The Netherlands / South Africa - Philips Entertainment Lighting (PEL) has appointed DWR Distribution as the exclusive distributor in South Africa for its Selecon and Strand brands. DWR Distribution is already the exclusive distributor in the region for another PEL-owned brand, Vari-Lite.

Michael Goldberg, sales director for PEL Europe, says: "Now that the brands of Selecon, Strand and Vari-Lite are all under the Philips Entertainment Lighting umbrella, it's a logical step to offer DWR Distribution exclusive distribution for all the Philips Entertainment Lighting brands. DWR has v

Italy - Nearly 90 Clay Paky motorised spotlights were used in the Italian television variety show I Migliori Anni (The Best Years). The programme is directed by Maurizio Pagnussat and hosted by Carlo Conti, and consists of a tele-voting competition between pieces of music from different decades.

The elaborate set designed by Riccardo Bocchini consists of a double stage, connected with a wide central gangway on which the competing artists move. All around this is the orchestra, whereas the jury and VIP guests are inside six 'windows' on several levels. The audience is seated on

Singapore - Wireless Solution Sweden was a proud participant at the inaugural Youth Olympic Games this summer held in Singapore. The event hosted youth athletes from 204 countries competing in 26 events - all hopefuls to compete in the following year's Summer Olympics.

The opening ceremony was held on 14 August 14 at the Float @ Marina Bay Platform, the world's largest floating stage located in the heart of Singapore. The Singapore skyline served as a backdrop, which required a display of lighting, lasers and fireworks.

The set involved a ring of shipping containers to symbolize Sin

UK - Entertainment lighting supplier White Light is currently in the middle of a very busy run up to the Christmas holiday season, with theatre shows and many other festive events making use of the company's extensive lighting hire and sales stock and production services.

Many of these shows are traditional pantomimes. This year's count has seen White Light supply four Aladdins, six Cinderellas, two Dick Whittingtons, two Jack and the Beanstalks, four Peter Pans, three Sleeping Beautys, four Snow Whites and just the one Robin Hood

UK - Liverpool- based Adlib is supplying its new Pixled F30 LED screen, a Catalyst media server, full production lighting, FOH and monitor sound consoles and a stage monitor system, plus crew for the BRIT Award winner Ellie Goulding's UK tour. For selected shows, including the London showcase at Hammersmith Apollo, they also supplied the full PA, as required by Jamie Butterworth - Goulding's production manager.

Adlib's Ian Tomlinson designed the lightshow for Goulding, which was developed in close collaboration with Goulding's drummer and musical director Joe Clegg, who produced all o

USA - The historic showroom in the Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas boasts a 12-unit Martin MaxModules lighting control system, the largest MaxModules console ever assembled in the world and the latest in a string of Martin controller installations in the city.

The system consists of two MaxModule Cerebrums, two MaxModule Playbacks, two MaxModule Buttons, one MaxModule Programmer, and five MaxModule Submasters, all mounted in a completely customised frame.

The man responsible for integration of the extensive setup is Matthew Paupst, system design engineer at FBP Systems of Las Vegas. Paups

UK - Rotherham Civic Theatre and Arts Centre has addressed a number of ongoing issues: Health and Safety, turnaround times, carbon footprint as well as energy and labour costs, in one fell swoop with the purchase of 16 PixelRange RGBA PixelPars, featuring high intensity CREE LEDs.

Working at height to change the lamps and gels for static lights is common practice in UK theatres, but the PixelPars have brought a dramatic change of circumstance to the theatre. For the first time, operators have instant control over the lightin

UK - ETC has released new software for its SmartFade range of lighting control desks, including a number of new features - such as native support for LED fixtures with up to seven colours.

Previously, if an entry-level lighting desk was able to control LED fixtures at all, it provided only the most basic support for red, green and blue. As manufacturers add further LED colours, more advanced control is necessary - this means that a SmartFade ML desk is now able to control ETC Selador LED fixtures, which contain up to seven different colours.

Other updates in SmartFade v3 include: a

The Netherlands - On 15 November, 809,000 Dutch viewers were tuned to RTL5 for the live broadcast of Benelux Next Top Model Final Show 2010. The staff of Visual Productions tuned in too, supporting Cuelux, débuting on live TV as the choice controller from DutchView for the control of the laser show.

The show, produced by Endemol Nederland BV, was broadcast from the Lichtfabriek in Haarlem, a venue now well known for cultural and corporate events that was once responsible for providing energy to the homes in Haarlem. The simple, elegant setting and clever light design tra

UK - Martin Professional has announced that longtime Martin UK sales manager Clive Bailey has assumed the position of product manager - smoke, working for the company's Danish-based global headquarters.

Bailey's new responsibilities include globally overseeing the company's complete range of Jem and Magnum brand haze, fog and heavy fog machines. A past recipient of Martin's Subsidiary Sales Rep of the Year award, Bailey began in the new position in September and continues to work from his base in the UK.

"Having worked for Martin Professional for many years as sales manager - c

South Africa - Gearhouse South Africa supplied technical production, including sound, lighting, video equipment and a stage/roof system plus crew for the South African leg of Indian singer/musician A R Rahman's Jai Ho world tour.

Gearhouse SA's project manager was Bill Lawford, who started work two months in advance, collaborating closely with the tour's US-based production manager, Nick Jeen.

Three venues - Sun City Superbowl, the Grand West Casino in Cape Town and the Moses Mabhida stadium in Durban - were visited over a 12 day period.

The tour brought its full monitor ri

UK - Technical Performance & Presentation, based in Sussex, has been appointed exclusive UK reseller for RC4Magic Series 2 wireless transmitters and receiver/dimmers for the stage and entertainment industry.

Beverley Grover first saw the product demonstrated at ABTT and says she immediately knew this would be a product that would fit into the company portfolio and one they would be happy to support and promote.

James Smith, president and chief product designer at RC4 Wireless in Toronto, Canada, comments: "I have been cautiously and selectively building a worldwide network of p

UK - Black Light has teamed up with a number of its key suppliers and the Federation of Scottish Theatre (FST) to help deliver three days of technical training at Pitlochry Festival Theatre on the 22-24 February 2011.

Among the courses being run by Black Light are sessions on the Safe Use of Pyrotechnics, on the operation of ETC Ion Lighting Desks, Rosco Lighting and Scenic Products and Avolites Titan Software.

"Our courses will be a fantastic opportunity to get your hands on some of the most exciting technology in the business and learn how to use it from the professionals,&qu

Monaco - Clay Paky exhibited at recent Monaco International Clubbing Show (MICS). Presenting a mixture of lighting, sound and design booths, the show gathered club owners, investors, DJs and designers from all quarters of the industry.

In addition to a stand, Clay Paky also designed and supplied the lighting system for the temporary 2,000sq.m MICS Club that was built in one of the exhibition halls. This club space was used as a demo room by day and as an evening venue for large events such as the award ceremonies and DJ competitions.

Clay Paky received an Award from the organisers f

UK White Light took part in TheatreCraft 2010, a careers fair for those interested in a career behind-the-scenes in theatre which took place at the London Coliseum on 22 November.

Organised by Masterclass, a programme providing those interested in the worlds of theatre, film and television with expert guidance and support, TheatreCraft was open to anyone aged 17-25 interested in working backstage, giving them a chance to learn more about the career paths available - from stage management to wig-making to lighting to w

UK / USA - North London-based VDC Trading has appointed specialist audio and lighting supplier, Group One as a key distributor of Van Damme cables across North America. VDC is the sole representing agent for Van Damme globally, and the co-ordination of all distribution deals is central part of that role.

The deal formalises a long standing relationship with Group One, which has been working with VDC on an ad hoc basis for some time. According to export manager, Andy Dennis, the agreement marks a significant step forward as VDC pursues a concerted international expansion strategy.

&q

China - LumenRadio recently teamed up to offer training sessions at Leafun's facilities in Guangzhou. The sessions on 7-8 December focused on how to plan and implement complex indoor and outdoor wireless lighting control systems, as well as how to use RDM and LumenRadio's CRMX SuperNova software to remotely configure and monitor wireless installations.

"LumenRadio is very happy to work with Leafun in bringing CRMX to the Chinese market. Leafun is certainly the optimal partner for us to work with to establish CRMX as the best-of-class wireless lighting controls in China. We have h

UK - Manchester-based DBN Lighting has once again supplied production, plus equipment and crew for the The Warehouse Project (WHP) club night.

Running every Friday and Saturday nights from September to New Year's Eve each year, the WHP unites DJs and live artists in an energetic, vibrant dance party environment, all staged in a former air raid bunker underneath Piccadilly station, which is part of the Store Street Car Park by day.

DBN's Pete Robinson created the production design which had to be flexible and offer plenty of variety for the 14-week season. Since WHP has been at the S

UK - Boulevard is a newly opened club in Newcastle upon Tyne and is home to Betty Legs Diamond, and DJ, Miss Rory. It's also home to 23 Chauvet fixtures specified, fitted and programmed by Nik Cook of Innovation Power from Sunderland.

The club boasts Broadway-style productions combining female impersonation with a chorus of show boys and girls performing everything from slapstick comedy to choreographed dance routines. And every show is performed in a dazzling array of costumes.

Cook learned of the Chauvet products while attending PLASA in September 2010. "He was blown away wit

Canada - Cast Software has announced the release of wysiwyg R26, for members only. The release is now available for download.

R26 has been designed to give the user a better experience on many planes - with a heavy emphasis on Reports and Presentation, says the company.

R26 gives the user a solid platform of spreadsheet tools, improving the data experience for the user and improving efficiency in creating paperwork. R26 is also the international debut of some new dimensioning tools - radial dimensioning, arc length, and a new Protractor Tool. Cast software development has also made

Australia - The Cairns Civic Theatre, owned and operated by the Cairns Regional Council, has been presenting some of the best arts and entertainment available in Australia, since it was opened in 1974. More than 230 performances are presented at the theatre each year, ranging from local amateur shows to national and international touring extravaganzas.

For many years the theatre has been home to ETC lighting consoles, with the latest acquisition being an ETC Ion 1500.

"In fact we purchased two ETC Ion 1500 consoles s

USA - The Control Protocols Plug Fest celebrates its second anniversary with another Fest being held in January 2011 in conjunction with the Technical Standards Programme meetings at the Marriott Solana in Westlake, Texas.

As a result of the continuing popularity and growth of the programme, the Plug Fest will fill a larger space at the Marriott, and the event will be lengthened by half a day, running Friday, 21 January from 16:00 to 22:00; Saturday, 22 January from 09:00 to 23:00; and Sunday, 25 January from 09:00 to 22:00. The event, originally created to support ANSI E1.20 RDM (Rem

USA - XS nightclub at Wynn casino and resort in Las Vegas has upgraded its lighting control system with Martin's M1 lighting desk. The M1 was an appropriate choice for club lighting console operator Josh Packard and his style of operation, says Wynn lighting programmer and lead lighting technician, Brian Gysegem.

"It was obvious that he needed more playbacks at his fingertips and the M1 became the obvious choice. The board was ultimately chosen for its small footprint and abundance of playbacks on the control surface. Josh is equally adept at creating and mixing music as he is op

Mexico - Over 170 Clay Paky Alpha 1500s have been used to mark Mexico's bicentennial and centennial celebrations. This year Mexicans celebrated both 200 years of independence and 100 years since the Revolution, prompting a wave of celebrations throughout the country.

The festivities culminated in two separate events held in the main plaza of the capital, El Zocalo. The Bicentennial, a two-day fiesta of light and music, was enjoyed by thousands of Mexican revellers, and broadcast live to millions around the world.

Production and creative direction were placed in the hands of a multi-

Latest Issue. . .