Popular television series are providing an unexpected and welcome bonus for all involved in the touring business. The latest to go out on the road is Strictly Come Dancing which is proving an excellent showcase for the industry's creative teams and products.
In the events diary, The ARC Show, the RIBA-accredited business event for those involved in architectural, retai
Founded in 2000, Gator is the largest case supplier in the entertainment industry, selling more than 80,000 cases per month to 90 countries worldwide. The company has over 2,700 dealers in the USA, and distribution takes place from two large warehouses in Tennessee and Utah with a two day UPS ground shipment to 95% of the USA. Gator has been nominated the NAMM accessory product of the year, winning three of the last four years.
The company has a 400,000sq.ft global manufacturing facility in D
Each artist performs two tracks and on the third track, the next artist comes on stage, sings part of the song before taking over to perform their two songs. With so many different acts and styles, it demonstrated the versatility of the MagicQ consoles, say the company.
Every day, the opening sequence of the show included a two-minute drum solo with audio, lighting, video and pyrotechnic all synchronised together using SMPTE timecode. The two MagicQ MQ100 Pro consoles each took a SMPTE feed to ensure perfect synchronisation with a total of 77 different lighting cues fired automatically during the opening sequence.
Ignace d'Haese from Arf & Yes designed the se
Dixon has been with Theatre Projects since 1997, initially working as a performance equipment specialist and then as a project manager.
Lauve joined TPC in 2001 with more than 25 years experience in the entertainment industry. He has managed entertainment operations for numerous large-scale projects and has designed scenery and lighting for many regional opera and ballet companies.
(Jim Evans)
Avolites' Steve Warren says, "Aziz has already proved his value to the company in dealing with the Russian speaking countries. Having also lived there, he's familiar with the idiosyncrasies of the financial and economic systems and dealings which is a great asset."
Adilkhodjaev also has some experience and familiarity with architectural lighting as hi
ARX managing director Colin Park commented: "Masters Commerce's Mirna Kuridza and I have been discussing the possibilities of working together in the Bosnia and Hercegovina market for several years and Masters Commerce technicians felt our range of signal processing products was a very complementary fit with the other lines they currently represent, especially our newer interface and dynamics products.
"The Bosnia and Hercegovina market is growing quite rapidly and we're looking forward to working with Mirna Kuridza and her energetic team at Masters Commerce to introduce their customers to the state of the art performance that ARX products can offer them."
Alongside ARX, Masters Commerce also represents manufacturers including LSC, Clay
"To appoint Amber Technology as Australian distributor for these products made perfect sense after Amber Technology's sweeping initial sales success in New Zealand", says Patrick Salloch, general manager of Klotz Digital Asia Pacific.
"It showed us that we could adopt a similar business model in Australia. The sales figures of the Xenon and Aeon products were very encouraging in Australia last year and we hope we can take these figures to new heights by appointing a leading, trusted and well established broadcast distributor in Amber Technology."
(Jim Evans)
Twelve raffle prizes have been donated by: Altman Rentals (ghostlight), Barbizon ($250 gift certificate), City Theatrical (Lightwright), D&D Software Co. (LD Assistant 04), Field Template (SoftSymbols and Field Templates), Le Maitre Special Effects (Radiance Hazer), Live Design (Broadway Master Class), Nolan Engineering Services (Structural Master Class by Shawn Nolan), Sapsis Rigging (Safety Seminar by Bill Sapsis), USIT
And on the green front, over to Ken Livingston, Mayor of London: "The Arcola Theatre is a good example of why London's cultural sector is so dynamic and successful. Arcola is leading the theatre industry in developing this premiere sustainable production and I know that many other theatres are now keen to follow. The Living Unknown Soldier is
"It has been a rough time for me, all the fishing was really starting to grate on my nerves," said Whitright. "I'm excited to get back to the serenity of my office."
Wybron's aggressive product development schedule continues with some revolutionary new ideas provided by Whitright. "I don't know if we'll get to everything this year. I've had almost too much time to think up new products and can't wait to see it all come together," he added.
Speaking of his decision to return, Whitright said, "I've built this business out of a garage to what it is today. Along the way I've been joined by an extraordinary group of people. It is their commitmen
CitySprint, with its national network of 30+ Service Centres, has also delivered J&C Joel's drapes, fabrics, tracking and stage machinery to various locations across the country.
Maxine Hickey, domestic despatch manager for J&C Joel, says: "We trust the CitySprint team to be there especially when time is of the essence. Some courier companies will fob you off with what you want to hear rather than the truth. But with CitySprint's CourierLocator technology there is total transparency; all I need to do is lo
Avolites' will also introduce Aziz Adilkhodjaev a new member of the technical sales team. A fluent Russian speaker with a background in engineering, mobile telecoms and business administration, Adilkhodjaev's presence at the show underlines Avolites commitment to Eastern European markets, says the company.
Many of the technical support documents have been translated into Russian and Adilkhodjaev is also a media server specialist, offering integration support for the constant stream of emerging video technologies.
(Jim Eva
As theatre practitioners in a teaching environment, school theatre staff can be in a unique and isolated situation, outside of regular theatre, but with the same intentions, products, rules and problems. The group currently has nearly 100 members from a wide range of independent and state schools, colleges and universities around the country, allowing members to share ideas and problems specific to school theatres, as well as raising awareness of school theatre work amongst fellow professionals.
The conference was organised by Paul Durose of The Leys School, Cambridge, and was hosted by Rugby Schoo
Courses are available on a wide range of subjects including rigging, sound, stage lighting, working from heights, moving lights and the ever popular pyrotechnics safety awareness. New courses for 2008 include Introduction to Sound Training, Advanced Moving Lights Training and Legislative Guide to Rigging.
Stage Electrics' training manager Sara Alarabi comments, "Our January courses sold out in record time, I think this is a clear indication that the requirement for formal, structured training within the industry is increasing. Our courses are designed as a direct result of what our customers have asked us for. They are constantly evolving driven by latest technology and le
Two training sessions will be held on the day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, each catering for up to 10 engineers. At each session, following an initial technical presentation, the 10 will be divided into two groups of five, each with access to their own Vi6, so that every attendee is assured of some properly supervised hands-on time with the console.
(Jim Evans)
On the subject of the Middle East, the region continues to grow as a serious marketplace for our industries. Serious Stages, working with Atlantic Enterprises, saw one of their Space Roof buildings air freighted from East Midlands Airport to Saudi Arabia for a foundation stone laying ceremony to launch KAUST - the SR10 billion King Abdullah University of Science and Techno
Ame Strong, Rosco's colour filter product manager says, "I am impressed at how easy it is to apply for a grant by simply downloading an Application from the website and also how quickly the grant applications are reviewed. It is wonderful that our industry is helping colleagues with doctor bills, health insurance payments, saving homes, and putting food on the table, as well as helping widows when they are suddenly alone. And I'm proud that Rosco's commitment is a gift that will continue far int
Andre Gilbert, president of Orion Software comments: "I am very proud to receive this prestigious award on behalf of our development team who have worked hard to create great software! Being voted as the most innovative Rental Software in the industry encourages us to stri
Meyer Sound's expansion plans for its operations in Germany is another welcome indicator that the German economy is easing intro better shape after a long time in the doldrums. It has not been without its problems - social and economic - since the heady days of re-unification but it's looking healthy now. And Meyer can expect stiff competition
Robert Keys of Tenon Recovery was appointed joint administrator of the company by the High Court last month. "This move effectively bubble wraps the company to protect it from its creditors and give it some breathing space in which to sort out its affairs," says Keys.
The administrators are in talks with potential purchasers of the company and its constituent parts and report some interest from within the industry.
There are three levels of creditors - chargeholders such as banks that have issued secured loans, employees and general trade creditors. How much anyone gets will be determined by how much the company or its parts are sold for.
Marquee Audio mana
Located in Montreal North, the new facilities are 24,000sq.ft (2,300sq.m); essentially three times larger than their previous location. The new building has been completely designed to optimise MDG's production line and answer the accelerated growth that the company has known for several years, say the company. The fog generator manufacturer will also be hiring additional staff, who will work at these premises, on "state of the art technologies".
MDG'S customers will be the first to benefit from this expansion, which will allow the company to increase its efforts in R & D for new products. They will have at their disposal a vast showroom where they will be able to appreciate all equipment made available to them by MDG, be it the fog generators or
This latest award crowns French company ECA2 and Dentsu's collaboration with the world's leading car maker Toyota, for which Yves Pépin and his team had previously produced the Toyota Pavilion at the 2005 Aichi World Expo - an achievement that received the Best Live Event accolade at the 2007 THEA Awards, the most prestigious honours in the global experience industry.
In addition, the Songs of the Sea show in Singapore was in January named Best Tourist Attraction in Southeast Asia by the ASEAN Tourism Forum. This large-scale fantasy spectacular, devised and produced by ECA
A company statement says: "Vickie always had a warm smile and an easy laugh to share with all of us when we would meet on occasions such as LDI or other industry events. Vickie saw the employees at Altman Lighting and its customers as family and friends. She enjoyed talking about the history of the industry and always had a story to share having spent many years working with Charlie and Alice Altman learning the business.
"Vickie met Bob when she was just 15 years old and he was only 16. Together for 38 years, they ran Altman Lighting and raised a family. Vickie was always generous of heart and was particularly
"Coming to work for Theatre Projects is the perfect evolution in my career," says Sweet. I'm extremely excited to be a part of this incredible team of people."
Sweet joins TPC after seven years as technical director at the RiverCenter. Prior to RiverCenter, he worked as a national freelance rigger and spent multiple years as the production operations stage manager for the Palace Theater in Myrtle Beach, SC.
(Jim Evans)
