USA - Every night in December, America’s ‘Steel City’ was transformed, taking on the air of a holiday village, courtesy of a Vincent Lighting Systems (VLS) design that featured Chauvet Professional COLORado Solo 1 fixtures. An alternative to Pittsburgh’s traditional Light Up The Night public gathering, which was cancelled for the first time in 60 years in 2020 due to the pandemic, the reimagined event created an organic drive-by experience on the city’s streets by adorning the downtown district in brilliant seasonal colours. Vincent Lighting was brought on board by Flyspace Productions, which produced the event in conjunction with the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership. “Instead of running our annual big event for one day we adapted and pivoted to light up many buildings for the holiday season,” said Noland Jenkins, production manager and lead designe
The Netherlands - The buzz around the new Sony PlayStation 5 launch was unmissable in November as Sony HQ buildings worldwide exploded in a spectacular series of co-ordinated lighting and visual shows to herald the new flagship PS5 console. In the Netherlands, Hilversum-based technical production company Smits Light & Sound (SLS) invested in 100 x new Robe LEDBeam 150s to make up the 200+ Robe fixtures - including 172 x LEDBeam 150s - that were needed to complete an ambitious lighting scheme created by brand agency BAAS Amsterdam and SLS for the ADAM Tower in Amsterdam Nord. The ADAM Tower (Amsterdam Dance & Music) on the banks of the IJ River in the redeveloped docklands area close to Amsterdam’s famous central station is a vibrant creative hub and a well-known local landmark. It was the first time that Jeroen Smits and his SLS team had lit the 100m-t
USA - Lee Rose and the creative team behind the Hollywood Party segment of Dick Clark’s Rockin’ New Year’s Eve show begin looking for a suitable soundstage for their production in mid-September. Most years the process is fairly routine, but not in 2020. “We scouted the Los Angeles Convention Centre as a possible location,” said Rose, who began lighting Dick Clark New Year’s Eve segments back in the ‘par can days’ of December 1984. “Normally we’re on a soundstage for the Hollywood Party, but as it turned out, most of the TV shows that went down for the pandemic left their sets on their stages. Between that and production starting up for some new shows, there were no stages to be had. A venue was finally confirmed in October with production ‘tweaking’ the layout to make it more COVID compliant.” The prolonged quest for a sta
USA - Radiant Church, a thriving multi-site church located in Tampa, Florida, has recently overhauled the AVL system in its dedicated space for elementary-aged children. This included the installation of 37 ADJ lighting fixtures to create a vibrant and versatile rig designed to provide a fun-filled and contemporary backdrop for Sunday services and midweek events hosted by the church’s lively ‘Radiant Kids’ ministry. Planted by Pastor Aaron Burke and his wife Katie in 2013, with a vision of creating a life-giving church that would transform a community, Radiant Church has quickly grown to spread across five locations in the Tampa Bay area. With an attendance approaching 4,000, it was placed at number 5 in Outreach Magazine’s 2020 list of Fastest-Growing Churches in America. Throughout this growth, the church has continually invested in the AV technology they use to pr
Denmark - Lighting designer Johnny Thinggaard Lydiksen counts himself lucky to have had a busy autumn, engaged in working on several different television productions, all of them using Robe moving lights. This has included music show Here’s Your Hit for DR2, a flagship channel of the Danish Broadcasting Corporation, and two major TV Awards shows, one for radio station P3 Guld (Gold) at the Aalborg Musikkens Hus and the high-profile Crown Prince Couples Awards staged at the Værket Randers. Directed by Dean Strange, Here’s Your Hit is staged in the charismatic Tunnel Fabrikkerne in Copenhagen's north harbour. This facility was originally built to fabricate and engineer elements utilised in the construction of the Oresund Bridge that connects the Danish capital with the Swedish city of Malmo. It is now in the process of being redeveloped as a mu
Europe - Global event production company PSAV has announced that it will begin to operate under the Encore name as part of a planned move to align its portfolio of companies, including Hawthorn and AVC Live, under a master brand. Announced in March 2020, the move “solidifies the company’s desire to unify its operations and deliver industry leadership through end-to-end creative, production and technology services to its meeting planner customers and hotel partners, taking them far beyond traditional AV services”. “This is an exciting day for our family of companies,” said Ben Erwin, president and CEO. “In a world changed by the pandemic, the Encore brand and new icon signal a forward focus. It puts our customers at the centre as we offer new platforms and tools to enable them to continue to meet and seamlessly connect in person and virtual audiences. We hav
Serbia - Ayrton has appointed Sky Corporation as its new, exclusive distributor for Serbia. Established in 1999, Sky Corporation specialises in distribution, retail and systems integration, and is a regional leader in event and production technologies and services. “At Sky Corporation we believe that high quality products and top performance are paramount in numerous applications and projects, and that's where Ayrton steps in,” says Sky Corporation director, Milan Cvetinovic. “In the entertainment industry, Ayrton products are high-end and we are happy to have the opportunity to introduce the Ayrton quality to our market. We have used all kinds of top-quality products in our production company but Ayrton is way above all of them. “We firmly believe that Ayrton will help us to build more value into the company and to our clients.” “We are delighted to
UK - 2021 sees the Association of British Theatre Technicians (ABTT) celebrate the diamond jubilee of its foundation. The Association will be marking this milestone with a year of online activities, and a resumption of the popular face to face in-person events when restrictions allow. It will also take the opportunity to dip into the rich depths of the ABTT Archive in order to share videos and interviews. Plus there will be more seminars, new awards, and events throughout the year. “It is a privilege to be part of the ABTT in its 60th year and to participate in its diamond jubilee,” says Robin Townley, CEO of the ABTT. “It is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the role it has played throughout its existence in supporting those engaged in the design and construction of places of entertainment as well as those delivering technical and production support to live perform
UK - PLASA is hosting two free webinars this week on how to apply for the second round of grants from the Culture Recovery Fund (CRF). Taking place on Wednesday 13 January from 10am-12pm and Friday 15 January from 2pm-4pm, these webinars will be hosted by Caroline Taylor, an independent expert with a proven track record in successfully applying for £15m in Arts Council England funding, including the first round of the CRF and the ACE Emergency Fund. During each webinar you will explore the main application questions in detail which will help you submit a strong application. You will also learn about Grantium, the new Arts Council application portal which you are encouraged to register for prior to the webinar. Additionally, each webinar will have a dedicated Q&A section to answer any specific questions you may have regarding the application process. Following the
UK - With SpotTrack, the specialist entertainment software tool for making, modifying and maintaining followspot cue sheets, sold on a per-show basis, it provided an immediate measure of the shut down of the entertainment industry across the world last March: all sales stopped. But equally, it proved a barometer of an industry flickering back to life later in the year, with SpotTrack put to use on a number of the high-profile productions which re-opened for limited runs from the summer on. At the Troubadour Theatre in Wembley, lighting designer Ken Billington and associate LD Dale Driscoll put SpotTrack to use on Sleepless In Seattle, which had actually loaded in pre-lockdown and was then one of the first shows to get going again once London’s lockdown was lifted. Based on the movie of the same name, the show played a limited but well-received season, helping
USA - “New Year’s Eve at Lincoln Theatre has become one of our favourite traditions,” alt rockers BIG Something declared when announcing plans for a two-night NYE stand early in December. But during a pandemic, even traditions continued are traditions changed. This was true for BIG Something as well as the design team that lit their livestream shows. Rather than playing to a full house, the energetic six-piece band, which typically feeds voraciously off crowds, had to perform their NYE concerts in a virtually empty venue. Their lighting designer for the evenings, Daniel Thibault of Life Is Art Studios, also had to alter his normal way of doing things. Instead of running with the big beams and sweeping aerial effects that they normally favour, he and his team opted to work with more tightly focused wrap around looks that translated better to video. “Everyb
USA - At short notice, Elizabeth Coco eagerly embraced the opportunity to light three concert videos for the First Baptist Church of Glenarden outside Washington DC. “Every year the church does spectacular Christmas and New Year’s Eve services, but due to COVID they had to reinvent things,” recalled Coco. “We did a series of filming over the course of seven days that included gospel performances from the church, as well as some partnering houses of worship in the area. From this, we created videos for the holidays as well as one for release later in 2021. I really enjoyed the challenge of taking on this project.” In the process, Coco not only expanded her creative horizons, she also discovered the capabilities of the Chauvet Professional Maverick series, as her “surprise rig” included six MK3 Spot and 12 MK1 Spot fixtures. “The performance of thes
USA - Behind the Scenes has announced a generous year-end donation from MA Lighting International which has been a supporter of the charity for many years, through its partnership with the Lightpower Collection. MA Lighting International is responsible for worldwide sales and marketing of grandMA control systems. MA Lighting international managing director, Stephan Saremba, commented, “In times like these, when donations from companies have declined sharply due to necessity, MA Lighting would like to set an example with direct financial support and once again emphasise the importance of these foundations.” The Lightpower Collection is a long-time major supporter of Behind the Scenes. Lightpower, founded in 1978 in Germany as a lighting rental company, has grown to be an internationally established distributor for stage and studio lighting equipment. The Lightpower
Germany - Nearly 500 Astera AX3 LightDrop wireless battery-powered LED fixtures were utilised for a Weihnachtsshow (Christmas Show) special broadcast by popular German singer, dancer and entertainer, Helene Fischer. Essential elements of the show broadcast on Christmas Day were recorded at the vast Halle 6 of Dusseldorf Messe, complete production lighting designed by award-winning LD, Tim Routledge. Due to coronavirus restrictions and the relatively short lead-time in which these segments of the show had to be produced, neither Tim nor camera director Paul Dugdale – also based in the UK – could physically be there in person. So, to ensure that the lighting design was installed and ran smoothly, Tim brought German LD Michael Kuehbandner onboard as lighting director to oversee the project in Dusseldorf. It was Tim’s first design for the artist; however, he ha
USA - After arguably the toughest year in recent memory, Bayside Church in Granite Bay, California, one of the largest churches in the Sacramento area, wanted to do something special for its congregation this holiday season. As a special holiday gift to the community, Bayside built a Christmas village complete with ice-skating rink, towering Christmas tree and special Christmas light show, a festive holiday experience enhanced using dynamic IP-rated luminaires from Elation Professional. Alec Takahashi, a former lighting designer and lighting director at the church, was called on to light the project and worked on creative production with the church's creative team, including Bayside creative director Corbin Phillips. Felix Lighting of Southern California supplied all of the lighting gear for the project. The Christmas experience, which included a 10-minute light show
Qatar - The Amir Cup Final 2020 Ceremony, the biggest football cup competition in the State of Qatar, and the inauguration Ceremony of Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium, the fourth FIFA World Cup stadium to open in Qatar following Khalifa International, Al Janoub and Education City was recently performed using two grandMA3 full-size and multiple MA Network Switches. Qatar Vision Company developed, produced and managed the inauguration and final, that took place during Qatar National Day and exactly two years before the country hosts the FIFA World Cup final. Mohammad Assaf and Mark Anton were the lighting designers. Because of strict health and safety protocols, Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium was only allowed to reach approximately 50% capacity. Any fan who attended the match had to return either a positive COVID-19 antibodies test or a negative COVID-19 test prior to being allowed access
UK - The London skyline again turned into a beacon of blue at 18:00 on Thursday 7 January. Major sporting and entertainment venues, national landmarks and historic buildings across the capital illuminated in a gesture of thanks to the NHS, volunteers and all those on the COVID healthcare frontline. Heading the list of venues were The O2, London Stadium and Olympic Park, the National Theatre and Madam Tussauds London. The #LightItBlue campaign has been organised by mental health non-profit organisation Makeitblue CIC, formed last year by members of the live events and entertainment industry. Tim Owen, Makeitblue director of strategy and engagement said, “With the support of the Mayor of London, we want to light the city blue as a public demonstration of continued support and admiration for all those working under immense pressures to look after COVID and other e
UK - ON LX Limited has announced the latest release of its bespoke user interface creation tool, Ctrl for iPad. The release features a host of key time-saving and practical features taken directly from user feedback and designed to make configuration and multi-protocol support even faster. Matt Didon, ON LX’s managing director says: “Our users are the most important part of our product, they heavily drive development and this release was a great opportunity for us to focus on feature requests and meet the changing needs of the industry.” Alongside the new features and improvements, a new ‘Lite’ license tier has been introduced. ON LX’s James Walton adds: “The motivation behind the Lite tier is to open Ctrl for iPad up to creative applications where full commercial grade interfaces with user permissions and support for HTTP, TCP, UPD and modules simply ar
USA - The 1,500-seat Marque Theatre was virtually empty, save for a few widely separated family members on hand, when Spafford took to the stage for its 2021 New Year’s Eve livestream. Matt Collier, the jam band’s longtime LD, couldn’t help but contrast the scene to the one he remembered from the band’s last NYE show, when they played before a packed house at Great American Music Hall, more than 750 miles (and a whole world) away in San Francisco. “What a difference a year makes,” said Collier. “There was less stress than there was last New Year’s Eve, because we played in a virtually empty hall, but I missed the energy of the crowd so much. Just as the band feeds off crowd, I also do as an LD. So, it was a bit of a bummer not to have them there this year.” Setting his disappointment aside, Collier became completely immersed in the moment once his bus
USA - When Seattle was forced to adapt its customary New Year’s Eve celebrations due to the ongoing disruption caused by COVID-19; necessity, once again, proved itself to be the mother of invention. The result - a collaboration between event production company, Modern Enterprises LLC, and projection mapping specialist Maxin10sity - was a revolutionary ‘sky mapping’ show that saw virtual lights, projection, and special effects superimposed on live footage of the city’s leading landmark, the Space Needle, and the sky above. CEO and founder of Modern Enterprises, Terry Morgan, reports: “I’ve worked with Tamás Vaspöri (managing director at Maxin10sity) for years and have always been so impressed by what we were able to create together; namely the Borealis Festival of Light here in the US, which debuted to a wonderful crowd of over 120,000 people.” A
The Netherlands - The increasingly popular EclPanel range from Prolights is making waves in The Netherlands with the help of newly appointed distributor Full AVL. Adding to the list of companies adopting the Italian products are Dutch companies Stagelight (SL), First Impression, Purple Haze and Freek Gerris Stagesupport. Marcel Bruijns from Stagelight (SL) said, “We have tested a lot of manufacturers who offer a soft-light panel and found Prolights' EclPanel TWC to be the best performing and well-equipped for mobile use in rental companies." At First Impression, adapting the business for COVID was extremely important: “Due to the pandemic we had to transform our rental department into several streaming studios,” says Ron Haans from the Tilburg-based company. He added: “The EclPanels were the perfect solution for this due to their intuitive use and excellent on-
UK - Projects Department Ltd (PDL) specified and installed two Zero 88 FLX lighting control consoles, four SCD Servers and a ZerOS Wing for YouTube’s Space London facility in the Kings Cross area of the UK’s capital. Projects Department, led by Peter Daffern, is an independent company specialising in a wide range of technical services for assorted entertainment lighting industry sectors including broadcast, and is well known for its adaptable and lateral thinking approach. The three main studios at Space London are available for YouTube’s top creators and influencers - those with 10,000+ subscribers to their channels - to use for content creation and other related endeavours, offering a vibrant community, an imaginative workspace and well-equipped environment to encourage the production of more high-quality material. When they needed a multifunctional lig
France - David Guetta played a live New Year’s Eve set at the Musee du Louvre in central Paris. Celebrating the roll-over from 2020 to 2021 in this special environment, 116 x Robe iPointe moving lights on the rig helped make it impressive. It was also the third in David Guetta’s United at Home concert series to raise money for those in need in what’s been a tough year for everyone. Director Romain Pissenem’s and his UK and France based creative production company High Scream were also the stream’s executive producers, working directly for the artist and collaborating closely with staff from The Louvre. The 15-camera stream was directed by Job Robbers. Romain’s team included lighting designer Ian Tomlinson and lighting programmer and operator James Betts Gray. His starting point for the production design was the 21.6m-high glass and metal
USA - Following the success of the Element HEXIP outdoor-rated wireless up-lighting fixture, ADJ has introduced the Element HEX IP Chrome model. Offering the formula of 6-in-1 HEX LEDs, a powerful rechargeable battery, WiFLY EXR wireless DMX and an innovative casing design, the new version features a striking chrome housing. This makes it suitable for applications where, instead of blending into the background, lighting fixtures are required to make a bold statement. The Element HEX IP Chrome is powered by four 10W HEX (RGBWA+UV) LEDs, which generate a consistent colour wash with a 20° beam angle. The 6-in-1 LEDs allow for the creation of a huge palette of colours ranging from vivid saturates to subtle pastels. In addition to the primary colours of red, green and blue, the inclusion of both white and amber LED elements allows for the generation of a wide variety of co
