USA - Studio Command 1200 is the newest product debuting in May from High End Systems. This is the third model of the Studio Command automated wash luminaire. The 700 version was introduced and began shipping in September 2005, while the Halogen version began shipping earlier this month.

Studio Command 1200 shares the same features as the 700 model with the exception of the lamp source. Studio Command 1200 uses a proven long-life Philips MSR 1200 source offering a colour temperature of 5900K, or may be fitted with an MSR 1200/2 source for a colour temperature of 7200K. These models also offer a variable mechanical and electronic strobe, boosted with the Light Burst effect, and a mechanical douser for smooth fade to black. Both use 14 channels on a DMX link.

All three models of Studio Command feature a large exiting beam with a compact head. All use a patented lenticular array

Germany - e:cue GmbH has announced the appointment of Jens Freihoefer as sales manager at the company's Cologne office. Friehoefer's experience includes exhibition booth, television and architectural lighting, as well as experience in the international distribution of lighting products in one of Europe's biggest light and sound markets. He has over five years of practical experience on all common lighting control systems and knowledge of the lighting market, which make him an ideal person for this position, say e:cue.

Freihoefer will take care for supporting the existing e:cue distributors and providing support service for special projects.

(Lee Baldock)

UK - Northern Light, one of the UK's leading providers of stage engineering, lighting and sound services, is delighted to announce the arrival of three new members of staff - Gregor Murray, Lois Ferguson and Keith Mitchell.

Gregor returns to Northern Light, after an absence of 12 years, as events services manager. During his time away he ran his own company - Liquid Lighting - supplying lighting to the nightclub and events industries. After a chance meeting with Northern Light's managing director, Gregor was wooed back to the company and will liaise with clients to plan the production of their events.

Ferguson joins Northern Light as marketing manager from her own freelance marketing consultancy. With experience in the private, public and voluntary sectors, Lois will put in place Northern Light's strategic marketing and communications plan and address the day to day marketing

Germany - For the fifth time, Lightpower GmbHm of Paderborn has successfully staged its 'Open Days' - what it calls "the German 'trend and further-training' forum for the lighting industry". More than 1,200 lighting professionals were invited to attend the Show at Heinz Nixdorf Forum, Paderborn, between 15-16 May to visit the high profile seminars and the product exhibition. Also, on day one, more than 800 visitors came together to party at the Capitol music theatre, enjoying the music of a first-class live band.

Established in 1994, the Open Days take place every third year and have become a leading German forum for lighting professionals from all disciplines. Lightpower says it "always aims to talk and listen to the users, whether they are convinced by the products distributed by Lightpower or critical about them. The only important thing - they had to be profes

UK - Strand Lighting has chosen the annual ABTT conference and trade show to introduce their new Palette family of control consoles to Europe. There are three groups of control consoles in the range: classicPalette, presetPalette, and subPalette.

Clean, elegant, and very, very powerful, classicPalette is a classic memory console. With 150, 250 or 500 channels (and double those numbers of attributes), two playbacks and 32 submasters, classicPalette will eat up complex shows, easily - elegantly. ClassicPalette comes bundled with WYSIWYG CE, for real-time visualization across the network.

Single-scene/two-scene control is still the best starting point for a lighting control education, and the presetPalettes are designed for teaching. Two versions offer 32/64 or 48/96 single/two-scene preset operation plus memory control. When students are familiar with preset operation, there is

UK - In response to the continued and growing interest in the Pharos Lighting Playback Controller for installation projects worldwide, Pharos Architectural Controls is signing up new partners to provide more region-focused sales and support operations.

New agreements are already in place with Stockholm Lighting in Sweden, Pacific Lighting in Hong Kong, CSI in France and LSC in Australia. These companies will offer experienced project-based sales channels as well as installation and technical support services. Pharos will shortly announce new dealers for other territories.

Ian Fanning, project manager with Stockholm Lighting says: "We are very excited to be representing Pharos in Scandinavia. This is an active market with public and private sector projects that need an all-round control device, and we are well placed to get the Pharos LPC on these jobs."

The award w

USA - Color Kinetics Incorporated today announced the hire of Wendy Kaplan, who will join Kevin Jennison as an additional sales representative for the New York region.

Kaplan brings nearly 20 years of industry experience to the role, including former sales management positions with Vossloh-Schwabe and Advance Transformer Company. She most recently served as manager, specification sales for Vossloh-Schwabe Optoelectronics.

Kaplan is actively involved as secretary of the IESNY and was Chair of the IESNY Lumen Journal from 2000 - 2003. She has presented at a number of events including Lightfair, PhiliLights, LightStock Detroit, GlobalCon, and Greenlights.

(Chris Henry)

USA - Feld Entertainment has purchased almost 100 Clay Paky fixtures for their newest Disney On Ice production. Feld Entertainment's Dennis Flenniken was keen to use the Clay Paky Alpha range for the new show after they were demonstrated to him by Clay Paky America's Eric Mueller. "What impressed me most is that it has 20 gobos," Flenniken remarked about the Alpha Spot 1200 HPE. "In our search to find the best light for this production, we did not come across anything comparable that could spin 20 gobos. When you put the animation disc in front of the static gobos, it looks like they are rotating in several directions.

Lighting designer Peter Morse was also impressed with the fixtures after he received a demonstration at Clay Paky America's office in Valencia, California. "They are a nice light," remarked Morse on the Clay Paky Alpha range. "The big

USA - Martin Professional have announced the hiring of respected industry veteran David Baum as the company's national sales director for its growing public spaces segment.

Baum comes to Martin with 19 years of experience in the outdoor, public space lighting market. He also brings with him a wealth of international business experience. During the last five years Baum was employed by Holophane in Newark, Ohio where he held positions in marketing, product development, customer and sales training and strategic planning. His most recent position was as vice president strategic initiatives responsible for establishing initiatives geared toward growing company wide sales. Prior to Holophane, Baum spent 14 years at Ameron Pole Products in Ventura, California.

Baum started in his new position at Martin on 21April. His responsibilities in the public spaces segment are extensive and in

UK - Darren Beckley, business development manager for Stage Electrics London was impressed with the Selecon Arena PC when he saw one for the first time at a Selecon Workshop in Crawley recently. The even beam spread and quality of light was enough to convince Beckley to recommend the Arena PC to the technical manager of the Roundhouse project a few weeks later.

The Roundhouse, Chalk Farm in London is a historic steam engine repair building which was closed in 1983 and remained in a state of disrepair until 1998 when the Roundhouse Trust was set up to lead its redevelopment and restore this legendary venue, whose walls rocked to the sound of The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd in the '60s and '70s, back into the arms of London's cultural scene.

David Wilkins, UK market manager for Selecon says he is "delighted" to have been able to supply 20 Are

UK - Production Gear - broadcast and professional production equipmentdealer and distributor has moved into larger premises at Millennium Studios in Elstree Way, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire.

With excellent road/rail access the companies new head office benefits from a showroom which is stocked with a wide range of products including tripods, lights, audio, lens accessories and more.

Since the beginning of the year Production Gear has secured UK distributorships with Sachtler, Oconnor, Chrosziel, Panther, Cavision, Easyrig, Bebob, Zunow and ERG. Production Gear are also authorized UK resellers for many other brands.

Improved workshop facilities reflect the companies recent accreditation and commitment as a Sachtler Authorised Service Centre and are instrumental in the development of future products including the newly released range of HDV lens mount adapters.

An online shop

UK - Legendary guitarist Gary Moore will star in the charity music spectacular being held in Horam, East Sussex this summer. The ex-Thin Lizzy member, who recently accompanied BB King on the blues legend's farewell UK tour, will be headlining the 'Super Jam' session at Vibes from the Vines, at Hidden Spring Vineyard on Saturday, 12 August.

All proceeds from the one-day outdoor concert in Horam will go to Cancer Research UK. Gary, who recently released the album Old New Ballads Blues, will be joined by a host of other famous names including fellow guitarist Ray Russell, Mo Foster on bass, and drummer Gary Husband of Level 42.

The line-up for the day also includes percussionist Pete Lockett, who has played with Peter Gabriel and Robert Plant; John Helliwell, sax player from Supertramp; Leee John, lead singer of Imagination. Other guests include the Led Zeppelin tribute ba

USA - Martin Professional have announced Jamey Brock as national sales director for the company's commercial segment. Martin's commercial segment is an extensive and growing market area that includes club/DJ, retail, cruise ship, themed environments, and more.

Brock is a long-time Martin employee, having worked for the company since 1996. In his tenure at Martin he has worked in various regional sales manager positions, primarily in the Midwest and East Coast. In his new position as national sales director - commercial Brock oversees Martin U.S.'s commercial segment sales staff nationwide.

Prior to 1996 Jamey, a former Marine, worked as an independent sales rep. Before that he worked in the audio industry in his own rep firm. He also has experience working as a DJ in nightclubs and in local radio and has been involved in the entertainment technology industry since 1983.

Bria

UK - Stage Electrics is continuing its program of safety training courses tailored to the entertainment industry with more scheduled in July.

The four safety training courses will be held at the Birmingham Hippodrome from the 3 - 6 July and will include: Basic Health and Safety, Pyrotechnics Safety Awareness, Electricity At Work - The Entertainment Environment and Working At Height Regulations/Tallescopes & Ladders.

Stage Electrics is committed to raising standards in Health & Safety across our industry and is working closely with many other agencies to establish a recognised series of training courses that will improve standards, increase safety and promote the health of all those working in the industry.

Successful completion of the Pyrotechnics Safety awareness entitles free membership to the Association of Stage Pyrotechnicians (ASP).

Courses cost from £120 + VAT

UK - To harness the potential offered by the increasing availability of LED fixtures and sources for architectural lighting applications, Dynalite says it has developed a comprehensive range of controllers designed to directly connect and drive most popular conventions of LED fittings and sources.

Coupled with Dynalite's existing products, the range of controllers enable LED fittings and sources to be readily utilised with other conventional lighting sources. By integrating the power management circuitry, Dynalite's LED controllers offer considerable installation cost benefits when compared to discrete analogue controlled LED fitting power supplies, the company says.

Incorporating native DMX512 support, all Dynalite LED controllers can be readily connected to a theatrical or entertainment lighting control system. Dynalite says that its range offers a solution for any project w

UK - Lightfactor Sales has completed its first sale of nine Novalight High-Ground searchlight fixtures to leading international lighting rental company, PRG.

Five of these went straight out on the hugely successful Jeff Wayne War of The Worlds UK arena tour, where lighting designer Steve Nolan and his associate Ben Cracknell used them to recreate the classic Martian 'Heat Ray' effect.

Heat Rays - deadly, red, laser-like zapping weapons - were used extensively to pulverise the earth and everything on it by the Martians during their War of The Worlds invasion. Nolan was searching for a very specific lightsource to make this effect work onstage. He wanted a fat collimated beam - wider than a laser - and something that was obviously more powerful than the standard stage lighting luminaires being used across the rest of the rig.

They looked at several devices before commit

UK - Midlands based Hawthorn was chosen as lighting supplier for The Charlatans 2006 UK tour, which is promoting their new album Simpatico released in April. Working once again with LD Andy Liddle, Hawthorns supplied lighting, rigging, video and crew for the first leg of the UK tour which covers 18 venues in just three weeks.

Liddle specified a ground based rigging system specifically to offer maximum flexibility to cope with the differing sizes and heights of the 18 venues. The modular system specified is quick to install and very easy adapt to make the most of the tight get in times.

Lighting included the Clay Paky Alpha Spot 1200 along with Alpha Spot wash lights and Thomas LED fixtures.

Liddle's video clips were projected onto two of Hawthorn's stretch Impact Screens, offering a variation from the traditional rectangular projection screens, and more importantly, g

UK - The first Stage Electrics Tradeshow held at RADA on Tuesday 16 May was a success, the company reports, with a wide range of products on show from industry leading manufacturers.

Stage Electrics worked with Matt Prentice and colleagues at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art to present the tradeshow in the Vanbrugh Theatre.The event attracted a 60% increase in visitor numbers compared to the company's open day at its branch in Long Lane in May 2005.

Stage Electrics' major suppliers were on hand to demonstrate their latest products. Exhibiting at the show were Martin, Rosco, Zero88, Strand, ETC, Selecon, Mackie, Sennheiser, Le Maitre & Pulsar. The new Limelight XS-2000 Xenonspot together with Prolyte, Teclumen and Apollo products were presented by Stage Electrics business development managers Andy Elsegood and Ed Gamble.

Matt Prentice Head of Lighting Design at RADA says:&qu

Japan - Designed to reflect a mysterious and unknown world, 200 meters of softly coloured underground escalator passages and mid-point domed hall reflect the unique character of the world-class museum while creating a heightened level of anticipation for visitors.

Atami City, located in Japan's Shizuoka Prefecture, is a well known hot springs and seaside resort area with roots stretching back to the 8th century. The outstanding MOA (Mokichi Okada Assoc.) Museum of Art opened in Atami in 1982. Built 260m above sea level amidst the expanse of a huge 25,000sq.m garden, fabulous views of the open sea can be enjoyed from atop its perch on Momoyama Hill.

Access to the Museum's main building is a unique journey in itself. From the Museum entrance to the main building visitors travel some 200m up escalators running along a tunnel passage. Each escalator (14 in total running both direc

UK - Entertainment lighting supplier White Light have announced its support of the 2006 Theatre Engineering and Architecture Conference, to be held in London on June 11-13, immediately prior to the 2006 ABTT Trade Show at which White Light will be exhibiting.

Last held in 2002, the Theatre Engineering and Architecture Conference brings together the many practitioners involved in creating successful performance spaces, from initial brief and financial planning right through to completion of the facility and opening it on time. Over two days, the conference will hold discussions on everything from designing a proscenium arch zone that will satisfy lighting designers, sound designers, directors, performers and the audience to the changes in culture that new arts buildings can bring.

White Light's involvement with the Conference reflects its continuing expansi

UK - PLASA, the Professional Lighting and Sound Association, has announced that the next meeting of its Manufacturers Forum will take place on Tuesday 18 July at the DTI Conference Centre in central London. The Forum, which was established in 2005 to allow PLASA to better understand the issues faced by its manufacturing members, is open to any member company who wishes to attend.

One of the dominant themes of the first few Forums has been that of manufacturers feeling the squeeze with legislation getting ever more complex and price competition intensifying. The twin directives of WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulation) and RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances Regulations) - two new Environmental Regulations about to be implemented into UK law - are likely to have a major impact on manufacturers.

As part of its strategy for the next 12 months, PLASA is

UK - Bandit Lites continued to rock with Status Quo at the NEC in Birmingham for their live SQ40 DVD shoot - recording footage for the upcoming DVD marking their fortieth anniversary tour - which started last year.

In the middle of Bandit's busiest Spring season to date, they supplied lighting designer Patrick Marks with Quo's full touring rig for the one off event, plus a large audience system comprising of seven trusses and over 300 additional lights. The event was project managed by Bandit's Lester Cobrin who has looked after Quo's live and touring lighting for the last decade. Cobrin says: "This was an epic performance by one of Britain's best loved bands. This show will go down in history and I am truly honoured to have been involved."

Patrick Marks, along with audience lighting director/operator Tom Lesh and the Bandit crew worked a non-stop 12-hour sche

Italy - For the 2006 Sanremo Song Festival, RAI broadcasted some special episodes of Domenica In and Affari Tuoi from the Casino Theatre in Sanremo. The director of photography Fausto Carboni opted for a Clay Paky lighting system to light the purpose-built set, that included eight Alpha Spot HPE 1200, 12 Alpha Spot HPE 575, 12 Alpha Wash Halo, four Stage Profile Plus SV and 30 CP Color MH.

"I had to realize a lighting effect that could be adapted to both programmes, which both required completely different lighting setups," explains Carboni. "The choice of the motorised projectors and the layout of the same was carefully studied before installation, because we were aware that, once installed, they would not be touched again for the whole week, which did not apply to the scenography, which changed each time."

Carboni has been using Clay Paky pr

UK - PAI and sister company Lighting Technology Projects (LTP) have completed the design, specification and commissioning of an integrated sound and AV solution and specification of interior and exterior architectural lighting at the Opera House Casino, Scarborough.

The venue is one of the most successful independently owned casinos in the country, and is a complete new build on the footprint of the former old Royal Opera House Theatre, which had a colourful history dating back to the 19th century.

After many years of dereliction, the old building was demolished in 2004 and replaced with a new construction designed by architects Frame International. Frame also created the interior design and asked PAI onboard to work closely alongside them on the specification of a complete technical infrastructure.

PAI's Paul Adams, LTP's Terry Reeves and Frame International collaborated to

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