USA - A recent building makeover for Ride Along 2 turned the second-floor rotunda of Georgia's historic and stately capital building into an edgy Miami nightclub, complete with a well-stocked bar, chic guests, VIP sofas and lavish mood lighting, provided by Freedom Par Quad-5 fixtures from Chauvet DJ.

"You would have had a hard time recognizing the rotunda if you saw it during filming; the transformation was amazing," said Noah Hammer, owner of Full Circle Lighting & Productions (Atlanta), which supplied the club lighting for the Ice Cube and Kevin Hart comedy. "The colourizing that was done with the Freedom Par Quad-5s was instrumental in creating the scene."

Hammer, who has supplied lighting for numerous movie and TV projects, got involved in Ride Along 2 after receiving a phone call from the film's gaffer. "We're known for the work we've done on film, so w

Germany - The final leg of German superstar Herbert Gr

UK - The Knight of Illumination Awards (KOI) Theatre judging panel has announced its eagerly anticipated shortlist for this year's ceremony, which will take place at London's iconic Eventim Apollo, Hammersmith on Sunday 18 September.

Now in its 9th year, the KOI Awards is a celebration of the creative talents of international lighting and digital content designers working in the UK across TV, theatre and concert touring and events. The Knight of Illumination Awards is organised by revered lighting designer Durham Marenghi and his partner Jennie, prestigious industry organisations the Association of Lighting Designers (ALD) and the Society of Television Lighting and Design (STLD) and content creation, communications and events agency The Fifth Estate Ltd.

The Theatre shortlist is the first to be revealed, after a panel of senior critics from national newspapers and magazine

Germany - Elation Professional's ACL 360 Matrix moving head panel showed its versatility on the tenth edition of the re:publica Conference in Berlin, Europe's most popular conference on internet and society which took place 2-4 May 2-4 at historic Station-Berlin in the heart of the German capital.

The ACL 360 Matrix fixtures were used for a variety of purposes including background lighting for the stage, backlighting for camera and special effect lettering. They were also used to add decorative ambient fill lighting to the room. TSE AG of Berlin provided the rigging, sound and lighting for the event, including the Elation ACL 360 Matrix fixtures, which were used for the opening show. Lighting design was by Klaus Graewert.

The versatile 5 x 5 LED panel moving head houses 15W RGBW multi-chip LEDs and features continuous 360° rotation, a dense 4-degree beam from each lens

USA - The ESTA Control Protocols Plugfest, an event where manufacturers and developers can test their products for interoperability with other manufacturers' products, is scheduled to take place 20-23 January 2017, at the Dallas/Fort Worth Marriott Solana in Westlake, Texas. The event is free to attend and everyone is welcome.

The ESTA Control Protocols Plugfest is an educational opportunity for control manufacturers and developers to gather together in person and test their products for interoperability with the latest versions of the Control Protocols Working Group standards. Our goal is to assist you in ensuring that your customer is purchasing products that interoperate and communicate correctly on the same control network.

Attendees may bring controllers, intelligent lights, architectural fixtures, control protocol analyzers, and various other tools. In an effort to l

UK - Members of PLASA attending the 2016 AGM at Hatfield House, Hertfordshire were presented with the Association's plans for the next 12 months.

Ed Pagett, formerly managing director of Panalux Broadcast & Event and current chairman of PLASA's Board has led the organisation through very challenging times. In his speech Ed outlined the many changes that have taken place over the last year including bringing in a new managing director following the departure of former CEO Matthew Griffiths, and the demerge from PLASA North America (which has now returned to its former name of ESTA) after four years. This development, said Ed, although not desired by PLASA, had brought fresh clarity and new opportunities for PLASA, but had also resulted in a financial fallout with the North American organisation that has yet to be resolved.

Ed commented, "My role as Chairman has been to navi

UK - Following the recent formation of SLX, the hire and events brand of Stage Electrics, the company has announced the appointment of John Wallace as managing director.

John will be based at the all new head office in Bristol, leading a team servicing a wide range of customers within the theatre, broadcast and event markets.

John joined the entertainment world over 25 years ago at the Northcott Theatre where he completed the apprenticeship scheme under the tutelage of Maurice Marshal MBE. John started at Stage Electrics, working in their hire warehouse, during the summer of 1990 in Exeter and within a year moved to Bristol and joined the events department where he spent many years working with Europe's major production companies delivering state of the art events.

"I am looking forward to the next part of our journey and it is a huge honour to be able to do it with th

Germany - Hamburg-based event technology service provider Nordlite has expanded its rental fleet to include 60 X4 Bar 20. "You can no longer avoid the X4 Bars," says managing director Wolfgang Frahm. "They are being increasingly requested by our customers and it was time to reinvest again in GLP products. These lights are simply awesome, both the colours and the light output. They are particularly easy to install, and the increased demand for this fixture is understandable. "

Nordlite, one of the leading full service technology service providers in northern Germany, provides its customers with technical design and consulting, as well as planning of events, CAD and 3D visualization and design, décor and technical equipment. Overall, the company has 35 employees, its own fleet and 2,000 sq.m of storage space.

(Jim Evans)

Belgium - At the end of July every year, two million visitors hit the medieval streets and market squares of Ghent for the annual 10-day Gentse Feesten, a music and arts festival with a 160-year pedigree. One of the central hubs at the festival is to be found at the Sint-Baafsplein square which houses one of the largest stages at the festival. Tasked with designing a lighting concept for the Sint-Baafsplein stage, LD Vince de Schinckel specified 16 x Chauvet Professional Maverick MK2 Washes, 16 x Maverick MK2 Spots, six STRIKE 4s and two Atmos smoke machines from Belgian rental specialists Euro PA to create stunning looks at the traditional heart of the festival. After testing out the Maverick series earlier in the year, de Schinckel was convinced that the Maverick MK2 Spot and Wash would provide an arsenal of tools with which to create huge looks on the central Sint-Baafsplein

Germany - This summer, the global phenomenon Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo stormed into Germany for two dazzling months, stopping off at Berlin, Cologne, Mannheim, Osnabr

UK - On 1August, founder of Leisuretec Distribution Ltd. Mike Henden officially took back the position of managing director following the departure of Cliff Dounting from the company. Mike Henden commented, "I would like to thank Cliff for his contribution towards the success of the company since he joined us in 2007 and wish him the best of health and happiness for the future."

Cliff Dounting commented, "I want to thank the people that have made my journey so special and I will miss working with such a great bunch of colleagues that make up Team Leisuretec."

Mike Henden further commented, "Our business has seen many market and economic changes over the last 26 years and inevitably personnel come and go as well. I am proud to say that I have always reinvested in Leisuretec to ensure that it is robust and does not rely too heavily on one or two single aspects, whether it be

USA - City Theatrical has announced the launch of a new group of high quality, constant voltage B-Series dimmers in a variety of capacities and configurations. All partner with City Theatrical QolorFlex professional quality LED tapes.

Users can select from either 8 or 16 bit dimming with 16 bit dimming giving extremely smooth low end dimming that will meet the needs of the most demanding designers. 16 bit dimming requires two channels of control per output. 8 bit dimming produces good dimming with only one channel of control per output.

LED tape users in the film world often are challenged to avoid flicker when using high speed cameras. This line of new dimmers features 30 user selectable PWM frequencies from 500Hz to 30kHz.

Ninety-nine built in user selectable dimming curves give the ability to match the dimming curve of other dimmers, or to tune the curve exactly to

UK - Elation Professional will bring its most impressive line-up of PLASA products ever to this year's Show at Olympia. Elation will have on hand at Stand C40 an unprecedented line-up of new cutting-edge innovations for entertainment lighting that includes the new Fuze Series of dynamic LED wash lights, ZCL Series of high-output LED effects, and DTW Series of variable white LED lights.

Also showing will be the new seven-colour Platinum Seven LED wash luminaire along with a cyclorama wash fixture, the TVL CYC RGBW, an ideal floodlight for theatre and broadcast applications. The Sniper Pro, an upgrade of Elation's award-winning Sniper 2R that features three times the power, will also feature as will the Protron 3K Colors, a high-power 40,000 lumen LED colour strobe.

Elation will also be showing the latest offering in its line of creative high-resolution LED display panels, t

USA - Anyone who left town and has been away from Council Road Baptist Church for a year or two would scarcely believe their eyes if they returned today to this suburban church outside of Oklahoma City. The church's sanctuary, described by its pastor as having a "1980s style look", with a big choir loft, cavernous balcony and plain walls, hasn't merely been updated, it's been totally transformed into a modern worship facility.

Paragon 360 accomplished this metamorphosis by adding multiple faux wood, stone and custom-designed architectural elements to the stage and side walls of the sanctuary that were designed and built by Paragon 360. The transformation also included: ceilings that were painted black; 1200 contemporary theatre seats, which replaced pews; and stylish new carpeting and paint schemes. Adding extra warmth and contemporary colorization to the new sanctuary is a co

UK - Aurora has taken delivery of the new Chroma-Q Space Force - an innovative, viable, powerful LED alternative to conventional fixtures.

Cool running and energy efficient, the Space Force offers precise, variable control over colour temperature (2,800K to 6,500K) and intensity. With an output of up to 26,700 lumens, smooth, uniform beam and consistency between units the Space Force is ideal for use as a low energy space light or as a versatile, controllable soft source.

On receiving the new fixtures Aurora project manager Ben Taylor says, "The new Space Force is a low energy alternative to traditional 4.8kW heads, plus, the new yoke makes it an extremely useful soft source in any orientation, not just the traditional hanging format."

The low profile, lightweight units weigh in at just 8kg and feature a variety of mounting options and accessories, including egg crate

Australia - The Revesby Workers' Club in south-west Sydney is a regular stop for premiere touring acts. Its concert venue, the Whitlam Theatre, seats 750 in 'dinner mode' and 1400 in theatre mode. The theatre is known for its big PA and excellent audio facilities, but, until recently, its lighting systems were struggling to keep up with the demands of modern touring acts. Happily, Revesby has changed all that with the purchase of High End System's flagship Hog 4 console plus a Playback Wing 4, bringing their venue back in line with the best in Australia.

The Hog 4 replaces a lighting desk known and loved by an entire generation of lighting operators - a JandsHog 600, first released in 1996! Obviously way past its use-by-date, the JandsHog 600 will still be missed. "It uses floppy discs," points out Phill Webb, Revesby's audio visual coordinator, "and obviously that's not suppo

UK - The Gilded Balloon is one of Scotland's leading entertainment venues and one of the four largest at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Producing a critically-acclaimed showcase of theatre, comedy and cabaret, the Gilded Balloon has an international reputation and this year promises to be its busiest yet. For the 2016 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, White Light has been called upon once again to provide the lighting throughout all of its 14 venues and across 160 different productions.

Danny Cunningham is head of lighting at the Gilded Balloon. He comments, "At the Gilded Balloon, we are constantly looking to push the boundaries with our programming. Whether its local or worldwide entertainment, the work we programme has to be to the highest standard possible. This needs to be reflected in every aspect of our venues - including the lighting."

The brief for the Gilded Balloon was

Germany - Taking the genre of illusionism into a completely new dimension, brothers Chris and Andreas Ehrlich - who had already played to over half a million people on their Magic - Experience Dreams arena tour put on a special performance, Magic - A Unique Stadium Show at the Commerzbank Arena in Frankfurt.

Designing all visual departments - stage, video and television, effects lighting (design and operating) and co-ordinating the OB and camera technology - for this spectacular experience was the team from Cologne based visual design and creative practice mo2, led by Manfred 'Ollie' Olma.

They used 200 Robe lighting fixtures - 180 Pointes, 20 x BMFL Blades and around 1500 other fixtures to help achieve a remarkable event. There were also some Robe PATT 2013s included from the Ehrlich Brothers standard touring package, all of which was incorporated into the stage set up fo

South Africa - Cape Town's City Hall has witnessed plenty of history and culture over the years. Nelson Mandela made his first speech here from its balcony after his release from prison in 1990, and artists from all musical genres have performed in its ornate Grand Hall.

Given the building's historic significance and beauty, it was understandable that lighting designer Jean-Pierre Willson of Unfazed Productions wanted to accent the palatial structure's architectural flourishes when he created a design for Africa Day eKapa!, an annual Africa Day concert celebrating the anniversary of the Organization of African Unity. To help him achieve this goal, the LD relied on a collection of Chauvet Professional Rogue fixtures supplied by Audiosure.

Willson used Rogue RH1 Hybrids, flown from the venue's vaulted ceiling at a height of 82' (25 meters), and Rogue R2 Washes, positioned on

USA - AlunaGeorge, the electronic music duo hailing from London with one of the world's most streamed songs, hit the American touring and festival circuit outfitted with gear from Bandit Lites.

The group, described as "pop alchemists" consists of lyricist and singer Aluna Francis and producer George Reid. The duo has been bringing their compilation of pop and electronic sounds to the likes of the Firefly Festival and Lollapalooza, while simultaneously gearing up for their forthcoming album, I Remember. DJ Snake's remix of their song, I Know You Like It proved to be a massive success and skyrocketed to the top of the charts as one of the world's most streamed songs of all time.

Working with lighting designer Eric Baum, Bandit provided a lighting package that included GLP Impressions, GLP Spot Ones, and Bandit's exclusive LED GRNLite Batten. Baum created a dyna

USA - French DJ and music producer DJ Snake fired up the crowds at the recent Global Dance Festival staged in the breathtaking Red Rocks Amphitheatre near Denver, Colorado, while his lighting designer Steve Brody (known industry wide as 'Brody') took full advantage of Robe BMFL Spots, which were prominent among other fixtures on a 'house' lighting rig for the event supplied by DSI Event Group, also based in Denver.

The show is one of a number of festivals in the rising star artist's action-packed summer and fall schedule which LA-based LD Brody has been lighting for the last three months.

He was delighted to learn that the lighting package for GDF contained the BMFLs. Snake's show design features big, bold, high-impact looks mainly using primary colours with plenty of red and white.

There's continuous audience interaction throughout the set, and Brody explained that he

Cultural Review - The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has launched a review of Arts Council England to investigate the body's efficiency, effectiveness and governance. The 'tailored review', first announced in the culture white paper in March, will be carried out in two parts, the first asking whether the functions performed by the Arts Council remain appropriate for its status as a non-departmental public body, as well as assessing its performance. The second part will examine issues including how ACE advocates for the arts, delivers its current set of functions, and manages its board.

As part of the review, DCMS has opened an online survey asking for feedback on the Arts Council, which is open for submissions until 20 September. ACE deputy chief executive, Althea Efunshile, said she felt the body was well placed for the review, referencing changes to the application

Europe - ETC's Eos family consoles have always provided powerful, customisable lighting control for any environment. With the recent v2.4 software release, that control becomes even more dynamic, with a fader-configuration overhaul and new display options.

Upgrades to the software's displays help programmers keep tabs on what's going on in the console - and what's going on in the console's tabs. Tabs now carry contextual labels. New configuration options also allow users to hide, show and re-order columns in the Playback Status Display (cue list) and more easily include informative notes on each cue.

The new software also introduces Scene Breaks, which can be added to cue lists to organise, navigate, and modify cues within specific segments of a production. Starting rehearsal from the top of Act II, Scene 3? No need to hunt for the cue number; Scene Break Direct Selects an

UK - Artistic Licence, inventor of Art-Net and expert in lighting control, is hosting a dedicated Art-Net stand at this year's PLASA London show. This exciting new initiative - entitled Art-Net 4 Zone (Stand R71) - is supported by PLASA and LSi and seeks to provide expert education and training on the use of Art-Net and related protocols.

Thanks to the support of similar-minded sponsor companies, Artistic's formidable expertise will be complemented by a wide range of technical experts who are giving their time to make the event a success. Among those already signed up are Wayne Howell & Fraser Connolly (Artistic Licence), Hamish Dumbreck (JESE), Peter Willis (Howard Eaton Lighting), Bob Goddard (Goddard Design Co.), Jon Hole (Eaton - Zero 88 Series), Geoff Archenhold (ISTL), Iain Ruxton (Speirs and Major), Tapio Rosenius & Gorka Cortazar (LDC). AV support is to be provided by

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