Business

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UK - Production Park has announced the acquisition of consulting firm, AspectUnlimited and the integration of their media design workflow consultancy into the Production Park group of companies.

The acquisition will merge AspectUnlimited's specialties in previsualization, technical and production workflow consulting for 3d media servers and lighting systems, with the electronics and automation skill sets of Brilliant Automation to create a new renamed group brand - Brilliant Technologies.

Lee Brooks, managing director of Production Park, remarks, "Future productions will require an ever increasing technical integration of scenic, automation and visual technologies. Shannon and the team will be key to developing our capabilities in these areas."

Director of AspectUnlimited, Shannon Harvey will take on a new role as the director of technology for the Production Park grou

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UK - Adding a little neon radiance to edge the politically charged wit of comedian Matt Forde, illumination specialists, LED Creative has been working with scenic designer James Dillon to help create the look for Unspun.

Filmed in front of a live audience at Elstree Studios with lighting director Martin Kempton, Unspun sees host Matt Forde delivering a contemporary, comedic view of the week's political activity, expertly dismantling the week in Westminster. The set design has the presenter at its centre, flanked on all sides with a variety of set pieces and light boxes created using the LED Creative Alpha 60 RGB System.

The Alpha 60 and bespoke driver units have also been cleverly built directly into both the presenter's desk and around the perimeter of the large video screen to the rear of the set. Flexible and precise the highly controllable capabilities of

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UK - A.C. Special Projects Ltd. (ACSP) has supplied and installed a bespoke entertainment technology system to Reach Academy Feltham - a pioneering, all-through free school for pupils aged four to 18 in Hounslow, west London.

The school approached ACSP with a brief for a fully flexible lighting, video and sound system for its main hall - which is used for a wide array of events, including plays, dance shows, presentations, social functions and workshops. The system had to be user-friendly and intuitive, so that teaching staff and pupils could work it with ease.

In practice, ACSP managed the entire project. As well as devising a bespoke technical solution, the company supplied and installed it - subsequently providing training for school staff and ongoing technical support.

ACSP Director, Lance Bromhead felt that the high-performance ProLights lighting range would offer

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Belgium - Creative lighting and visual design practice Painting with Light has added its own touches of magic and excitement for thrill-seekers enjoying Heidi The Ride, the stunning new 71 km/h wooden roller coaster due to open 1 April 2017 right at the heart of Heidiland, a new area at the Plopsaland De Panne theme park in Belgium.

Heidi The Ride - themed after the highly successful Heidi TV show produced by Studio 100, who own the park - is a new 6m euro investment built by Great Coasters International. She soars up to 22m high with a track of 618m, and her construction involved 56,846m of wood, 95,723 bolts and 181,198 nails with 784 mainstays holding everything secure.

"It was a really amazing honour to be invited to light this beautiful and intricate structure" explained Painting with Light's Luc Peumans, whose concept involved highlighting the detail of the st

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World - Responsible for the design on the Red Hot Chili Peppers recent word tour, The Getaway, is once again Scott Holthaus, long term LD, programmer and production designer for the band and a loyal user of MA Lighting consoles.

Holthaus comments, "We have now used grandMA for 20 years! As this is the most ambitious project I have come up with to date, I saw no reason to change from what has worked so well. Therefore, we voted again to use MA - in this case two grandMA2 full-size." Leif Dixon is working alongside Scott as programmer.

"It was my intention to create a giant video kinetic sculpture that includes, involves and encompasses the audience", continues Holthaus. "I feel this is the coolest travelling show out at this time - as do most who have seen it fly!" Premier Global Production provided the lighting equipment, TAIT the stage structure.

(Jim Evans)

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France - Loudspeaker manufacturer Amadeus has announced the install of a 3D sound system within Paris' Chaillot National Theatre. Along with Solid State Logic (SSL), Lab.gruppen and Sonic Emotion, the four companies joined forces to design a one-of-a-kind electro-acoustic sound reinforcement system for the theatre, which is one of the most historical and prestigious in France.

Amadeus has become one of the premiere manufacturers of high-end sound reinforcement systems for live and installed sound throughout Europe and Asia, while also designing and installing studio monitors. The Chaillot National Theatre's new 3D sound system has already been used in the production of original contemporary dance productions featuring choreographers, dancers and actors including, Olivia Ruiz, Jean-Claude Gallotta, Carolyn Carlson, Aesoon Ahn, Antony Hamilton, José Montalvo, Thomas Lebru

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UK - SLX has provided the lighting equipment for award winning actor, Mark Rylance's, show Nice Fish at The Harold Pinter Theatre for Sonia Friedman Productions.

The show which opened to critical acclaim last year on Broadway opened on 25 November 2016 at The Harold Pinter Theatre, London. With lighting by USA based Japhy Weideman the show features a wide range of equipment including Martin Viper Performances, Martin Rush Pars, ETC Source Four Lustr2s, ETC Source Fours and Look Solution smoke machines.

The show is being run from an ETC Gio control desk. For the London transfer there were a number of changes from the New York show; a large amount of the rig was swapped from Scrollers to ETC Source Four Lustr2s and Martin Rush Par2s for reliability and the additional options that these fixtures bring.

The show was put into The Harold Pinter Theatre by production e

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UK - At the beginning of this year, Tom Chaplin, ex-lead singer of Keane, announced his intention to embark on a solo career. In June, he completed his first album The Wave, which was released in mid-October. In the same month, he played a series of eight intimate gigs to promote the album. With an unusual list of venues and extremely limited space, DiGiCo S21s were the perfect fit for both Front of House and monitor positions.

Simon Hall, Tom's monitor engineer and project manager for Wigwam Acoustics, who supplied his S21, had worked with Keane for the past six years. "When Tom was ready to do some live shows, I got the call," he says. Mark Littlewood became involved via Simon, who he has toured with on and off for almost two decades, and mans the FOH position with his own S21.

"The tour started on 21 October and took in venues of various sizes," says Mark. "We al

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USA - Some 15,000 fans of Mexican fashion icon, Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, waited hours to gain entrance to the M.A.C. Cosmetics / Selena world premiere at the American Bank Centre in Corpus Christi, Texas, recently.

Handling the lighting for this event was Axis DeBruyn (of Axislights), who incorporated 48 of GLP's X4 Bar 10 battens in his design, supplied (along with the video and scenic effects) by PRG Las Vegas.

The concert arena was transformed into a Selena paradise with purple lights, purple rugs and purple Dillard's kiosks, to promote the new M.A.C. collection and T-shirts in honour of the Hispanic fashion designer (dubbed the 'Queen of Tejano Music').

One of the most celebrated Mexican-American entertainers of the late 20th century, Selena was fatally shot at age 23 in 1995 at the height of her career. Corpus Christ was her home town, and such is her icon

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Ireland - Electronic dance music lighting designer Conor Biddle specified an Avolites Sapphire Touch console to power his beat-perfect, immersive design for Winterparty '16, which returned to Dublin's 3Arena in October after a 12-year hiatus.

Inspired by the lighting at Las Vegas super-clubs, Biddle designed an intense, high-production show to celebrate the mammoth dance event's welcome return, which saw an epic line-up including Skream, Matador and Sven Vath.

"I specified the Avolites Sapphire Touch running the latest Titan version 10 because a dance event like this requires plenty of live busking," says Biddle. "The Sapphire Touch's dual screen and abundance of faders and features allowed me to create my ideal layout through using playbacks and macros. This ability is invaluable when putting together fast-paced designs that have to be adaptable."

Biddle worked alongs

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South Africa - The Academy of Sound Engineering (ASE) in Cape Town opened the doors to a second campus earlier this year, headed up by musician, engineer, producer and long-time Audient user, Keith Farquharson. Overseeing the project from the early days of its technology specification, right through to welcoming the first intake of students in February 2016, Farquharson has drawn on his considerable experience in both the live and studio business to realise this goal.

"Significant time and investment have been spent on creating recording spaces that not only sound good, but give students the feel of being in a genuine recording studio environment rather than a classroom," he explains. "To that end, having the consistency of Audient hardware in each room, has made a tremendous contribution to that."

As an Audient stalwart, it's perhaps unsurprising to find that he's specifi

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UK - The might of a half pack of new EV X-line Advance was used in some style to celebrate the launch of the Christmas festivities and ceremonial light switch on, at Bluewater Shopping Centre in Kent last week.

The event, managed and produced by Moonlite Productions, utilized a half pack of X-Line. The system, consisting of 24 x X2-212 Line Array elements, 12 x X12-128 Subs and TG7 Amps, was used on either side of an open top Routemaster London bus as the main system. It gave coverage of the outdoor space arranged to accommodate 15,000 guests. DJ's from Heart FM provided the playlist, along with appearances from Paddington Bear and Father Christmas himself.

The system was flown from two PA towers, with the subs ground stacked beneath, and controlled via Moonlite's Allen & Heath dLive S3000 surface.

Moonlite's sound engineer for the show, Ian Bonner comments, 'Using EVs

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USA - Unlike virtually every state and county fair in the US, which take place in late summer, the Big E (or Eastern States Exposition, as it's also known), doesn't open until fall has begun its descent into winter. The timing is a throwback to the annual event's origins in 1916, when the six New England states joined forces to create an exposition that would showcase their agricultural capabilities near the end of the harvest season.

Agriculture and tradition still reign at the 17-day fair, as evidenced by its many livestock displays and historic replicas, as well as the classic New England cuisine like Vermont Cheddars and Massachusetts clam fritters that it treats over 1.3m visitors to every year.

However, even as it reaches the century mark, the Big E is also serving up sizzling contemporary entertainment with big name acts like George Thorogood and Grammy-nominated el

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USA - The Moody Blues wrapped another successful run with a lighting package provided by Bandit Lites. The British rock band boasts 18 platinum and gold albums with retail sales of more than 70m units, proving that the Moody Blues are one of the longest lasting artists of the famed 'British Invasion'.

Lighting designer Mick Thornton utilized a rig featuring Robe Pointes, Bandit's exclusive GRNLite Moving Washes and Pars, as well as 80 Clay Paky Mirage Panels controlled with a GrandMA1 console.

"I tend to design a show that is very video content orientated and work the colours with the lights and video to create a very Moody Blues feel," said Thornton. "I strongly believe in big focus positions and great timing."

Having worked with The Moody Blues for 14 years, Thornton is afforded creative licence over the look of the lighting, saying, "The set list very rarely changes

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South Africa - The main venue for the massive triannual Every Nation Conference organised by Every Nation Church - at the 5000 capacity Grand West's Grand Arena in Cape Town - provided an ideal opportunity for lighting designer Alan Muller of FX Unlimited to use Robe Spiiders for the first time.

It was in fact the first live show in SA to use Robe's brand new LED washbeam product launched last month.

The 12 Spiiders were part of a rig containing over 100 other Robe fixtures provided by technical suppliers C&S Audio who were working for event technical producers, Bad Weather Productions. Both companies are based in Cape Town.

Alan worked closely with technical production manager Andrew Bosman from Bad Weather who produced the original stage designs and the video content with his team and Pierre Smith, production director of Every Nation Church Somerset West.

The con

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USA - Behind the Scenes has announced the creation of a new granting programme, the BTS Counselling Fund, which is designed to provide early access to mental health and addiction counselling for entertainment technology professionals by assisting with the associated financial burdens.

Behind the Scenes was approached earlier this year by Karen Sherman with the idea of creating the fund, "I'm a choreographer whose day job is as a stage technician; I've worked both sides of the stage for over 20 years. Stage technicians tend to view themselves as invincible, working as they do in a physically demanding, dangerous industry that shuts them away in a darkened theatre for days, nights and weekends, and through it all asks them to remain unseen and unheard. While depression, anxiety, and substance abuse occur across every profession, many aspects of the stage production industry rein

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UK - Situated in the heart of Manchester's medieval quarter, Chetham's School of Music is the largest specialist music school in the UK and the only one in the north of England. It is also home to Manchester's newest world-class performance venue, the Stoller Hall, due to be inaugurated in April 2017.

Designed by architects Stephenson Studio with acoustic design by Arup, Chetham's turned to specialist consultants Theatre Projects to specify the sound and communications systems which were installed by Northern Light. The sound reinforcement system that best matched the brief and was in keeping with the acoustics of the room was an EM Acoustics HALO-C system supplemented by EMS-51s.

Theatre Projects' senior consultant John Riddell takes up the story. "Price and quality were equally important factors for Chetham's," he explained. "The 480-seat Stoller Hall features an acousti

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UK - Theatres Trust has announced an Urgent Repairs Scheme, a new fund set up in partnership with the Wolfson Foundation. Theatres in need of immediate repair and maintenance, and which could otherwise face closure, will be able to apply for grants of up to £15,000.

The scheme is open to all theatres operating a year-round programme of live performance. Theatres that are not statutory listed will need to demonstrate the architectural significance of their building. Two funding rounds will take place in 2017, closing on 15 March and on 16 September.

Interim director at Theatres Trust, Rebecca Morland says, "Over the last few years we have become increasingly aware of the challenges facing theatres in terms of maintenance and repair. When budgets are tight, theatres often find it difficult to prioritise adequate spending on repairs and this leaves them vulnerable to un

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Germany - Philips Lighting has announced entertainment technology supplier cast as the first full distribution partner of its entire entertainment lighting portfolio in Germany.

As official distributor, cast has integrated Philips Vari-Lite moving head luminaires into its stock. The company will also hold a wider range of Philips Selecon LED fixtures, Strand Lighting control consoles and Showline effects lights. This will facilitate faster delivery of units and spare parts within Germany.

General Manager for Philips Lighting's entertainment business Grant Bales-Smith said, "As part of our strategy of being a provider of connected lighting systems, we are establishing partnerships around the world that will offer a total entertainment lighting capability so our customers have a one-stop shop for all their lighting and project needs. We have decided to take this step with ca

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Trumped - Sir Elton John will not perform at Donald Trump's presidential inauguration, a spokeswoman for the singer has said. Anthony Scaramucci, a member of Trump's transition team, had told BBC HARDtalk that Sir Elton would perform in Washington DC in January. "Elton John is going to be doing our concert on the mall for the inauguration," Mr Scaramucci said. But this was "categorically denied" by Sir Elton's representative in London. "There is no truth in this at all," she told BBC News.

During the election campaign, Sir Elton had expressed support for Mr Trump's opponent, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. Performing at a fundraising event for Mrs Clinton in Los Angeles in October, he was reported to have told the crowd, "We need a humanitarian in the White House, not a barbarian."

Mr Trump had used Sir Elton's songs Rocket Man and Tiny Dancer -

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UK - Sound Technology Ltd, distributor of Harman Professional Solutions in the UK and Ireland, has announced 2017 training dates for the popular Soundcraft Vi Console and HiQnet Audio Architect courses.

Sound Technology offers a free one-day training course on Soundcraft's Vi Series consoles. This runs monthly and is open to engineers, venues, hire, installation and production companies.

The sessions are designed to adapt to the requirements of the participants and includes hardware components and connections, Vistonics interface and console operation; configuration of the console for FOH and monitor applications; diagnostics and fault finding; shows and snapshots; Soundcraft Realtime Rack; ViSi Connect iPad app, offline editor and integration with other audio equipment.

The dates for the first half of 2017 are: 25 January 2017 (Adlib, Liverpool), 22 March 2017 (Sound

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UK - Centurion Club, near St Albans in Hertfordshire, is a recently developed private golf facility managed by the internationally successful Troon Golf company. Set in idyllic surroundings, no expense has been spared in creating a stunning facility. Away from the course itself, the club building offers a wide range of services including bar and restaurant, as well as private rooms for banqueting, conferencing and meetings.

Consistent with Centurion's approach to offering its patrons the highest possible quality, its management team consulted with Audiologic and integrators CDEC over provision for an audio system with zonal capabilities in separate areas across two floors. The ground floor area at Centurion has three meeting rooms which can be opened up into one large space, so flexible provision was essential. The system would include a facility for music playback as well rel

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USA - On her current tour opening for superstar Chris Young, Cassadee Pope is supported by a Michael Stanley-designed lightshow that's as freewheeling and multi-faceted as her music, thanks in part to some very versatile Rogue R1 FX-B fixtures from Chauvet Professional, supplied by Bandit Lites. Stanley, who is also the programmer and lighting director for Chris Young, used 12 of the rotating Rogue fixtures in his floor package for Pope after consulting with the Bandit Lites team.

"Cassadee and her TM Don Muzquiz showed interest in going for a linear look," he recalled. "Mike Golden, Cassadee's account manager at Bandit, pitched the R1 FX-B to me, and Jake Tickle at Bandit demoed it. After we saw it, we jumped all over the idea. The linear shape of the fixture obviously could give us the orientation we wanted. But beyond that, we knew that all of the angles and effects we coul

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Europe - Starring Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May, and recently screened on Amazon Prime, the first episode of The Grand Tour is reportedly the streaming site's biggest premiere to date. As the three former Top Gear presenters embark upon a "hilarious global adventure", Netherlands-based outside broadcast service provider United has placed Lawo in the driving seat.

The series is being shot as a multi-camera 4K HDR production at the 23.98 frame rate, as it is being aired in the US.

"United has a track record in 4K and HDR filming, including live concerts by Muse and U2, so this was the main reason we got this job," says sound supervisor Huub Lelieveld, who mixes the recordings along with Rob Ashard and Mischa Kortleve. "For audio, I and my colleague Christian Postma wanted to match the high-resolution video by creating the best audio quality pos

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