UK - Wirral-based Lift Turn Move (LTM) has reported two of its apprentices have now joined the company as full-time staff members. Jonathan Street also joined as an apprentice on an engineering apprenticeship. Charmaine Pude came to LTM in 2016 to gain office experience and work towards her NVQ Level 3 in Business Administration. She has recently passed her NVQ and subsequently been given a full-time job at LTM as a sales and purchasing assistant. Joshua Field-Baines approached LTM in 2015 wanting to work in engineering. He has since completed his apprenticeship and is working towards his advanced apprenticeship qualification in BTEC HNC in Engineering which includes an NVQ Level 4 and he is also doing his LEEA foundation training. John Jones, MD of LTM, comments: “We are very lucky to have gained two valuable team members at LTM. We know how important it is
UK - Unusual Rigging will showcase its wide range of products available for sale and for hire. Tom Nightingale, Unusual's technical manager explained: "For Unusual, ABTT is undoubtedly the most important event in the trade show calendar. It gives us the opportunity to meet with the people right at the heart of the very industry that we aim to serve. We are incredibly well known for the projects we work on but people are often surprised when we talk them through the extent of our sales, hires and services offerings." Several members of the Unusual team will be on hand for the duration of the show and . Tom continued: "In previous brochures we've focussed on the specific products tvisitors to the stand will be able to pick up a copy of the company's new Sales and Services brochurehat we can offer, but really, the range is so huge, no brochure could really do each product
UK - Rope Assemblies is set to debut its new Anchor Strop on stand A22 at this year's ABTT show. The Anchor strop is a 6mm stainless steel wire rope with thimble eyes on both ends, copper ferrules, and has been designed for general PPE requirements.It has an EN362 hook on either end and joins the company's existing range of Anchor Strops and is perfect for use in a wide range of industries – wherever a person works at height, near unprotected edges or in confined spaces. The Anchor Strop will be joined on the stand by Rope Assemblies' lighting and climbing ladders. Ann McCorkell, technical manager explained: "The Lighting Ladder was created in conjunction with one of our customers who needed a solution for hanging lights vertically without the space consuming aluminium ladders." Consisting of two lengths of wire rope with spacing of end stops, karabiners at the end a
UK - Doughty's new Lightweight Lighting Stand will make its debut on stand C30 at ABTT, to be held on 6-7 June at at London’s Alexandra Palace. The stand, which recently appeared at PLASA Focus Leeds and Prolight + Sound in Frankfurt in prototype format, is now in production. The stand takes the all the principles of a Tank Trap but packages them into a neater model. It comprises a flat, round plate and slim tube, slotted at each end to allow cables to run unseen inside it. A 28mm receiver is incorporated in the top of the stand which will take an industry standard 28mm spigot. When used in conjunction with a speaker adapter, the stand can also be used to hold small speakers. Dan Phillips, project sales co-ordinator at Doughty explains: “This robust piece of kit has a sleeker appearance than the standard Tank Trap and comes with a stacking slot which allows
UK - Cardiff-based events services provider 11th Hour has been appointed by Associated British Ports South Wales to supply a temporary passenger terminal in Cardiff Bay for the Marco Polo cruise ship. The terminal comprises a 57m marquee fitted out with a bespoke interior, with the company also supplying several security elements, including bag-scanning and metal detection equipment. Project manager Bruno Hunt is in charge of the technical aspects of the terminal, whilst business development manager Jason Venables oversees the customer-facing side of the operation. The project overlaps with 11th Hour’s involvement in the Volvo Ocean Race, a round-the-world yacht race that arrived in Cardiff on 29 May, with the company supplying a range of facilities for the Race Village. (Jim Evans)
UK - Star Events’ X Stage highlights the creativity at AEG Presents’ first All Points East festival in Victoria Park, where sets from LCD Soundsystem, The XX and Bjork drew sizeable audiences this Bank Holiday weekend. Working with Loudsound and LarMac Live, including the main East Stage, a 20m VerTech, the North Stage, with its concentric arches, the West Arena and all the requisite support structures. An ambitious in the round experience, with a hovering DJ platform, the X Stage “puts the finest electronic talent into the heart of the audience”. Star Events’ design team joined two 5m wide/38m span arches at the apex to bring the X Stage to life, using kit from the yard together with ‘specials’ built for the project. Alongside its considerable lighting capacity, each leg of the structure houses an inward facing speaker configuration, whic
UK - Aurora Lighting Hire supported lighting director Gurdip Mahal on a major installation for Revolution, one of the largest entertainment sets on UK television. SKY One took over the vast space at Cardington Studios for extreme sports show Revolution. Hosted by Jackass star Steve-O and Maya Jama, Revolution is an extravaganza of high speed action featuring BMX riders, skates and boarders going head to head across a spectacular custom designed course. Working with award winning lighting director Gurdip Mahal for the eight-episode run, Aurora provided a vast array of lighting, control and rigging equipment to light up the large-scale production. To achieve the intense colour applied throughout the show, a mix of over 200 Robe 1200, VariLite VL3500 and Martin Quantum Wash fixtures were installed to provide a highly controllable, vibrant
UK - The north Bristol warehouse of lighting and rigging supplier Utopium has suffered a fire on the night of 21-22 May, destroying the entire lighting and rigging inventory, the company reports. An investigation has been opened into the cause of the fire. The whole team are said to be devastated by the fire. Utopium founder Colin Bodenham comments: “It is heart-breaking to see everything we have created destroyed in one devastating event. The main consolation is that nobody was hurt in the blaze. We are focused on fulfilling our commitments to clients approaching a busy summer season working with trusted partners in the industry. I am allowing myself a little time to grieve the loss of some treasured artefacts amassed over the years.” More news is expected soon. (LSi Online)
Portugal - Stage engineering specialist WIcreations supplied four of their heavy duty TP06 stage elevators to the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) production which was headed by technical directors Ola Melzig and Tobias Åburg. The event, viewed by 200m across the globe, was staged at the Altice Arena in Lisbon. The four TP06 lifts were installed under the stage which was part of the elaborate set designed by Florian Wieder, and were used for two of the 43 finalists, Austria’s third placed Cesár Sampson and Belarus contestant Alekseev. The project was designed and co-ordinated for WI by Geert Stockmans and tech’d and looked after on site by Mateo Marastoni working alongside Robert Roos who was the production’s props and special staging co-ordinator. One TP06 lift was positioned centrally beneath the stage and surrounded by the other three, all of
UK - Event production company VisionEventsManchester (VE-M) has upgraded its equipment inventory, adding a selection of Doughty equipment to its stock. Darren Howard, director, VE-M explains: "As VE-M has expanded, we found we were regularly hiring in stands and so it was really a natural choice that we should purchase some Doughty kit." The company which was born out of Vision Events back in 2011 focuses on bringing together various elements of event design under one roof, making its clients' lives easier when organising often complex events. The addition of Doughty items to the company's stock is part of a major overhaul of VE-M's video, lighting, audio and rigging stock as the company continues to grow. Keen to invest in high quality technologies, Darren turned to A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET) – one of Doughty's UK distributors to handle the entire upgra
UK - Hire and events company SLX has announced the successful applicants for its 2018 bursary scheme, which sees the company supporting five students enrolled on production courses with £3000 of hire equipment as well as networking and development opportunities. Spanning the UK, the students attend different institutions and are enrolled on a variety of technical production focussed courses. Third year students and graduating this year are Ashley Holdom (Rose Bruford) and Ryan Searle (Bristol Old Vic) and the 2nd year students receiving the bursary are Alex Silvester (University of Bolton – Backstage Academy), Georgia Wren - LIPA and Ben Linwood (Guildford School of Acting). As well as receiving the £3000 bursary to support a project of the student’s choosing, the five applicants were also welcomed into SLX Avonmouth, spending two full days in May with the SLX
UK - Steeldeck, platforms, staging and seating solutions manufacturer, has secured a new London production facility (see LSi May for more). The new facility is located on the outskirts of London in Erith and will provide over 2300m2 of space, doubling the capacity of the company’s previous base in Bermondsey. Steeldeck has historically been based in central London, but remaining in the heart of the capital had become irrelevant since the separation of the company’s rental and manufacturing arms. Philip Parsons, Steeldeck CEO, comments: “The old premises were very conveniently located near our rental business in London’s Bermondsey, and to various suppliers such as the powder coater, but the a
USA - Building on the momentum that started with the company’s 2017 move to a larger facility, InterAmerica Stage is rolling out a new brand identity. The new look starts with an updated logo, which embraces the familiar way clients refer to the organisation. “Everybody we work with calls us IA Stage,” says general manager, John Gitzy. “Heck, we even call ourselves IA Stage!” The new logo and branding theme were created by Black’s son, Andrew, who is a professional illustrator and animator. IA Stage has been busy integrating the new brand identity into all facets of the company’s public presence, and to augment the branding efforts, the company launched a new website designed by Designzillas at the end of April, introducing cross-platform functionality and more streamlined user experience. “We want people to visit our website and find something
UK - PLASA Focus Leeds provided the perfect showcase for new brand, Sixty82 to unveil its trussing and staging systems to the UK rigging industry - receiving an overwhelmingly positive reception and much interest from visitors. Matthew Millward, rigging sales manager for Sixty82's UK distributor, A.C. Entertainment Technologies Ltd (AC-ET), which featured the brand on its stand commented: "It's fantastic to be working with Sixty82, whose team needs no introduction to the industry. There was a huge amount of goodwill and interest from the rental companies, technicians and venues we spoke to. We expect to receive lots of enquiries in the coming months - it's exciting times." AC-ET's specialist rigging product division, which is based in the company's Leeds Northern sales office and warehouse, will handle Sixty82 enquiries and hold stock there. Sixty82 Co-founder,
UK - A.C. Entertainment Technologies Ltd (AC-ET) has agreed to provide technical equipment and run training courses for live events industry education provider Backstage Academy. The partnership is part of a long-term strategy to offer Academy students the most up-to-date practical experience through AC-ET’s latest technologies from brands including ProLights, Chroma-Q, Green Hippo and BroadWeigh. Jonathan Walters, AC-ET's UK sales director, comments: "We are delighted to be able to support up and coming generations of backstage technicians and creative people. The future of the industry is all about fostering the talent of tomorrow and letting them use the technologies behind today's live events productions. “The partnership will give the Backstage Academy's students access to the latest LED lighting from popular brands such as Chroma-Q and ProLights, indust
Europe - Second Warehouse is again simplifying pro AV cross rental as the service debuts on mobile and tablet. Based on a Progressive Web Application, Second Warehouse for mobile can be installed on your Apple or Android device with a single tap - no App store visit required. Now, even when you’re out on a job, Second Warehouse allows you to find and hire vital equipment within minutes while keeping your own inventory busy earning you money. Dedicated to simplifying and speeding up the essential but previously time-consuming and costly activity of equipment cross-rental between pro AV rental companies, Second Warehouse allows rental companies of all sizes to trade with one another in a safe, fast, monitored and extremely cost-effective environment. A rental company searching Second Warehouse for AV equipment will find what they need in a matter of seconds, while every item
UK - The world premiere of the new musical Tina - The Tina Turner Musical had its official opening night in the West End on 17 April at the Aldwych Theatre. Directed by Phyllida Lloyd, the production charts Turner's journey from humble beginnings in Nutbush, Tennessee, to her transformation into the global queen of rock'n'roll. Production manager Sacha Milroy knew that rigging the show successfully required a sound knowledge of the theatre and so turned to Unusual Rigging to handle the project. "This is actually the first time I've worked with Unusual," said Sacha. "Of course, I've known of them for many years and Simon Stone, who is senior project manager at Unusual, has a great reputation which precedes him. I was also aware of all the amazing work they'd done to transform the grid of the Aldwych Theatre for Beautiful - The Carole King Musical.
UK - Lift Turn Move (LTM) has extended its Entertainment LP electric chain hoist series with the addition of the LP1000 Hoist. The LP1000 has up to 60% greater lifting capacity with a weather resistant IP65 rating as standard - a key feature for the theatre and live events marketplace. With the D8 standard motor, the lifting capacity of the LP1000 is 1600kg in one fall operation, with an equivalent smaller weight chain for the same capacity in previous versions of the hoists. The specific requirements of the entertainment industry, such as increased capacity in one fall operation, low dead weight, low noise emission and suitability for outdoor use, have been given priority throughout the design and manufacture of the LP1000 concept. LP1000 has a robust construction, is simple in its assembly and does not contain any sensitive electronics. All shaft-hub connection
UK - The hit musical, Hamilton opened at the end of December to sell out audiences at the Victoria Palace Theatre in London. Prior to its opening, the venue underwent a complete facelift to prepare for the show, with everything from the decor, the seats and the uniforms of the staff tying in with Hamilton. As part of the refurbishment, Unusual Rigging was brought on board to rejuvenate the theatre's 'tired' flying system as well as to provide rigging services for the show itself. Jeremy Featherstone of Unusual explained: "The flying system at the Victoria Palace Theatre had become life expired due to many years of use. For Hamilton, Unusual was asked to refurbish fifteen counterweight sets that were needed for the show. Essentially, all the moving parts and ropes were replaced during the pre-rig period and the opportunity was taken to lengthen some of th
Europe - Newly-launched in March 2018, Sixty82, the manufacturer of trussing and staging systems, has announced the appointment of its first distributors and distribution partners. With immediate effect, A.C. Entertainment Technologies and Axente have been named as the new, exclusive distributors for the UK and France respectively, while pan-pro GmbH of Germany and Set2Stage of Portugal have been appointed distribution partners in their own countries. “We chose A.C. Entertainment Technologies and Axente as the first in our international network as they represent the strongest importing distributors in their territories, with an historical strength in the trussing and staging marketplace,” says Sixty82 CEO Fokko Smeding, “Similarly, pan-pro and Set2Stage are both well-established companies with well-respected teams and ideally placed for distribution partnership.
UK - The stand of A.C. Entertainment Technologies Ltd (AC-ET) will provide the UK show debuts of leading innovations across its product sales divisions, at PLASA Focus Leeds. Chroma-Q''s new Studio Force II is a powerful homogenised LED source for applications requiring high quality variable white light - complementing the multi-award-winning Color Force II RGBA LED cyclorama, wash & effects light. Also featured is the Inspire XT colour-mixing house light and Space Force variable white LED soft light. ProLights' new Panorama IP WBX LED moving light delivers a massive output and pixel ring "eye candy" effects in an IP65-rated fixture ideal for temporary outdoor events. The brand's other show debuts include the JetSpot4 powerful, fully-featured LED Spot in a compact design, and the RA3000 high precision LED Profile. Other models will be featured. Follow-Me's
UK - PLASA Focus Leeds has begun its tenth birthday celebrations on 1-2 May at the Royal Armouries, Leeds. The popular entertainment technology trade show provides a stage for over 175 global brands, and the show’s reputation attracts thought-leaders and taste-makers who share their expertise through seminars and training sessions. The show floor will feature products fresh from European launches, and the seminar programme is overflowing with enriching talks and lively debates. The show caters to everyone from lighting designers and sound engineers, to riggers and production managers. Audio enthusiasts can get under the skin of digital mixers with Soundcraft’s Andy Brown and Sound Technology’s Ben Todd, and can get to grips with Line Array systems with Harman’s Ed Jackson and Sound Technology’s Stuart Strachan. Visitors can learn about frequency response wit
Germany - This year’s Prolight + Sound show saw the worldwide debut of EXE Technology’s new dynamic stack tracks rail and trolley system – the EXE-DST66 – which draws on the success of its DST52 system. To answer the call by live production professionals across the globe for a heavy-duty rail and trolley system for their demanding live productions, EXE Technology developed the DST66 system that draws on a total of 63 Nm of power (additional 38 Nm compared to the DST52 system) and achieves speeds up to 60 m/min at 50 Hz (an additional 36 m/min compared to the DST52). Response to this system at the EXE Technology stand during the exhibition was absolute proof that they hit the bullseye, says the company. (Jim Evans)
Germany - James Thomas Engineering came to the Prolight + Sound show to officially debut its safety block system for its Thomas Tower TT4 that protects mother grids from both drop and lift. The recently-launched conical truss series for the EMEA region was also on display, which builds on its pedigree and extensive knowledge in truss manufacturing. James Thomas Engineering now offers a total of three connection systems – conical, fork and plated – for a range of structures and projects. Their conical range includes the JT22 light-duty display system in a compact format, JT30 / JT30H mid-sized system for multi-purpose use, multi-purpose JT40H / JT40HR / JT36 truss for mid-sized heavy-duty applications, JT52 high-capacity truss with super-sized conical connectors for higher loading capacities, and the extra heavy-duty JT100 truss for extra high-capacity loads.
