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UK - The Christie-sponsored National Film and Television School (NFTS) Most Promising Student Award was recently announced at NFTS’ annual graduate showcase, held at the BFI Southbank.
Lisa Kenney, a student in the Directing Animation MA programme, won this year’s award. The showcase screenings took place from 27 February to 2 March, 2023, with Kenney winning the award and trophy for her inspiring work and attitude throughout the year.
Robert Bradbrook, head of the Directing Animation MA programme, NFTS commented: “Lisa is a wonderful and caring student who understands that the process of making a film is just as important as the final animation. Not just her journey, but the students that work with her. She always goes out of her way to ensure that the needs of others come first, resulting in a supportive family environment that allows everyone to do their best

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Italy - Taking place between 2 and 4 April 2023, Music Inside Rimini is the only show in Italy dedicated entirely to audio, video, lighting and control technologies for music and entertainment. Rooted in the nightclub market and the vibrant nightlife of Rimini during the 80s and 90s, Music Inside Rimini is an annual event which attracts global exhibitors from professional audio, lighting and entertainment brands.
Wharfedale Pro will be exhibiting at Music Inside Rimini for the first time this year. The British manufacturer will focus on its latest product developments, which will be showcased in three separate demo spaces.
Simon Godfrey, sales director at Wharfedale Pro, comments, “We’re particularly excited about attending Music Inside Rimini as we’re going to be able to physically demonstrate a wide range of products. It’s one thing choosing a product from a
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France - PlugFest returned to Lille France from 7-9 March, bringing together lighting professionals from across Europe to test products and learn about the latest protocols and standards.
Returning for the first time since the pandemic, the European event aims to improve the connectivity of lighting products and provides a unique opportunity for manufacturers, developers and technicians to test and debug their products. Organised by PLASA, the event sold out well in advance, signalling its importance to the lighting community.
Over 39 representatives attended from 25 companies, including ChamSys, Chauvet, Company NA, ETC, GLP, Highlite, Lamp and Pencil, MA Lighting, the National Theatre (London), Robert Juliat, the Royal Opera House (London), Robe, Swisson, TAIT and TSL.
First time attendee, Vincent Bouquet from Robe France comments: “PlugFest has been a rea

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Student Funding - Higher education regulator the Office for Students has awarded a £9.6m annual funding boost to 15 establishments across England that provide training in performing arts. The organisations include Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance, Leeds Conservatoire, Chickenshed Theatre Company and the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts. All will receive a portion of the funding to help improve teaching and access to training.
A total of £9.6m a year will be awarded over five financial years from 2022-23 to 2026-27. Six organisations will receive the maximum amount of £1m a year. LIPA has been awarded this amount in this financial year. Sean McNamara, LIPA principal and chief executive, said: “The funding recognises our enduring reputation for excellence and the significant costs associated with delivering the type of high-quality specialist profess

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USA - Martin Audio North America has chosen the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland, for its first post-pandemic open day on Tuesday, 9 May.
The popular concert venue will host two sessions (a morning and afternoon event), based around a series of demonstrations and presentations featuring Martin Audio’s front-line PA systems.
In particular, they will showcase the entire line up of Wavefront Precision line arrays (WPL, WPC, WPS and WPM), Torus constant curvature array (T1230, T1215 and T820) and XE stage monitors (XE300 and XE500).
Lee Stein VP of sales, North America, confirmed the importance of what will be the company’s first large-scale presentation since before the pandemic. “With all the new products we’ve introduced over the last few years, now that social gatherings are happening again, we wanted to give current and prospective custom

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UK - Backup has officially declared Kartfest -The Village Fete, open! Tickets are now on sale to the live events industry’s big day out.
Now in its eighth year, Backup is delighted that Kartfest will be returning to Sandown Park for its biggest event yet. “With our fantastic headline sponsor, Chauvet, we are building a big old fashioned Village Fete to give everyone a great day out,” says Backup vice chair and the event’s organiser, Lee Dennison. “Our judges will be out in force scoring the best dressed stalls, our cake bake competition and the best fete game. We are all looking forward to apple bobbing, hook the duck and smashing the rat.”
Backup is also delighted to have 5 Star Cases officially sponsor the Flight Case Relay, which is longer and faster than last year’s race. “We so looking forward to seeing the budding Linford Christies warming up on t

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UK/South Africa - Hall Technologies has expanded its presence and supply chains in EMEA via UK technical solutions distributors, Visualization, as well as Cine AV, in South Africa. Hall has announced a strategic distribution agreement whereby both will have full access to Hall’s range of products covering connectivity and UC.
“We’re excited to add such a broad line of class leading products to our distribution portfolio,” states the managing director of CineAV, Tyron Ackerman.
“Along with VueAV and our other sister companies, we believe that the market across the countries in which they are active will benefit from both the unique product lines and Hall Technologies' excellent customer services,” says Nick Pidgeon, Visualization’s managing director.
Hall Technologies Hal Truax, VP of sales and marketing comments, “We are delighted to announce Vi

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UK - Midwich UK&I has launched Mi Finance – a financial services offering that supports customers’ business growth through help in acquiring new technologies or upgrading assets while protecting their working capital.
Available to customers of Midwich Ltd, Nimans Ltd and Sound Technology Ltd, and with plans to roll out to the wider UK&I group of companies soon, Mi Finance offers ‘competitive rates for lease and hire purchase’. Three product options are currently available including finance lease, hire purchase, and operating lease, with a fourth product in development.
Simon Munday, Mi Finance manager, said: “We are really excited to bring this proposition to market. We are constantly looking at ways to increase our service offering and Mi Finance is our answer.
“We work as an extension to our customer’s team – taking the administration ou

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UK - Sound Technology, distributor of Martin Professional lighting in the UK, has announced a series of Martin training, demo and product showcase events taking place around the country in 2023.
The first event takes place at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow on 22 March. The morning session is dedicated to training on Martin's P3 Creative Video system & networking. This introductory session will take you through the basics of how it works, and an overview of what equipment is involved, as well as a look at a few typical setups. It will be a combination of product introductions, typical applications and a walkthrough of physically setting up and working a P3 setup.
The afternoon is a drop-in demo event from 2pm, showcasing the demo the latest Martin fixtures, including: MAC Aura XiP, MAC Ultra Performance and Wash, with new V2 firmware, ERA series incl

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The Philippines - Ayrton has announced the appointment of MQ Lightings as its new, exclusive distributor for the Philippines.
Established in 1987, MQ Group (popularly known as MQ Lightings) serves as the official distributor, and systems integrator, for over 40 global brands of photographic, video, broadcast/livestream, and stage equipment for the Philippine media and entertainment industry. MQ Lightings supplies customers with world class cutting-edge, professional equipment and services and is committed to meeting the high standards of lighting designers and consultants, film-makers, cinematographers, DOP’s, broadcast engineers and other professionals in the industry.
MQ Lightings’ product and marketing manager, Christian Ong, explains why they were keen to stock Ayrton products: “Ayrton is a very reputable brand, well-known by industry professionals and offers

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USA - The DALI Alliance (DiiA), the global industry organisation for DALI lighting control, has revealed the winners of its DALI Lighting Awards 2022.
The standard of entries within each of the eight categories was exceptionally high, and the awards recognize the best use of DALI lighting control applications and solutions around the globe. The international judging panel of lighting designers, lighting magazine editors, and representatives from global lighting organizations picked eight projects as well-deserved winners.
The winner in the Architectural & Entertainment category is Tridonic Middle East, for its work on the Expo 2000 entry portals in Dubai, UAE. The lighting system used dynamic colour mixing to provide the desired effects in the vast portals, which are 21m tall, 30m long, and 10.5m wide. DALI was used due to its advanced dimming and daylight sensin

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UK - Shure is increasing its focus on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) initiatives by announcing a new STEM for STEM programme.
This programme will provide donations to various global STEM-based organisations (or STEAM-based organisations) based on each STEM Ecosystem product sold by Shure.
“When customers outfit or upgrade their meeting rooms with Stem Ecosystem products, they are automatically supporting the next generation of tech pros,” said Jim Schanz, VP global integrated systems sales, Shure.
Shure has been supporting various STEM-focused organisations for years and is expanding to reach even more organisations and young adults worldwide, especially those working to provide more diversity in this area. As part of Women’s History Month and Gender Equity Month, Shure says it is proud to announce this programme to support STEM organisation

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UK - The Adam Hall Group continues to expand its sales network, following the presentation of the new integrated systems vertical, at ISE 2023 and has announced Commercial Audio Solutions as a distribution partner.
“We are very excited to have been appointed a distribution partner for the installation market across the UK and Ireland for the Adam Hall Group. I believe the LD Systems installation range is going to make a big impression on the marketplace,” says Brian Knott, managing director at Commercial Audio. “The focus on quality and performance is world-leading, but what most impressed me, was the deep understanding of engineering and how to improve the job-at-hand for the installer, as well as delivering a fantastic, reliable product for the client. We can’t wait to introduce more people to this amazing product range, and I’m sure it will only be a matter of

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Financial Moves - The National Theatre has revealed it will need to “reduce activity levels in order to ensure financial stability” for the next three to four years, as it warns of the ongoing challenges it faces in its annual accounts for the year ending March 2022. The accounts show that its total income for the year until March 2022 was £80.8m, up from £56.3m the year before, but warn that high rates of inflation and increased energy costs are having a "significant impact" on its cost base. In the year before theatres were closed in March 2020, the theatre’s income was more than £100m.
In addition, it highlights a recent 5% cut to its annual Arts Council England funding, which was previously £17m but is being reduced by £850,000 a year with effect from this year. It also points to audiences being slow to return following the pandemic lockdowns, remaining about

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USA - Dates for virtual Mental Health First Aid training are now posted through May 2023 at btshelp.org/mhfa. You can take an active role in helping to care for those you work with and expand your skill sets by learning how to identify, understand and respond to signs of distress in your colleagues and help make our workplaces healthier and safer spaces for all.
A previous attendee recently told BTS, “A dear friend disclosed an awful mental health crisis. Thanks to your class, I was able to put my mental health first aid training into critical practice and send them some resources. In an intense, immediate way I am so glad to have been there for a friend and able to help them get the help they desperately need.”
The course is delivered in two parts. The first is a two-hour self-paced online course that must be completed prior to a six-hour virtual live instructor

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UAE - Creative Technology Middle East (CTME) has made an investment in Elation Professional’s Proteus series of automated IP65 lights, along with studio-optimised IP-rated KL Panel softlights. The purchase includes the Proteus Excalibur sky beam moving head as well as the Proteus Maximus LED moving head, both high-power luminaires routinely used on large-scale productions and outdoor spectaculars.
Additionally, CTME has invested in Elation’s versatile KL Panel XL IP, a full-colour spectrum LED softlight suitable for use in broadcast and film settings. CTME worked closely with Jean Pierre de Vernon from Venutech LLC, Elation’s exclusive distributor in the Middle East, to procure the new lighting gear.
Sam Connolly, head of lighting at CTME comments, “Elation is a ground-breaking brand creating innovative and versatile products like the Proteus series and KL Pane

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USA - Glendale, California-based Kinetic Lighting has added 80 Ayrton Zonda 9 FX fixtures to its lighting rental inventory. ACT Entertainment is the exclusive distributor of Ayrton lighting in North America.
Kinetic Lighting provides theatrical and studio lighting services worldwide in studio, corporate, exhibit, theatre and live-event markets. The company’s range of services includes equipment rentals, sales, lighting design, previz and related show services.
Zonda 9 FX is a versatile fixture that combines the main features of the Zonda 9 Wash with stunning 3D volumetric effects and complex LiquidEffect graphic effects.
“We hadn’t been actively searching for new wash fixtures when Eric Abad, western regional sales for ACT Entertainment, demo’d the Zonda 9 FX for us,” recalls Kinetic Lighting president, David Rosen. “We loved it and realised it would

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USA – The Dirty Rigger brand of workwear played a popular role in the latest Tomcat University five-day entertainment rigging training course, hosted recently at the company’s custom-designed training facility in Thousand Oaks, California.
Hosted by leading entertainment rigging specialist Tomcat USA, a part of Area Four Industries, the annual event provides ETCP (Entertainment Technician Certification Programme) renewal credits for those working in production rigging. This year’s event attracted a diverse mix of 45 attendees from across the USA and Canada, from students to seasoned touring riggers, business owners, stadium production managers and everything in between.
The course includes truss training, taught by Tomcat’s Adrian Forbes-Black and Keith Bohn, a one-day engineering focus led by Jeff Reder of Ohio-based Clark-Reder Engineering, and three days of

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UAE - Out Board has appointed Pro Lab as the exclusive distribution partner for TiMax SoundHub, TiMax Tracker D4 and the full range of TiMax solutions in the Middle East. With a strong and extensive reach throughout the GCC and MENA regions, Pro Lab is an established name known for its pro audio-visual and stage equipment product portfolio.
The new distribution partnership addresses the dramatic increase in demand for TiMax immersive audio solutions in the region. As a versatile and autonomous spatialisation engine, designed to work effectively with any loudspeaker on the market, TiMax SoundHub was a logical addition to the Pro Lab’s product portfolio. TiMax offers Pro Lab’s extensive network the freedom to tailor system solutions according to their individual technical and budgetary requirements.
Pro Lab has invested in demonstration stock and the company’s newl

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Europe - Following the initial ground-breaking PAVA Facilities collaboration that saw five professional audio manufacturers develop the first-ever multi-manufacturer voice alarm solution that fully complies with EN 54-16, the initiative continues to set the standard for the audio industry. Both LEA and d&b audiotechnik have now joined the multi-manufacturer family to achieve their EN 54 certification. More manufacturers are positioned to join in the near future.
When the EN 54-16 voice alarm standard was launched in 2008, it was designed for companies who only made the entire system. Since then, the work PAVA Facilities has been doing has allowed over 40 products to obtain EN-54 16 certification on an individual basis.
This method of testing professional products in a compliant manner benefits both sides of the equation. It makes it more straightforward for

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Europe - Sixty82 B.V has announced that it has appointed Omikron Electronics as its exclusive distributor for Greece and Cyprus.
Omikron Electronics is a well-established company with years of experience, great product portfolio and a strong customer network in the Greek market. They have already built a substantial stock of Sixty82 products in Greece to meet the quick demand of their customers. They will also organise open days together with Sixty82 to welcome customers and introduce them to their products and solutions.
"We are very excited to partner with Omikron Electronics and expand our presence in Greece and Cyprus," said Rainier Smeding, sales director of Sixty82. "Omikron Electronics shares our vision of providing high-quality products and services to our customers. They have the expertise and resources to successfully promote our brand and grow our business i

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UK - Specialist production agency Star Live, has agreed to sell its mobile seating and stage fleet to Actavo Events for an undisclosed sum. The deal includes mobile grandstands, 10m mobile stages and a 15m mobile orbit stage. The two businesses will work closely to ensure a smooth transition for all Star Live contracts.
Having established itself in the UK in 2010, Actavo Events has steadily built a reputation as a trusted event infrastructure supplier providing Layher event scaffolding structures, fencing and barriers to a wide range of clients. The addition of the mobile business complements Actavo’s growth strategy for the UK and enhances its product offering to the market at a time when mobile stages are in high demand given the increase in shows that the industry has seen recently. It also complements its existing Layher event scaffolding products and provides greater

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UK - Backup is delighted to announce the much-anticipated date for this year’s Kartfest, and Thursday July 6th is the day to get your best tweed, flowery dress and, if you’re so inclined, Morris Dancing regalia, ready for the Kart-Fest Village Fete.
Tickets will be on sale from 0900hrs on Monday 20 March and it will be very much first come first served. “After an unprecedented demand last year, we are also restricting one Kart per team to make sure as many companies can attend,” says Backup’s Lee Dennison. “We are also placing much more of a focus on the activities on the day for those not racing, so we’re delighted to let you know that the theme for this year will be the good old British Summer Village Fete.”
There will be lots of fun to be had for racers and non-racers alike. More updates will be announced over the coming weeks, so make sure you not o

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Germany – LiveTec GmbH, one of Germany’s leading full-service event technology and production specialists, has recently invested in 16 GEN VI power and dimming modules from Australian manufacturer LSC Control Systems, sourced via the company’s exclusive distributor for Germany, LMP Lichttechnik.
Headquartered in Munich, and with branches in Berlin and Kirchberg (near Kitzbühel, in Austria), LiveTec has over 25 years of experience in the production industry, with a focus on the corporate event sector, and has relied on LSC dimming solutions, and its sales partner LMP, for many years. The company had been using the previous model from LSC since 2015, and in 2022 decided that the time had come to upgrade to the new version. The 16 new, advanced GEN VI dimmers have been successfully deployed by LiveTec at trade fairs, film premieres, fashion shows and congresses since No
  1. The Week in Light & Sound
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  5. Ayrton appoints Rubicon distributor for Norway
  6. L-Acoustics innovation recognised
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