UK - London’s Southwark Playhouse has opened its new theatre space: Southwark Playhouse Elephant. Situated in Elephant and Castle, the 310-seat building is the sister venue of Southwark Playhouse Borough and aims to provide world-class theatre as well as serve the local community.
As with any new theatre, the space had to be transformed from an empty building into a fully functioning performance venue. This involved acquiring the latest theatre lighting technology – something which White Light (WL) was called on to provide.
Prior to the opening of the Elephant space, Southwark Playhouse found itself in temporary venues, which meant always having to adapt to both the budgets and physical restraints of a space. As such, by having a new, permanent home, this meant they could finally implement the technical infrastructure that they always wanted.
Lee Elston, technical and production manager at Southwark Playhouse, comments: “My role at Southwark has a wide range of responsibilities; first and foremost being to liaise with incoming production companies from both a production and technical aspect. Knowing what is expected from incoming lighting designers, as well as our own ambitions, helped enormously when we started looking at what we needed within the space. In fact, we actually held a focus group with a few designers who know the venue well, to gauge their thoughts on what they would like to see in a space like this; something that naturally helped when it came to narrowing down potential fixtures.”
Lee continues: “We have such a ple

UK - Event venue ExCeL London has signed a new contract with audio-visual and entertainment technology company, Anna Valley. The new deal not only extends the organisations’ preferred partnership agreement, but also grants Anna Valley exclusive AV provider status in key parts of the venue - a move designed to strengthen ExCeL’s global congress and conference offering.
Anna Valley was first appointed as ExCeL’s preferred AV provider in December 2020. Despite the impact of the COVID pandemic on the industry at the time, the AV company invested in the staff, infrastructure and support network necessary to provide a hybrid event solution at ExCeL, and to support the return to live events over the following months. Since then, Anna Valley has delivered several international conferences and congresses at ExCeL.
“Over the last two years Anna Valley has demonstrated our capabilities in delivering world-class events at ExCeL by providing exceptional wholistic services,” says Anna Valley’s venue director, Dan Orchard. “Now, we’re looking forward to supporting ExCeL’s changing requirements as the venue expands and to collaborating with the venue team to grow their business in the global congress and conference markets.”
The desire to attract international congress and conference organisers to ExCeL is a key factor in the decision to appoint Anna Valley as the exclusive AV provider for the venue’s Platinum Suite and Gallery Rooms – spaces which are suited to meetings, gala dinners, product launches and award ceremonies. As the exclusiv

France - Christie Mirage 4K40-RGB pure laser projectors have formed the centrepiece of a new extension to a research centre at IRCAD (Institut de Recherche contre les Cancers de l'Appareil Digestif) located within the University Hospital of Strasbourg, France. IRCAD 3 is the latest addition to the globally recognised surgical research and training institute, and the 2,400sq.m (26,000sq.ft) hub building dedicated to robotics.
AV integrator DEYA installed a pair of Christie Mirage 4K40-RGB projectors in its 237-seat auditorium, delivering 3D and leading colour reproduction required for specialist learning. A Christie Terra SDVOE-based AV-over-IP solution is used to power content at the auditorium, and the building features a host of IP-connected AV elements throughout, including speakers, microphones, digital signage and video conferencing technologies.
“The aims of the auditorium were above all 4K and 3D, but also to ensure a very immersive experience,” says David Hiltenbrand, AV Technician at IRCAD. “We wanted, unlike the other auditoriums we had, to have a large, wide projection area so we could display at least five or six images to provide versatility. We were looking for a laser projector with beautiful colorimetry and strong 3D capabilities. The choice naturally turned to Christie, who was the only manufacturer at the time to offer this type of product. We also switched to video over IP throughout the building, and that’s a complete paradigm shift.”
The auditorium is equipped with a fully modular stage space, with the 11.6m (38ft) di

UK - The Lyttelton Theatre - the middle-sized of the three venues that make up the National Theatre complex on London’s South Bank - has recently undergone a complete lighting upgrade, replacing the last of its tungsten and discharge automated heads with an almost all-Martin LED rig.
This brings it into line with the other spaces, including their premier Olivier and Dorfman Theatres. Both have also systematically transferred exclusively to LED rigs, using Martin by Harman MAC Encore Performance wash lights (both CLD and WRM versions) and recently the new high-powered MAC Ultra Performance profile.
Laura Curd, lighting supervisor for the Lyttelton, confirms that in recent months the theatre has taken delivery of nearly 80 mission critical fixtures from the Martin portfolio, including a further 54 Encore Performance WRM and CLD ‘top-ups’ and seven MAC Aura PXL - but most significantly, 16 of the new MAC Ultra Performance. These were sourced from a variety of suppliers including Stage Electrics, White Light and Flashlight - all dealer partners of Sound Technology, Martin’s UK distributors.
“Our new rig is now in the final stages of development and is completely LED,” she confirms. The Lyttelton was fortunate in being able to review the MAC Ultras when they were trialled originally in the National’s largest 1150-cap Olivier Theatre. “The Olivier was the obvious first choice for the Ultras. The output is immeasurable compared with other units and they have proved to be brilliant. Therefore, they have been increasingly used in the Dorfm

Japan - Since opening in 1985, Antiknock has become a hall of fame for punk and hardcore bands, and many of today’s major artists originally set down their roots there. Now the venue, situated in the burgeoning Shinjuku district of Tokyo, has become the first in Japan to install Martin Audio’s new Torus constant curvature array.
Speaking of the installation, Mr. Sekikawa, CEO of Hardaway Corporation, which manages the venue, said the renewal of the sound system was a gift to the many artists and patrons who volunteered to sell T-shirts and make donations to keep the venue alive during the COVID pandemic. “This was my first thought when trying to thank them all for their cooperation during those difficult times,” he said.
The system previously installed had been huge and featured old long-throw cabinets. Their disproportionate size not only made the stage looked small, but the clarity of the low end during live performances left much to be desired.
When seeking a replacement system, there were several key criteria that needed to be met: these included being suitable for multi-genres, with a reasonable size footprint, and offering good stability.
Mr. Hashimoto, CEO of Enter Sandman, who designed the new system, explained the rationale. “Having had a relationship with Antiknock for 10 years, I was able to determine several important factors. One was the theme of the venue, bearing in mind the type of bands who perform there. Another was the physical shape of the venue and the construction of the building, as well as the size of the loud

UK - Theatres Trust, the charity that campaigns to protect the UK’s theatres, has published its annual Theatres at Risk Register, which highlights theatres across the UK under threat of closure, redevelopment or severe decay, but which all have the potential to be revived for their local communities.
Theatres Trust has removed three theatres from the list, which are no longer considered at risk due to advocacy, planning and viability advice from Theatres Trust, along with the vital support of their respective local authorities, theatre operators and community groups.
Century Theatre, a travelling theatre that toured the country in the post-war years, is now looking more secure in its permanent home in Coalville Leicestershire. It had been threatened by the redevelopment of its site and had been added to the Theatres at Risk Register in 2014, but it is now better integrated into the local area and able to serve the local community with improved facilities.
Walthamstow Granada, a Grade II* listed ciné-variety theatre, had been empty and deteriorating until it was bought by Waltham Forest Council in 2019, with Soho Theatre Company on board as the operator. Having undergone a major refurbishment programme, it will reopen later this year as Soho Theatre Walthamstow, an exciting new London venue offering a mix of comedy, theatre, music and community activities.
The third building to be removed, Swansea Palace Theatre, is a distinctive Victorian music hall that has been on the Theatres at Risk list since it started in 2006. Th

UK - New pay per view streaming platform Lounges.tv is joining forces with London music venue and bar The Lower Third, part of The Outernet, to help support the grassroots music community, providing an online space for artists to stream their performances from the venue to the widest possible audience through the Lounges.tv platform.
Lounges.tv recently launched ‘to democratise the online creator industry, focusing on supporting emerging and grassroots music talent by ensuring that any artist or creator who uses the platform is paid 80% of stream or content revenue within 24 hours’. This ambition reflects the ethos of The Outernet, which uses innovative technology to help the creative community connect with their audiences.
Focusing on The Lower Third’s grassroots performances, which since opening in September are averaging around six shows a week, Lounges.tv partnership means performances in the space will be available for people to stream into their homes through the pay per view service. Fans can therefore support their favourite new acts safe in the knowledge that 80% of the revenue from the streamed performances from the venue will go to the talent themselves.
Speaking about the partnership, Lounges.tv advisor Kiran Sharma - who has managed the careers of musicians including Prince – comments, “Breaking into the music industry is notoriously tough, but Lounges.tv helps artists by ensuring they get fair and swift payments which is so vital for people at the beginning of their career. By partnering with The Lower Third, Lounges.tv is

UK - The Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC) has hired Royal Albert Hall executive Ollie Jeffery as director of event operations and technology. Jeffery spent over 18 years with the Royal Albert Hall, most recently as head of production and technical.
Jeffery’s experience at the Royal Albert Hall included developing the venue’s lighting and audio services, establishing an apprentice scheme, and supporting the delivery of around 400 events a year.
EICC CEO Marshall Dallas comments: “As we aim to further establish the EICC as a globally-recognised conference venue, getting someone of Ollie’s international experience and know-how on board is a major coup and signposts our ambitions for the years ahead. We look forward to Ollie helping to drive continuing success during our next phase of growth.”
Jeffery adds: “I am extremely pleased to be joining the EICC at such an exciting time in its development. The EICC is an incredible venue with fantastic technology and great flexibility to host a multitude of different events. I am also really excited to join such a dedicated team, and I look forward to building on the relationships I have built up within the industry to help the EICC move forward into both the new hotel and overall venue development.”
In June, Hyatt Hotels Corporation announced that it has entered a franchise agreement with the EICC for a 349-bedroom hotel in the Haymarket area of the city. The hotel, set to open in 2025, will be Hyatt’s first hotel in Scotland, and will address the delegate demand issues th

UK - Beabadoobee, the first full band show at Electric Group’s NX Newcastle, and similarly sold-out turns by localist Andrew Cushin, Liverpool hitmakers the Wombats and London post-punkers Black Midi, amplify the new venue’s accessibility, standard-setting sightlines, sound and provision.
Up the stairs into the main room, via Instagrammable city colours décor and the NX logo, ticketholders are met with a full, unmitigated view of the stage.
The sound system features Encore’s d&b J Series PA, driven by Allen & Heath desks.
John Tinline, managing director at Encore Sounds, says: “We spec’d the PA by committee, working with Electric Group and the architect, developing the original want for a ‘facsimile of the system in Electric Brixton’, which works so well, to accommodate the tiers at NX. It’s a great sounding room.”
The 1,550 strong Beabadoobee crowd, predominantly teens/20-somethings, take full advantage of the next generation space. They fill the sprung dancefloor and the tiered galleries/platforms – a product of Electric Group’s initiative to cut the distance between performer and audience – as Beabadoobee, picked out by the Chauvet Maverick lighting rig, plays in front of the cover of her Beatopia album cast across the 7m by 6m video wall behind the band.
The artist experience at NX Newcastle is equally 2020s. Incoming events are guaranteed a clear stage, house equipment packed away in the substantial storage provision, three carpeted dressing rooms downstairs, each with its own bathroom/show

USA - Shure invited top professional women in the theatre industry from around the globe to join Shure President and CEO Chris Schyvinck for a panel discussion around the evolving role of women.
Panelists included Vicki Hill, front-of-house operator for theatre (UK), Nancy Lam, chief theatre technician, West Kowloon Cultural District Authority (Hong Kong), Victoria (Toy) Deiorio, head of sound design at DePaul University (US) and Stephanie Farina, adjunct professor at The Theatre School at DePaul University.
The live online broadcast provided a myriad of topics ranging from what inspired these professionals to pursue this career, to challenges faced in the industry and global regions, to advice they have for young women interested in theatre production.
“This talented panel of women from all over the globe really provided some fantastic insights into their diverse adventures in theatre,” said Schyvinck. “The ability to bring their perspectives forward for the next generation of young women to experience is an essential part of our industry’s efforts to increase inclusion, diversity, equity, and access.”
The following are select excerpts from the panellists on the key topics discussed.
Vicki Hill on stereotypical challenges: “For me, I found the problem was breaking into that next level. I got a lot of ‘oh but you're so good backstage, you're such a good communicator. Everybody likes working with you backstage, you're great with the cast, you're really great with stage management. I almost found that getting people to see m

USA - This month, the American Society of Theatre Consultants (ASTC) welcomed Michael Nishball as its newest full member. Membership into the ASTC, follows a highly selective process that considers a candidate’s range of capability and experience, their past industry achievements, and the quality of service they provide to clients.
“I can think of no person more deserving of full membership,” offered Scott Crossfield, Theatre Projects principal and fellow with the ASTC. “Michael’s experience in equipment and systems design is unparalleled, and he is the type of person we want in the ASTC: committed to the industry, dogged about the appropriate use of technology in the design of performance spaces, and invested in safety for audience and performer as his number one priority.”
Michael is Theatre Projects’ principal theatre equipment designer and one of the industry’s leading voices on structural systems, rigging equipment, and specialty stage machinery. He makes the eighth Theatre Projects employee currently on the ASTC membership roster and brings over 40 years of experience to the elite organisation.
Theatre Projects has been Michael’s professional home since 1995. Prior to Theatre Projects, he worked with Pook Diemont & Ohl, Inc. as a rigging contractor, and earlier on, he was a stagehand, production designer, and rigger with a variety of theatre companies. He supervised lighting and rigging for the Wooster Group all over the world and worked with the Boston Shakespeare Company, the American Repertory Theater, and several mode

Singapore - Hope Church in Singapore has invested in a further shipment of Ayrton Eurus Profile luminaires through its exclusive distributor for Singapore, Total Solution Marketing. The new fixtures will complement the Church’s existing stock of Eurus Profile that were first purchased in 2021.
Part of Ayrton’s 6 Series, Eurus Profile is its first multi-function profile luminaire to be launched under the new SLIM-21 TM programme for miniaturising fixtures and reducing their weight, and boasts optics specifically developed for applications requiring perfect image reproduction.
Steven Yeoh, technical director at Hope Church, explains how they came to choose more of this particular fixture, and how the fixtures will be used at the church: “Hope Church Singapore organises various events within our 1,400-seater The Axis Auditorium. Our programme ranges from small scale musicals to contemporary live band concerts. We chose to add three more Eurus Profile fixtures because we consider them to be great value for money considering the excellent performance they give. Also, we know Ayrton to be a reputable brand and we have received consistently good post-sales and technical support from TSM for many years.”
In this instance the Eurus Profile fixtures are mounted on a flybar 9m above centre stage to provide extra lighting effects and to complement the church’s four existing Eurus Profile units.
“We decided on a repeat order of these fixtures because we found them very easy to set up and very powerful,” continues Yeoh. “We particularly like

Hungary - The Hungarian State Opera House is considered one of the most beautiful buildings in Budapest, attracting thousands of visitors each year. Following a five-year refurbishment project, the historic building has been returned to its former glory, now complete with modern technologies, including High End Systems Sola Silent fixtures from ETC.
The building, located on the elegant Andrássy Avenue, has long been one of the world's leading opera and ballet facilities. Some of the finest singers, dancers and performers have showcased their talent at the venue. Gustav Mahler and Otto Klemperer are among those who've served as directors, while Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and Renée Fleming have performed there.
A previous renovation was undertaken from 1980 to 1984 and the building reopened to the public for the 100th anniversary of the institution. This time around, however, the theme was “back to the original” and returning the venue to its 1884 opening-day glory was not a straightforward task. Initially, the plan had been to close for less than a year, to allow for the installation of new stage technology and some other minor renovations, but the government decided to overhaul the entire building.
The reconstruction saw major work undertaken on the opera house’s stage engineering and auditorium acoustics, as well as the restoration of its historic features. Since the venue shut down in 2017, the ornate façade of the Neo-Renaissance building has been cleaned, its statues restored, and roof tiles replaced. The stage technology is n

UK - Next week sees Nelson Street venue SWX Bristol host its first events since an arson attack stopped the calendar in its tracks 13 months ago; fire, smoke and water damage requiring owner/operator Electric Group to undertake a complete refit.
Power metal band Gloryhammer play on Friday 9 September followed by club night Far Fetched, highlighting the breadth of purpose SWX provides for.
The tech has been upgraded. There’s an L-Acoustics Kara II PA, all new lighting, motors, and a Fiend Productions’ LED wall. Swish dressing room suites backstage wait for the weight of performers set to play SWX: Banks, Rema, Young T & Bugsey, Sugababes and Black Midi to name just an autumn handful.
Reaction from promoters/agents to the news that SWX is on the map again underlines the venue’s value to the city’s coveted nightlife model.
Mike Weller, head of music at Electric Group, comments: “The response has almost been overwhelming. We are already ahead in Q4 and Q1 (2023) in terms of show counts from pre-pandemic. On almost a daily basis for nearly a year I’ve been asked, ‘Is the diary open? When will you be back?’”
Electric Group bought SWX in 2017, committing to bring more live music to the mix at “the best 1,800 cap venue in Bristol” and the focus of the rebuild has been about restoring the infrastructure rather than radically rethinking it. The sightlines and acoustics, synonymous with the SWX experience, are intact.
Through the entrance, the most marked change is the double height foyer, a reinstated feature from

UK - Central London venue Somerset House is inviting suppliers to apply to become an accredited supplier. The venue hosts hundreds of events each year for a range of clients and is keen to ‘ensure its suppliers and their services are equally inclusive and sustainable in practice’.
Rebecca Moore, senior event manager, said, “Somerset House is committed to building a diverse and inclusive community reflecting the diversity of our society. Our newly accredited suppliers will reflect this and actively engage with it. There’s a lot of new, forward-thinking talent in our industry, and we welcome businesses both big and small that identify with our beliefs and working practices.”
The accredited list is being reviewed for the first time in over three years. Somerset House is expecting significant interest given the opportunity to work with high profile brands, businesses, and institutions on large scale public events, such as 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair and London Design Biennale, to creative industries, corporate clients, charities and social enterprises.
Events range from 50 - 1,500 guests and include - but are not limited to - conferences, meetings, receptions, product launches, fashion shows, brand activations, dinners, press events and exhibitions.
Somerset House - the ‘home of cultural innovators’ - is run as a charitable trust, with revenue raised from event hire to fund its artistic programme and outreach work, and to contribute towards the maintenance of the Grade I listed building. It receives no regular funding from t

Norway - Kunsthøgskolen – Oslo’s National Academy of the Arts is a vibrant and high-profile university college in the Norwegian capital which is dedicated to education in design and fine art (including graphics, furniture, and clothing design) and the visual and performing arts.
The visual and performing arts faculty covers multiple genres – theatre, drama, opera, dance, ballet, jazz, etc., offering undergraduate and master’s degrees, and has nine busy stages that present 50 – 70 productions a year. Head of lighting for this busy and lively environment is Ronnie Tungland, who recently co-ordinated the specification and purchase of 20 x Robe Esprite moving lights to be used across the various stages.
As Kunsthøgskolen’s 1000 plus dimmer channels feeding the various stages were starting to age, explained Ronnie – who has been overseeing lighting at the academy for four years – and they were allocated budget to upgrade the lighting system. This resulted in around half being replaced and the other half being converted to hard-power channels with the remaining money spent on new, more sustainable, and greener lighting that would serve their needs for years to come.
Debating whether to get washes or spots, Ronnie decided that a multifunctional light would offer the best solution for current and immediate future needs, and after a demanding selection process, chose Esprites.
“I wanted a powerful and bright fixture with shutters that was relatively light in weight,” he commented referring to the abundance of stairs needing to be

UK - First announced in 2019 and opening its doors fully later this year, Sky Studios Elstree is a joint project between Sky and NBCUniversal. The 27.5-acre, complex located just north of London houses 13 sound stages, with media operations provider Xytech Systems offering total operational and financial control by streamlining the new film and TV studio’s internal processes across quoting, resource scheduling, cost management and reporting.
“Not long after Sky Studios Elstree was given the go-ahead in 2019, we started searching for a media operations solution that would meet the strict demands of our cutting-edge studios catering for high-end TV shows and films,” said Tom Avison, director of operations at Sky Studios Elstree. “Sky already had an excellent, long-standing relationship with Xytech Systems through its Transmission solutions installed at the Sky facilities in Italy, Germany and the UK. We also knew Xytech was already servicing other major studios across the UK, so we naturally approached them to see what they could offer us.”
Avison notes how from the early discussions and right through to the implementation and go-live phase, they found both the solution and the expertise offered by the Xytech team to be “highly flexible and responsive to the requirements of our operation and our ambition to use the system from quote to invoice and at every point in between.”
Xytech’s Media Operations Platform now manages the studio’s scheduling requirements, including studios, ancillary room and equipment bookings.
“Xytech s

UK - Venue-finding agency ExecSpace has reshaped its senior management team and hired a number of new recruits to facilitate further growth and focus on quality of service.
Founder and CEO Emma Little has appointed Louise Lowe as managing director to lead its expanding team.
Lowe, previously the agency’s commercial director, joined the Edinburgh-based company four years ago and has been promoted alongside Pamela McCaw who steps up from finance manager to head of finance and business operations.
The moves follow three hires of meetings and events executives: Logan Muir, Georgia Kinsella and Ellie McPhail.
The restructuring continues the agency’s recovery from the repercussions of COVID lockdowns with more than £5m worth of bookings already won this year. Last year it also launched the ExecTech platform, dedicated to supporting meeting and event planners manage their spend and streamline the process across their organisations.
Emma says: “Given everything the business went through over the past two years due to COVID, I am chuffed to bits to see ExecSpace back firmly in growth mode. Louise, Pamela and I worked extremely closely during incredibly difficult times and for me it was a no brainer to reward that loyalty and great work with these two promotions.
“We are a very different business post pandemic, focused on quality and profit over quantity and activity which the high calibre leadership and new hires very much reflects. I am very much looking forward to watching the impact Louise and Pamela have and seeing the bu

Poland - In the city centres and main squares of many Polish towns and cities, visitors will come upon a multi-purpose building known locally as a ‘culture house’. Like many of these structures, which date back to the 1960s, Arts and Culture Centre Oskard in Konin was beginning to show its age.
A renaissance has now taken place in this centre thanks to a renovation project run by the Arts and Culture Centre Oskard's Arts Council and Committee. A key part of this rejuvenation was the installation of two all-new lighting rigs, one for each of the centre’s stages.
The council did careful research, visiting trades shows and consulting with local installation specialist, LTT, which distributes Chauvet Professional products in Poland.
In the end, Chauvet Professional fixtures were used for the new rig. To provide the foundation for a multitude of powerful looks on the main stage, LTT relied on a collection of 12 Maverick MK1 Hybrid, 12 Maverick MK2 Spot, 16 Maverick MK2 Wash and six Maverick MK2 Profile fixtures.
The MK2 Spot is on upstage truss; the MK2 Wash is arranged on the back of the stage as well as hung on upstage truss; the MK1 Hybrid is positioned on the back of the stage and the floor; and the MK2 Profile is flown on upstage truss. All the fixtures work together to provide an engaging mix of colours, prism effects and gobo patterns
From full-scale touring concert productions, to the education of youth through artistic workshops and lectures, the fixtures have already proven their ability to provide multifaceted lighting atmos

USA - Tallowood Baptist Church, in the Memorial City neighbourhood of West Houston, replaced an aging mixing console at front-of-house with a Solid State Logic Live L350 in recent months. The installation was part of ongoing upgrades at the church that also includes construction of a new video and audio control room, new audio and video equipment and wider implementation of a network infrastructure.
When the choir and the musicians returned to the church after the initial lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, they all wore masks to prevent the spread of Covid-19 and, not surprisingly, it sounded like it. “It was really hard to get intelligibility and clarity,” Tallowood’s director of technology, Miguel Ortiz, says. Then the church replaced the old desk with a new SSL Live L350. “The choir was still wearing masks when we switched the console - and it sounded as if they had taken their masks off. We were so shocked.”
The previous console was 12 years old, Ortiz reports, so obviously there was going to be some improvement in sound quality. “But I didn’t think it was going to be that dramatic,” he says. “It was so surprising.”
The 1,750-seat church hosts two different Sunday services with two different styles of music, Ortiz says. The first service is a traditional presentation with choir and orchestra and requires just a handful of microphones. “We mic the choir. And we have high-level musicians with high expectations who want it to sound just like it sounds coming out of their instruments. They still need to hear everything,

UK - Permission has been granted to build a £700m film and TV studios facility just outside London. Construction on Sunset Waltham Cross Studios is due to begin next year on a 91-acre site just off the M25 in Hertfordshire.
Sunset Studios in Los Angeles and an investment firm bought land for £120m last year. Lewis Cocking, leader of Broxbourne Borough Council, said it was "a fantastic opportunity" for the area. A meeting of the council's planning and regulatory committee granted the development outline planning permission.
Studio owner and operator Hudson Pacific, also based in Los Angeles, has joined with investment company Blackstone and they hoped to transform the site into a hub for UK and international productions. The companies anticipated it would "contribute £300m annually to the local economy" and could create up to 4,500 jobs.
Preliminary site work is expected to start later this year with construction beginning in 2023 with the aim of opening the studio complex in 2025.
James Seppala, head of Blackstone Real Estate Europe, said the studio "will be a world-renowned hub for content creation and creativity that will help assert the UK's role as a premier destination for creating entertainment".

Germany - Hagius in Berlin is staffed by young professionals that offer classes for various disciplines such as yoga and boxing with the intention of strengthening and conditioning both body and mind, incorporating the spectrum of senses in neuro-athletic training.
Hagius has chosen a complete Genelec loudspeaker solution, supplied by local distributor Audio Pro and integrated by the Berlin acoustic design studio, Studio SPC.
"We wanted to create a space in Berlin where we could offer a different kind of training experience," explains co-founder Timothy Hagius. "Physical performance starts in the mind. Movement is regulated by the central nervous system and sensory input plays a significant role in this process."
For this reason, staff opt to work primarily with smaller groups, placing more of the emphasis on the individual’s multi-sensory journey, following the theory that everyone should be attuned with their own biorhythm. There are several rooms, each of which use a combination of the senses to help simulate a certain state. Sound plays an essential role in all of them, which is why a premium audio solution was required.
"The guys from Hagius asked me to offer them something high-end, functional and aesthetically appealing," says Kenan Jan Ibar, from Studio SPC. "After I introduced them to Genelec’s RAW recycled aluminium loudspeakers they immediately fell in love with the aesthetic, as it blends so seamlessly with their existing interior, based on greys and stainless-steel elements."
The room that received the most attention w

Poland - Cavatina Hall, which opened at the beginning of the year in the city of Bielsko-Biała, is the first concert hall in the country to be built and managed entirely from private funds.
This multi-functional building, combining office and cultural spaces, is set over six storeys on more than 9,000sq.m and includes a recording studio as well as a 1,000-seat concert hall.
Its AV infrastructure is woven into a sophisticated digital/analogue network, designed around an Optocore backbone, feeding a multiplicity of signals to an L-Acoustics L-ISA Immersive Hyperreal sound system from a pair of roving DiGiCo Quantum 338 consoles, operating from four different locations.
These were specified and delivered by system integrators Audio Plus, along with the latest stage mechanics and AV technologies, including sound and light tracking, variable acoustics and visual information systems.
Warsaw-based Audio Plus were heavily involved from the outset. One of the key aims was the successful distribution of signals between the FOH stations to the stage, the recording studio and third party OB vans. This has been carried out using integrated high-performance Optocore digital network devices and third-party converters, which can handle up to 1,856 digital signals.
While the analogue signals delivered to the consoles are have already passed through a 96-channel analogue splitter, deployment of the Optocore devices enables a further 96 analogue signals to be processed via more than 40 connection boxes. This creates maximum versatility, enabling a myria

USA - First Baptist Church of San Marcos is a diverse and multi-generational church based in San Marcos, Texas. In 2012, the church reached out to sound designer Curt Taipale of Taipale Media Systems to evaluate and re-tune their existing system.
Over the years, the church had considered replacing their sound system, however the situation became urgent after their existing digital signal processor (DSP) started to fail. Following a long relationship with Curt, he was asked in June 2020 to assist in a possible new design of their sound system. The primary goal of the new installation was improved coverage and intelligibility.
“At the time, they considered a handful of companies to design the new system and completed due diligence by listening to some of my projects in Texas,” said Taipale. “They were very pleased with one system in particular that utilized Danley Sound Labs equipment. I asked Kim Comeaux to do a demonstration in their sanctuary of Danley products so that others on the team could hear them in person.”
Following the demonstration, Scott Davis, worship pastor at First Baptist Church of San Marcos, agreed with Curt’s recommendation.
Curt’s design utilised four Danley SH-50 loudspeakers arranged in an exploded arc as mains, with an SH-95 suspended below each as down-fill speakers and two SH-95HO loudspeakers as delays. In addition, two Danley TH118 subwoofers were flown as an end-fire subwoofer array.
The new installation also featured choir monitors, Powersoft amplifiers, a Symetrix Prism DSP and Allen & Heath