UK - Backstage Academy has launched a range of short courses for Spring 2012. Based at the LS-Live rehearsal studios in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, the Academy benefits from its links to some of the world's leading productions and production personnel, tailoring courses to suit the evolving demands of the sector. Courses take place in its training centre and Apple Authorised Training Suite, adjacent to the studio where the likes of Kylie, Dizzee Rascal, P!nk, Robbie Williams, Lady Gaga and Tinie Tempah have all rehearsed.

The courses cover a range of backstage skills, from rigging and

Germany - Wireless Solution Sweden AB had one of its most successful Prolight + Sound shows in Frankfurt, showing both new products and some innovative advancements to their product range while signing new OEM partners and distributors.

Wireless Solution added to their growing OEM partners with the additions of Robert Juliat, Studio Due, and Ape Labs. Details of products offered with W-DMX will be released soon.

The company also appointed Acoustic & Lighting system as distributor for Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. Eugene Yeo, MD for Acoustic & Lighting said, "W-DMX for is a

UK - Impact, the trade distribution company for sound, lighting and staging, has opened six new UK branches to cope with countrywide demand for the brands it represents. The new branches, in Park Royal (north London), Belvedere (south London), Glasgow, Edinburgh, Preston and Poole, were rolled out in quick succession from late 2011, allowing Impact, headquartered in Northampton, to easily cover the entire country.

"We are demonstrating an unprecedented level of service to the industry by providing a high level of stock holding and customer support, which together have driven a ra

Beatlemania - Let it Be, a tribute show to The Beatles, will open in the West End this September. The show - a new version of Rain, which ran on Broadway in 2010/11 - will run at the Prince of Wales Theatre for a limited season from 14 September 2012 until 19 January. The Prince of Wales is where The Beatles played a Royal Variety Performance in 1963 and the show will mark 50 years since the band's first single Love Me Do. It is the first time that the grand theatrical rights to The Beatles' back catalogue have been granted by Sony/ATV for a West End production.

<

UK - The annual First Night Riders charity motorbike event is attracting international attention from industry professionals as more bikers sign up for the event.

Organisers have just announced that theatre consultant George Ellerington of Arup Venue, Dick Lindstrom from the Swedish mechanics and lighting company Anderson & Co, stage designer and engineer Giles Favell and Andy Hayles, managing partner of theatre consultancy Charcoalblue are all signed up to take part in this year's race.

These new riders will set off with bikers hailing from all sectors of the entertainment technolo

UK - Creative & Cultural Skills, Arts Council England, and Nesta have joined forces to commission new, independent research into the influence of the subsidised theatre on commercial theatre, with a view to gaining a greater understanding of the role of public investment in the arts.

The survey will track the careers of people in the industry, and the talent that has emerged from it, in order to better understand the impact that public investment in the theatre sector makes.

The aim is to collect the views of a range of theatre professionals currently or previously working in the se

UK - PSCo Rental appointed Rowena Wilks as rental account manager. She joins the company after four successful years at Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce, where she was responsible for dealing with business advice and membership.

Lisa Wardle, rental manager of PSCo Rental, comments, "I am delighted to welcome Rowena to the rental business. As our portfolio of leading technologies continues to grow, it is vital that we continue to deliver the high standards of service and support that our customers expect, and she has the skills and experience to further drive these improvements.&

Germany - On the 22 March, D.T.S. held its third D.T.S. Excellence Awards dinner.

The ceremony, which took place at the Tryp hotel in Frankfurt during ProLight&Sound, started with a choreographed rendition of the 'Mission impossible' theme, that ended with the clear statement "Mission accomplished!", whilst highlighting the brand new JACK and NICK NRG high-power compact moving heads, introduced by D.T.S at Prolight&Sound.

Silvano Latteo, D.T.S president, and Franco Zaghini, VP of sales, awarded the Excellence Awards 2012 to the company's most successful dealers and to the

UK - Creative & Cultural Skills, Arts Council England, and Nesta have joined forces to commission new, independent research into the influence of the subsidised theatre on commercial theatre, with a view to gaining a greater understanding of the role of public investment in the arts.

The survey will track the careers of people in the industry, and the talent that has emerged from it, in order to better understand the impact that public investment in the theatre sector makes.

The aim is to collect the views of a range of theatre professionals currently or previously working in the se

UK - The Association of British Theatre Technicians (ABTT) and the Stage Management Association (SMA) will hold this spring's Production Managers Forum (PMF) meeting - open to all - at the forthcoming PLASA Focus, Leeds, on Tuesday 17 April at 11.30am, in the Royal Armouries Bury Theatre.

Founded in 2000, the PMF was created as a joint venture between the two associations, in recognition that there was no organisation dedicated to the specific needs of the production manager.

Since then, the PMF has held three to four meetings a year, on various subjects ranging from International c

Jim Marshall Remembered - Guitar amp innovator Jim Marshall, dubbed 'the Father of Loud' for creating kit used by some of rock's biggest names, has died aged 88 and the industry has been paying tribute. A statement posted on the company's website called him a "legendary man", adding, "In addition to the creation of the amps, chosen by countless guitar heroes and game changing bands, Jim was also an incredibly humble and generous man who, over the past several decades, has quietly donated many millions of pounds to worthy causes."

Former Guns N' Roses guitarist Slas

Brazil - The beginning of February saw AP Security being asked to represent the UK on a trade mission to Rio de Janeiro, the host city of the 2016 Olympics. General manager, Andy Stevens, was lucky enough to be AP's representative and, whilst there, met with senior members of the Rio Organising Committee, as well as all three levels of Government.

"Rio will stage an incredible Games," says an impressed Stevens. "The country's passion for carnival and celebration will see to that and, with the iconic backdrop of Copacabana Beach, Sugarloaf Mountain and the legendary Mara

UK/USA - London-based theatre design consultancy Charcoalblue's work is making waves on both sides of the 'pond' as the multi-award winning transformation of the Royal Shakespeare and Swan Theatres wins the prestigious USITT 2012 Architecture Honour Award.

In 2007 Charcoalblue saw two of its previous projects, London's Young Vic and The Unicorn Theatre, receive USITT Merit awards.

For the Royal Shakespeare Theatre (RST), Charcoalblue consultants worked in close collaboration with project architects Bennetts Associates and the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) project team to transform

UAE - Nicolas Kyvernitis Electronics Enterprises, distributors of Neutrik for the past 20 years has been appointed as the distributor for the Gulf Cooperation Council countries which include the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirates.

"Neutrik connectors are an essential part in any audio, video, lighting and communication system," commented Chicco Hiranandani, business development manager at NMK. "Their connectors can be found across the region in large infrastructure projects, mid-sized facilities to small venues. Ensuring a

UK - Visitor registration for PLASA Focus: Leeds 2012 closes at 5pm today. Don't miss out, register for your free visitor badge today and experience the largest get-together of entertainment technology professionals in the North.

Registration is free, choose from 20 free seminars and meet 130 exhibitors across two sold-out halls. Plus, who says there's no such thing as a free lunch? Free lunch will be served from 1pm on both days of the event.

PLASA Focus: Leeds 2012 takes place at The Royal Armouries in Leeds on Tuesday 17 & Wednesday 18 April. Don't mis

UK - inspHire will be demonstrating its award winning, easy to use, Hire Management Solutions, at Scotland's leading Construction and Plant exhibition, ScotPlant 2012, on 27-28 April.

inspHire's hire management software boasts a modern interface, full of easy to use features which has helped over 900 single and multi-depot companies worldwide grow and increase profitability. Dedicated to continual product development, inspHire will be demonstrating latest features including new user-friendly Hire Management Dashboards on stand D10 in the Pavilion.

inspHire Dashboards provide key, re

USA - More than 60 Chauvet Professional fixtures make their big-screen debut in Tyler Perry's new romantic drama, Good Deeds.

Southeast Staging set up the runway and brought in lighting for the design team's 'Club Riot' scene. To light the scene, Bob Daniel, president and chief executive officer of Southeast Staging recommended COLORado Tour fixtures because of their on-camera capability as well as their efficiency, powerful output and precise colour temperature settings.

"We chose the COLORado Tour series because they are the brightest and most versatile lights in their

UK - James Harden is that latest addition to the ELP production staff. He joins ELP from Panalux where he was a project manager looking after broadcast and events clients.

"This is an excellent addition to our team" comments acting MD Dave Keighley. "James has over 30 years experience in the industry across all the various production sectors ELP work in including TV, music, corporate, sport and fashion shows. "

Harden grew up in South Africa and that's where he first worked in the entertainment industry. "I was a road manager for various bands, lighting desi

USA - Audio-Technica is introducing its new System 8 VHF wireless systems. Featuring stackable, contemporary styling, Audio-Technica's System 8 Wireless Systems are designed for reliable performance, easy setup and clear, natural sound quality at affordable price points.

Available in handheld, headworn, guitar, lavalier and body-pack configurations, these single-channel, fixed-frequency systems are available in three travelling VHF frequencies (169.505, 170.245 and 171.905).

The System 8 units offer reliable performance and durable construction. Features include an advanced dipole a

South Africa - Cape Town-based SMD Technical purchased Robe Robin 300s at the end of last year, which have gone out on almost every job since, including Johnny Clegg, Locnville and Radio Kalahari Orkes.

"I think that the regular lighting, staging and sound aspects of the Cape Town market is saturated with highly competitive businesses, and tend to operate with a more rock 'n roll approach, whilst the specially engineered/ bespoke side is unsaturated and far more complex in its requirements," said David Harris from SMD. "We find that our clients are leaning towards more

UK - Entec's sound division again supplied a powerful d&b system to the 2012 Teenage Cancer Trust (TCT) shows at London's Royal Albert Hall (RAH), taking the opportunity to use the new d&b V-Series speakers as part of the main system for the high profile event.

Entec has supplied audio to TCT at Albert Hall since it started 12 years ago, and for the last four years, the system has been designed and overseen by Liam Halpin for the west London based rental company. Entec has used d&b on TCT for all 12 years, ever since it became their first-choice rental brand.

The RAH event involves

China - At close of day two of InfoComm China 2012, attendance at the show was 14,868, representing a 39% increase over its previous showing in 2011. Final attendance at close of the three-day exhibition is expected to breach 16,000, a record turnout in the history of the show.

The 30 sessions of the InfoComm China Summit education programme also attracted a record attendance of 1,550 delegates, more than double that of last year.

The organizers have already announced that the 2013 show will expand to Halls 5 and 6 next year to cater to the additional demand for space, not just from

UK - A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET) has announced the appointment of four new members of staff, as well as a number of role changes within the company, in order to service the needs of its growing customer base.

These changes are part of the AC-ET's philosophy of continuing to reinvest in, and further develop its business, to ensure that customers and suppliers continue to receive the highest levels of service and support, says the company.

James Bawn has taken on the joint role of technical sales manager and Chroma-Q global brand manager.

Having served as AC-ET's Norther

USA - PLASA Focus: Nashville 2012 is set to welcome a raft of new exhibitors as the two-day event continues to grow, with over 20 companies now committed to taking part and as many applications being processed. The event takes place 11-12 July, at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium, TN, and is the first of its kind to be held in the region.

Confirmed exhibitors include: Barbizon, IATSE, Seachanger, Hive/Interspace, Show Sage, Ultratec, LynTec, Nicolaudie America Inc., Thern Stage Equipment, Coolux, Doug Fleenor Design, Chauvet, Robe, High End Systems, White Light, Creative Stage Light

Latest Issue. . .