General

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14 March 2016

Behind the Scenes provides financial support to people working in the entertainment technology industry who experience hardship when they become ill or injured, or to their surviving family members. Grants are tailored to each individual but uses can include basic living costs, medical related expenses, transportation, retraining and funeral expenses.

AJ, who is also treasurer of the charity, commented, "PLASA has provided Behind the Scenes with a springboard to reach out to all sectors w

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14 March 2016

With two training centres at either Ascot or Maidenhead, the academy is able to run courses for up to 12 candidates who on completion will receive the coveted City & Guilds certification. "We are also able to bring the courses to your offices providing you have certain facilities available, and we can offer overseas training too," says the company. "For a full prospectus on all the courses available, please contact our sales office or go online at www.ses-academy.co.uk."

(Jim Evans)

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14 March 2016

The theatre - famed for launching the careers of actors including Bill Nighy, Julie Walters and Pete Postlethwaite - first opened in 1964 in the shell of a 19th Century chapel on one of Liverpool's main streets. However, over the years it fell into a state of disrepair and architects Haworth Tompkins were tasked with designing a new theatre as part of a nine-year £27m rebuilding project, retaining i

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14 March 2016

Luc founded Genk based Painting With Light in 1999. He comments, "To move forward on the same trajectory for the next 15 years, I needed to be fully in control and accept responsibility for our future strategies, investments and direction ... and so the deal was negotiated on that basis".

He adds that he and his former business partners - Dimi Theuwissen and Jim Stas - are looking forward to new challenges and horizons and that they have parted "on the best possible terms", and very proud of what the award winning company has achieved to date.

Painting With Light specializes in creating lighting, set and visual designs f

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14 March 2016

Founded in 1994, Gearhouse, L.L.C. has long been established as the market leader with a client portfolio that includes international touring artists The Rolling Stones, Muse, Rihanna, Eric Clapton, and The Prodigy, along with leading global production companies, government agencies and a growing list of key regional venue partners.

For PRG's worldwide clients this acquisition means that they will now have access to a complete range of technical expertise and product

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14 March 2016

Jeremy will spend his time between a desk at 5 Star's HQ in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire and being on the road around the UK seeing customers, developing new business, networking and keeping an ear-to-the-ground.

His background includes a wealth of experience in the worlds of pro photography, video and broadcast - so he knows a thing or two about the necessity of having good road cases!

He worked as a freelance photographer in London for over 10 years as well as a sales and product manager for photographic retail giant Calumet in their professional and corporate divisions.

Crossovers between this and the live production industry including being highly customer-focused, and understanding the importance of delivering or

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14 March 2016

The new 326-seat 4D theatre sits at the heart of a new 4,000sq.m area in the theme park, near London, built exclusively for the famous international game and brand, Angry Birds. The multi-sensory experience offers visitors a custom-produced 4D film and in-theatre special effects including wind, smell, water, leg ticklers, bubbles, smoke and catapult simulating seats to create an 'in-game' experience for park-goers.

UK-based Simworx was contracted to create and install the 4D experience by park operator Merlin Entertainments and Finnish company, Rovio Entertainment.

7thSense Design supplied a dual-head Delt

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14 March 2016

On Broadway - The Last Ship, Sting's musical about shipbuilding in north-ea

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14 March 2016

Founded in 1997, Goldcrest Films is an iconic name in the cinema industry, with legendary movies like Chariots Of Fire, Gandhi and Local Hero to its credit. The company formed Goldcrest Post in 1992 and currently operates one of the industry's premier audio post-production facilities from its Dean Street, Soho premises, as well as having a significant branch in Manhattan.

With this new project Goldcrest Post is aiming to become the UK's premier 'one stop post-production shop' for picture, audio and grading post w

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14 March 2016

The Swan Award is presented to a member who has put forth exceptional efforts in time, expertise and personal resources, and has been instrumental in shaping the strategic direction and contributing to the realization of the association's mission. Dinna Myers has gone above and beyond this criteria to create a stronger, better industry for all. Please join us in honouring her.

Dinna, the director of sales & marketing at Musson Theatrical, has made a significant impact on the Assoc

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14 March 2016

The award to Bill Ellis, owner of Candela Controls, will be presented by Mike Lay, chair of the CPWG. Bill Ellis spends many volunteer hours on work for the CPWG and the ad-hoc TMG, which promotes the work of the Technical Standards Programme. He has put in an extraordinary amount of work in the preparation, set up and running of the Technical Standards portion of the PLASA booth at LDI, first with the Control Protocols Pavilion and most recently with Standards on the Stage.

Bill's contributions also include presentations on DMX512 and RDM at various trade shows and conferences. Recently, he assisted in completing assembly of an equipment

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14 March 2016

Double Act - TV duo Ant and Dec are to host the 2015 Brit awards, 14 years since the last time they presented the ceremony. The hosts of I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! and Britain's Got Talen

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14 March 2016

5 Star's Keith Sykes co-ordinated the project, saying, "We were approached by WNSC's chair Sam Baxter as they needed to be able to stow and transport their timing kit safely and easily. It's one of their biggest capital assets, so we were very happy to offer a custom solution."

Two of the cases each take four timing pads, and both feature a split-top design making the cases as accessible as possible, facilitating extremely quick and easy removal and deployment of the pads from the large cases.

They are constructed from 5 Star's Tour grade specification materials with 9 mm ply utilised to minimise the w

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14 March 2016

As the National Advisory Body for Theatres, The Theatres Trust works to secure a sustainable future for theatre buildings. Its aim is to ensure that current and future generations have access to good quality theatres that reflect our cultural life and offer inspiring places to enjoy theatre.

Mhora Samuel, director of The Theatres Trust, said: "This year saw the Trust once again in the spotlight - alerting authorities to the impact of relaxation of planning policy on the viability of theatres, continuing to be a voice for theatres, raising awareness of their needs, and celebrating the resilience and creativity of those in charge of our theatre buildings."

In 2013/14 the Trust published its annual <

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14 March 2016

AED Rent Franchise UAE will be the dry hire partner for the rental companies in the United Arab Emirates. AED Rent sees the AED Rent Franchise offices as an expansion to EMEA and the East. As from 2015 this formula will be commercialized - one company per country will be able to become an AED Franchisee under the AED Rent nv conditions.

Says the company, "The way of working with interactive workflows guarantees AED to work fast and to the point. Touchscreen monitors in the warehouses allow the employees to work paperless, updates go very fast and all the information is centralized which allows AED to maintain high standards. The aim of this Rental Franchise formula is to provide the best service to the rental companies anywhere."

(Jim Eva

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14 March 2016

Rob joins ProLight from Northern Stage Services where he held the role of 'Designer & Estimator' for 5 years: Designing, specifying and estimating for a range of small to large installations around the country. In this role, Rob gained an excellent understanding of, and worked with, an extensive range of products, including; specialist lighting, sound, AV and stage engineering systems.

Andrew Jeffrey, managing director of ProLight Concepts Ltd, said: "Rob's extensive experience within the industry and his knowledge of the product make him the ideal choice to support our customers and continue ProLights rapid growth. We are pleased to welcome Rob to the ProLight team."

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14 March 2016

Germany Calling - The first European edition of US music festival Lollapalooza is to be held in Berlin next year, organisers have announced. The main event, held in Chicago since 1991, will land in the city's Tempelhof airport site in September 2015. Foun

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14 March 2016

Louise Jeffreys, Director of Arts at the Barbican said: "I am absolutely thrilled that Toni Racklin and I have been presented with the Peter Brook Special Achievement Award.

"At the Barbican we are committed to bringing the very best international theatre companies to London, as well as providing a platform for emerging artists to showcase their work, so we are delighted that our work has been recognised with this very special honour at the 25th anniversary of the Empty Space Awards.

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14 March 2016

New exhibitors announced this week include Adlib Audio and HDPro Audio, Orbital Sound and FBT Audio UK, who will join the all-star list of exhibitors already at the show - including Robe, Ambersphere, White Light, Avolites, Chauvet, AED, Sennheiser, Bosch, NL Productions, JHS ProAudio, Warehouse Sound, LMC Audio, Polar Audio, Black Light, Trusslite, Total Solutions Group, UK Rigging, TMB and many more.

PLASA's Professional Development Programme will deliver two days of presentations, technical demonstrations and panel discussions, all designed to help visitors build their industry knowledge and improve their skill set. This year's programme focusses on the hot topi

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14 March 2016

Card Aid has been helping charities increase their funds from the sale of their Christmas cards for over 30 years and John Simpson, Chair of Behind the Scenes UK, believes proceeds from the sale of Christmas Cards via the Card Aid Website will really make a difference to Behind the Scenes which only launched in the UK in October.

"Sending Christmas cards is a long held tradition and Card Aid allows us to keep the spirit of Christmas alive - as cards can be purchased online, either in the form of a pack of cards or as e-cards which can be sent on a pay per click basis. Whilst we are happy to accept donations in

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14 March 2016

"We are delighted to be working with Steve Krawic and his team at Show Ready Events. From our very first meeting, Steve showed an immediate and insightful understanding of our events and the industry that PLASA represents. We are confident that we have found the right partner to succeed in Show Ready Events who will join our other partners in playing a significant part in delivering to our exhibitors and members the best possible experience and business opportunity through PLASA Focus Events in North America," says Christopher Toulmin, PLASA's Director of Events.

Steve Krawic, president and CEO of Show Ready Events says, "Cultivating partnerships with

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14 March 2016

Wembley Bound - Ed Sheeran has announced plans for his biggest solo concert to date at Wembley Stadium on 10 July 2015. He said: "I've made no secret recently of my ambition to play Wembley Stadium on my own in front of 80,000 people. I am absolutely over the moon to be able to announce it's going to happen next summer. It's going to be amazing, I just can't wait." The show will be part of his Multiply

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14 March 2016

Fast forward to today and the original ChromaPanels printed with the Pulsar name have clocked an impressive 11 years 5 months of continuous activity - actually surpassing 100,000 hours! This real-world industry first is proof of LED's amazing longevity and also of Pulsar's dedication to making the highest quality LED lighting fixtures on the market, says the company.

Braving all that the Great British weather has to throw at them, the fixtures have en

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14 March 2016

The news was confirmed at last week's meeting of the Joint Advisory Committee on Entertainment (JACE) at the HSE in Westminster. The following report was produced by Michael Anderson and Lee Holloway, members of SAGE (Safety Advisors Group in Entertainment):

"This was an unexpected turn of events as it had appeared earlier this year that a "BEA" (Business Engagement Assessment) industry impact assessment process engaging with the event industry trade associations may have led to a decision not to enforce. But HSE stated that they had since received legal advice that not enforcing would breach European law and expose the government to international prosecution.

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