USA - Based in Scottsdale, AZ, Impact Church is a fast-growing, multi-ethnic church known for high-energy worship and relevant, accessible teaching. The church recently moved into a new home, which was purpose-designed to host worship services with a focus on high quality audio, video and lighting.
The anchor point of this new AVL system is the ADJ LED video screen which fills the rear of the stage, while the lighting setup consists exclusively of fixtures from ADJ and sister company Elation Professional.
What began as a bible study for the Arizona Cardinals hosted by player Andre Wadsworth in the late 1990s was opened to the public and soon became one of the fastest growing churches in the nation. Headed up by Senior Pastor Travis Hearn, Impact Church has a reputation for diversity, authenticity and throwing a huge celebration each weekend. These gatherings have becom

Germany - The proposed lavish party for the launch of Microsoft's new Xbox Series X had to be waived due to the COVID pandemic. Nevertheless, the market launch of the new generation of consoles in the Gamescom city of Cologne was celebrated with a live stream (known as the Xbox Dream Stream).
The highlight was a drone show over the Rhine. At the start of the 150-drone extravaganza, Jens Hillenkötter, in his role as both executive producer and director for the drone show and the broadcast of the live stream - on behalf of the GUD.berlin agency - deployed 36 Creative Light 1 Plus fixtures from GLP.
For outdoor use in Cologne, Hillenkötter chose the Creative Light 1 Plus model with wireless control. The total of 36 LED effects deployed were attached to six vertically standing pipes in groups of six. In this configuration they offered an impressive backdrop for the excit

UK - BBC Studios' popular celebrity TV contest Strictly Come Dancing returned for its 18th series at the end of 2020, with new visual content choreographed by Hippotizer Karst+ media servers.
Leading the dance was a partnership of a Karst and Karst+, with the same duo serving as backup. An average series audience of more than 10 million Brits watched as the routines played out in front of a colourful array of visual content. The main stage was constructed as a series of arching LED screens, providing an eye-catching backdrop for the cameras.
The visual content included custom-made content for each performance - created by Potion Pictures and led by David Newton - and a mix of loops, full length time-coded tracks, and live rendered visuals.
These utilised Unreal Engine and nDisplay, with the data fed into the Hippotizer Media Servers by an output splitter.

USA - Founded in 2020, LA-based XR Studios constantly pushes the boundaries of XR technology to new heights. Collaborating with Fuse Technical Group for technical and equipment support, XR Studios provides two high-spec LED stages featuring quality equipment, including Brompton Technology processing and ROE Visual LED panels, and offers a team of expert technologists and bespoke workflows to help bring XR productions to life.
“We have always had a great relationship with Fuse, a company we consider to be one of the greatest pioneers in terms of pushing LED technology for a wide variety of applications,” says XR Studios’ director, J.T. Rooney. “They have a lot of experience with the equipment and provide technical consulting across live entertainment, television, film and virtual production. We wanted to ensure that our entire operation was executed at the highest le

Zimbabwe - Winky D and Jah Prayzah both draw passion and inspiration from the same rich, deep and fertile wellspring that is the Zimbabwean musical tradition. However, the two artists take this inspiration in slightly different directions; the former favouring chanting dancehall reggae beats, while the latter opts for a sound that is a bit more contemporary.
In both cases, the two have soared to superstardom in Zimbabwe and throughout southern Africa, each with a rabidly loyal following. Indeed, nothing divides the country’s music lovers quite like the Winky-Jah debate.
This February, Kayse Concert TV presented Best of Both Worlds, a three-hour pay-per view livestream that showcased the talents of both artists. The widely anticipated show met and exceeded all expectations, as it served up a nonstop outpouring of pure passion and joy, not only with its music, b

USA - At AREA15, the new art and entertainment district located minutes from the Las Vegas Strip, visitors should ‘expect the unexpected’. Behind the looming exterior façade, the 200,000sq.ft interior houses a collection of themed retail and entertainment options, all surrounded by an air of cosmic mystery.
One principal attraction is a space called The Portal, where, behind imposing metal doors, visitors can plunge into a 360-degree projection-mapped video experience supported by immersive audio enabled by Meyer Sound’s new Spacemap Go spatial sound design and live mixing tool.
The 6,584sq.ft Portal was initially conceived primarily as a large meeting and event space, one that could compete with the hotel ballrooms on the Las Vegas Strip while offering its own ambience. To that end, the projection systems were designed for four-wall coverage allowing surround v

Sweden - The Rival hotel in the bustling Södermalm district of Stockholm is renowned as one of the city’s favourite meeting spots. A building with lots of history, it has remained dedicated to entertainment and hospitality since its beginnings in 1937.
In 2002, the complex was purchased by Benny Andersson of ABBA along with two associates, and extensive redevelopment work began to shape the complex into what it is today – a luxury 99-room boutique hotel complete with bars, a bistro and café, modern meeting facilities and a theatre.
The latest addition is a new bar named after Benny’s faithful Jack Russell terrier; Watson’s Bar offers food and drinks in a vibrant atmosphere with music at the heart of the experience. A Genelec 4000 Series sound system ensures that the pulse never stops.
Open seven days a week from 11am – 1am except Sundays which has a

South Africa - Brent Sauls of Magic Arm Lighting is a freelance gaffer and cinematographer from Cape Town - currently based in Johannesburg - whose professional career has encompassed 15 years at the forefront of making a diversity of commercials, movies, and TV series.
Last year he invested in a set of eight Astera Titan Tubes, purchased from distributor, DWR and these have been working constantly ever since.
Brent noticed that Titan Tubes were becoming increasingly frequently requested by a variety of DoPs, especially on commercials.
As a gaffer, it is advantageous to be able to offer certain specialist lighting elements and products to a production. “It’s all about having the right tools,” he stated, and this drove the purchase by Magic Arm Lighting, which Brent co-owns with two other cinematographers, Quinton Fredericks & Ebrahim Hajee.
He wa

Germany - Lighting designer Jerry Appelt and Matthias Meyert have set up their own pre-programming studio under the name Salty Dog, in his home town of Hamburg. Eight GLP impression FR1 TM (Trackmount) can be found in the new premises, set in the historic Zippelhaus.
“Our planning office, Beacon GmbH, has been based in the Zippelhaus in Hamburg's old town for a number of years,” explains Jerry. “So far, we have rented various studios for pre-productions, which apart from the technical equipment, usually don't offer a lot of com-fort. With Salty Dog we wanted to create a really appealing alternative in a prime location, which we of course use ourselves and also rent out.
“In the Salty Dog Studios we have integrated everything that we often missed in other studios. In addition, there is the attractive location directly opposite the Speicherstadt, with a large sel

USA - For the 2020 filming of Netflix musical, The Prom, Hog programmer Scott Barnes worked alongside director of photography Matthew Libatique and CLT Jeff Ferrero, with High End Systems Sola Series fixtures and Hog 4 control becoming central figures behind the scenes. The creative team employed SolaFrame Theatre, SolaFrame 3000 and SolaHyBeam 3000 fixtures in many of the performances; all luminaires featured High CRI engines and were supplied by Lux Lighting.
When production commenced, Barnes says they already knew the SolaFrame Theatre and SolaFrame 3000 would be their ‘go-to’ movers. Barnes says, “The SolaHyBeam 3000s were not available until about midway through production, but they soon became our powerhouse fixture. The SolaFrame Theatre was especially helpful because of its ultra-quiet performance.
“After the first week of production, we realised

Russia - Robe luminaires were selected for another cultural project, this one at the Said-Galiev Cultural Centre in Derbyshki in Kazan, the capital of the Russian semi-autonomous region of Tatarstan, an area renowned as a lively melting pot of Russian and Tatar heritage.
Robe’s Russian distributor LTM - with branches in Moscow, Novosibirsk and St. Petersburg - delivered the order of Robe Pointes, LEDBeam 150s and ParFect 150s for its client the Altin Group. LTM also undertook all the related installation and commissioning work for the Robe moving lights and other elements of the venue’s lighting that were extensively updated in this project.
The ornate Said-Galiev Cultural Centre has two main auditoriums, a main one seating 560 and a smaller 120 capacity hall and was originally built in 1959. This latest technical upgrade, which also included audio, flexible riggi

USA - Christ Fellowship Miami has been the area’s multi-generational, multi-cultural and multi-location church for over a century. In that time, it has grown to six South Florida locations plus an online presence. Three of those sites - Palmetto Bay, Doral, and downtown Miami - have recently become showcases for L-Acoustics Kara sound systems.
The new installations, all designed and integrated by Colorado-based Summit Integrated Systems, accommodate various worship-space configurations and types, while still offering the ease of maintenance and operation, plus the consistency of audio quality of a single sound system across all three campuses.
Christ Fellowship Miami multisite production director Garrett Siljee oversees all AVL-related matters for the church, including campus technology design planning and tech staffing. “One of my primary responsibilities is craft

USA - When full-service lighting company Squeek Lights converted part of their new facility in Middlesex, New Jersey, into the Ruby Stage last July, the space, which featured Elation Dartz 360 and Artiste Picasso lights under NX2 control, quickly attracted music clients for livestreams and video productions. Ruby Stage has now been updated with a new design that offers clients an enhanced professional setup for even better on-camera looks.
“The stage had been up for a while and had served our clients well, but we wanted to mix it up with a new design,” stated Victor Zeiser, founder and managing partner at Squeek Lights. “We were able to come up with a more compact floor package and move the drape back which gives us more stage depth for a wider shot and better camera angles. It’s a sleeker design which makes the space bigger and works really well for the camera.”<

Italy - On the terrace of Genoa’s San Martino Polyclinic, the Liguria region’s leading hospital, an Outline loudspeaker system amplified the reading by Italian actor/film director Sergio Castellitto to recall a year of Coronavirus.
Castellitto, accompanied by a string quintet from the Carlo Felice Theatre, read some passages of the book Una lezione da non dimenticare (A lesson not to be forgotten), written by the director of the Infectious Disease Clinic of Genoa’s San Martino Polyclinic, Matteo Bassetti, with journalist Martina Maltagliati. Participants included Governor Giovanni Toti and Genoa’s mayor Marco Bucci.
The audio set-up for the special event was supplied by Show Technologies TM from Recco (Genoa), with an Outline speaker system comprising five Vegas 12 CX point-source enclosures.
Show Technologies TM partner Sacha Bozzo explains

UK - In mid-December, Gorillaz returned to the stage with Song Machine Live From Kong for three separate fully live shows performed from the basement of Kong Studios, West London over the course of two days. Over a million viewers in more than 120 countries tuned in to the show via the LIVENow platform, which featured a pioneering mix of animation and live performance.
The format was fitting for the biggest virtual band on the planet, Song Machine Live From Kong saw Gorillaz deliver a full scale production blending real-time performance with Jamie Hewlett’s animation. Audio was delivered by the band’s long-time engineers Dave Guerin, at his usual monitor position, and front of house man Matt Butcher on the live steam mix, both using DiGiCo Quantum 7s provided by Entec Sound & Light.
The 14-piece Gorillaz live band saw Damon Albarn joined in the r

UAE - LarMac Projects worked in collaboration with creatives and technical teams to deliver 49th UAE National Day, Seeds of the Union.
LarMac Projects was contracted to produce the 2020 live event production during some of the industry’s - and the world’s - most testing times. The show at Abu Dhabi’s Jubail Island saw the creative vision of artistic director & designer Es Devlin brought to life by long-term LarMac production suppliers including PRG, Auditoria, Wonder Works, SKYMAGIC and Groupe F.
A kinetic illuminated sculpture designed by Devlin took centre stage as the key visual storyteller. The 15m x 15m rotating cube portrayed projections depicting the UAE’s history.
Due to the restrictions on mass gatherings, for the first time in its history, the UAE National Day celebration event took place with a very small, socially distanced audience, and

USA - The soft, sweet, infinitely soothing sound of the flute, with its delicate phrasing and gentle pacing may seem worlds away from the growling intensity of metal music, but both are guided by passion. And, under the right circumstances, the power of that passion can be amplified by lighting.
Chris Brodman, Cody Lisle and the creative team at LIT Live! demonstrated this recently when they produced Tribal Flute a 56-minute livestream by noted flutist Keenan Perry. Although it was radically different in style from their usual metal and EDM fare, the LIT Live! crew supported Perry’s performance, with visuals that wrapped themselves seamlessly around his ethereal music.
Working with a studio rig that was anchored by Chauvet Professional Maverick MK2 Spot, Rogue R2 Wash and Rogue R1 Wash fixtures, lighting designer Jack Watson created a diverse mix of colours a

The Netherlands - Podiumtechniek B.V. has signed a contract with Nationale Opera & Ballet for the supply of 162 LED spotlights from the German brand JB-Lighting.
Deputy technical director Pieter Huijgen explains: "After years of searching for worthy replacements for the current halogen spotlights and spotlights with a discharge lamp, developments in LED stage lighting had progressed to such an extent last year that it was possible to make the switch to this form of sustainable lighting."
JB-Lighting's moving heads were also recently supplied to leading venues such as De Doelen - Rotterdam, Philharmonie - Haarlem, Schouwburg Ogterop - Meppel, De Nieuwe Schuur - Herpt and the AFAS Theater - Leusden. Many renowned stages in Germany, Austria and Scandinavia have already started using JB-Lighting LED spots.
The tender of Nationale Opera & Ballet includes JB-

Switzerland - Event production specialist EMME recently made its first investment in Green-GO digital intercom technology, to manage the complex intercom requirements for a corporate event for fashion brand Guess. The event, a presentation of the company’s latest clothing ranges, was live-streamed to 600 sales people worldwide.
Founder and director of EMME, Michele Alvarez, says, “In the past we used combinations of partyline systems, but the quality was not the same, and it was not so flexible. We could only assign certain body packs to certain connections, and it would be very complicated to make changes during a show.”
Looking for a better solution, Alvarez turned to ZAP Audio, Green-GO’s Swiss distributor, who arranged a demonstration of the award-winning technology. “We saw that it was very smart, very powerful and the best solution for the price and per

USA - Founded in 1983, Seven Rivers Church, a large and growing congregation in Lecanto, Florida, has adopted a KLANG immersive in-ear mixing solution for all of its stage monitoring needs.
Installed as part of a full sound system upgrade completed last August by Louisville, Colorado-based Summit Integrated Systems, the church’s new KLANG setup is comprised of a DiGiCo Orange Box equipped with a DMI-KLANG card, which is capable of processing up to 64 inputs for 16 immersive in-ear mixes. The recent system retrofit project also saw the church install a new L-Acoustics A15-based PA system in its 1,000-seat auditorium, built in 2003.
Seven Rivers Church had been using IEMs for monitoring for a number of years prior to the upgrade, using a system that Seven Rivers Church director of worship Adam Hill describes as “serviceable” but lacking in sonic quality and functio

USA - Northern California’s In Motion Fitness boasts 16,000 members. The heavily themed five-acre Mediterranean fitness resort features a wide variety of spaces used for different activities and classes, each with their own different interior design. Its latest addition is a space-themed spin studio which features multiple ADJ mirror balls and LED lighting fixtures.
Located in Chico, CA, the resort is dedicated to continually expanding and renovating the facilities available to its members. The latest chapter in this expansion was the renovation and re-theming of a former dance studio to create the Out of this World Galaxy Spin Studio, which officially opened on 1 March this year. The space allows gym members to ‘escape from their current reality for the duration of a spin class and boldly go to a place that could easily be what a dance club in the Star Wars universe may

USA - When Jennifer Lopez performed a moving medley of This Land Is Your Land and America Is Beautiful at President Biden’s inauguration ceremony, few of the millions of people watching would have realised that British technology played a key role in shaping the sound they were hearing.
Behind the scenes, in the run up to the inauguration ceremony, Kevin Teasley, JLo’s Pro Tools programmer, music producer and musical director for her It’s My Party World Tour, used a comprehensive selection of Neve recording equipment to prepare the pre-recorded music that was vital to ensuring the success of her performance.
“The elevation of the final audio was superb and there is absolutely no doubt that Neve equipment helped us achieve the results we wanted,” Kevin says. “Neve is indeed a real go-to when I work in live, TV, film, records, trailers,

Germany - Illusionists The Ehrlich Brothers should have recorded their Dream & Fly show for DVD and TV in March 2020. Everything was already set up in Munich when production was prohibited by an order from the Bavarian state.
But the Ehrlich Brothers would not be the Ehrlich Brothers if they simply left it at that. And so Andreas and Chris Ehrlich started planning the two-part TV show Factory of Dreams together with Gerdon design in May. Also included in the set were 24 of the new JDC Lines from GLP, which would serve the two show magicians well.
Factory of Dreams was finally produced on 2 and 4 October in a hall on the premises of Ehrlich Entertainment GmbH in Bünde, North Rhine-Westphalia. The show was a mixture of new and known illusions as well as some highlights from the past few years.
Gerdon design from Wiesbaden came on board as

Sweden - Göteborg’s Folkteatern was built in the 1950s by an association of trade unions and other organisations for the Swedish working classes to enjoy cultural experiences such as the theatre. Still funded by regional government, a premium-quality experience is still the order of the day.
Folkteatern has recently invested in TiMax TrackerD4 precision stagetracking automation so that, as in-house sound engineer, Allan Antilla, explains, “the audience can keep track of who´s voice they are hearing when we use microphones.”
Allan specified TiMax TrackerD4 for the venue’s main proscenium theatre because, as longstanding beneficiaries of TiMax tracker-controlled spatial audio, Allan and the sound team at Folkteatern appreciate the time and effort that is saved whilst achieving significant improvements in sound quality and balance from the actors’ radio mics.

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