Europe - Absen has appointed Alex Couzins to the newly created position of head of brand and marketing for Europe in a move that sees the company underline its commitment to the region. Alex, who joins from systems integrator AVMI, will be part of Absen’s corporate marketing team where he will be responsible for European brand marketing and providing local marketing support for the group’s VAPs (Value-Added Partners), referring to Absen’s ecosystem of highly trusted and experienced distributors and systems integrators. The role will involve collaborating with peers across the business, including China and the US, to develop and implement the company’s marketing plans and brand strategy at a European level. On his appointment, Alex commented: “I’m excited to be joining Absen at this exciting time. The company has a fantastic reputation for high-qualit
UK - The Green Hippo training team took to the road to deliver a week-long residency at Backstage Academy in Production Park, Wakefield, as well as a private training session in Lithuania. October was another packed month for the Green Hippo training division, involving a week-long residency at Backstage Academy in Production Park and a successful private training session into the Baltic region. Green Hippo is renowned for its commitment to training excellence - its Hippotizer training sessions, known as HippoSchool, have been running for over 10 years, visiting over 38 countries and training over 2,000 students, freelancers and professionals - and October 2018 marked the beginning of Green Hippo’s new partnership with Backstage Academy, the Production Park-based centre of excellence that specialises in degree courses, short courses and training programmes for the li
UK - Stage Electrics has won a contract to supply production lighting and AV solutions to Croydon’s Fairfield Halls as a part of the venue’s highly anticipated redevelopment. Working with the Contractor, Vinci Construction, and the theatre consultant, Sound Space Vision, the Stage Electrics team, will be starting on site this month. “Stage Electrics has a long-standing relationship with this venue,” comments Richard Phare, Stage Electrics regional commercial manager. “I was personally involved with Fairfield’s last technical refurbishment over 20 years ago. It’s fantastic that Stage Electrics can, again, play a part in this venue’s continuous development.” The Stage Electrics team are completing works within the venue’s three main performance spaces; the 1800-seat Concert Hall, the 750-seat Ashcroft Theatre and the Arnhem Gallery - plus a new multi
UK - Avolites’ lighting and video integration software, Synergy, debuted on Gary Numan’s Savage tour in November. The flagship performance at London’s Royal Albert Hall saw the British synth-rocker’s dramatic end-of-days video content emerge from LED screens into the 3D space as the multitude of GLP and Vari-Lite fixtures pixel-matched its colour and effects. Creative designer Luke Edwards’ two Avolites Sapphire Touch consoles and dual Avolites Ai Q3 media servers were loaded with the new Synergy software. “Synergy is the future and as a designer it’s making me very excited,” says Edwards. “It’s not just lights anymore. In fact, the term ‘lighting designer’ is one day going to be a thing of the past - Synergy integrates lighting and video so beautifully, so simply, so powerfully, that ‘multimedia designer’ is the new thing. It
Europe - Swiss AV solutions manufacturer Merging Technologies has announced new distribution deals for its professional product range in Northern Europe. The company has appointed Nordic Pro Audio in Denmark and AV Marketing Finland in Finland. Nordic Pro Audio’s Frank Grønbæk (product specialist - live and studio) and Allan Holmberg (product specialist - field recording and broadcast) will be responsible for increasing sales across the market sectors addressed by Pyramix, Ovation, ANEMAN and networked audio interfaces Horus and Hapi. Meanwhile in Finland, the appointment of AV Marketing will see Jyrki Mäkinen support the Swiss brand. Chris Hollebone, Merging’s sales and marketing manager, comments: “These two appointments are symptomatic of the changes we see in the market we serve. From time to time we find that existing sales partners are out o
UK - North American entertainment technology supplier Solotech has acquired UK-based audio services company SSE Audio Group, thus forming one of the largest AV companies in the world. SSE Audio’s founder John Penn will continue to head the organisation in the UK. The established brands of SSE Audio, Capital Sound, Wigwam and Sigma Products will also be maintained. Martin Tremblay, president and CEO of Groupe Solotech Inc, comments: “This is the most important transaction in Solotech’s history. With the addition of SSE Audio, Solotech becomes one of the world’s largest AV and entertainment technology companies. The acquisition will generate growth opportunities and expand the services available to current and future clients on both sides of the Atlantic.” Tremblay adds: “We are thrilled that SSE is joining the Solotech team, especially their well-known
USA - Created to be the Christian Music Broadcasters’ premier annual event, Momentum is a four-day conference which brings together radio and record industry professionals from around the world. Since its inception in 2009, Momentum has been dedicated to the success of Christian music broadcasting offering a showcase of the hottest musical artists today. Held for the second year at the Loews Royal Pacific Resort at Universal Orlando, the CMB events team wanted to create an attendee experience “like none before”, so they called upon the Nashville-based production provider Elite Multimedia Productions who supplied three event stages using a full package of audio, lighting and LED video. “We are a non-profit ministry, so when we start looking at the production design for the Momentum conference, we have to look at what will offer the best experience for our attend
USA - With over 250 million books sold – including The BFG, James and The Giant Peach and The Twits – few writers have made more impression on the world’s children (or their parents) than Roald Dahl. Last year, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory opened on Broadway at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. It featured one of the movie’s most memorable tunes, with the evocative line: “Come with me, and you'll be, in a world of pure imagination”. Creating such a world on the stage is notoriously more difficult to do than in a movie – which is why the musical relies heavily on staging company WorldStage and its well-established mastery of the technologies that can help turn a designer’s vision into a theatrical reality. As well as providing an ambitious, custom-made Unilumin LED wall to tell the story of how the Golden Tickets were won, WorldStage also dep
UK - In 2012, Sound Space Vision beat all competition to become the theatre design and acoustics consultant for David Chipperfield Architects’ master plan to unite the Royal Academy of Arts’ 18th century Burlington House with its neighbour, Burlington Gardens, and transform the interiors throughout. SSV’s brief was to modernise and equip Burlington Gardens’ 19th-century lecture theatre for 21st century presentation and performance, and this was later expanded to include acoustics advice on the new gallery spaces and the learning centre, as well as mechanical systems. In collaboration with the architectural teams, SSV facilitated a design with minimal impact on the heritage features of the Grade II* listed building, yet provides a future-proofed technical design for the Academy’s planned lectures, debates, panel discussions, conferences, recitals, and hires. <
Germany - Green Hippo occupied a key role in its German distributor’s 2018 open day. A key date in the industry calendar, the event attracted an impressive 250 industry professionals. Hosted by Christian Pies, sales director at Cast, the day included a programme of talks from industry professionals, as well as, of regular stops for ‘kaffe and cookies’. Green Hippo technology was a running theme throughout the day. Green Hippo’s Tom Etra, technical sales manager and product specialist Suzy Stenning travelled to the event and the venue included a space dedicated to demonstrating Hippotizer’s abilities with 3D projection mapping Green Hippo technology also prominently featured in the lecture given by Thomas Gerdon of Gerdon design. Thomas, a Hippotizer owner and user, presented a practical lecture on the design and programming of lighting systems in the combinat
USA - Lighting industry veterans Joe Saprito and Jon Zorrilla have re-joined the team at Stage Equipment and Lighting (SEAL), a Pro Sound & Video company. Saprito will serve as rental manager in Orlando while Zorrilla takes on the director of operations role in Miami. Each is a former SEAL employee who’s spent well over a decade working with the company’s highest profile clients. Each also brings a wealth of outside experience and contacts to the organization with his return. Saprito has spent the last several years working outside of the entertainment industry, focusing instead on commercial lighting. Zorrilla recently lead his own production and integration company. “We couldn’t be more pleased with these hires,” explains SEAL president Rick Rudolph. “Having worked with both Joe and Jon, we know the level of excellence they’re committed to an
Austria - Modern metal/electronic band CueStack recently released their third effort in a series of debut music videos that features a sophisticated industrial stage design packed with 170 high tech lighting units from Elation Professional. Beyond the Veil shows a dystopian vision of the new digital age and uses the intricate set-up as both performance lighting and impactful visual accompaniment. "Big production is essential to this project and the lighting design plays an essential role,” states Martin Kames, owner of Austrian-based production company MartinKames.com and vocalist/synth player in the two-man project. “Beyond the Veil deals with modern day issues but it’s also a huge lighting-themed visual experience.” The video can be viewed at https://youtu.be/cgDFJ6P35Ec. Kames works double duty on the video shoots, operating behind the camera on ligh
UAE - Earlier this month, golf fans came together to watch the duel between the two Ryder Cup teammates Francesco Molinari and Tommy Fleetwood as they raced to become Europe’s No 1 at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.The four-day event, held at Jumeirah Golf Estates marked the 10th anniversary and the final stop of the tournament. Creative Technology (CT delivered all video aspects for the event for the 10th year running on behalf of European Tour Productions. CT supplied four ROE CB5 outdoor screens to ensure spectators could follow the event no matter where they were. CT’s Dubai project manager, Barry Collins explains, “The ROE CB5 is a great product, the high refresh rate and high NIT levels makes it ideal for outdoor viewing, even in daylight. The custom detachable touring frames are specifically designed with outdoor applications in mind and has bee
USA - Former PLASA director Chris Toulmin has joined Entech Roadshow in an advisory role ahead of the first Entech USA Roadshow in April. Toulmin has over 35 years of experience in the entertainment industry. As a director of events at PLASA he was responsible for delivering the PLASA Show following the event’s relocation to London Olympia and also oversaw the the Association’s regional Focus shows. Toulmin comments: “I am delighted to be working with Entech Roadshow LLC as a consultant on the inaugural US Roadshow in 2019. This tried and tested formula in the Australia/New Zealand market is a great fit for the expansive geography of the significant North American market. It’s a refreshing new model that adds in a positive way to what has gone before and brings a new level of convenience, accessibility and networking for decision makers and industry knowledge
UK - PSAV has appointed Nik Rudge as the company’s first managing director, international. Rudge will build upon the international business strategy to “best align teams in the UK, Europe and the Middle East to continue to improve on ways the company serves customers globally”. Rudge most recently served as CEO of GovNet Communications, a public-sector business that operates training, forum, conference and expo events. He has also led multi-country divisions for ITE Group and UBM, two market-leading tradeshow and exhibition companies. “Nik has vast international business experience in the events industry having led teams in fast-moving, complex and multicultural environments,” comments Ben Erwin, president of PSAV. “His general approach and business insight aligns very well with our purpose, mission and customer-centric culture at PSAV. We are eager to le
Denmark - Popular Danish band Nephew reunited this year after a four-year hiatus, announcing two major gigs in October 2018 at the Jyske Bank Boxen Arena in Herning and the Royal Arena in Copenhagen. Over 30,000 tickets sold out in a day. Lighting designer Theis Wemuth of design company Create This was tasked with the production design - lighting, video and set - for the shows. He specified 149 x Robe MegaPointes as the main moving light fixtures. The fixtures were chosen for their multifunctionality and brightness which Wemuth knew would be a perfect complement and contrast to the 420sq.m widescreen video backdrop that was central to the look and aesthetics of the stage. Eight BMFL Spots were on the front truss, six working as remote follow spots in conjunction with six Robe RoboSpot systems, together with other lights, all of which were supplied by Copenhagen-b
South Korea - Merging Technologies has delivered one of the largest Ravenna/AES67 installations for its networked audio interfaces. It features 16 Horus units, 11 Hapi units and 35 8-channel Premium A/D cards and 37 Premium D/A cards. It is also the first major installation to feature Aneman Enterprise as the master control for the whole system and the list of show control and playout servers is no less impressive. There are eight Ovation systems for all zones matrix routing and processing and six Emotion systems for audio-on-demand playback which can all operate in DXD by virtue of the premium cards being fitted. Paradise City is such a huge complex and the audio network is across four buildings and features 35 zones with 69 subsidiary zones and these zones encompass four floors of a hotel, three floors of pools and spas, two conference rooms, public areas including a patio
Europe - ER Productions has been working with the Chemical Brothers for a number of years, creating laser visuals worthy of the duo’s heady electronic shows. This year saw the pair appear at various festivals and venues across Europe and ER was on board for the ride once again, and this time bringing some exciting SFX into the mix. Chemical Brothers Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons have spent nearly 30 years bringing big beat tunes to their fan base of dance and rock fans. The 2018 Chems live tour began in June, at Rockhal, Luxemburg, in June, and concludes at Corona Capital, Mexico City, this month. The show design was to be a combination of mesmerising visuals, and ER Productions worked with production manager, James Baseley, stage manager Toby Dennis, touring lighting designer, Thomas Deschandel, and show designers, Marcus Lyall and Adam Smith to deliver another phenome
Belgium - A designer boutique hotel in the heart of Ghent is finding value in Dante Audio IP networking from Audinate for the business and entertainment needs of its guests. Designed and integrated by Belgian systems integration firm Round Group Audiovisual Engineering, the Dante network delivers high-quality background music in the hotel's atmospheric 1898 The Post cocktail lounge, as well as delivering pristine audio to all points, including audio support for presentations, meetings and events in a large multi-function room. 1898 The Post is a new venture from Zannier Hotels in Ghent that opened this past summer. Located in the upper two floors of Ghent’s old post office building, the hotel offers 38 guest rooms and public spaces that complement the building’s late 19th century architecture. Round Group was hired to provide a “very high-end sound system” for The C
UK - Art and artistry appear fundamental to a live performance by Bon Iver. For lighting designer Michael Brown this is reflected in the reliance on white light, shade and contrast. With that in mind, when the band asked production manager James Dean to prospect for an IMAG system, he sought more than just good technology. “Although it’s not the first time we’ve used video for the live show (we have had video walls for content before now) it is the first time we’ve thought about using a full camera package for IMAG. We knew we would be playing bigger rooms and we wanted the audience to have the best experience possible. One of the great things Video Design offered that many others didn’t was a range of robotic cameras. Not having camera operators intruding on stage is important to the band and their stage performance.” Dean took a four camera PPU from Video
USA - Opened in 1892, Ryman Auditorium in Nashville is best known as the home of the Grand Ole Opry radio broadcast between 1943 and 1974. Its age and cultural significance led to its inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. In partnership with Opry Entertainment Group, JBL, and Yamaha, AV integration company Clair Solutions recently completed a significant overhaul of the Ryman’s sound reinforcement system, which required a lot of upfront due diligence and testing, sensitivity to the venue’s historic interior, and a deft installation to work around the Ryman’s packed calendar. “We installed the Ryman’s previous sound reinforcement system over a dozen years ago,” says Dan Heins, regional vice president at Clair Solutions. “It was a first-generation JBL VerTec system that served them well, but loudspeaker, amplifier, and DSP technolog
Germany - The International Automobile Exhibition (IAA), which took place in Hannover on 20-27 September, is the one of the world's most important trade fairs for mobility, transport and logistics. This year saw two of the show’s biggest names - DAF Trucks and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles - rely on Absen’s Polaris products to ensure that their respective booths packed a visual punch. DAF used its stand to showcase 90 years of vehicular innovation. This was illustrated by the classic DAF A1600 from 1967 through to the future DAF CF Electric Innovation, while a prominent position was taken by DAF’s latest LF, CF and XF ranges. The stand was based around the theme, ‘Proud of our Heritage, Leading Today, Ready for the Future’. Providing the striking 30m x 4m video wall for the 2,500 sqm DAF stand was Netherlands-based rental and sales company, Bazelmans AV, whi
UK - A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET) has provided a range of video solutions, including an additional Hippotizer V4+ Media Server to Illuminate Lighting, to expand their rental stock offering. Illuminate Lighting was founded by entrepreneur Jonathan Pask to provide lighting control systems exclusively to rental houses. Since then, he has expanded their offering to include video control systems. Jonathan has deliberately kept the focus on these systems and credits that to the business’s strong growth. He commented: “I think what makes us successful is that we offer a concise range of services. Rather than offering everything, we strive to excel at what we do offer. “Green Hippo Media Servers are our preferred choice because of their power, reliability and ease of use. They are the perfect tool for our diverse range of clients.” Alongside th
Canada - RealMotion, the new technology venture stemming from award-winning experiential design firm Float4, has announced the market introduction of the next generation of its transformative RealMotion content generation and editing platform which now supports full integration with Notch software. According to director of RealMotion Geoffrey Platt, the second generation updates stem from user requests and research, and they underscore the company’s commitment to make the RealMotion platform the most powerful, flexible and creative content generation and delivery system available for entertainment purposes today. “We listen to our users,” Platt emphasized, “and we want to evolve RealMotion into a platform that optimizes workflows in the way that creative professionals work in entertainment today. By adding full integration support for Notch, we are directly ad
