer headed off to the States. “Two of the Ally Pally shows were rescheduled from last year, and then a third date was added,” he explains. “We also did shows in Manchester, Glasgow and Belfast, and a couple of festivals.” Returning to the same winning combination he had taken out with the artist when they first started working together three years ago, the GLP fixtures again formed the “absolute core” of a rig that was embellished for Ally Pally, Pritchard-Smith says. Working alongside creative director Richard Sloan and producer Peter Abbott, he adds that he set out to design a show th
World - PRG has given its moving light range a major boost by committing to an investment of over 1,000 automated LED luminaires from Ayrton, adding a selection of Huracán Profiles, Domino Profiles, Eurus Profiles, Perseo and Khamsin fixtures, which will be spread over the different depots in the US, EMEA and APAC region. Recently celebrating its 20th year Ayrton has continued to focus on LED source lighting and has emerged as a market leader in that technology. Ayrton also prides itself in boasting a net carbon goal in its manufacturing and delivery ethos, developing high density sustainable packaging to ensure its fixtures are able to be shipped in as small a footprint as possible, which is definitely not negligible in PRG’s steps to increase its green footprint. Michael Althaus, global sales director at Ayrton states: “We are excited to welcome PRG into the fas
