Business

Details

14 March 2016

"Given the success of our operations in the UK, it made sense to expand to an inland facility so we can better serve customers not only in the Benelux area but also throughout the continent," said Chauvet President Albert Chauvet. "With high profile products like our Chauvet Professional Nexus and ÉPIX being seen worldwide, and the widespread following of Chauvet DJ in multiple countries, we've established globally recognized brands. This facility will help bring the

Details

14 March 2016

Following the purchase of their Martin Audio MLA loudspeaker system in 2012-14, comprising MLA, MLA Compact and MLA Mini, the London-based professional live sound equipment hire company have recently undertaken a new investment programme to focus on their infrastructure, maintaining and upgrading all elements of their professional sound equipment hire stock to ensure that it meets clients' needs in terms of commerciality, functionality and cutting-edge technology.

"Whilst we're known as the 'go-to' rock-and-roll touring sound hire company in London, Capital Sound Hire caters for a broad range of live sound market sectors including corporate and conference work, festivals, theatre and comedy&quo

Details

14 March 2016

TriCaster has changed the way producers cover and distribute live events. TriCaster set a new industry standard as an innovative, easy-to-use appliance for portable live production and streaming, it has become the choice for video producers worldwide. TriCaster customers will now be able to download and install Dante Virtual Soundcard on the TriCaster platform. This transforms the production system into an end-to-end digital audio workflow seamlessly integrating TriCaster with Dante audio devices on the network.

"The partnership between Audinate and NewTek to enabl

Details

14 March 2016

The Bristol based operation was founded by Darren Wring in 1990 as a lighting rental and touring company and expanded in 2004 to include a manufacturing facility for bespoke staging and scenic elements.

Current MD Rob Sangwell joined in 2002 and managed the production lighting and rigging aspects of Fineline until 2011 when he purchased the company with a view to focusing more on the rigging and lighting production, leaving Darren to concentrate on the more esoteric design and manufacturing projects.

Rob enjoyed the vibe and the challenge of running Fineline enormously in his initial nine y

Details

14 March 2016

"Basically we redeveloped the theatre from a multi-functional venue to a permanent theatre capable of handling large scale, long running quality theatre productions," said JP de Vernon, entertainment technical manager at Emperors.

After consulting with Dream Sets and Effective Events, a decision was made by Emperors Palace to build a stage out of stage decks that would fit into the venue perfectly and come within a reasonable budget.

"We have proper comfortable theatre/cinema seating, the theatre is warm and inviting and the team itself is ver

Details

14 March 2016

Holy Trinity Brompton Road is the home of Alpha, a worldwide course which allows people to explore the big questions of life, and also the Worship Central movement founded by Tim Hughes, which places great emphasis on music in its endeavours. Holy Trinity Brompton Road has been using wireless microphone systems since a large-scale refurbishment in 2006, and the systems have gradually spread to the other churches in the group.

Four churches, including St Jude's in Courtfield Gardens, South Kensington, now the seat of the St Mellitus religious training

Details

14 March 2016

The first innovative Platinum lamp, the MSD Platinum 5 R, was launched in 2010. Today, in 2015, Philips offers a broad range including the 2 R, 14 R, 15 R, 16 R, 17 RA and 20 R. Platinum lamps have been used at many major events, worldwide. Platinum lamps were designed to cope with the demanding on-stage conditions in modern entertainment.

LED walls are increasingly being integrated into stage lighting design, creating a sea of homogeneous light. A new generation of lamps with powerful beams is needed to cut through in these situations and provide addition

Details

14 March 2016

Having wowed UK audiences since it opened at the National's Cottesloe Theatre in August 2012, the production transferred to the Apollo Theatre in March 2013 and is currently playing at the Gielgud Theatre. Keen to ensure the tour is equally successful, Damian Partington, production manager, National Theatre Productions, brought Unusual Rigging on board to help ensure a flawless move between venues and supply a range of rigging equipment.

Damian explained, "The Curious Incident tells the story of a 15-year-old boy as he aims to solve the mystery of who murdered his neighbour's dog and it's a show that Unusual Rigging is very familiar with since they worked with us on the version that's currently on at the Gielgud

Details

14 March 2016

Steven Wilson wanted to create "a show that I hope will raise the bar both musically and visually from my previous tours, with a set list based around the new album, as well as casting the net further back into my song writing past for a few surprises".

Steven Wilson's lighting designer, Matthew Jensen, came to Mick Freer of Hawthorn with an idea of creating a strong visual impact for the s

Details

14 March 2016

Part of the new programme is PLASA's sector specific seminar offering, which will see an increase from two to five theatres. Additionally, existing demo spaces are being built on; key networking spaces, such as the show bar and zones in the sector hubs, are being reintroduced; and the show will open late on its second day.

"PLASA 2015 has a progressive new approach, as we focus on five major sectors of the live entertainment technology world: Lighting, Audio, Stage, AV and Live Broadcast," explains Christopher Toulmin, director of events division at PLASA. "Each sector is individually supported by manufacturer led content, as well as PLASA's own indust

Details

14 March 2016

Fisher Hires supplies lighting, AV and technical expertise for all Fisher Productions events, and was launched as a separate company last year with the aim to widen the business and offer a full dry hire service.

Responding to client demand, Fisher has purchased a number of products from Clay Paky, MA Lighting, Avolites, Prolights and ETC and have significantly increased its stock of wireless uplights to include the Core Colourpoint.

Graham Beswick CEO of the Fisher Productions Group said, "Our upgrade of lighting and AV equipment comprises of over 110 product lines and thousands of pieces of kit, allowi

Details

14 March 2016

The event, produced by Old School Productions, was staged in the round and lit by Sean Caie, the venue's head of lighting, using an all Robe moving light rig including BMFL Spots.

It was the first time that organisers had moved the event indoors and the first time it was extended to two days due to massive public demand.

The floor layout comprised a complete skate / BMX Park, with vert ramps and all the death-defying obstacles you'd expect in this raw and uncompromising environment.

Details

14 March 2016

The 50% increase in total warehouse space enables XL Video to create a dedicated space for preparation and dispatch of the company's wide and varied range of indoor and outdoor rental LED screens, and other creative LED products.

This expansion into the new LED facility also creates additional much-needed space in the main XL Video warehouse to allow for the growth in inventory of XL's projection and media server/control departments, both of which announced major technology investments earlier this year with the likes of d3, Barco, and Lightware.

XL Video's UK director of operations, John Hooker commented, "We are pleased to be able to expand our operations into this ne

Details

14 March 2016

What value do theatres bring to regeneration, commercial development and mixed use schemes?

Conference 15: Valuing Theatres considers ways in which we can work with the property sector to achieve shared cultural, social and economic returns and create new partnerships with developers to build and protect the theatres of the future.

How do we engage with developers who are playing an increasingly important role as theatre builders and capital investors?

Valuing Theatres is chaired by Jim Beirne MBE, chief executive of Live Theatre who is leading Live Works, a new £10m capital scheme in Newcastle to purchase and develop Quayside frontage and land and buildings adjacent to t

Details

14 March 2016

Says PLASA Events show manager Laura Hoepker, "As a trade organization by the industry and for the industry, PLASA looks forward to another successful Focus show in Kansas City and providing another targeted business and networking opportunity to both PLASA members and to regional buyers. Between the show floor and educational seminars, we are providing access to the best in the industry to everyone who attends."

New additions to the top-notch seminar line up, include:

A L

Details

14 March 2016

K3's impressive longevity - achieved without airplay on MTV and other standard music channels - was led by proactive direct marketing through youth and children's TV channels.

Luc has been involved with K3's live performance visuals for 12 years. His team from Painting With Light on this tour included programmer and lighting operator on the road Paco Mispelters and media server programmer and operator Katleen Selleslagh, and the design's starting point came from the band's hit TV show K3 Can Do It which is based on helping children achieve their dreams. The idea was to align the live show with the whole current K3 brand conc

Details

14 March 2016

Played out in front of a studio audience at Fountain Studios, Play to the Whistle features host Holly Whillouby presiding over team captains, Bradley Walsh and Frank Lampard.

Produced by Hungry Bear Media for ITV, the show pits two celebrity teams against each other with the aim of working out who sports the best knowledge of all things sporting. Helping to keep order, comedian Sean Walsh also joins the show in the guise of comic umpire for the series.

To assist in creating the show's polished, sporty look, Aurora supplied LD Oli with razor sharp Clay Paky Sharpys, which have been integrated into the set to create 'bars' of light that tower above the guests.

Elsewhere, Oli specified the innovative Doughty H Bar ladder syste

Details

14 March 2016

Music acts performed in the Aintree International Equestrian Centre throughout the three days of the Festival. The line-up included local legends, The Christians on the Grand Opening Day, followed by X Factor and I'm A Celebrity star Jake Quickenden on Ladies' Day and The Stars from the Commitments on the day of the Grand National itself.

With many of the race goers staying on to enjoy the entertainment, it was vital that OneBigStar delivered the highest standards of production at this hugely popular event. They brought along a full festival s

Details

14 March 2016

"This collaboration with VuWall demonstrates the vast range of applications we can service with solutions as well as expert technical advice," comments Stuart Holmes, CEO of PSCo. "We are pleased to be able to offer our customers this software as part of the PSCo portfolio, creating a tailored solution for their requirements."

The collaborative visualisation software from VuWall Technology complements existing PSC

Details

14 March 2016

Andy Huffer of HD Pro Audio commented, "It's been a while coming, but we're pleased to say it has proved to be well worth the wait as the S6L looks set to repeat the success of the original Venue platform. Having been with Venue since its inception over 10 years ago, we're primed and ready to go for supply and support of this superb new console. It uses the same workflow and accepts original Venue show files, making it immediately familiar to engineers who know Venue already."

Huffer continued, "HD Pro Audio is also an appointed dealer for Sonnox and the new S6L will bring renewed focus on AAX DSP plug-ins. Our decade with Avid combined together with our experience with Sonnox uniquely places us to provide first class support and delivery for engineers."

HD Pro Au

Details

14 March 2016

As part of PRG's recent acquisition of over $50m in new equipment for PRG Nocturne, part of its recently rebranded PRG Music Group, the company placed orders for 21 Fujinon XA99X8.4BESM ultra-wide field production lenses, 27 ZA17x7.6 BERM ENG-Style lenses, and 10 ZA12x4.5BERM wide-angle remote control lenses to service its continually expanding touring production business. PRG Music Group focuses on providing integrated video and lighting solutions for worldwide tours, festivals, concerts, and corporate events.

Mickey Curbishley, CEO of the PRG Music Group, stated, "We're making this initial investment of over $50m in new, state-of-the-art v

Details

14 March 2016

The PRG LEA Awards marked their 10th anniversary on 14 April 2015. This anniversary was celebrated in spectacular style in Frankfurt. An impressive laser setup accompanied the celebration of the awards with more than 22 show laser light systems from Ray Technologies (RTI) - the high end laser manufacturer from Germany - placed all around the huge stage, the balcony and, in conjunction with video projection systems, for special mapping effects.

Overall, laser power of more than 300W emphasized the size of the lighting rig that PRG built for the LEA Awards. Laserfabrik was responsible for the laser show design and control.

There were many famous nominees for t

Details

14 March 2016

In addition to his all-inclusive trip to PL+S 2015, Espinoza has been awarded a new Martin M-Touch controller and an M-PC kit. Commenting on his win, the 25-year-old from Mexico said, "I really enjoy working with the M-series as it offers the right tools to translate my ideas into real-life shows. I'm pleased and very humbled to be announced as the winner among so much talent. I wanted to share my show and my message, but I never expected to be announced as the winner. Thank you to the judges and everyone who voted for me."

Thro

Details

14 March 2016

Introduced on 6 April, the revised regulations mean all events with structures must have a client who in turn appoints both a principal designer (PD) and a principal contractor (PC). The PD's primary role it is to ensure that health and safety is planned into a project from the design stage through to the start on site, while the PC takes charge of, and manages, health and safety on site.

Available for free download at http://www.stareventsltd.com, Star's 20-page CDM Ready! document draws from the HSE's latest draft to explain the impact on the event industry and how to comply.

It goes on to detail the company's own response, from designing