USA - Now in stock and shipping is Elation’s Artiste Mondrian LED profile FX luminaire is billed as ‘a high-impact lighting solution for any application requiring powerful beam looks, stunning air effects and superior colour’.
Filling out the top of Elation’s award-winning Artiste LED moving head series, the new Mondrian partners alongside and uses the same technology as the Artiste Monet and Artiste Rembrandt, including Elation’s seven-flag SpectraColor colour mixing system, and endless and continuous rotational framing system. The Artiste Mondrian is the brightest, full-featured LED Profile FX fixture Elation has produced to date.
“The Artiste Mondrian really has it all,” states Elation product manager Matthias Hinrichs. “Tight beams from its massive front lens, smooth washes with unprecedented light output and sharp images without ever compromising on its incredible projection performance. It’s a true all-in-one workhorse that outperforms any discharge fixture in the market without the usual drawbacks of distracting fan noise and rapid degradation of light quality. Its mid-air creative FX are phenomenal due to the beautiful SpectraColors and carefully designed gobo selection.
“It’s a truly stunning luminaire and a great finale to the Artiste range of products. Like its namesake, Piet Mondrian, this fixture will create iconic looks for lighting designers for many years to come.”
Optimised for extreme output and coverage, the Mondrian harnesses its long-throw power from an efficient 950W 6,500K White Hotspot LED engin

USA - Chauvet has doubled its capacity to serve customers in the west region of the US by opening a 35,000sq.ft satellite facility in Las Vegas. The new office-warehouse-service centre complex is twice the size of the company’s West Coast Burbank, CA satellite facility that it will be replacing as of now.
“Our investment in a new, larger and more technologically advanced facility reflects our commitment to this industry - and our belief in its future,” said Albert Chauvet, CEO of Chauvet. “Being in Vegas will enhance the level of service we’re able to offer our customers.”
Combined with the company’s global headquarters in Florida, the new Vegas operation gives Chauvet the capacity to ship to any point in the 48 contiguous United States within three days, maximum.
The Las Vegas facility will stock Chauvet Professional, Iluminarc, Chauvet DJ and ChamSys products. Modelled closely after the company’s East Coast operations, the satellite facility is actively recruiting and will host technical support, sales, demo/training programmes, quality control and shipping operations.
Although the Chauvet Las Vegas facility is new, it will be staffed by many familiar faces. General site manager Todd Bearden has made the move from California to Nevada, as have warehouse lead Mark Guzman, sales support specialist Elizabeth-Aye-Darko, and repair specialist Brandon Cooks. They will be joined by a professional local service, support and warehouse staff.
“The strength of any company begins with its people, so I am proud and gratified that

UK - The ALD’s successful Lumiere Scheme, which has for the last five years created pathways for lighting practitioners to work as an assistant to established designers on a diverse range of new productions, has been reformatted in response to the current pandemic situation.
This year, a modified scheme entitled ALD Lumiere 20:20, will pair 20 emerging lighting practitioners with 20 lighting designers, representing a wide spectrum of work, for a series one-hour online conversations across the 10 weeks from mid-September.
ALD Lumiere 20:20 is an opportunity to gain direct access to a designer and to inspire creative conversations about the art, the craft, the life of live entertainment lighting.
Lumiere 20:20 will involve weekly mentor sessions between Lumière and lighting designer, each having different topics to consider as a starting point. Although this is a ‘virtual’ project, it is hoped that there will be some real professional relationships established through the scheme that may come to fruition when we all get back to work.
Chair of The ALD’s Lumière Working Group Charlotte Burton says, “Back in 2015 the Lumière Scheme changed my life and career pathway. With Lumiere 20:20 being a virtual scheme it allows us to open it up to more participants, and so we are actively encouraging applications from those currently under-represented in UK theatre or wish to return to the industry.”
One of the core values of the scheme is that The ALD do not just invest time in someone, but also invest money. Therefore, everyone invo

USA - Located adjacent to Florida Institute of Technology’s Joy and Gordon Patterson Botanical Garden, the Gleason Performing Arts Centre in Melbourne is among the first places students go during orientation. As the site of graduation ceremonies, it is also one of their last touchpoints with the school before heading out into the world.
In between, students will visit the modern, 483-seat facility numerous times for classes, guest lectures, and recitals, as well as productions by Florida Tech’s theatre department and outside performers. Not surprisingly, given the many ways that the facility serves the Florida Tech community, “versatility” was a watchword when the school upgraded its lighting to an all LED Chauvet Professional system in early 2020.
“We placed a premium on selecting fixtures that could do a lot of different things, because of the wide range of roles we play,” said Jeffrey Richardson, manager at the centre. “Being a totally student-run facility, we also wanted a lighting system that would be safe and user-friendly, while still able to provide the flexibility we needed.”
The Gleason Performing Arts Centre team found what they were looking for with an all-Chauvet Professional rig featuring 120 LED fixtures run on a ChamSys MagicQ MQ 80 console. “Prior to this upgrade, all we had were traditional incandescents, with no moving fixtures and no real ability to change lighting positions,” said Richardson. “We ran our entire system off a 400-amp dimmer pack. That system greatly limited what we were able to accomplish.”

USA - Producing fresh content this summer has proved to be a challenge for some networks, but Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) the world’s largest Christian television network and America’s most-watched faith-and-family channel had faith it could be done.
TBN lighting designer Brad Hill supplemented the studio lighting with a rental package from Bandit Lites. The goal was to accomplish five different shoots over five days, including the Independence Day Music Special hosted by Mike Huckabee featuring guests Lee Greenwood and the Oak Ridge Boys, and Huckabee, a weekly variety show boasting a trapeze act, live audience and Todd Tilghman, winner of NBC’s The Voice.
The main challenge was to ensure each show was shot in a different configuration, meaning versatility was going to be key in the rental lighting package. “We didn’t want all the shows over the week to look identical, so we had to get creative with our designs with very limited reset time,” explained Hill. “The theatre is designed for a weekly talk show and our lighting setup is very specific to that show. Most of our key lighting consists of LED Lekos.”
“When Brad reached out to us, he was looking for something old school to highlight the background with vivid intensity,” said Bandit Lites Client representative, Shawn Lear. “The Mega-lite Circa Scoop worked out perfectly for the desired look needed. Next, we went through many of our LED profiles and the Ayrton Khamsin checked all the boxes.”
“The Khamsin put out a beautiful light,” sai

USA - At the beginning of the summer, long-established entertainment and event technology supplier Good Guy Productions invested in a significant number of ADJ’s AV4IP LED video panels. Part of a long-term plan, and the next step in the company’s growth strategy, the system has already been put to use delivering live video playback of socially-distanced graduation ceremonies.
Part of a long-term plan, and the next step in the company’s growth strategy, the system has already been put to use delivering live video playback of socially-distanced graduation ceremonies.
Based in the Lake Placid area of New York state, Good Guy Productions provides audio and lighting rental, as well as DJ and other entertainment services, for a wide range of private and corporate clients. The company is owned and managed by Eric Wilson, who has spent his entire life working as part of the entertainment industry in some form.
Over the past 25 years Good Guy Productions has grown to offer a wide range of services. While still providing lighting and DJ services for smaller private events and school dances, Eric and his team are regularly involved in large scale events, both in their local area and across the North East, including concerts and high profile sporting events. That was why the next logical step in the company’s growth was to expand into the world of LED video and, having built up an extensive inventory of ADJ lighting equipment, they had trust in the brand which made it the logical choice for this latest significant investment.
Having researched all

Italy - On the night of 23 July, the stunning Castle of Arco, in Trentino (Northern Italy), was the setting for a performance by Elio, lead singer of the band Elio e le storie tese.
The event, that was part of the festival called Il castello delle meraviglie (The castle of wonders), saw the artist tell the audience Sergej Prokofiev's world-renowned story Peter and the Wolf, accompanied by the music of the Carlo Coccia symphony orchestra.
To make the location even more spectacular, the castle's tower was lit up using 16 Prolights Lumipar 18QIP. Iiriti, a company based in Riva del Garda, worked on the lighting installation.
Leonardo Gerola, sales assistant for Iiriti said: “Peter and the Wolf is one of those stories that people always remember, even as adults. We wanted the lights to emphasise both the music and Elio's performance. That's why we decided to make use of Prolights Lumipar 18QIP, positioned at the foot of the castle's tower in order to provide the best visual impact.
“We used these projectors because they're extremely versatile. Both output and colour rendering are impressively powerful and I think they were perfect for this kind of installation. The final results exceeded expectations, making the lights an integral part of the show.”

UK - On 11 August (Tuesday), the live events industry across the UK will come together in solidarity to host a series of protests to help save the live events and entertainment sector, which is on the verge of collapsing without financial support from the government.
Encouraged by the #WeMakeEvents and #LightItInRed campaigns, hundreds of venues are expected to light up red, along with other creative activities being staged in over 20 cities across the UK to symbolise the industry going into red alert, and a final call to action titled ‘throw us a line’ will be taking centre stage on London’s South Bank.
The capital’s finale will begin on a boat at 20:20, as it makes it way down the Thames - passing Royal Festival Hall, the National Theatre and the Tate, and more all illuminated in emergency red. As the boat reaches key locations, such as Westminster Bridge and Jubilee Bridge, hundreds of volunteers will symbolise the ‘throw us a line’ theme creatively.
The call to action hopes to raise awareness for over a million professionals at risk of losing their jobs, 600,000 of whom deliver outdoor events. With around 70% of the workforce being freelance, the imminent closure of the self-employed income support scheme at the end of the month threatens their livelihood.
Unlike other industries, events, festivals, and performances have been unable to safely reopen due to social distancing guidance and may not reopen until early 2021 – and opening times keep being pushed back. With no government support on the horizon for the event supply ch

UK - Harman Professional Solutions has appointed Ben Payne as the head of sales for Martin Professional Lighting in EMEA. He has more than 20 years of experience in the theatrical and live entertainment industry.
“I am delighted to have Ben lead Martin Professional Lighting in EMEA. Having worked in theatre and live entertainment lighting for many years, Ben has an innate understanding of the needs of our customers and a passion for the lighting industry and the Martin brand,” says Hamid Soufian, vice president and GM for the EMEA region, Harman Professional. “I am particularly pleased that Ben’s promotion supports Harman’s global initiative to nurture internal talent and grow our people into key roles.”
Payne started working in theatres behind a lighting desk and quickly became a theatre technical manager for the Arts Theatre in Cambridge. He also worked as a lighting designer and production electrician, touring shows all over the world. In more recent years, Ben has worked with a number of leading UK rental companies and joined Harman in 2018.
"I am honoured to be given this opportunity to take the helm of Martin in EMEA,” Payne comments. “I am excited to work with our existing and new customers, and many talented and passionate individuals across the organisation.”

USA - Although the COVID-19 pandemic has had a dramatic effect on peoples’ lives and the industry, lighting professionals are taking the downtime as an opportunity to educate themselves and prepare for the eventual reopening.
Elation Professional is offering just such an opportunity with launch of a new online Learning Centre available on the www.elationlighting.com website. Designed to provide lighting professionals with easy-to-access learning options, the new resource site is full of free educational and training material.
Available training videos include Obsidian Control Systems covering the Onyx platform, Dylos pixel composer, Capture Visualization software, and more; Elation Educational Experience (E3) training videos are presented by one of the industry’s top technical educationists, ETCP recognized trainer Richard Cadena. Other resources like White Papers and How-to Articles covering a host of topics relevant to lighting professionals are also available.
The entire Elation Hour and Innovation Hour webinar series is available to view. Elation’s popular virtual presentation series addresses the technology and process behind the company’s most popular product series and includes discussions with some of our industry’s most noted designers.
Elation’s Virtual at Home Demos is a video series that sees Elation’s sales team and product specialists demoing some of Elation’s newest lighting products from the comfort and

Ireland - Peter Canning from Dublin-based lighting and visual design specialist High Res specified 24 x Astera Titan Tube wireless LED fixtures to provide atmospheric lighting for an eye-catching video featuring singer Hozier recorded at Croke Park stadium, one of many high points during a special RTÉ (Raidió Teilifís Éireann) Comic Relief telethon.
The event united the cream of Irish comedy and entertainment to raise a laugh and much-needed funds for the Irish charity sector on Friday 26 June.
In a tribute to all HSE (Ireland’s health service) staff and other key frontline workers, Hozier performed the Simon & Garfunkel classic, Bridge Over Troubled Water, a highly symbolic song that made significant impact in concluding the fundraiser, for which he was backed by a 16-piece orchestra.
Peter designs and lights numerous television and entertainment shows bringing his own distinctive style, and proposed lighting the video piece during the ‘blue hour’ – that magical window at dusk where the sun is falling while the moon is rising and there is still light in the sky - for maximum dramatic impact.
He suggested starkly illuminating the whole 85,000 capacity stadium to emphasise its vastness and emptiness juxtaposed against Hozier, dominating and dwarfing him and the musicians as they stood isolated and small in the middle of the pitch.
To achieve the precise lighting effect, the quality of the low-level light fill from the Titan Tubes - daylight white in this case - was paramount as well as the brightness. “Astera tick

Zimbabwe - PPC Zimbabwe, the African nation’s largest cement maker, recently introduced its new Surerange series. Heralded with the kind of fanfare typically associated with the release of a film or rock album, the product launch featured a lavish livestream presentation with exuberant dancing, music by performers dressed in construction worker outfits, and a colourful fast-moving light and video show from Events Evolution that featured Chauvet Professional fixtures.
Lighting and set designer Blessing Bero worked his magic in the livestream, which was videoed at the SK Borrowdale theatre, with help from nine Maverick MK2 Spot and four Rogue R2 Wash fixtures. The Maverick units were flown in groups of three on upstage truss, while the Rogues were hung in pairs from the same structure.
Orienting these fixtures downward, Bero used them to add depth to the stage with gobo patters, to separate areas with colour changes, and to create captivating patterns that would fit the small screens that are common in the livestream format. The Maverick and Rogue units were also used to downlight performers, and highlight individuals during solo performances.
“Our Maverick and Rogue fixtures both have extreme zoom, so they worked well together to give us coordinated looks,” said Bero. “We relied on them to create immersive colours across the stage.”
The colour and movement from the Maverick and Rogue fixtures flowed seamlessly with the video images that danced across the stage. Video designer Tatenda Gaylord Rushwaya arranged his LED panels in three s

Sweden - Full production and rental company Soundstar, based in Skövde, invested in some of Robe’s MegaPointes and Spiiders at the end of last year as they needed lighting fixtures with “more punch” than their rental stock at the time.
The company - normally - delivers audio, lighting, video, rigging, and has an OB-truck, for the full complete technical solution, and is working on a wide selection of corporate and industrial events and conferences. It was founded in 1991 by Per Larsson initially as a DJ service company and has steadily grown into a solidly well-respected production house.
“We wanted fixtures weighing around 25kg for easy handling by one person,” explained Soundstar’s Daniel Wiklund.
They completed several projects with the new Robe lights before the Covid-19 lockdown including two big conferences for Volvo Cars, and a 40-year celebration event for Swedish home improvement store JULA which included a couple of thousand employees from around the world. Both these events were at Skovde Arena.
The Robes were also on a 60th birthday event for Benders, Sweden’s biggest roof tile manufacturer, hosted at one of the company’s facilities in Uddevalla, and another project was the Sweden Game Conference, a forum for games developers, experts and start-ups, etc., also staged at Skovde Arena with an international audience.
Since then, everything has changed. And while Sweden took a different approach to its lockdown in going for ‘herd immunity’, like everywhere else in the world, large scale events also came to a

USA - Christ's Church of the Valley (CCV) is a non-denominational Christian church located in Phoenix, Arizona, with multiple other locations throughout the state.
In 1996 it purchased the property now known as the Peoria campus, moving to the site in 2000 and opening a 3,500-plus seat auditorium four years later.
At the church’s broadcast campus, it recently added a number of GLP fixtures to its stage, purchasing eight S350 moving head profiles for key light purposes, and 32 X4 Bar 20 battens as part of a long-term rental package, from 4Wall of Las Vegas.
At the same time, CCV has added 10 of GLP’s E350 moving heads (the S350’s brighter sibling, with an extremely narrow iris) for its newly opened Verrado Campus. According to CCV’s production designer Trevor Rigsby, all new campus auditoriums will henceforth have a package of E350s as their go-to moving spot solution, with the quantities in each case defined by the size of the stages and auditoriums.
Rigsby, who is supported by house LD, MeKenna Beauregard, is no stranger to GLP’s technology. “The first GLP fixture I ever used on a stage was the Volkslicht. I loved that light and used it frequently. In fact I owe my love of GLP products to JRLX president Jason Reberski, who introduced me.”
Of the recent acquisitions, the S350s were earmarked to replace the old traditional discharge light package and were purchased from Phoenix-based Clearwing Productions - the church’s regular local supplier.
“There were several factors I was looking for that led me to the S350,

UK - Stage Electrics has announced it has been successful in tendering for the supply of new LED lighting, RCF Art Series monitors and Altair wireless communication systems for the Trinity Art Centre, Gainsborough. The lighting package includes Martin ELP-CL profiles and ETC ColorSource Pars, supported with a combination of Chauvet Professional Rogue R3 Spots and R2X Washes.
A Chamsys MQ70 was specified as it offers the flexibility they need for this space, set within a Grade II listed gothic church. An Altair HD wireless communications system was selected following a successful pre-lockdown demonstration at the venue to ensure the Extreme Wireless beltpacks would provide the coverage and reliability they required.
Stage Electrics also manufactured all the cables to complete the system in their in-house cable workshop.

USA - Stepping inside the Palace Theatre in Derry,NH, with its sweeping curves and imposing balcony has long been a special treat for New Englanders. On 15 July, thousands of them got to enjoy this experience again on a virtual level during a livestreamed Citizen of the Year ceremony honouring the theatre’s president, Peter Ramsey.
The 40-minute event didn’t take place at the downtown Manchester theatre itself, but 11 miles away, at Studio Lab, where owner Tim Messina and his team at Events United used 128 Chauvet Professional F2 LED panels to build a massive curved video wall that displayed a dynamic and immersive 3D replica of the iconic building’s interior.
Measuring 52ft wide by 13ft high, the wall provided Messina and his team with a 5,376 by 1,344-pixel canvas on which to create their multi-dimensional panorama. During scenes when the honouree was interviewed in front of this realistic setting, viewers got the sensation that they were watching things unfold from an upstage position inside the theatre, with its seats in the background.
“It was important that we included imagery of the theatre in the programme,” says Messina. “Our client for this event, The Greater Manchester Chamber, provided us with a photo from the stage of the theatre. This image was used during an interview with Peter Ramsey and worked very well to create the sense that the interview was taking place at the theatre, rather than in our studio. In the image there are theatrical lights pointing towards the camera, we mimicked those lights with R1 washes to make it

Belgium - Entertainment design specialist Painting with Light (PWL) created and supplied the lighting and video design plus lighting control including programming and operating for the 2020 Belgian edition of Het Rad (Wheel of Fortune). PWL worked in conjunction with its Genk C-Mine neighbour Deusjevoo, who designed and delivered the set.
The series was recorded in Studio 1 at Videohouse in Vilvoorde and aired on SBS’s VIER channel.
PWL’s creative director Luc Peumans produced the lighting and video design and worked closely with Dries Hermans of Deusjevoo on the set design, the latter involving substantial quantities of inbuilt practical lighting. These custom LED set elements were all painstakingly installed by the PWL team working in close conjunction with Deusjevoo.
Céline Cuypers designed and engineered a special wheel lighting and audio trigger control.
Wheel of Fortune has been running in Belgium for some time in the past but this was the first season produced by SBS who wanted a fresh and distinctive look with an “elegant and classy” slant as well as an intimate ‘homey’ feel, so the design strategy had to be multifunctional and based on this.
Luc took “a theatrical approach” to this project creating a series of pleasing visual ‘big pictures’ that stood out on their own whilst encompassing the overall cosiness that was desired.
The set included a long gantry level walkway along one side of the studio. The signature LED puzzle board at the heart of the action was flanked by a set of

South Africa - Organisers of the #LightSAred initiative have issued a final call for participants to join today’s activities.
The campaign will see the South African event industry join in a widespread protest action to highlight the lack of government support for the sector, which has been severely affected by the COVID-19 crisis.
Today, some of the country's favourite artists and performers, including Prime Circle, John Vlismas, Kyle Cassim, Refentse Morake, will perform live, whilst an original campaign anthem featuring a range of leading South African artist will be released.
“We are calling on all South Africans to heed the call of the technical production and live entertainment industry," the organisers said. "If you look out of your window today, 5 August, between 18:00 and 20:00 you will see the city lit up in red. We will be streaming live on all our digital platforms from 10am till 9pm.”

Czech Republic - Colours of Ostrava is usually the largest multi-genre live music and performance festival in the Czech Republic and one of the most popular events on the European festival calendar, offering 22 stages of diverse and vibrant entertainment across four days in mid-July. It is staged in the raw industrial environment of the former Dolní Vitkovice (DOV) steelworks – now reimagined as an important cultural and heritage centre – near Ostrava in the north-east of the country.
This year, like all European festivals, it was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic and rescheduled for 2021.
However, with the government allowing gatherings of up to 1000 people after 22 June, it seemed that compact events could become feasible, and so ‘NeFestival’ (NoFestival) was planned as a much smaller event at the same site to bring the spirit and essence of Colours – music, theatre, lighting art vibes, discussion, etc. – to a small but enthusiastic audience.
SMART Productions led by Josef ‘Pepa’ Ženíšek coordinated all the technical production as they have done for Colours since 2010, and Robe Lighting was again a technical partner and collaborator in another landmark event in spite of the unusual circumstances.
One stage was constructed on the DOV national heritage area, which is part of the Colours regular site, right under the Bolt Tower that once presided over DOV blast furnace number 1.
The Robe fixtures - 30 iPointes, 20 MegaPointes and four BMFL WashBeams - were used in a highly symbolic role as ‘light towers’

Italy - Backed by radio inventor Guglielmo Marconi himself, RAI has a long history of being in the forefront of broadcasting.
This summer, RAI wrote another chapter in its history when it broadcast its first TV series from an audio and lighting company’s warehouse. Enrico Fumasoli and the team at Fumasoli Audio & Lights Rental made this possible by converting a section of their facility, which was idle because of the COVID-19 lockdown, into a broadcast studio, complete with advanced cameras and audio gear, as well as a lighting rig anchored by eight Maverick MK2 Spot and 20 Maverick MK2 Wash fixtures from Chauvet Professional.
Patrick Iavarone created the lighting design for the eight-part RAI TV series, which featured the versatile Bonne Soirée, a musical ensemble that covers everything from traditional folk genres to rap. “The aspect I gave to the Bonne Soirée program was a mix between a peaceful TV show and an engaging live concert,” said Iavarone. “The Mavericks helped me with clean lines of light and colour temperatures that resulted in great effects for the camera.”
Iavarone positioned the 440-watt LED Maverick MK2 Spot units on the stage deck behind the band. Drawing on the output and CMY +CTO colour mixing of the fixtures, he used them to coordinate looks with the displays on the video wall that ran across the width of the stage. During some moments, he moved the fixtures in sync with the music, creating an enchanting twinkling star effect.
The Maverick MK2 Wash fixtures were positioned throughout the performance area.

USA - New York City’s El Museo del Barrio’s multipurpose theatre has added a Robert Juliat Topaze followspot to its rejuvenated lighting rig during its extensive renovation.
4Wall was the lighting integrator for El Teatro which was meticulously restored in 2018 and reopened early in 2019. Originally called The Heckscher Children’s Theatrer, El Teatro was built in 1921 and boasts a Landmark-Quality interior with a series of 30ft murals and stained-glass roundels. It was the original home of the Joseph Papp New York Shakespeare Festival. The theatre seats approximately 600 and is a venue for museum-hosted performances and rental events.
The restoration included an upgrade to the theatre’s lighting plot, which included Robert Juliat’s Topaze, an economical yet full-featured followspot with a 1200 W MSD source. The fixture’s long lamp life and low running costs make it a powerful, cost-effective solution for mid-size theatres and shows. Among its features are a fully closing iris cassette, universal adjustable gobo holder, frost filter, individually removable colour frame, colour changer and easy focus reference.
“The Topaze is mounted in the projector booth above the balcony and shoots through glass to the stage,” explains Mark Mainolfi, technical and production coordinator for El Museo del Barrio. “We’re impressed by the reach and ease of Topaze. It also offers control parameters for focus, frost and iris.”
Most recently, the museum used the Topaze to highlight dancers during a performance by The Manhattan Ballet School.

Germany - Cube Entertainment in Rostock selected Claypaky Mini-B fixtures for the Forest Showcase with psytrance DJ Morten Heuer at the Housersten electronic dance music club tour in northeast Germany. Due to Covid-19, this year’s Houserasten events consisted of videos and livestreams targeted to fans instead of in-person shows at clubs in various German cities.
Cube Entertainment supplied the lighting and sound gear for the nighttime Forest Showcase, designed the set and handled the video production and postproduction. “The design was simple, but a bit futuristic,” says Fabian Schikorr, Cube’s owner and an event technology specialist. “We had the idea of building a little truss cage on the ground and illuminating that. In the middle of the cage there was the DJ stand with his platform, monitoring system and DJ setup.”
Cube chose eight Claypaky Mini-B fixtures for the Forest Showcase, mounting two on each side of the truss cage. Mini-B is the smallest LED moving light ever made by Claypaky for the professional market. Although it weighs just 7 kg and measures only 34 cm, the versatile Mini-B features the most advanced, modern optical and electronic technology.
“The Mini-B is one of the most flexible fixtures we use,” notes Schikorr. “It is small, bright and fast with a wide zoom range, tight beams and brilliant colours, so it was perfect for the Forest Showcase. We needed a small fixture with a big output to produce both strong beams and a wide wash to illuminate the forest around the set.”
VisionTwo is the Claypaky distri

UK - Grassroots campaign initiative #LightItInRed is part of the 11 August ‘Red Alert’ day of action being organised and coordinated by #WeMakeEvents and PLASA.
Red Alert is also being supported by numerous companies, professionals, organisations and other individuals and practitioners working in the entertainment technology industry and performing arts sector.
The Red Alert campaign’s goal is to get the live entertainment and technical production sector in front of politicians, specifically those in the exchequer and at the DCMS (Department of Culture Media & Sport), the latter as the industry’s representatives at parliamentary level.
The reason is to demand urgent financial help for the sector and its substantial support infrastructure … until mass gatherings can return.
The industry is on the brink of collapse following no work or cashflow for five months, and no timetable for a re-start.
This is further exacerbated by recent changes to the coronavirus jobs retention scheme (JRS) meaning that already cash-strapped companies will be under further pressure to make redundancies.
On 6 July, #LightItInRed initiated a lighting action that saw nearly 700 buildings, monuments, landmarks, and spaces all over the UK lit in ‘emergency red’ to raise awareness of this dire situation.
#WeMakeEvents Red Alert is the next step.
“The call is even more urgent now – so we are again asking everyone if they can get actively involved and light something red for the 11 August,” says #LightItInRed co-founder Steven

UK - The #WeMakeEvents campaign has progressed into the ‘Red Alert’ phase, with planned activities set to take place across London and other major cities in the UK on the evening of 11 August.
The initiative will raise the alarm for the live events and entertainment sector, which has been badly-hit by the pandemic, resulting in countless event cancellations.
The campaign reports that the disruption of the summer season alone has affected over 600,000+ jobs in outdoor events. Meanwhile, a campaign survey revealed that redundancies in the sector are already happening, with 15% of businesses stating that they plan to make redundancies during August and 70% reporting that they could be forced to do so by the end of 2020.
The campaign warns that the termination of the government’s furlough scheme and the self-employment income support scheme in October would leave up to one million industry professionals with no financial security. “The complete lack of work in the sector combined with the withdrawal of government support will force industry professionals, including the 72% of freelancers, to seek work in other sectors,” says a statement.
Live events may not be able to return until March 2021 due to social distancing rules and the long-term planning now has the collaborative support of 17 trade bodies and several more production companies and manufacturers required for many arena tours, festivals, and stadium events.