Turkey - Tarkan, one of the most popular singers in Turkey as well as around the World, has met with his fans with nine concerts during September at the Harbiye Open Air Theatre. The spectacular stage was set by Staras, one of the top rental companies in Turkey which has invested in the cutting-edge Clay Paky Sharpy and for the first time they added the DiGiCo SD5. As exclusive distributor of Clay Paky and DiGiCo in Turkey, Asimetrik's expertise and dynamism lead to Staras's sourcing decision.

Staras rents sound, light and audio-visual systems and provide technical production services for events in a diversity of fields with 30 years of expertise. Staras closely follows the global trends and technologies to ensure outstanding events. Staras is already experienced with Clay Paky's spectacular lighting solutions with their previous purchases.

Morever, Tarkan's production team or

USA - This past November CNBC tapped The Lighting Design Group (LDG) to light their 25th anniversary celebration. This year also marks LDG's 25th anniversary. The elaborate event was held at Rose Hall, home to Jazz at Lincoln Centre, in The Time Warner Building. LDG staff designers, programmers, gaffers, and Local One I.A.T.S.E crew members worked to install the affair over the course of two days and within several Rose Hall locations.

The first event of the evening occurred in The Rose Theatre, lit by LDG president Steve Brill. The one-hour, panel show was broadcast live and hosted by CNBC's Jim Cramer, host of Mad Money. "Due to several variables we opted to use VL 3500s for much of the heavy lifting," said Brill. One was the shutter capabilities, which allowed granular control over the lighting of each panelist. "They are also very powerful units, allowi

South Africa - South African audiences were captivated as War Horse, brought to the country by Pieter Toerien and the National Theatre, played at The Teatro, Montecasino in Johannesburg recently. The show then moved to Cape Town at Artscape Opera House from 5 December 2014. Technical support in both venues was provided by Gearhouse Splitbeam.

A truly iconic show based on a book written by Michael Morpurgo, War Horse was only designed to run for a couple of weeks . . . then they did it again and again and again and it's currently in its seventh successful year on the West End in London. The journey has seen the horses redesigned - the life-sized puppets were created and built in Cape Town by Handspring Puppet Company - and the early days saw performers receiving hours of physio every day. As the show was very physical on performers, more actors were brought in to ta

USA - One way to keep the Halloween spooks away is to keep the lights on and that's what they did at Hard Day of the Dead Fest in Pomona, California, using an Elation lighting rig of Platinum Beam 5R's, LED moving heads, Par lights, and Elation LED video displays. Held on 1-2 November at the Fairplex, Elation dealers Stage Tech, Felix Lighting and Vision's Lighting delivered a large Elation package for Southern California's ultimate Halloween DJ and dance event.

The festival's Hard Main Stage incorporated a Mayan Pyramid design that was conceived by designer Charley Guest of Stage Tech of Santa Fe Springs, California, their fifth year doing the event. The scaffold structure was 210' wide and 70' tall and was accentuated by using two Elation video products throughout the structure's facia. The Hard Stage setup featured Elation EPV 375 HO LED panels that were specified, says Charl

USA - Weather conditions have always been the overall challenge and concern for outdoor event providers.

Aside from its impact on visitor attendance, adverse weather conditions impose huge additional costs on lighting equipment deployment - or rather it did. SGM's LED G-Spot moving head, is not only IP65 rated, making it weather resistant, but also includes an active dehumidification device. This reduces the risk of internal condensation while allowing lighting designers to unleash their creativity to the full - in whatever weather is thrown at them during an outdoor event

In recent months, three major amusement parks in the USA have all installed the G-Spot for their main attractions: Cedar Point in Ohio, Kings Island in Ohio and Carowinds in North Carolina.

Behind these installations is Andrew Strain from Blue Haze Entertainment, whose passion is the entertainment business

UK - Avolites Ai S8 media servers completed an elegant makeover of the London Coliseum, draping the stage in video content for the British Fashion Awards, held to celebrate the contributions of British designers, creatives and models over the past year.

The glitzy event, attended by some of the biggest names in British fashion, was set against a backdrop including a main projection surface of eight Panasonic projectors blended to create a 6598x830 screen.

Ben Miles used two active Ai S8 servers, with another two used as reserve and programming systems. Another 1920x1080 HD feed to the camera PPU fed the IMAG screens content, such as fashion shoot clips, awards and winners graphics, mostly created by StrangeBeast.

Of the two active servers, one had the UI and three outputs and the other, the UI and two outputs, all outputting 1920x1080 at 50Hz, beautifully synced together.

South Africa - With a background in electronic engineering and having followed the development of LED lighting for many years, Julian Cohen, owner of Johannesburg based rental company Avstage, had been waiting for LED technology to catch up with discharge lamps.

Three decades ago he designed and manufactured large display panels using discrete LEDs and now at last the opportunity came along to purchase new lighting including 12 Robin 300 LEDs, an Avolites Tiger Touch 2 and a haze machine.

In the greater rental market, Avstage caters for corporate events. This environment is unlike rock concerts where lighting is a major element of the production. "Most of our clients are non-technical and when catering for gala dinners or conferences, lighting is more about creating ambience and is only an element of the entire event. It's not about which light is being used and its techn

Japan - It was a challenge for the technical crew of Fuji Television Network (Fuji TV) and Fuji Media Technology (FMT) to find the right fixture to light a set built in the globe shaped observation studio located on the 24th floor of their building. But in the end, they realised that ETC's Selador Desire D60 Daylight luminaires were the right fit.

"Our task was to light this set built in a space that was once a coffee shop, with minimal power," says Hitoshi Hoshino, the executive manager of FMT. "The space also had only 2.4m to the ceiling, so it was impossible to use incandescent lights, not only because of the power restrictions, but also the heat."

The set was built for the live morning breakfast show Mezamashi TV (Alarm Clock TV); behind the cast are windows with a view of Tokyo that creates a backlight that changes with the time and weather. The bigges

USA - When one of US television's most visible sports anchors launched his new sportstalk TV/radio show in early October, lighting designer Victor Fable turned to a lighting package of studio-optimized Elation lighting equipment including DW Series and TVL Series professional white light LED fixtures to light the set.

Rich Eison, well known by US football fans as host of NFL GameDay Morning on the NFL Network and a mainstay on ESPN's SportsCenter from 1996 to 2003, hosts The Rich Eison Show broadcast live Monday-Friday from DirecTV's El Segundo, California Studios on the Audience Network, as well as Fox Sports Radio.

In the summer of 2014, while the space was being refurbished into a television studio for the three-hour show, Victor had time to contemplate his design and the lighting fixtures he would need. "I wanted a variety of professional white light and other

USA - At LDI 2014, Philips Entertainment enjoyed one of its most noteworthy tradeshows during a full week which included The Symphony of Light, VL4000 Spot technical training, NEO lighting control console training, and the well-celebrated Philips Strand Lighting Centennial Toast and champagne reception.

Along with all of the events which took place, Philips Entertainment also enjoyed the successful LDI product debuts of the Philips Vari-Lite VL4000 Spot, Showline SL NITRO 510C and SL PAR 155 ZOOM luminaires, plus the Philips Strand Lighting NEO control console and Emergency DMX Bypass Switch.

"I could not be more proud of the outstanding Philips Entertainment team who put together a wonderful and well-rounded event," said Julie Smith, general manager of the Americas. "We had an incredibly busy week and through our completely interactive and hands-on booth

UK - Behind the Scenes UK, the newly launched charity that aims to provide financial support to entertainment technology professionals when they are ill or injured, is calling on companies and individuals to send their annual Christmas cards via Card Aid this year.

Card Aid has been helping charities increase their funds from the sale of their Christmas cards for over 30 years and John Simpson, Chair of Behind the Scenes UK, believes proceeds from the sale of Christmas Cards via the Card Aid Website will really make a difference to Behind the Scenes which only launched in the UK in October. "Sending Christmas cards is a long held tradition and Card Aid allows us to keep the spirit of Christmas alive - as cards can be purchased online, either in the form of a pack of cards or as e-cards which can be sent on a pay per click basis. Whilst we are happy to accept donations in li

Beatle Drive - The Beatles musical Let It Be will return to the West End next year, to run at the Garrick Theatre. It will replace The Scottsboro Boys at the Garrick, where it also played earlier this year. The show will run there from 28 February to 27 September. The production will then embark on its second national tour in October 2015, which will visit more than 30 cities. The show's producer, Jamie Hendry, said, "Now in its third year, Let It Be continues to draw crowds and delight audiences around the world. Its return to the West End for its fourth season is only testament to the huge popularity of the Beatles."

Lotto Money - A former Sunderland fire station will be transformed into a performing arts hub after being granted £2.4m from the Heritage Lottery Fund. The conversion of the building, which has been derelict for 22 years

USA - SGM was not only able to introduce a number of new products at this year's LDI Show in Las Vegas but attracted equal interest by announcing the restructuring of their sales and service operations in the Americas. This was highlighted by the opening last month of SGM Inc in Orlando, FL.

Thus, they were able to present not only a new portfolio of ETL-certified, IP65 LED products but also the new Technical Support Team and established sales force. At the same time, well known Spanish lighting designer Ben Díaz, has been appointed SGM's new area manager for South America, and he will also be handling product training.

As a result, the SGM booth proved to be one of the hottest destinations at this premier expo. The show floor was permanently busy and they reported great interest in both the now-established G-Spot and new G-Profile (with framing shutters), billed as the world

UK - White Light has helped to transform London's Old Sorting Office venue for a temporary exhibition which focuses on ideas and perceptions of environmental conservation. Titled Here Today... after the phrase "here today, gone tomorrow", the exhibit brings together works from more than 50 international artists including Andy Warhol, Gavin Turk, Peter Blake and Douglas Gordon to recognise the 50th Anniversary of The IUCN Red List of Threatened and Endangered Species.

The venue, once the largest sorting office for the Royal Mail in London, now serves as an events space hosting private events, fashion shows, and exhibitions. For Here Today... the space was completely transformed with additional walls, scenic pieces, and lighting. Made up of eight distinct chapters, the exhibit's path takes visitors on a multi-media journey which includes paintings, sculptur

South Africa - The Market Theatre in Johannesburg was forced to purchase a new grandMA2 Ultra Light desk after the theatre was flooded recently.

The unfortunate event was sparked when an intruder broke into the theatre, breaking a drencher pipe in the process. This resulted in the release of 80 000 litres of water into the auditorium, damaging the MA2 Ultra Light in the process.

A replacement console was purchased from Dave Whitehouse of DWR. Nomvulu Malpo, head of lighting at the Market, and her team received training on the desk's latest software and features, presented by Gareth Chambers.

(Jim Evans)

UK - Calling all event professionals! Drapes and rigging specialists Blackout have launched a social media campaign to support Save the Children's Christmas Jumper Day, and they need your help to raise funds for the cause.

Blackout will be donating up to £1,000 to support the charity initiative which aims to Make the World Better with a Sweater. The team got together for a festive-themed photo shoot, featuring Christmas jumpers, props, and a festive star cloth backdrop. The photos are currently being shared on Twitter and Facebook, with £2 donated for every re-tweet, like or share.

Louise Nomes, marketing manager from Blackout explains all: "We always donate to charity at Christmas time but this year we were feeling particularly in the Christmas spirit and wanted to do something a bit different.

"In addition to donating money to a good cause the

South Africa - Clay Paky's Massimo Bolandrina and Giovanni Zucchinali spent two weeks in South Africa carrying out demos everyday as they introduced the super heroes of lighting, The Projectors, to the market. In fact, a photo taken during this roadshow of a SuperSharpy beam projecting onto a cloud reached the second most "Likes" ever recorded on the Clay Paky Facebook page.

The Clay Paky Roadshow, put together and run by DWR's Robert Izzett was a wonderful success. Instead of having a central venue where clients were invited to see the products, The Projectors consisting of SuperSharpy, Mythos and Stormy were taken to rental companies and theatres in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town.

"This has been an amazing experience for the Clay Paky team," commented Massimo who loved meeting old and new friends and sharing interesting talks about lights and life. &q

USA - Hero Ventures, a Los Angeles-based entertainment company, has announced that technical elements for The Marvel Experience, an epic-scale, immersive adventure experience in which guests step into and interact with the world of Marvel's Super Heroes and Super Villains, are being led by entertainment event technology and service provider, Production Resource Group (PRG).

"The Marvel Experience has evolved into an amazing, premier touring experience, complete with unique technical elements such as 3D 360° video projection, first-person 'live' interactive gaming and a dynamic 4D motion ride. It became apparent early on that we needed an elite team of seasoned professionals in entertainment production that could offer us real solutions to help execute our complex vision - that's why we went to PRG," said Hero Ventures' chief production officer, Jason Rosen.

The t

Turkey - Asimetrik hosted an open day on 5 November for Clay Paky, DiGiCo and Meyer Sound's newest and latest technology products. The event was held on Asimetrik's HQ and Kucukciftlik Park (Outdoor Culture and entertainment centre). VPs of sales and Europe sales managers Alberico D'Amato from Clay Paky, James Bradley from Digico and Scott Gledhill from Meyer Sound also attended the event.

The event attracted considerable interest from sector professionals all around Turkey. All day long, brands' representatives continuously showcased their latest technological developments and products.

Clay Paky introduced the brand new masters of light 'The Projectors': SuperSharpy - a powerful beam light for long throw applications, Mythos - the most advanced combined spot light and beam light and Stormy - a strobe that uses ultra-modern LEDs, but still offers classic strobe effects as wel

Italy - Robe's new Bright Multi-Functional Luminaire (BMFL) Spots made their debut on the vibrant Italian electronic music and arts scene, featuring prominently on the main stage at the two-day C2C (Club2Club) International Festival of Music & Arts in Turin, where they were specified by production lighting designer Walter Lutzu.

Walter also utilised 16 x Pointes, 12 x MMX Spots and 12 x LEDWash 600s on his versatile and spectacular design, which had to be flexible enough to deal with an action-packed line-up of DJs and artists, all requiring their own distinctive visual styling and settings.

It was Walter's second year lighting the main stage at the multi-venue event which was again set in an atmospheric disused former industrial plant in the Lingotto area of the city.

As well as offering the best in Italian and international electronic and experimental music with over 48 si

UK - Debenhams flagship Oxford Street store revealed a spectacular Christmas lighting display at the beginning of November, which was delivered by lighting design and installation specialists Mushroom Lighting.

Mushroom's managing director Paul Butler was contacted by the Debenhams team at the beginning of September and asked to come up with some ideas that were worthy of a flagship store, particularly as the Oxford Street Debenhams had recently undergone a complete modernisation - including the exterior - which was designed by Ned Kahn.

"I met with Ian Dorsett, creative windows designer at Debenhams to show him some lighting products," says Paul. "One of things I took with me was LED fluorescent tubes. I suggested that we could do something similar to a sculpture I had seen that had a seemingly random design.

"We played around with the idea and I ordered

USA - Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church in Gig Harbor, Washington, recently converted the visual platform in their main worship space from a traditional projector and screen system to Elation EZ Series LED video screens, a high-resolution system designed, integrated and installed by Agility AVL.

Church personnel were looking to replace a pair of 10,000 lumen projectors whose optics were going bad and initially looked at two 15,000 lumen projectors as replacements. "The church was ready to go with projectors and they seemed to have already had their mind set on it," states Agility's Kevin Hill, account manager on the project. "They had a few companies come in with projectors but there were issues with the ambient light that comes in from some windows overhead that can wash out the screens. Although the new projectors looked good they just weren't bright enough. They

USA - Avolites' US partner Group One reports that the two companies are "seeing the fruits of our labours" in a dramatic way, as Avolites' new products - including the compact-yet-powerful Quartz console - excite the US market following LDI.

The newest addition to the Titan Mobile family, Quartz was the "star of the show" on stand as it made its US debut at the tradeshow, showing off its on-board processing and bright, vibrant 12.1" screen.

"Quartz is super compact, measuring only 16.7" wide, and is positioned as the ideal companion for lighting projects ranging from touring and festivals to clubs and one-offs," says Avolites Sales Manager, Stephen Baird Smith, who was on-stand at LDI. "It is Avolites' smallest fully-featured console, featuring the same high quality faders and hardware you've come to expect from Avolites, and is ide

UK - LD Chris Rigby has been presented with the award for Lighting for Multicamera for his work on Alan Carr Chatty Man, Season 11/12 (Open Mike Productions for Channel 4) at the prestigious RTS Craft and Design Awards.

Held annually, the RTS Awards recognise the creativity and talent of the many individuals working behind the scenes in programme production. Spread over 25 categories, the 2013/14 awards were chaired by CBBC Controller, Cheryl Taylor and covered a host of skills from costume design and editing to digital effects and lighting.

Commenting on Chris's work, the jury said: "The jury were impressed by the quality of the music numbers in the winning show. The lighting gave the numbers an edgy quality which made the winner stand out from the rest."

The awards were held on 1st December at the London Hilton, Park Lane and were hosted by Jennifer Saunde

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