Saudi Arabia - Fully established as a legal entity in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, global crewing specialist Showforce, a division of the Spendlove Group, has announced ambitious plans for expansion in the country. The company has opened an office in Riyadh with business development manager Zachariah Smith relocating to spearhead the operation.
Initially accompanied by experienced members of the Middle East operations team, Smith will lead the charge in bolstering local crew numbers, growing its talent pool and securing new clients.
The office will deal with all enquiries a

UK - The winners of this year’s PLASA Awards for Innovation were announced last night at PLASA Show at Olympia London. The awards, run in association with LSi magazine, are respected industry-wide for celebrating future-focussed technology that improves safety, efficiency and performance through new methods and materials.
40 products were entered this year, with the judges ultimately awarding eight products, including one highly coveted Gold Award. This year’s judging team comprised 12 independent technical specialists from a wide array of backg

UK/USA - For the last 15 years the JL-Group’s (JLL) DNA has been synonymous with a commitment to client service, strong values and pushing boundaries in the ever-evolving world of technical production across the television and event industries.
Phil McMichael, JLL commercial director says; “As our clients business needs evolve, we evolve and so following the delivery of multiple successful Stateside projects in partnership with our Agency, Corporate and Television clients we are delighted to announce our full-time expansion into USA.”
JLL’s first US office will be a

USA - Sphere Entertainment Co has announced that internationally renowned media artist Refik Anadol is the first artist to utilise the Exosphere, the fully programmable LED exterior of Sphere in Las Vegas, as an immersive canvas, debuting an AI Data Sculpture created exclusively for Sphere called Machine Hallucinations: Sphere.
Refik Anadol is a media artist, director, and ‘pioneer in the aesthetics of machine intelligence’. He uses large collections of public data and machine learning algorithms to create immersive art installations. Anadol is the founder of Refik Anad

Canada - Christie reports that its RGB pure laser projectors are illuminating a new immersive venue in Toronto. Illuminarium Experiences, in partnership with Toronto-based Secret Location, has opened its first Canadian location in Toronto’s Distillery Historic District. The 13,500sq.ft space includes almost 30 Christie RGB pure laser projectors and maintenance and support from Christie Professional Services.
Illuminarium at The Distillery District places guests in the story and allows them to see, hear, feel, and affect the space around them. The new experience opens with two im

Portugal - The highlight of the 37th World Youth Day 2023 in Lisbon, saw Pope Francis give the address at the Vigil, when an estimated 1.5m people gathered at the city’s Parque Tejo.
Situated between Parque das Nações (Nations Park) and the mouth of the River Trancão, this beautiful setting was perfect for the pilgrims to receive the 86-year-old Pontiff’s core messages of hope and joy.
Broadcast for the event was handled by Optocore partner Auditiv, who were responsible for capturing, amplifying and distributing sound on the Parque Tejo stage, and delivering all signa

UK/Ireland - This year marks the seventh anniversary of the successful collaborative relationship between award-winning independent design practice, High Res, and specialist manufacturer of LED video processing products for the film, broadcast and live events industries, Brompton Technology.
Building on over 25 years of experience, Dublin-based High Res specialises in visionary creative, multidisciplinary implementation and practical solutions in virtual production and design. Its team, headed by company’s founder, Emmy Award-winning lighting designer & technical creative di

UK - PLASA Show once again returns to Olympia London to showcase the future of live entertainment technology. From 3-5 September, the expanded show will set the stage for 239 brands, 112 educational sessions, and the meeting of thousands of industry professionals. Free tickets are available until 31 August, after which the price will increase to £15, then £20 on the door.
Lighting professionals can look forward to meeting Artistic Licence, Astera, Ayrton, Ch

UK - Obsidian Control Systems (Stand D50) will show a host of new innovations including the modular NX1 lighting console and latest ONYX software, as well as the world’s first IP65 data distribution range and other Netron data distribution devices.
The latest software expansion of the popular Onyx control platform will be available to view and test drive. Featuring NDI Video Input, Realtime audio analysis and Beat Sync, this updated version enhances workflow across Obsidian’s various console and PC solutions, such as the popular NX1 in combination with the NXP expansion wing

USA - Due to be unveiled at the end of September, the new Big Hoss TV, a GoVision project featuring a digiLED VISION ULTRA screen, will deliver a significantly bigger, brighter experience for fans at Texas Motor Speedway, in Fort Worth, Texas. Owned by US leading sponsor Speedway Motorsports LLC, the venue is one of the country’s largest sports facilities.
The screen replaces the original, Guinness World Record winning, Big Hoss TV which has graced the venue since 2014. The new and improved screen, sited on the backstretch of the track, measures a massive 22,692sq.ft, the equiva

Germany - Christie Pandoras Box Software Version 8.8 technology is powering the impressive projection mapping at Schlosslichtspiele Festival at Karlsruhe Palace. Technical team AV Active has deployed two Pandoras Box licences, two Christie Widget Designers and 24 Pandoras Box outputs to power projection mapping onto the 172m x17m (564 feet x 56 feet) façade of Karlsruhe Palace.
Among this year’s flagship events is mapping virtuoso Maxin10sity’s 80’s Flash show to tie in with a 1980s museum exhibit inside the building, while German electronic band Kraftwerk performs i

China - Votion Studios, a technology-driven creative agency in Hong Kong, incubated by Vobile Group in 2021, has launched a new virtual production studio that centres around an AOTO LED display powered by LED video processing from Brompton Technology.
The studio’s expertise extends beyond production, and also encompasses the pivotal pre-production stage. Through its dedicated in-house VFX team, the facility offers comprehensive support to its clients, functioning as a creative hub for the development of XR and VP productions, underlining its commitment to go be more than a servi

UK - Video company UP is on the road with Depeche Mode and an Anton Corbijn-designed custom video set piece.
Depeche Mode’s Memento Mori continues its world-spanning tour - it's this summer's longest running European stadium tour - with an LED ‘M’ centrepiece, a 3D scenic element that becomes seamlessly integrated as part of the video wall.
Working alongside TAIT and show designer Jason Baeri, Universal Pixels has helped to create the custom-built set piece for artistic director and long-time Depeche Mode collaborator, Anton Corbjin’s latest vision.
Th

UK - From stand D3 with SES, at this year’s PLASA Show, Data Strategy will showcase the extensive benefits of the industry’s first choice electrical and cable safety inspection solution, the QC-Check workstation.
Anticipating an extension to the summer festival season’s conversational theme of cable identification out on site, Data Strategy’s Iain Roche will be on stand ready to discuss the benefits of simple labelling solutions, as well as the latest rental system integrations and QC-Check’s most popular add-on modules, including the PowerCheck distro testing, LOLER ins

USA - Sports fans are being treated to a massive 2,000sq.ft video screen at the new DraftKings Sportsbook bar at Chicago’s Wrigley Field stadium, with game footage and betting information delivered by a tvONE CORIOmaster2 video processor and integrated by tvONE partner McCann Systems.
The expansive LED feature wall wraps around the space and is visible from practically any seat. DraftKings Sportsbook is a restaurant, bar, and sports betting facility and is connected to the historic Wrigley Field, home to the Chicago Cubs baseball team.
Upon realising that the large LED scr

USA - Live event production company, White Tie Productions has purchased 120 Alfalite Litepix Series panels, making them the first live event company in the U.S. with Alfalite LED panels. It marks the second sale in the U.S. for the new FOR-A/Alfalite alliance.
Headquartered in Phoenix with a second office in Orlando, White Tie will have 60 panels based in each location. The screens will be shipped to customers throughout the U.S. The walls will be showcased in White Tie’s Phoenix studios when they are not out on live productions.
White Tie specialises in creating large-sc

UK - Sam Fender played two homecoming shows at St. James’ Park in Newcastle with lighting designed by Sam Tozer - also the show’s creative director - and equipment supplied by event technology specialists, Adlib, including 11 x Robe Fortes running on five RoboSpot systems.
Tozer has been working with the artist since he re-started playing live after the pandemic in 2021. Working alongside him was lighting director Luke Avery, who was heavily involved in the design process, together with set designer Flora Harvey. Video content was created by UDC.
Sam’s overall vision f

USA - Brompton Technology has been recognised by the Television Academy with an Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Engineering, Science & Technology. The Emmy was awarded for its Tessera SX40 LED video processor, which has played a crucial role in the widespread adoption of LED screens for virtual production and elevated the storytelling process through its impact on how television programmes are created.
The Television Academy named Brompton Technology’s founders Richard Mead (CEO) and Chris Deighton (CTO), alongside director of engineering Adrian Jeakins and enginee

USA - Christie has introduced two new RGB pure laser projectors: the M 4K15 RGB and M 4K+15 RGB. Part of our award-winning M 4K RGB Series, they deliver 15,750 lumens and are designed for the most demanding applications, including staging and live events, projection mapping spectacles, and theme park attractions.
“Our original M Series projectors, first introduced in 2007, were our most successful line of Pro AV projectors with over 16,000 units sold,” says Joel St-Denis, director of product management, Christie. “Our new models continue the tradition of innovation which has

UK - Display specialist PSCo (part of the Midwich Group) has announced the introduction of the Absen MR2.5 high resolution LED floor display. The high impact floor display is exclusively available from PSCo in the UK for trade-only rental and purchase.
The MR series LED floor panel is available in 2.5mm pixel pitch and uses a GOB SMD packaging process resulting in deep blacks with a non-reflective surface. Specified with Brompton R2 processing, the wide colour gamut and high-contrast performance of the MR2.5 produce impressive in-camera performance versus other LED floor technolog

USA - A 500-mile-long NASCA cup race, the Daytona 500 is an annual event held at the Daytona International Speedway. This year’s event marked 75 years of NASCAR, and to celebrate this anniversary, the event included a special virtual final lap. The Famous Group were chosen as NASCAR’s preferred partners to bring this ambitious project to life.
“We were asked to recreate 18 historic NASCAR racecars and show them racing in a single lap together on the Daytona racetrack,” explains Erik Beaumont, head of mixed reality at The Famous Group. “The fantasy lap would include a Dal

USA - Avid has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by an affiliate of STG in an all-cash transaction valuing Avid at approximately $1.4bn, inclusive of Avid’s net debt.
“Since our founding over 30 years ago, Avid has delivered technology that enables individuals and enterprises who create media for a living to make, manage and monetise today’s most celebrated video and audio content across the globe,” said Jeff Rosica, Avid’s chief executive officer and president.
“We are pleased to announce this transaction with STG, who sha

UK - PCL Live, founded by Adam Wilson, is a leading audio-visual company in the Northeast of Scotland. With impressive industry experience in installation projects, event equipment hire and operation, live streaming, and video production services for over 15 years, Wilson has driven PCL Live to operate using modern technology, with a focus around Leyard Europe products.
“One of the main benefits of Leyard screens is that they’re modular, so we can build them in any configuration needed, which gives us a unique selling point,” says Alex Sherman, business development and techn

UK - Audio-visual and entertainment technology company, Anna Valley has officially opened a new, multi-purpose studio complex in July 2023. The facility is located on the same block as Anna Valley’s headquarters in West London, in premises previously used to produce content for a broadcast shopping channel and includes five professional studio spaces that can be tailored to suit the production needs of media and entertainment, commercial and event clients.
The idea for Anna Valley Studios originated due to the audio-visual company’s success in using their headquarters as a vi

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