Norway - Robe has announced Oslo-based Prostage as its new exclusive distributor for Norway. Michel Arntz, Robe’s key account manager for Europe states: “Norway is an important market and in Prostage we have a strong and proactive partner to move our business forward to the next level and are looking forward to a long and successful relationship with the team there.”

Prostage AS was established in 2008 by CEO Gunnar Waldemar Naas to offer quality and cost-efficient professional lighting, sound and stage products. A full-time staff of 22 manage a streamlined

USA - Brompton Technology launched its new panel manufacturer partner programme at this year’s NAB Show, and welcomed its long-standing collaborator, ROE Visual, as the founding member of the new programme.

“As a company, we’re entirely focussed on providing high-quality LED video processing and supporting our customers,” says Richard Mead, CEO of Brompton Technology. “We do not make LED panels; our business model is to foster long-lasting, mutually-beneficial relationships with manufacturers building quality LED panels.

“We will continue to wo

UK - Production Futures’ next On Tour event will take place at the AO Arena, Manchester on Tuesday 30 April. As its first arena outing, this will be Production Futures’ largest and most ambitious On Tour event to date. 

Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, who is a strong supporter of the Production Futures mission, and who opened the previous show in the city, comments: “We are delighted to welcome Production Futures On Tour back to Manchester for a third year, and to see huge growth in the upcoming show, now taking over the AO Arena, where so many major artists

Italy - British manufacturer of professional audio products and solutions, Wharfedale Pro, has just concluded another successful attendance of Music Inside Rimini (MIR). Following on from last year's success, Wharfedale Pro’s appearance at this year’s show included a full schedule of product demonstrations.

“Last year’s immersive and line array demos were so well received that we wanted to build on these successes in 2024,” says Peter Peck, marketing manager at Wharfedale Pro. “This year we planned a total of four unique audio experiences: our WLA-210X

Seven Up - Sunset Boulevard was the big winner at this year’s Olivier Awards, equalling the record for the most prizes for a musical at the ceremony. Its seven wins included best musical revival and acting awards for its stars Nicole Scherzinger and Tom Francis, plus best lighting design for Jack Knowles and best sound design for Adam Fisher.

The musical’s seven wins means it ties with Cabaret, Matilda and Hamilton for the most trophies ever for a musical in a single night. The revival of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical was

France - Digigram has acquired Grenoble-based OROS, the French specialist in noise and vibration testing systems. The amount of the transaction has not been disclosed.

Effective immediately, the acquisition expands the headcount to approximately 60 employees, with offices stretching from the headquarters in Montbonnot to the companies’ subsidiaries based in Singapore, the United States and China. 

Similar to the recent acquisition of AuviTran in September 2023, Digigram and OROS will now join operations, encouraging teamwork to boost synergies. OROS wil

Australia - Technical Direction Company (TDC) has announced the expansion and revitalisation of its in-house training programme, TDCT, with the engagement of Graham Henstock as training consultant.

"Technology constantly improves and evolves, and TDC is at the forefront of delivering the best possible results for our important clients, whether it be record-breaking amazing visuals for events, immersive experiences, film or theatre productions with TDC Studios," said Drew Ferors, head of technical services & training at TDC.

Graham Henstock brings over

UK - Brompton Technology has partnered with Brainstorm 3D, a specialist company dedicated to providing real-time 3D graphics and virtual set software solutions for broadcast, feature film production, and corporate presentations. Together, they offer a software solution that can be utilised for a wide range of broadcast applications, from the world’s largest broadcasters to regional stations, production houses, and content creation boutiques.

“We've collaborated with Brompton on numerous occasions for Proof of Concept (PoC), events, and presentations, including

UK - The Association of British Theatre Technicians (ABTT) has revealed additions to its annual awards. The ABTT Award for Costume and ABTT Award for WHAM Design aim to honour the expertise and significant contributions of industry professionals, as well as the creative collaborations they foster within the production process.

Presented at the annual ABTT Theatre Show on the 5 June, the Award for Costume has been designed to honour individuals from different disciplines of the costume sector who have achieved a command of their chosen discipline. For 2024 this awa

South Africa - Cape Town based Rainbow Lighting has invested in new lighting fixtures from Astera. The company was started by freelance gaffer Desmond Gqitekaya in 2020. At the time, he was working mostly on major movies and feature films being shot in South Africa and was lucky enough to also start picking up commercials and music video work through his contacts, for which there was always a demand for thinking quickly and ‘out-of-the-box’ when it came to lighting. This soon led him to Astera.

His first purchase was Astera Helios Tubes in 2022, and this has q

Europe - Last November, Obsidian Control Systems initiated Train the Trainer workshops aimed at training its European partners on the specifics of the intuitive Onyx lighting control platform. The sessions, specifically designed to springboard an Obsidian awareness campaign and grow the Onyx community, are bearing fruit as trainers across Europe amplify the platform’s reach by training other partners and end-users.

One of the youngest participants in the Train the Trainer sessions, held at Obsidian’s European headquarters in Kerkrade, The Netherlands, is 16-ye

USA/Europe - TMB has launched an initiative to help production companies in Ukraine. As Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine continues, Zinteco Productions, a cornerstone in Ukraine's entertainment production community for over 25 years, needs help.

The ongoing conflict has brought the Ukrainian entertainment industry, like all normal life, to a standstill, and Zinteco’s operations have been severely impacted. TMB has collaborated with Main Light LLC to make some of Zinteco’s Solaris Flare Q+ fixtures available to cross-rent in the U.S. market. One hun

Portugal - 512 LiveDesign, a prominent lighting design studio specialising in live events, dance, theatre, and live performances, has announced its continued dedication to using CAST Group’s WYSIWYG in their creative process.

Led by Rui Daniel and Marco Dias, the company has been at the forefront of innovative lighting design for the past decade in Portugal and abroad, consistently relying on WYSIWYG as an indispensable tool in their projects. WYSIWYG technology has significantly streamlined the workflow at 512 LiveDesign, empowering their team to deliver immers

Ireland - PSI Production (PSI), a lighting, visuals and rigging production specialist with offices based in Belfast and Dublin, recently made a significant investment in Martin Professional MAC Ultra Performance fixtures through Ireland’s official Martin distributor, Entedi.

This new addition to PSI's inventory complements last year’s investments in the MAC Aura XIP, MAC Aura PXL, and MAC One.

"The acquisition of the Martin MAC Ultra Performance units not only elevates our portfolio but assures our clients that they are working with a company at the fo

USA - CAST Group of Companies has announced Visual Endeavors (VE) as a creative solutions provider for BlackTrax in the United States.
Based in California, Visual Endeavors is headed by Aron Altmark and specialises in technical producing for XR, live events, and immersive experiences, integrating BlackTrax into its tech stack to enable clients to ‘leverage the power of real-time tracking and automation across projects’.
Aron, having first encountered BlackTrax in 2018, has since utilised the technology in various projects including installations with over 500 moving ligh

UK - PLASA Focus Leeds returns to the north from 14-15 May, along with a programme dedicated to delivering knowledge and inspiration for all those working in the live events and entertainment technology industry. Sponsored by Vectorworks, this year’s programme is the biggest ever, and the first wave of seminars has just arrived. Register for PLASA Focus Leeds to gain unlimited access to all these sessions, and more.
Lighting design and sustainable tech
Jonathan Haynes and Stuart Porter from White Light will discuss the processes and challenges of enhancing your lighti

UK - The Profile Awards, a new lighting design awards programme, has launched in the UK. Created and coordinated by Durham and Jennie Marenghi in association with the ABTT, the ALPD and the STLD, the awards recognise lighting design excellence in Theatre and Television in the UK and will take place at the Alexandra Palace theatre on the 6 June 2024.
Alongside eight Theatre awards and six TV awards there will be a Student Virtual Lighting Design competition and the Richard Pilbrow Lifetime Recognition Award in the name of Richard Pilbrow, by kind agreement with Richard’s

Gender Pay Gap - The gender pay gap in the cultural sector has increased for the second year running and is now wider than the overall UK gender pay gap, latest figures reveal. Data published by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport last month shows an estimated gender pay gap of 15.2% in the cultural sector as of April 2023, up from 14.2% the previous year. This means that for every £1 men were paid, women were paid just under 85 pence.
This disparity is greater than the average gender pay gap for all employees in the UK, which stood at 14.2% as of April 2023. The culture

UK - Full Production, the Berkshire-based specialist in the design and delivery of entertainment technology solutions, has completed the move to a much larger premises, with significant new facilities.
Located in Ruscombe, between Reading and Maidenhead, with fast access to the nearby M4 motorway and Heathrow Airport, the new site offers an attractive new working environment for staff and clients alike, including enhanced workshop, prep and testing areas, a meeting and training room, increased office space and a new, fully equipped Vis Suite.
Founded by Steve Richardson in

The Netherlands - Robe’s Netherlands distributor, Controllux, recently staged a new workshop concept dedicated to television, film, studio and broadcast lighting and multi-camera environments, highlighting how specific Robe product ranges and innovations can be a huge asset for DoPs, lighting designers, directors and gaffers.
The one-day event was the brainchild of Controllux’s Romec Berendsen and was hosted at Allard Studios in Amsterdam, reaching a capacity attendance of 35 comprising gaffers, DoPs, lighting board operators and technicians active in the film, television, an

Mexico - The Adam Hall Group is further expanding its international sales network with the appointment of OHM Distribution as sales partner for Mexico. OHM Distribution is one of the leading distributors for AV installations and is now the exclusive distributor for the Adam Hall Group brand Cameo's lighting technology solutions.
"We are very much looking forward to working with the Adam Hall Group," comments Bernardo Moya, who together with Hector Ortega and Jens Hollich forms the management team of OHM Distribution. For Bernardo Moya, Mexico is one of the most dynamic event marke

UK - Midwich UK&I companies, PSCo and Sound Technology, have signed an exclusive distribution deal with StageSmarts, the manufacturer of intelligent power distribution used in touring, festivals, and prestigious venues all over the world.
From this week, the full line up of intelligent power distribution solutions from StageSmarts is available through both companies in the UK.
Steve Fay, managing director at Sound Technology, said: “We’re thrilled to welcome StageSmarts to our market-leading professional audio and professional lighting portfolios. We’re always loo

Europe - Linea Research has announced its partnership with Rock Centrum to distribute the Linea Research product line in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Rock Centrum provides a solid platform for sales and support in the region through its team of audio specialists and its online support and service facility.
Established in 1992, the company has built a reputation for reliability, expertise, and outstanding customer service on the foundation of strong relationships with manufacturers and clients.
The Linea Research product line will join Rock Centrum’s audio portfolio whi

Portugal - Service provider Europalco has announced major investments in three Portuguese companies - Rise, NEW Audiovisuais, and AV Tech, marking a significant step towards geographic expansion and technological advancement in the events industry.
With offices in the Algarve and Lisbon, Rise specialises in offering tailor-made solutions in projection, sound, lighting, video, IT and networks, stages and scenography. Its creative approach includes 3D venue mapping and technical visits, ensuring seamless visualisation of events for clients, with operations expanding across Europe, i

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