Ghana - Accra recently staged its own ‘behind closed doors’ Ghana Covid-19 Heroes Concert in order to raise funds for both UNHCR, to help protect refugees from the pandemic, and the National COVID-19 Trust Fund. It was also a way to thank all frontline workers who have risked their lives in saving others. Charterhouse Ghana, a one-stop production house, staged the event, in partnership with Ghana Music Awards Foundation, at The Grand Arena, located on the premises of the Accra International Conference Centre. It was transmitted to audiences through television (TV3) and through social media streaming. WABlighting, run by Ernest Awuah, was brought in to handle the production design and drew heavily on fixtures from PR Lighting. “PR is rated number one brand in Ghana over all others due to its explicit features,” he explains. Both Wablighting and Charterhouse Ghan
Europe - Having enjoyed a business relationship for years, Artistic Licence and Controllux have announced a formal distribution agreement for The Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. Founded in 1968, Controllux is a leading name in the distribution of professional lighting equipment. With many experienced staff, the company provides comprehensive supply and support for respected brands in the theatrical, broadcast & film, entertainment and architectural markets. Artistic Licence CEO Wayne Howell comments: "Our broad range of lighting control and infrastructure products will nicely reinforce the Controllux emphasis on solutions. Both companies have been trading for many decades and bring customers the reassurance of experience, quality and reliability. Artistic Licence designs and manufactures all its own products in the UK - something that we are very proud of - an
Russia - Despite its relative solitude in Russia’s vast Siberian region, the city of Irkutsk is a thriving seat of culture that embodies all the best of Russia’s storied theatre tradition. Irkutsk boasts an impressive number of theatres and Irkutsk Academic Drama Theatre of N.P. Okhlopkov, the oldest theatre in Eastern Siberia and the cultural hub of the region, epitomises that artistic vitality. Founded in 1850 and currently celebrating 170 years as a cultural institution, the theatre recently worked with Light Power Design (LPD) to upgrade its stage lighting to an automated lighting system from Elation Professional with lighting control consoles from Obsidian Control Systems. Established in 1986, LPD focuses on sales and installation of professional lighting and sound equipment and has served as Elation’s Russian distributor for several years, enjoying exclus
Germany - Last year, music resonated throughout the Festwiese Apolda. Stars from Germany and around the world journeyed to this central German setting to perform. These sounds went silent following the Covid-19 lockdown. For weeks, the pastoral fairgrounds remained void of public entertainment. Happily, that changed on Friday 15 May when Studio D4 launched Autokino Apolda, a pop culture throwback to the 1960s-style American drive-in, but with a decidedly high-tech touch provided by a bright 10m by 6m LED video screen built with Chauvet Professional F4 IP panels supplied and installed by Materie Event Production. “The panels give us brilliant colours and sharp definition thanks to their 4.8 mm pixel pitch,” said Heiko Ullrich of Materie Event Production. “The black body of the LEDs means that we have great images even during sunlight. This was important, because t
Australia - Nalini Tebbey owns and runs Floating Lotus, a yoga studio based in Helensvale, on Australia’s Gold Coast, offering a busy weekly schedule of 36 yoga, pilates and meditation classes. Recently, helping to create a harmonious ambience in the studio have been six Astera Titan Tubes. The business had just moved into a tranquil new premises with large windows, lots of incoming natural light and panoramic views, a fully conducive environment for relaxation and concentration, when the coronavirus pandemic and resultant lockdown meant the doors had to be temporarily closed to the public. Ever resourceful, Nalini started streaming her classes. The Studio space needed additional lighting to keep up the quality and style associated with Floating Lotus. Nalini wanted her broadcasts to look polished and professional and Astera Titan tubes were recommended, and
Germany - In March and April, German TV network ProSieben broadcast the second season of the TV show The Masked Singer (TMS), in which celebrities sing whilst wearing imaginative full-body costumes. Whoever receives the fewest votes per show must remove the mask and disclose their identity. In the meantime, the jurors, Ruth Moschner and Rea Garvey, along with a guest judge each week, speculate over the course of six live shows as to the identity of who might be hiding behind the masks. Lighting designer Arkin Atacan from atacan design turned to various lighting solutions from GLP to ensure that the lovingly designed costumes, comprising dragons, sloths, robots etc,. appeared to optimal effect on the television screen. Arkin, who mainly specialises in the TV sector has been in charge of the Endemol Shine production since the first season last year. The stage conc
UK/USA - The organisers of the 2020 Knight of Illumination (KOI) Awards have announced the cancellation of both the UK and the USA events due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the entertainment industry. The difficult decision has been reached following extensive discussions between the committees of both the UK and US versions of the KOI Awards: The Fifth Estate and KOI co-founders Durham and Jennie Marenghi, along with the ALD and STLD in the UK and Live Design/LDI in the USA. All parties explored various possible options to secure the events, including virtual, live streamed/webcast ceremonies and postponed or scaled-back ceremonies. However, these ideas were ultimately deemed not to be viable for 2020. KOI-UK and KOI-USA executive committee member Sarah Rushton-Read of The Fifth Estate comments: "This has been a challenging decision, given the unpredi
UK - sunDial quad, the PLASA Gold Award-winning mains LED dimmer from Artistic Licence, demonstrates just how good the dimming achievable with an ETC Source Four Mini LED can be. Artistic Licence used its photometric lab to create a custom dimming curve for the fixture, with impressive results. The Source Four Mini LED from ETC is a miniature version of their classic stage spot. It uses a 12W LED and some clever optics to provide impressive projection, aimed at the museum, retail and restaurant markets. It has an onboard LED driver that can be controlled with mains phase dimming - as such, it is compatible with the sunDial quad dimmer. Curious to see the results, Artistic Licence trialled the Source Four using sunDial's default linear curve. The dimming was excellent, but limited to the central 70-80% of the DMX512 range. Additionally, the linear curve provides limited
UK - Manchester-based Sterling Event Group has opened the doors to the newly-created Sterling Studio. As the events and AV industries face increasing uncertainty as to when ‘business as usual’ will resume and live events can take place again, Sterling Event Group has announced the launch of the Sterling Studio Space. This comes at an instrumental time for the industry as Sterling works to reassure their clients that there are a multitude of alternatives to the traditional live event, says the company. “At this current time whilst live events are on hold, we wanted to offer our clients a solution to continue communicating, engaging, educating and entertaining. The studio allows clients to present their virtual events at the same high standard and production values they would expect from a live event.” comments Richard Bowden, founder and MD. As a company
Australia - Despite the restrictions that were in place, the team at the Royal Women’s Hospital in Melbourne wanted to make this year’s Mother’s Day special and called on lighting specialist Resolution X for help. The brief was to illuminate the façade of the hospital with colour and messages of love and support for all mothers. As part of the display, images of new and expecting mothers were projected onto the building in a rotating 10-minute light show. However, projecting the images onto the building turned out to be no small feat. The best vantage point for the setup was on the rooftop of a building diagonally opposite the Royal Women’s façade; a horizontal throw from the projection location approached 90m with an angle of more than 50 degrees. Further, challenging the team, wireless DMX was being beamed across the road and seven stories down to control a
UK - Sitting atop a hill 1,000ft above the floor of the Dee Valley in Wales, Dinas Brân exerts a powerful pull over the hearts of townspeople below. For nine centuries, the medieval castle built by a prince of Powys Fadog, has inspired myths, songs, and love stories. More recently, in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, the castle, which now stands in ruins, and its adjacent hills, have inspired hope and gratitude in the form of a lighting display created by ASG Entertainments, with the support of the Denbighshire County Council, North Wales Police, Eastwood Media, and Xperience Productions. On two successive nights in May, the all-volunteer group illuminated the hills and castle in vivid colours as a sign of appreciation for the NHS staff and key essential workers. Providing the display were 24 Chauvet Professional battery-operated WELL Fit fixtures taken from ASG’s
USA - Elation national sales manager John Dunn and global product manager Matthias Hinrichs will feature on the Elation Hour on 27 May, discussing tradeshow, corporate and special event design with John Featherstone, Chris Medvitz and Ignacio Rosenberg of lighting design group LightSwitch. (10:00 a.m. Pacific Standard Time). Lightswitch is a consortium of lighting, media and visual designers that has been creating experiences for over 25 years. They design award-winning environments for a diverse network of clients across concert, event, experiential environment, and architectural, operating from studios across the globe. To register for the session, visit this webpage.
Germany - In Eberswalde, a valley town located a short drive from Berlin, the world’s first radio concert was broadcast from an experimental tower near the city centre in January 1923. Today, almost a century later, a local music label, Lukins, is breaking through a new and different kind of barrier by organising Save Your Culture, a series of livestream events that highlight Eberswalde artists and venues that have been impacted by the COVID-19 lockdown. On 21 and 23 April, these broadcasts, which are livestreamed on Facebook and YouTube, emanated from the city’s popular (and temporarily closed) indoor climbing centre Bloc48. Accentuating the distinctive climbing walls and innovative obstacles of the facility, while supporting the online show’s DJ performers, was a collection of Chauvet Professional STRIKE and COLORado fixtures supplied by KINGSIZE.events.
Estonia - Tallinn-based technical production and rental company Strikken has been doing its bit to support the nation’s fight against coronavirus by voluntarily assisting the Synlab Eesti OU laboratory in collecting and transporting COVID-19 test samples gathered from all around the country. This is tied into research being conducted by the University of Tartu, including a three-month study on the prevalence of coronavirus among both symptomatic and asymptomatic people. At least 16,000 residents - based on a random statistical sample - will be interviewed and invited to be tested for coronavirus. The transportation programme to help collect the samples was initiated by Strikken’s long-time partner Rally Estonia, to get the materials quickly and safely to Synlab which is the main testing laboratory in Tallinn. Speedy test results and data from the study will assist
UK - The ALD has today announced that its ALD Awards for Excellence 2020 are open for submissions. Aimed at all students and recent graduates studying in the UK, the awards are a celebration of imaginative and creative lighting and video production and represent a chance for young designers to showcase their talents and to bring their work to the attention of experienced lighting and video designers. Johanna Town, chair of the ALD, comments: “The ALD’s Awards for Excellence are so important to a designer’s future. To be able to sell your ideas and passions for a design or methodology to other industry leaders is an important skill.” The awards are now open for submissions from students studying in the UK, recent graduates from 2018 onwards, or corresponding affiliate members of the ALD, in the following categories: The Michael Northen Award in L
UK - Philip French of UK technical production company Peachy Productions has just relocated to Wiltshire after being based in Guildford, Surrey for eight years. But during the coronavirus crisis, he is making the journey back twice a week to volunteer for the Surrey Drive Campaign. This is a locally-based crowd-funded initiative that delivers around 2,500 cooked meals - with locally sourced ingredients - each week for hardworking staff at the Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust hospital. The Surrey Drive Campaign includes some of Surrey’s live event experts. After seeing heart-breaking stories of exhausted NHS workers finishing their arduous frontline shifts and being unable to buy food at this critical time, Steve Page and Hannah Sheppard thought it was time to step up. Having furloughed all his staff while the UK continues in a largely restricted lockdown
Vietnam - MiQ, a New York-based global market research firm, retained designers Martin Dudley and Chris Davey through UK-based event technology specialists Great Expectations, to provide professional lighting design services for a series of events the company was holding around the world for local clients and other interested parties. Dudley of Martin’s Lights Ltd. and Davey of Stagelighting Tech (both of the UK), knew they would need a powerful, yet flexible, controller that would allow them to accommodate a wide variety of rigs. They also wanted a control solution that they could they could carry on international flights. These considerations led them to pack two ChamSys PC Wings for their globe-trotting MiQ Ignite tour, which concluded shortly before the COVID-19 lockdown. “We are both long-time ChamSys users,” explains Davey. “This made us confident
USA - Obsidian Control Systems will present an Onyx at Your Service webinar on 28 May at 10am PST, focused on lighting control and programming for houses of worship. Onyx is Obsidian’s scalable lighting control platform that is a popular choice for many houses of worship around the world. It is promoted as easy to learn for volunteers, while having the feature set and power to drive large gatherings. In this webinar, Obsidian Control Systems product manager Matthias Hinrichs will lead a two-hour discussion with experienced Onyx programmers and lighting designers Chris Eguizabal of Riverside, California, and Joseph Wolff of Calgary, Alberta. The programme will include insight into their workflow and programming styles and the components needed to put together small and large Onyx systems for churches and other venues. You can register for the event
USA - Architectural specifiers and installers are discovering the advantages of products derived from TMB’s road-proven technology. Concert touring is among the most technically challenging environments and touring technology has a long history of being the vanguard for design innovations in other industries. “There is no question rock & roll technology drives innovation in other industries; first theatre, then film and TV, then corporate events and theme parks, and now architecture,” comments Colin Waters, ex-roadie and TMB’s CEO and founder. “To this end, TMB now has regional reps throughout America, to liaise with specifiers, contractors, and designers who place our innovative products into a broad spectrum of high-profile installations, including Wynn Resorts in Las Vegas, O’Hare airport in Chicago, the Moxy Hotel in New York, the Schuster Center
USA - Nipmuc Regional High School in Mendon is a little over six miles from the Imperial Cars automotive mall. Lately, a lot of seniors from the 654-student enrolment school have been making that drive to the dealership. They aren’t necessarily looking to buy a new car; they’re coming to see a special graduation tribute that the popular dealer has sponsored for them. With the regional high school’s usual live graduation ceremony cancelled because of the COVID-19 lockdown, Imperial Cars contacted Image Production Services of Worcester, MA to put together a virtual alternative for Nipmuc students. Having worked with Imperial Cars on many projects in the past, Darren Lussier and his team at Image Production Services including media specialist Tovia ‘Ben’ Shapiro, put together an impressive video display to honour graduates. They used 80 Chauvet Professional PVP
UK - Last year, Astera Titan Tubes were at the heart of a lighting scheme designed by Ben Donoghue, now of Flare Lighting, for Beyond the Road, an immersive exhibition at London’s Saatchi Gallery. Featuring the music of Unkle, the experience merged the worlds of visual arts, music and film, offering visitors a chance to lose themselves in a multi-sensory world led by sound. Together with music pioneer James Lavelle (Unkle), the overall work was curated by creative producer Colin Nightingale, and sound designer/creative director Stephen Dobbie (both of the Punchdrunk theatre company). Lighting designer Ben Donoghue - who has recently joined Ben Cash, David Amos and the team at Flare Lighting from global creative agency Imagination - has worked regularly with Nightingale and Dobbie and was asked to collaborate on the project to create a lighting design for the e
USA - The city of Nashville was already well-known as a centre for artists and artisans, but due to a 2009 fire that robbed the community of its music centre (known affectionately as the Little Opry) county officials sought to build a venue that would draw top touring artists. In an effort to craft a lighting system that would match the talent they sought, Brown County commissioned Bandit Lites, trusting the sales and integration team to make the space usable for touring acts. From rigging to backstage layout and ultimately the lighting controls, Bandit’s team elevated the lighting to match the vision of the centre. “We wanted the stage to be a first class, state of the art lighting package,” explains project manager Doug Harden of Miller Architects. “Bandit delivered exactly that.” Bandit Lites provided all the fixtures for the building, including th
Canada - Every day when health care professionals enter Chicoutimi Hospital, Saguenay, Quebec, they get ready to face the realities involved in caring for patients afflicted with COVID-19. Now, they are also greeted with a rainbow of colours intended as an expression of gratitude from the Fondation de ma Vie (Foundation of my Life) and LSM Ambiocréateurs. Spearheaded by project leader Ricky Ricken of LSM, working closely with the Fondation de ma Vie, the display covers the entire width of the hospital’s entrance side in brilliant blues, oranges, yellows and purples from a collection of over 70 Chauvet Professional COLORado 1 Tri Tour IP fixtures from LSM’s own inventory. Placed at the base of the building and on ledges at various heights, the RGB fixtures cast their glow to the top of the hospital’s two the six-story wings. Light from the COLORado units also sh
USA -The Production Equipment Rental Group (PERG) has released a draft of its return-to-work guidance for the safe resumption of camera and lighting rental services. The PERG Safe Return to Work Guidelines provides recommendations for the prevention of the spread of COVID-19 and was created by a task group who took into account recommendations from the CDC, OSHA and public health officials and applied them to rental operations, equipment and facilities. The draft will undergo a public review process from 19 May through 9 June, providing an opportunity for materially-affected parties to participate in the development of these industry guidelines, ensuring that they reflect an industry consensus. Feedback is welcome from all stakeholders, and instructions for providing feedback are included with the download. Comments will be reviewed by the task group for r
