Business

Details
UK - Stage Electrics has announced it is hosting a showcase for lighting, audio, trussing and staging equipment in January in Bristol.
Taking place on 29 January 2020 (Wednesday) at the SS Great Britain, the event is free to attend and will run from 2pm to 7pm, with drinks being served after 5.30pm. Over 20 manufacturers will be in attendance, including leading theatre brands Sennheiser, ETC, DiGiCo and Yamaha.
"This event will be the perfect opportunity for those who work within the industry to see and get hands-on with the latest products. Alongside live demonstrations, there will be three interesting seminars, as well as an exciting pyrotechnics display," says the company. Those wishing to attend can secure free parking if they register for the even

Details
USA - Prism Sound, part of Audio Squadron, has appointed Full Scale AV as its first ever exclusive USA distribution partner for all its products including SADiE.
Full Scale AV has been a distributor of professional audio and music products in North America since 2005. The company provides sales and support of industry leading hardware and software products for musicians, live sound, recording, film/video production and commercial installations.
“We are very excited to begin working with one of the most respected and trusted audio distributors in the States,” Prism Sound & Audio Squadron CEO James Woodburn comments. “The added bonus is Full Scale AV already distribute Tracktion products, so this neatly brings all the Audio Squadron Products under one distribution umbrella in the

Details
UK - Specialist live music and venues company VMS Live is undergoing “a significant business realignment” following the appointment of its new CEO Bert Van Horck in September.
The company has set up a new marketing department and is moving into new premises in London’s Kings Cross area in January 2020. The new office will house the company’s booking department, ticketing, marketing and music department, as well as central services such as finance and HR.
Van Horck comments: “We have taken a very close look at the heart of the company and consulted with the great team of people working here and fantastic clients to make some well-informed, bold decisions. To align our aims and those of our clients’ we will invest in new systems, a new office, create a new marketing department, for which we have appointed two marketeers. This signals our ambitions to help our

Details
Iceland - Prolights has appointed Exton as its new distributor for Iceland.
Exton’s Vignir Hreinsson (project manager) and Sigurjón Sigurðsson (sales manager) comment: “Our motto is ‘ambition built on equality, cooperation and fun’. We take great pride in assisting our clients in any way needed and delivering on time world class services. It means a lot to us to be able to work in this kind of industry.
“When we first approached to Prolights, we immediately appreciated their vision, intuition and quality. Prolights’ broad selection of equipment really impressed us.”
Paolo Albani, international sales manager for Prolights, adds: “Exton shares our philosophy and they are well known as a top products supplier in their country. I have no doubt that their expertise will help Prolights gain popularity throughout Iceland and we are beyond proud they jo

Details
Australia - ADJ entered a distribution partnership with the ULA Group for Australia and New Zealand on 1 December. 
Established in 1992, ULA supplies rental houses of all sizes as well as supporting major installers who provide clients with market-leading visual solutions and services. Working from three offices spread across Australia, in addition to a dedicated facility in New Zealand, the company demonstrates versatility and commitment to each project it undertakes, whether a standalone display for an event or an extensive collaboration with a publicly listed corporation.
“We are extremely excited to extend our partnership with ADJ Group and include the world renowned ADJ product range in our portfolio,” comments Cuono (Con) Biviano, managing director of ULA Group. “The globally strong ADJ brand represents a vast range of innovative products with great ROI an

Details
South Africa - Over the past few years, Blond Productions has established a strong reputation as a leading supplier of turn-key technical solutions for the live events, television and film industries across Africa.
In line with the company’s commitment to maintaining the highest technical standards, company owner, Christiaan Ballot, and the Blond Productions team have recently taken delivery of 12 Robe Esprite fixtures from DWR Distribution, Robe’s African distribution partner.
“Blond Productions services a niche clientele, and the industry has come to rely on us to bring the latest and best in production lighting to the table. We always try to invest in technology that ensures that we not only meet, but exceed our client’s expectations, and which sets us apart from the competition,” Christiaan points out.
According to Christiaan, Blond has been looki

Details
UAE - JoeCo is growing its reach in the Middle East thanks to a new distribution relationship with Provision AVL. The Dubai-based distributor will now represent the brand across the GCC region and follows hot on the heels of a similar deal with Boujikian Bros in Lebanon. The new relationships mean that the manufacturer has direct representatives in every territory across the Middle East.
“We had been looking for some time to find the right partners for JoeCo in Middle Eastern territories,” explains Graham Murray, business development at JoeCo. “We feel it is important to have strong partners and a local presence to promote and backup JoeCo equipment sales. Provision AVL can provide the facility to support local customers and effectively promote JoeCo solutions to the Middle Eastern markets. After spending a few days with Kevin and seeing him and his team in action, it

Details
Call to Arms - Industry leaders including National Theatre bosses Rufus Norris and Lisa Burger and Bristol Old Vic’s artistic director Tom Morris are calling on the sector to band together to fight for increased arts investment from a new government. They have issued the call to arms in an attempt to undo the effects of austerity-era cuts.
Their demands for increased arts funding from central government come alongside warnings that the regional theatre sector could “fall over” if support does not increase, and that the crisis facing organisations nationwide is “sharper and more acute” than has so far been publicly acknowledged.
As the UK prepares to head to the polls and with both Labour and the Conservatives promising a boost to public spending, theatre bosses have claimed now is the moment for a major policy shift around arts funding.
Morris said: “

Details
Denmark - Designed by award-winning architects Henning Larsen AS, Moesgaard Museum (MOMU) is one of Denmark’s leading attractions. Built into and rising up from the rolling hills overlooking Aarhus Bay, MOMU blends ancient artefacts with modern technology to bring the past alive.
The latest exhibition, Bound for disaster - Pompeii and Herculaneum, brings to life the events that unfolded around the devastating eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79, killing an estimated 2,500 people. The sound design for this new audio-visual experience was created by exhibition soundscape specialist, Søren Bendixen of Audiotect, and is built entirely around Genelec’s new 4430 Smart IP loudspeakers. Combined with the scenography, video mapping and lighting, the soundscape immerses visitors in the pre-disaster atmosphere of the lively city of Pompeii, before leading them into the pos

Details
Lithuania - Sixty82 has entered into an exclusive partnership with Scenos Techninis Servisas (STS) as its distributor for the Lithuanian market.
Vilnius-based STS offers a variety of staging, trussing and rigging equipment as well as lighting, sound and video products. The company’s services include installations of stage, lighting and sound systems.
Sixty82’s CEO, Fokko Smeding, comments: “The best partnerships aren’t dependent on a mere common goal, but on a shared path of equality, desire, and a great amount of passion. Therefore we believe that STS is the perfect partner to service our customers. This agreement further iterates both the company’s enthusiasm to drive growth and extend relationships with its customers.”
Date Jonkman, executive account manager of Sixty82, adds: “With STS’s history of representing leading manufacturers of trussing

Details
France - Lighting industry professionals are invited to present their ideas for conference papers for the 2021 programme of Showlight, the quadrennial event taking place on 22-25 May 2021 in Fontainebleau.
Anyone involved in lighting - whether lighting designers, lighting directors, directors of photography, architectural lighting designers or those in associated crafts like programmers and manufacturers - are invited to submit their ideas.
Subjects might include innovative designs; unusual projects, large or small; solving the impossible; the future and the past - where should we be going and what should we have learned; issues that are affecting our industry and how we work. Talks are to be 20 minutes in length to enable as many papers as possible to be presented over the three-day period.
If you would like to become part of Showlight 2021 by presenting a pape

Details
South Africa - DWR Distribution has been appointed as the sole distributor of Magnimage display control solutions for the South African market.
Magnimage specialises in manufacturing display control solutions for LED/LCD and DLP displays. The company’s comprehensive range of display control solutions have been successfully deployed for a range of applications, including for large-scale video walls for the eventing industry, permanent installations in entertainment venues, as well as for the out-of-home advertising, education and corporate markets.
“Magnimage’s range of consoles, scalers, switchers and processors are well-suited to the South African market, where technical service providers want high-quality products at an affordable price,” says Lee Harry, sales supervisor at Magnimage. “Our products are used extensively by the government and other high-prof

Details
Singapore - Calibre UK has reported that Absolute AV, its newly-appointed distributor for Singapore, Vietnam and Myanmar, is already living up to both companies’ hopes for the relationship.
Singapore-headquartered Absolute AV carries the full range of Calibre’s solutions, including the multi-award-winning AiO LED display, the company’s family of scaler/switchers and the SmartBrick modular LED system with its almost limitless opportunities for creativity.
“We’re delighted with the progress that Absolute AV has made over the past few months,” comments Willy Tsai, managing director of Calibre UK. “We knew that, with their core business and expertise in delivering great images, they would be an excellent fit for us - and that’s how it is turning out.
“Our solutions for image processing, together with our range of displays are highly complementary t

Details
Austria - MEET 2020 is taking place on 10-11 November 2020 at Messe Wien, Vienna.
The tradeshow and conference for the event and live entertainment technology industry has been held in Austria biannually since 1989. Over 30 years, the shows and conferences have attracted professionals, not only from Austria, but also from neighbouring countries.
MEET 2020 is directly organised by the Austrian Theatre Technical Association (Österreichische Theatertechnische Gesellschaft) OETHG - an event run by the industry for the industry.
The MEET 2020 show floor presents a wide range of manufacturers and suppliers of live entertainment machinery and AV equipment, scenery producers, costume- and makeup suppliers, training institutions, as well as consultants, service providers and distributors of international brands.
The MEET 2020 seminars and conferences are an imp

Details
Brazil - Gobos do Brasil has been appointed as the Brazil distributor for Martin Audio. Gobos has been in business since 2002 and distributes to a variety of customers in the live event, installation and rental markets.
Located in Sao Paulo, Gobos distributes a range of leading brands including Audix, Clear-Com, Sunlite and Cambridge Sound Management, to name a few.
Esteban Risso, Gobos commercial director, comments: “It’s a great time for us to join in this new partnership with Martin Audio in Brazil with some of our key partners like Gabisom already using their products such as MLA at Rock in Rio, one of the biggest festivals in the country. We look forward to a great journey with Martin Audio based on the new era of products such as Wavefront Precision loudspeakers, not only for touring but also for Installations and retail establishments.”
Berenice Gut

Details
Italy - Harman Professional Solutions has announced Exhibo as the distributor for Martin by Harman in Italy.
“Exhibo is a world-class company with a strong legacy and deep understanding of the market needs in Italy,” said Michael Grandon Clouet, senior regional sales director at Harman Professional Solutions, EMEA. “It is for this reason, appointing Exhibo as our lighting distributor allows Harman to increase Martin’s presence while improving customer service in the region. We couldn’t be happier with this new partnership and the excellence that the Exhibo team will bring representing our products to customers.”
“For more than 30 years, Martin lighting has been innovating the way people visually experience live performances, landmarks and enterprises with selection of high-quality fixtures used the world over,” says Alessandro Fantin, pro & broadca

Details
UK - SSE Audio Group and its parent company Solotech have announced a new unified UK organisational structure aligned with Solotech’s global structure. As of 1 January 2020, SSE Audio, Wigwam, Capital Sound and BCS Audio will be collectively known as Solotech UK, under the new joint leadership of managing directors Alex Penn and Spencer Beard.
Alex Penn, SSE Audio’s former sales director, will lead the sales and systems integration (sales and installations) operations of Solotech UK. Spencer Beard, formerly managing director of Manchester-based Wigwam, will lead the live productions (hire) operations of the UK group. The move will see both Penn and Beard integrated into Solotech’s global senior management team.
Meanwhile, SSE Audio founder John Penn remains within the new Solotech UK structure as strategic advisor.
John Penn comments: “After all these yea

Details
Record Breaker - At the American Music Awards, Taylor Swift was presented with the Artist of the Decade award by singer-songwriter Carole King who commended Swift for the strength of her lyrics, and the relatability of her music, predicting: "The best is yet to come." In turn, Swift acknowledged the impact King's music had had on her parents and her family, saying it was every musician's goal "to create something that will last".
The career-spanning honour wasn't Swift's only award at the ceremony - she picked up another five competitive awards, including artist of the year. That brings her total tally of AMA trophies to 29 - breaking a record held by Michael Jackson, who received 24 American Music Awards.
Secondary Ticketing - Andrew Lloyd Webber is joining forces with ticket resellers Twickets in a bid to beat touts. The theatrical grandee, whose LW playhouses

Details
Mexico - Atlona, a Panduit company, has appointed Grupo ABSA as its commercial AV distribution partner across a broad swath of Mexico, covering 14 major metropolitan regions including Chihuahua, Guadalajara, Juarez, Mexico City, Monterrey and Tijuana.
Grupo ABSA will focus on growing Atlona’s brand recognition and market share with a large community of IT and networking consultants and integrators that increasingly require networked AV solutions for end user projects.
“There is a unification of many different platforms on IP networks that is taking shape, and Atlona will play a fundamental role in how our customers transition AV operations to the network,” says Carlos Garcia Ramirez, commercial director for Grupo ABSA. “With solutions like OmniStream for audio and video distribution and Velocity for networked control, Atlona brings in the systems intelligence a

Details
UK - PLASA has launched an audio mixing competition, with pro audio prizes at stake.
The contest, which runs until 13 January 2020, is open to sound mixing enthusiasts and professionals alike. It is a continuation of the Stage to Studio initiative held at the PLASA Show 2019 that saw emerging artist VC Pines perform live while being recorded by sound engineer Jamie McEvoy.
There are two categories - Best Original Mix and Best Alternative Mix - with the winners set to receive prizes provided by Genelec and Shure.
To obtain the original multi-track files, participants need to complete a short form on the PLASA Show website and email their final mix to info@plasashow.com. Each entry will be judged by representatives from Headliner and Sound on Sound magazines, Genelec, Shure, Miloco Studios, PLASA and VC Pines himself.
To find out more

Details
The Netherlandds - For over 25 years, Story Event Engineering has been a reliable reference point for event and location organisers in the Netherlands, with a portfolio ranging from large outdoor festivals through corporate events, to theatre tours and intimate classical concerts.
The company recently invested in Outline’s Newton multi-source audio processor which combines ‘WFIR’ filtering technology, multi-format audio signal routing, simultaneous multiple standard conversion and digital signal synchronisation in a single 1RU chassis.
Martin van Kouwen, sales specialist at Ampco Flashlight Sales, Outline Newton distributor for Benelux, comments: "Outline’s recently-developed Newton is a ground-breaking product for advanced audio processing, which, due to its characteristics and quality, is ideally suited to audio professionals who place great importance in qua

Details
South Africa - AV and Beyond, a full-service technical events supplier, has recently invested in an L-Acoustics Kara professional sound system, purchased from DWR Distribution.
Over the past six years, the AV and Beyond team has successfully serviced a wide range of corporate and entertainment events for an impressive list of high-profile clients, establishing a reputation for excellence, customer service and creative brilliance in the process.
Company founder and MD, Warren Freidin, explains that AV and Beyond aims to provide clients with comprehensive turn-key technical solutions for their events. The company has built its service offering around the client’s needs and has all of the skills and resources at hand so that clientele can use a single service provider for a seamless eventing experience.
“AV and Beyond is a rapidly growing company and, having co

Details
USA - At last week’s LDI 2019 tradeshow in Las Vegas, Prolights unveiled a new logo, brand design, and website.
The rebrand marks the beginning of a new era for the Italian lighting manufacturer, which exhibited on a dedicated booth at LDI for the first time.
Prolights’ logo features a prism design and ‘has been reduced to its essential elements, adding the yellow touch which represents the colour of the light’. A dedicated website (prolights.it) was also launched, offering a modern look and intuitive browsing on any platform.
“The new brand design marks the start of the new era for Prolights,” comments Fabio Sorabella, managing director. “By formulating new content and with new products, the brand is undergoing an essential transformation towards a future with higher technological contents and the internalization of our company. Now is the right t

Details
USA - ETC continued its commitment to caring for entertainment technology professionals in need by presenting a cheque to Behind the Scenes during LDI for $23,628.98. This represented the most recent proceeds from the company’s iRFR and aRFR (Radio Focus Remote) applications. Since the launch of the iRFR in 2009, ETC’s mobile app sales have now generated over $390,000 in donations.
The iRFR and aRFR mobile apps enable convenient, touchscreen-based remote control for Eos family consoles and controllers. You can learn more about the apps from the ETC website and download them from the iTunes or Google Play stores.
“We never imagined that this app would provide such continuous support to Behind the Scenes. ETC is grateful to all the people who have supported the Eos platform and purchased this app over the years,” comments Wendy Orfan, marketing communications m
  1. Knight of Illumination Awards USA winners revealed
  2. Zero 88 launches new website
  3. Stage Electrics wins £2m TU Dublin contract
  4. disguise partners with Evolve Media Group
  5. Prolights appoints distributor for Ukraine
  6. All Access launches new branding
Page 213 of 1813

Latest Issue. . .