UK - White Light has recently acquired the assets of Imax Lighting, a London and Bristol-based dry hire company.
Imax Lighting’s inventory will now be available through WL, and the acquired company's founder, Gary Churchill, will be joining WL as a consultant. Also joining WL is Rodney George, who will oversee the sale of used equipment to small businesses, theatres, colleges and live music venues in the role of used equipment manager.
WL has also made three key appointments, bringing in Carmelo Amenta as technical account manager responsible for broadcast projects, large-scale award ceremonies and live music concerts; Ian Charlampowicz has joined as senior account manager and will work within the broadcast media sector; and Jade Harrison has been appointed as business development manager.
WL has also expanded the teams within its managed venues. This includes the recently-opened Illuminate with the appointments of Mark Sutcliffe and Luis Quiterio as venue sales manager and venue technical manager respectively. Lastly, Leonard Layton has been appointed as deputy venue manager at Central Hall Westminster.
Retiring from the company this summer will be long-term staff member and head of broadcast and corporate hire, Roger Deane. He comments: “I first joined this world back in 1978 and, after four decades, I think I deserve a break! Whilst I will be sad to leave WL, I’m happy in the knowledge that the company has made so many exciting appointments and will continue to grow and offer clients, new and old, a level of personal service they won

UK – Lighting designer Jon Trincas of design house Co1ab used Prolights LumiPIX 15IP LED battens to create powerful effects lighting for British dance duo, Third Party’s LIIIVE show at the Eventim Olympia, Liverpool.
The all-nighter event formed part of Third Party’s 2019 Together worldwide album tour, and featured a full roster of artists from the progressive house scene.
LD Jon had been impressed by the LumiPIX 15IP fixture’s performance on previous live events, so decided to put it centre-stage in his lighting design for the Third Party show.
He utilised 24 fixtures, arranged in two vertical columns either side of the stage, and pixel-mapped content onto each battens’ 15 separate RGBW LED cells, to create impressive, powerfully bright ‘eye candy’ looks to emphasise the artists’ euphoric and anthemic dance sets.
He commented, “I was really impressed by their colour-mixing, achieving anything from a true white, emulated tungsten, to very good darker, deeper saturated colours. The ability to pixel-map every cell was also a bonus and helped achieve the big looks I wanted.
“This is another Prolights fixture that has exceeded my expectations in every possible way. The LumiPIX 15IP is robust, lightweight, wireless and very bright. As a whole, the Prolights lighting range delivers great performance, and gets maximum value out of your show lighting budget.”
The LumiPIX 15IP fixtures were supplied for the event by Iain Wood at Zeal, with full show design by Co1ab and event production provided by Sam N

UK - Neutrik has appointed FBT Audio (UK) as an authorised distributor, effective 1 June.
The agreement has been hailed by Neutrik UK managing director Mark Perrins as “the culmination of a long search for the right partner”.
“We are intent on bringing the highest quality product to this very important market, and we have been assessing a strong partner in the UK who can help us to achieve that goal,” explains Perrins. “We are delighted to have appointed FBT Audio (UK), serving a range of MI and pro audio-based dealers and distributors. Coupled with high quality product from FBT, Neutrik has also been impressed with the quality of customer service and extensive additional market coverage that FBT Audio (UK) can offer. We are looking forward to a long and enjoyable relationship as we explore new markets and meet new customers.”
“Some brands are rightly considered the gold standard in their field - a description that absolutely applies to Neutrik,” comments FBT Audio (UK) managing director Mark Parkhouse. “This agreement strengthens our position within the UK and opens exciting new opportunities. I’m proud to represent such a highly respected range of products and I’m looking forward to helping Neutrik reach new heights in the UK.”
(Jim Evans)

UK - Europe’s largest digital experience conference, the Adobe Summit EMEA 2019 returned to ExCeL London earlier this month. Creative technical event production specialist Hawthorn was once again chosen by agency Taylor Bennett Partners to deliver the full technical production for the two-day event.
Focused on creating innovative customer experiences, over 6,000 delegates from across Europe, the Middle East and Africa gathered to hear the latest updates from Adobe Experience Cloud and its partners.
Led by group creative director Pete Harding, Hawthorn was tasked to bring Taylor Bennett’s vision to life, delivering the technical production for the main conference plenary, exhibition space, break-out sessions and the Summit Celebration.
Measuring 500sq.m and floating above the Adobe stand, the Jellyfish, was dreamed up by Russell Bennett, Partner at Taylor Bennett Partners. For this, Hawthorn collaborated with experiential design studio Cinimod and laser specialist ER Productions. Four circle truss structures fitted with 84 Robe 150 beam fixtures and 84 DMX-controlled fans allowed the illuminated material to billow float on air. With interactivity the name of the game, delegates changed the colour of the installation by passing their hands through a cage of 24 laser beams situated in the centre of the Adobe stand.
This year’s Keynote theatre played host to a number of famous faces, including international human rights attorney Amal Clooney, actor Eddie Redmayne and comedian Jack Whitehall. With brands such as Unilever, BT and illycaffè

UK - Discogs presented Crate Diggers - an international series of music festivals dedicated to promoting vinyl, collectability and physical music - at the Brighton Centre.
A vinyl-records event with a lot of exhibitors and even more visitors. Besides countless albums, singles and maxi-singles Crate Diggers also presented a live music programme. Headliner this year was Sister Sledge.
James Tomlinson Lighting was asked to arrange the lighting for the live stage. He used Showtec Phantom 3R Hybrid and Infinity Furion S-601 fixtures and invited designer John Richardson to design and programme the show. Of his experience with the Infinity Furion S-601, Richardson says: “The units seem well made with nice materials, the menu system was easy to navigate with both touch screen and a handy jog wheel. The 500w white LED engine seems nice and uniform and fairly punchy although does lack slightly when coming up against saturated colours, heavy gobos and prisms.
“The gobo wheels are nicely laid out with some great stock images both glass and metal with some beam reducers. An added animation wheel is a bonus too. All in all, I was impressed with the amount of features this unit has.”
James Tomlinson, owner of James Tomlinson Lighting, adds: "Showtec products have always delivered in every aspect for us so when we were looking to add hybrid units to our stock it was the first place to look. The Phantom 3R hybrid is exactly what we needed and seeing them in use on the first gig was further confirmation of a wise investment." Tomlinson purc

UK - Long since it had stopped building ships, The Harland and Wolf Shipyard in Belfast - where Titanic was built - was again thrust into the limelight as the main studio for the HBO series Game of Thrones.
A visit to the shipyard-turned-studio with a gaffer friend in early 2011 plunged Keith ‘Shanksy’ Shanks into the fantastical world of Westeros and Essos as the lighting programmer for Game of Thrones throughout its entire eight-season run. With him all the way, on every one of the 73 episodes (plus the pilot), has been a series of ChamSys consoles.
“I met the producers through my gaffer friend and was given the opportunity to work on the pilot,” said Shanks, owner of Key Console Systems in Belfast. “We never looked back, as I’ve been programming the show ever since that day, right up to the final episode.”
Shanks had never used a ChamSys desk before working on the Game of Thrones pilot. “I was primarily a rock touring LD up until then,” he recalled. “However, I felt the console I was using would not be up to the task of this project.”
After carefully evaluating his options, Shanks selected a MagicQ MQ200 with a Playback Wing for the pilot show. He soon added a second MQ200 to his setup, followed by an MQ500 Stadium. By the series reached its eighth season, he had four MagicQ MQ500 Stadiums and two MQ200s with Playback Wings at his disposal.
The increasing number of consoles reflected the growing complexity of the set lighting, which went from 14 universes to 19, as it moved from extremely high le

USA - Obsidian Control Systems is showing a new data distribution range of products at InfoComm 2019. Netron encompasses Ethernet to DMX gateway, DMX splitter and DMX/RDM splitter solutions, supporting applications from live production and venue installations to architectural environments.
The Netron range offers three Ethernet to DMX gateways, the rackmount 12-port EN12, the EN4, and the ultra-compact POE-powered EP4. All devices support sACN, Art-NET, RDM and offer web remote configuration, while internal presets for the most common uses offer plug-and-play deployments.
Three variants of RDM splitter round out the range; two compact splitters with six XLR (RDM 6XL) or RJ45 (RDM645) connections, plus the RDM 10, an advanced ten-port dual-input splitter combined with a two Universe EtherDMX gateway.
(Jim Evans)

France - The matrix structure that was positioned over the Misk Foundation stand at VivaTech Paris in May was brought to life with a colourful Big Fish SRL lighting design that features Chauvet Professional COLORado Panel Q40 fixtures.
An annual gathering of high-tech start-ups and budding visionaries, the conference held at the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles is an incubator of new ideas that ‘hold forth the potential to transform society in the future’. Conceived by design firm Ochre and built by Level Exhibitions, the overhead matrix at the Misk stand reflects this spirit.
Nestled within the custom-built honeycombed lattice of ceiling panelling, the RGBW fixtures were used to create transformative patterns of shadows and brightness. In so doing, they added an extra level of depth to the entire structure, endowing the light itself with the aura of being an almost tangible object.
"Our directive was to cross-illuminate the honeycomb structure and thereby create shadows and varied light intensities across it in random directions," said Steve Hubbard of Big Fish SRL. "The effect was really very captivating, as it added layers of complexity to the overhead design.”
The Big Fish SRL team, which in addition to Steve Hubbard included Ryan Hubbard and Robert James Lloyd, had only had one week to complete their design following the initial phone call from their client. Given the weight restrictions on each trussing point of the complex overhead structure, the compact size of the COLORado Q40 Panel was essential to helping the team install th

Europe - Saïd M’Roumbaba, better known by his stage name Soprano, combines music, politics and urban poetry with edginess, meaning, accessibility and superlative showmanship. His live shows are selling out and he is currently touring French-speaking Europe.
Young French lighting designer Victorien Cayzeele is an integral part of the creative team bringing the Phoenix touring show to life, a task he is doing spectacularly with the help of around 150 Robe moving lights which are at the core of an innovative and emotive visual experience.
Victorien has worked with the artist for six years, each tour seeing the shows getting bigger and bigger as Soprano’s influence and popularity grows. The 2019 touring schedule is action packed with a mix of own shows - including five stadiums in September - and festival headline slots as well as over 40 arena gigs.
Soprano’s reputation as a live performer and the special connection he has with audiences is also fuelling the demand for concerts.
When they decided on five large moving and tracking 10mm mesh LED screens with 80% transparency as the essential digital scenery and stage architecture, this presented some unique challenges for Victorien.
The all-axes tracking system - up / down, onstage / offstage and left and right - meant a roof filled with tracking trolleys and motors.
Before he’d even drawn a light on the plot, the team went through a series of essential screen moves and plotted each song in terms of the stage dynamics, which then dictated the exact positioning of the automat

Belgium - Last summer, event design and production company John & Jane made its first investment in Astera AX1 Pixel Tubes.
At the time, the company was designing a lighting scheme and providing production for a Brussels Airlines event being staged in an old townhouse, and specifically sought a light source which could be used abstractly to highlight areas of the building. Initially, they purchased AX1s for illuminating a staircase, but ended up buying more from Benelux distributor Controllux, which were used on the floor - in the style of plane emergency lighting.
The long battery life, consistent brightness and easy set-up and use are all reasons attracting them to Astera.
The Pixel Tubes are now working constantly, claims the company. The fixtures are used to light gardens, fountains buildings - interiors and exteriors - main event rooms and spaces, corridors, stairways, stairwells, galleries and any number of ‘nooks and crannies’ that can benefit from being illuminated in a funky, interesting location.
They also proved ideal for lighting the VIP areas at a series of summer beach festivals where John & Jane provided the full technical production packages, and will be used again in the same context this year, including at WECANDANCE, a food and fashion extravaganza staged across four music stages on the beach at Zeebrugge.
Nico Laniere of John & Jane comments: “The Tubes are hugely creative and our customers all love them. [They are] decorative and attractive to look at in themselves.”
(Jim Evans)

USA - The VLZ Profile luminaire, from Vari-Lite’s latest generation of LED moving head fixtures features on Plan B Entertainment’s US touring production of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Evita. Specified by lighting designer Chad Bonaker, the fixture’s size, brightness, zoom and effects package combined to meet the designer’s every need.
Bonaker, faced with the familiar touring theatre challenges of limited truck space and short load-in times, knew he had to ask a lot from his lighting fixtures. “The lighting package needed to be very compact,” he says. “And, with quite a few one-off tour dates, we wanted to limit the number of fixtures to be loaded in and refocused from venue to venue.”
With the fixture count necessarily at a minimum, maximum versatility was essential. “Every light in the air had to pull its weight in multiple roles,” says Bonaker.
The core of that versatility would be a high output and a wide zoom range. “Evita has a few full stage numbers where I wanted to get good colour on the whole stage and still have fixtures left over for specific texture and solo work,” he says.
The powerful 24,000 lumen output and 8-50˚ zoom range of the VLZ Profile delivered all the flexibility he needed. “I originally planned on 16 fixtures, to provide a full stage side wash in colour, but with the VLZ’s brightness and zoom range, I could usually get away with using just eight.”
Bonaker concludes: “I put the VLZs through their paces and they did great. I was nervous that with so few fixtures, th

France - Perseo-S, Ayrton's latest compact LED moving head, is now shipping.
The lumianire, which was unveiled at Prolight+Sound 2019 in April, is suitable for a broad range of indoor and outdoor applications thanks to its IP65 rating, light weight and 27,000lm output from a 500W LED source (calibrated at 8000K).
Perseo-S boasts a subtractive CMY colour mixing system, a variable CTO and a wheel with six complementary colours that combine to produce "an infinite palette of vivid pastels and saturated colours". The fixture has a zoom range of 7° - 56°, no hotspot, and an improvement from distortion at wide angles.
The framing section allows accurate positioning of four shutter blades on a 100% surface area in all positions, so that the user can frame any object regardless of the luminaire’s position. The image section includes 18 interchangeable HD glass gobos on two wheels: one rotating wheel with seven positions and one fixed wheel with eleven positions. The effects section includes a continuous dynamic effects wheel; a 15-blade iris diaphragm; two frost filters, one soft edge, one hard edge; and two rotating prisms, one circular with five facets and one linear with four facets.
Perseo-S can be controlled by DMX-RDM, Art-Net or a wireless link using CRMX TiMo RDM from LumenRadio.

USA - Ever since Dropkick Murphys burst on the music scene in the late ’90s, bold, colourful backdrops have been almost as much a part of their show as their music.
This year, the band added a new twist to their stage presence by having five separate sections of drops that were revealed in stages. Accenting the unveiling of each section, while also furnishing an endless stream of bright and colourful looks to support the band’s thunderous performance, was a Jeff Maker lighting design that featured 17 Chauvet Professional Rogue R2 Wash fixtures, supplied by JRLX, Inc.
“Things were a bit different this year compared to Dropkick Murphys’ other tours when it came to their drop setup,” says Maker. “They went with five separate sections of drops, each of which had a Velcro reveal in front of it. We would reveal the drop during a blackout at mid-set. The Rogues provided perfect uplighting and colour saturation for the drops as they were revealed. We positioned them so their lights hit the drops’ artwork in a way that reflected light and colour very nicely.”
Maker arranged five of his Rogue R2 Wash units on the upstage deck, using them to uplight the different backdrops. An additional four Rogue fixtures, two on either side of the stage, were placed downstage on pipe and base for key side light. For stage washing, specials and aerial washes, Maker positioned eight Rogue R2 Wash fixtures on four 10’ vertical towers stationed over the band’s riser setup position mid-stage.
“I needed fixtures that would not only be versatile and

Chile - PR Lighting fixtures were in action recently at Duo Pimpinela’s concert at the 4,000-capacity Gran Arena Monticello in Chile, which was a complete sell-out.
LD Adair Rodriguez has been lighting the Argentinian artists for the past six years, not only in Latin America but also in North America and Europe. This time around he acted as lighting programmer and operator, and was also in charge of full technical production. “We adapted our lighting plot to the house plot with minimal difficulty,” he said.
The inventory was supplied by Urdile Audio & Iluminación, PR Lighting’s Chilean distributor. “In my opinion Urdile are the best in Chile,” notes the LD.
Adair Rodriguez has been a regular user of PR Lighting fixtures, including the 200 and 300 Series, over the years. This time he selected 24 XR 440 BWS fixtures, which integrate three features (spot, wash and beam) in a single unit, as part of a large complement of different automated LED fixtures. “We ran the 440s only in Beam mode for this show, for which it was perfect, but in the past I have run them in Spot mode as well. I have also used the PR Phantom over the past years, but now prefer the XR 440 BWS.”
He concludes: “Having worked with many different PR Lighting fixtures without doubt my favourite two have been the PR 1000 Spot and the legendary PR 700 Spot, as the optical brightness and definition of the colours in the air are just wonderful. But I think this hybrid 440 BWS is also perfect.”
(Jim Evans)

UK - The Association of British Theatre Technicians’ Annual Theatre Awards took place after the first day of the 2019 ABTT Theatre Show at Alexandra Palace, London.
The five awards for lighting, sound and engineering products of the year, widget and stand of the year, were complemented by the announcement of the ABTT’s technician of the year for 2019.
The lighting product of the year went to the Robe T1 Profile. The judges said: “This is a new moving light that has clearly had a great deal of thought put into its development. Robe’s new T1 fixture delivers an immensely useable theatre lantern. It is light weight, quiet and extremely well featured. Of particular note, the scrim function and the brown/blue focus tweak on the hard edge on the PC lens version is a welcome addition to the lighting designer’s pallet.”
Mick Hannaford, managing director, Robe UK, comments: “We are so pleased to win this award, especially as it is from the very people that influenced its conception and who really know their craft. Once again, the ABTT Theatre Show presents us with the best opportunity to address the technical theatre market.”
Sound product of the year went to Sennheiser’s Digital 6000 SK 6212 (see an in-depth technical review of the whole wireless system in LSi June).
The judges said: “Having a discreet belt pack transmitter for radio microphone systems is a g

Mexico - Lighting designer Miguel González, of Madrid-based Colorcode Studio, chose the new Vari-Lite VL10 BeamWash fixture to enhance his design for the Mexico leg of Spanish star Enrique Bunbury’s recent world tour. Running since 2017, the Expectativas tour was Bunbury's most ambitious production to date.
As show designer, González’s task was to convey the themes of the Expectativas album to the audience, within an innovative and original visual design. “For this type of tour,” he explains, “with great visual and technical demands, we must have a guarantee of quality, so that all the demands of the show are fulfilled every night. The lighting fixtures are a fundamental part of that, they will mark the quality of what the public sees. The fixtures should always work like on the first day.”
As well as quality and reliability, González looks for versatility from his lighting fixtures. “The more options the fixture has, the more it can offer to the show and, consequently, to the audience. In this type of show, you have to offer the most innovative and most visually impactful solutions.”
With the new VL10 BeamWash, González has found answers to each of his needs. Its class-leading array of visual effects tools, from its rotating gobos to its beam reduction options, dual overlay prism and exclusive VL*FX animation wheel, give no end of options for creative variety.
“The power of the VL10 is well above similar equipment,” he says, “and the zoom I consider to be extraordinary. The uniform luminosity in the beam

USA - ADJ has announced the immediate availability of its flagship IP65-rated moving head, the Hydro Beam X2.
Part of ADJ’s Hydro Series, the luminaire is designed for outdoor events, tour production and permanent installation in environments where rain, humidity, dust or sand could impair the function of regular fixtures.
“Since we first announced the Hydro Series at LDI last year, the interest we have received - especially in the X2 model - has been incredible,” explains ADJ USA’s national sales manager, Alfred Gonzales. “There is clearly huge demand for a powerful, robustly-built and IP65-rated moving head beam fixture at this price point. This incredibly punchy fixture offers phenomenal brightness and is ideal for 200ft+ throws. The applications for the X2 are many and varied.
“Obviously, it will appeal to the festival and outdoor events market, as well as large outdoor clubs and event venues. However, its protection from dust, dirt and moisture will also appeal to the rental market. For busy rental houses who send their fixtures out on shows every week, prep time can be limited. When a regular fixture comes back covered in dirt, it needs to be painstakingly stripped and cleaned. However, because it is IP65-rated, the X2 can simply be rinsed down with water, dried and sent straight back out the door!”
ADJ has also announced that two new IP65-rated moving heads will join the Hydro Series - Hydro Beam X1, a compact beam fixture with a 100W Osram Sirius HRI discharge lamp, and Hydro Wash X7, a wash fixture with seven 40W Osram

Europe - Prolight Concepts Group eLumen8 has expanded its Kudos series with the addition of the 700 Beam.
With a 110W light engine, a large, 150mm lens, the luminaire projects a concentrated 2° beam, creating aerial effects for the touring, events, theatre and installed lighting markets.
Key features include: two circular rotating prisms, 12 colours + CTO + CTB, 17 gobos, 12° frost filter, motorised focus and 80,000 Lux @ 5m. RDM along with 16-bit pan/tilt positioning and smooth dimming are also included in this fixtures’ impressive feature list.
“We’re committed to beating our previous fixtures every time we design and release a new product,” says Andrew Jeffrey, managing director for the Prolight Concepts Group. “We’ve upped our game considerably for the 700 Beam, which features motorised focus and a large glass lens to offer big, sharp beams that stay focused over any distance.
“As with most of the eLumen8 products, we also offer an optional tour grade twin flight case specifically designed for the Kudos 700 Beam providing a heavy-duty storage solution and easy transportation.”
(Jim Evans)

Germany - ETC is bringing a host of new products as it returns to Stage|Set|Scenery, the exhibition for theatre, film and entertainment technology, taking place at Messe Berlin from 18-20 June.
The company will occupy three stands this year - 340 and 240 in Hall 20, and 301 in Hall 21.
Showcasing its extensive range of lighting technology on stand 340, ETC will present Augment3d - its first integrated 3D programming environment. Live demonstrations of the Eos v3.0 tool will take place during the trade fair, displaying how users can control and design in a 3D space whilst interacting with their fixtures through augmented reality. Augment3d will be shown on the leading Eos Ti and Gio @5 consoles during the three-day exhibition.
Further products on stand 340 will include the latest lighting fixtures and architectural systems. Relevé Spot is the first member of a new product family for ETC - an automated fixture specifically designed for the theatre. It boasts a calibrated four-color additive mixing system and a unique Ani-gobo wheel. Alongside this, there will be the acclaimed Source Four LED fixtures, ArcSystem family of LED products and ETC’s EchoTouch controller.
On Stand 301, Hall 21, ETC will present its complete package of Upper Stage Machinery. Live demonstrations of installing the Prodigy P2 hoist will take place at 11:15 and 15:15 each day during the tradeshow. The P2’s advanced features and compact size makes installations a quick and easy process.
Visitors will be introduced to ColorSource Raceway, a lightweight power and da

Belgium - Is Er Een Dokter In De Zaal? ( Is There A Doctor In The Room?) a TV show starring well-known Belgian comedian Philippe Geubels, offers a humorous take on medical issues of the day.
Contributing to this show’s stylish and sophisticated setting is studio lighting by Jim Mattheus of ICP Belgium that features a collection of Chauvet Professional Maverick and COLORado fixtures, supplied by Splendit.
“We have worked with Philippe Geubels and his production company, Pretpraters, on projects in the past, so when he asked if I would be interested in being DOP for the new show, I was happy to oblige,” explains Mattheus. “Because of our previous relationship with the producer, we were totally free in choosing our fixtures.”
Mattheus opted to move away from traditional incandescent studio lighting and build his rig around the Maverick MK2 Profile. “We didn’t want old-school Fresnel TV spots or profiles with external dimmer and color correction gels, because it’s not always efficient,” he says. “Working with LED source lights like the Maverick reduces heat in the studio and consumes less power. Also, since our Mavericks are moving profiles, they give us a great deal more flexibility.”
Mattheus hung 19 Maverick MK2 Profile fixtures on his light grid. From this position, the fixtures are used as key lights, filler lights, and back lights. The fixture’s advanced four-blade framing system and wide zoom range make it easy for Mattheus to focus precisely on the panellists as well as the doctor and host, while its CMY +

USA - The Reliability Conference, held on 6-10 May at the Hyatt Regency Bellevue in Seattle, highlighted strategies and technologies companies can use to drive production, lower costs and create a ‘culture of success’ within their organisations.
With over 132 speakers tackling issues covering a wide range of topics, from maintenance management to asset health, it was important the lighting worked organically with a variety of different skin tones and make the staging pop, while providing a smooth, focused light that wouldn’t overpower the video screens on stage.
Lighting designer Corey Easterbrook of Hothouse Productions chose six Chauvet Professional Ovation E-260 WW ellipsoidals, supplied by Harmon’s Audio Visual, to help him meet this goal. The Ovation fixtures’ smooth dimming curves and flat, even fields added impact to the general sessions, while the light they produced made all speakers and presenters look natural.
“The Ovation E-260 ellipsoidals hit all the sweet spots I needed,” says Easterbrook. “Their bright, clean light presented a natural, warm white that made everyone look great and really helped keep the focus on the stage, without any spillover.”
Easterbrook also had to contend with challenges presented by the venue itself. Originally a parking garage, the renovated general sessions ballroom had four support columns, slightly offset from the stage, that needed to be factored into the design. Easterbrook placed the Ovations E-260s on top of stage wash towers positioned in front of these columns. Limited access

Australia - The Pavilion, a multifunctional event space right in the heart of the Arts Centre Melbourne, offers panoramic views of the leafy green surrounding Arts Precinct nestling between the Yarra River and the Royal Botanical Gardens.
It’s a vibrant hub for a diversity of cultural and creative activities, accommodating anything from around 280 - 300 people for dinner, 450 for a concert set up and 500+ for a cocktails or standing event.
A new lighting rig of Robe VIVA CMY Spots, ParFect 150s and LEDWash 300s, six of each, has recently been installed which has dramatically changed the way in which the space can be used for many events.
Arts Centre Melbourne’s technical manager for corporate events Jason Fordham explained that, in addition to the pre-existing generic rig, the new lights have expanded the capacity to stage multiple daily events in the Pavilion, a busy space which is utilised for anything from conferences, talks and debates to presentations, gala dinners and awards ceremonies - during daytime and evenings.
“The Robes have really enabled us to maximise the space properly and increase its utilisation by 60 percent or more,” confirms Jason, explaining that it’s now “quicker and infinitely more practical” to morph the room from a daytime conference into an evening dinner - often with live entertainment - with the finished result also looking vastly better aesthetically.
They have frequently heard audible gasps of amazement from conference delegates when they re-enter the Pavilion reset to a dinner state follow

USA - Altman Lighting has announced that Victoria Fisher has joined their North American sales team in the position of southern regional sales manager. Based in Houston, Texas, Fisher joins Altman from Barbizon Lighting Company and will now manage the Altman Lighting partnerships with the many theatrical and architectural lighting professionals throughout the region. She will oversee the Altman Lighting sales efforts in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas.
“We could not be happier to be announcing Victoria as the newest member of our North American sales team,” says Nick Champion, Altman Lighting vice-president of North American sales. “She has an intangible combination of knowledge from both the designer and the manufacturers perspectives, and this will prove to be a valuable benefit as we continue to expand our line of Altman Lighting solutions.”
(Jim Evans)

UK - Creative technical event production company Hawthorn has appointed Jolene Price, who has joined the company as business development manager.
Price will support the development of new business for Hawthorn’s live event technical production service. Before joining Hawthorn, she held the position of sales, events and marketing director at Rail Media and brings with her over 19 years of experience in sales and events.
Scott Rooney-Ashby, account director at Hawthorn, comments: “We’re delighted to welcome Jolene to Hawthorn. She brings a wealth of experience to the position and with her previous experience in the industry, I believe she will be a great asset to the team. Investing in our people is vital to developing the service we provide to our clients and maintaining the extremely high-standards we are renowned for delivering.”
(Jim Evans)