UK - JLLighting and JLLive are joining together under one single brand identity and comprehensive offering. JLL will be a ‘one stop shop’ full-service technical production partner.
JLLighting was founded in 2009, adding JLLive as a second arm to the business in order to expand the services the team could offer event agencies, in-house corporates and exhibition clients in 2020.
JLL has built long-standing relationships with a list of brands, including most of the major television production companies in the UK, as well as event agencies and corporates to execute live events to and support their corporate film needs. These have included BBC, ITV, Pico+, Amazon Prime Video, MCI, The Walt Disney Company, Netflix, 2Heads, Toucan, YouTube, RenewableUK, Financial Times, GES and Spiro and countless more. This has allowed JLL to complete projects across the length and bre

UK - Long serving director of operations at the Birmingham Hippodrome, Mike Bradford, has joined Push The Button (PTB) as chief operating officer. Mike has been at the Birmingham Hippodrome for 21 Years and before that worked at Alton Towers as technical manager.
PTB managing director, Nick Ewins, says, “Looking ahead into 2023 and beyond, I am keen to ensure that we have the best possible standards in our business systems and operations which Mike will deliver. Mike’s arrival will also allow me to continue working with our customers, designing and delivering projects as PTB continues to grow.”
Mike adds, “I’ve worked with Nick and the team at PTB for more than two decades now, so I understand the business and I am delighted to be able to bring my experience to the company.”

UK - Production Resource Group (PRG) has announced the relocation of its London offices to a new space within the heart of the city’s West End. Less than a five-minute walk from Piccadilly Circus tube station, PRG Golden Square offers staff and clients 24/7 access to a light and airy, modern, and private office and meeting space within an 18th century Georgian terrace managed by Boutique.co.
The property is based in the centre of Soho, one of the busiest and most vibrant areas of the city centre, while also offering a shared break out space and café facility for all staff. As part of our membership with Boutique.co, colleagues and clients can also enjoy flexible working spaces across the group’s network of offices in London and Birmingham, providing accessibility to several workspaces within key locations in the UK.
PRG UK, CEO Richard Williams says, “By adding

USA - Since the opening of the ICP Production Centre in Atlanta, In Concert Productions founder, Jay Rabbit, has been looking at expansion opportunities. The 30,000sq.ft facility is set to double in size by March 2024. The larger facility is predicted to offset production costs while creating jobs.
Rabbitt founded In Concert Productions (ICP) in the late 1970s. While the company was built on providing sound production and audio services, ICP quickly scaled into a full-service event production company. Its clients include the 1996 Olympics and Coca-Cola to long-standing television shows like Family Feud.
According to Rabbitt, ICP’s success stems from a commitment to being a one-stop service provider. “We provide an experience that the clients in LA and New York are used to getting. We make it easy for them,” he explains. The ICP Production Centre was inspir

USA - Jetbuilt has announced a strengthened global footprint through new software enhancements, strategic developer partnerships and a worldwide team.
In 2015, Jetbuilt was established to accelerate projects and simplify collaboration for AV professionals. Jetbuilt has evolved from a simple sales tool to an end-to-end project management solution.
“As a commercial integrator in Southern California, I identified the need for a cloud-based platform that empowered fast collaboration,” said Paul Dexter, founder and chief executive officer of Jetbuilt. “At the time, there were a handful of AV software vendors and the community of integrators, including myself, had stressed the need to modernise their technology for the future of collaboration. They resisted strongly. Jetbuilt was established to not only fill that void but build a solution that would never stop listen

UK - HireHop, the cloud equipment rental software, has been adding new features at a rapid pace and has just released their new maintenance module that can also be run as a progressive web app on any device. The addition is free and has been automatically added to the software.
The maintenance module allows you to track repairs, log tests and services, move assets to different depots, change what an asset is, and much more.
The maintenance module is fully adaptive to all mobile devices and can even use your phone camera as a barcode or QR code scanner. You can also use inbuilt or linked barcode scanners or an RFID reader.
Another feature is that it enables users to do batch tasks. For example, if you have 50 items that you have just tested, you can use the bulk scan feature (even with the phone camera) that will let you scan the barcodes of the 50 items and then

Vietnam - Christie HS Series 1DLP laser projectors brought to life the fictional planet of Nebula, enthralling audiences with immersive visuals in a dome set up within Dam Sen Cultural Park, a well-known amusement park in Ho Chi Minh City.
Titled Nebula – The Elemental Lighting Planet, this AV showcase took place in an inflatable dome measuring 15m in diameter and 8m in height. It employed various technologies including several Christie D20WU-HS laser projectors, interactive lighting, laser effects, and realistic props to transport visitors to an exciting universe inspired by Avatar: The Way of Water. The concept was conceived and executed by Christie’s partner Alta Media, which specialises in systems integration, digital content, and show entertainment technology.
“Nebula – The Elemental Lighting Planet tells the story of the four elements

UK - Christie projection has helped to elevate a spatial light art experience at a 19th-century church building in Waterloo, Liverpool. At Black Hole – End of Time, projectors were used to map striking content from visual artist Rocco Helmchen onto the interior of Old Christ Church, in conjunction with a soundtrack, lighting, lasers, and additional effects.
The performance was the brainchild of musician and lighting designer Paul Alty, with the projection content created by Helmchen. Funds were raised from ticket sales, a JustGiving page, and cash donations and were donated to BackupTech, which supports professionals in the entertainment industry, and local charity Friends of Old Christ Church.
Following a successful 2021 event, the show aimed to deliver an even more engaging storytelling spectacle with the addition of projection. “There was a lot of appetit

USA - Anthony Leo’s Nashville-based AV production company 800 Pound Gorilla Media specialises in capturing comedy, recording everything from albums to live specials. Live comedy recording brings with it some rather unusual challenges, and Anthony relies on Lectrosonics wireless products – including the DCR822 Compact Digital and UCR411a Digital Hybrid Wireless receivers, HMa and SMQV Digital Hybrid Wireless transmitters, and HHa Handheld Wireless Transmitter – to get the job done right.
Anthony has been doing audio and video production in Nashville for 16 years. He originally co-founded 800 Pound Gorilla Media as a comedy record label, but the firm now does much more. “We do albums, shoot comedy specials… we aim to be a supportive service for every stage of a comedian’s career.”
Comedy venue recording isn’t like capturing a room for music, Anthony expl

UK - Event venue ExCeL London has signed a new contract with audio-visual and entertainment technology company, Anna Valley. The new deal not only extends the organisations’ preferred partnership agreement, but also grants Anna Valley exclusive AV provider status in key parts of the venue - a move designed to strengthen ExCeL’s global congress and conference offering.
Anna Valley was first appointed as ExCeL’s preferred AV provider in December 2020. Despite the impact of the COVID pandemic on the industry at the time, the AV company invested in the staff, infrastructure and support network necessary to provide a hybrid event solution at ExCeL, and to support the return to live events over the following months. Since then, Anna Valley has delivered several international conferences and congresses at ExCeL.
“Over the last two years Anna Valley has demonstrated o

New Zealand - Kramer has announced a distribution partnership in New Zealand with Westan NZ, one of the largest AV/IT media technology distributors headquartered in Melbourne, Australia.
With this new partnership, Westan NZ will be able to market, distribute and support Kramer’s entire portfolio.
Marc Remond, Kramer president APAC says: “Partnering with a distributor as credible and professional as the team at Westan NZ makes me excited for the future of this collaboration. Together, customers in New Zealand will gain access to Kramer’s secure and reliable AV products, that is further boosted by the seamless support from Westan NZ, ultimately driving innovative audio-visual experiences that power creativity, collaboration, and engagement across New Zealand.”
Kam Aghtan, director Westan adds, “Kramer stands for a high level of innovation. The range of

UK - Lighting controls specialist Pharos Architectural Controls has announced the appointment of Simon Hicks as its new chief executive officer. Simon takes over from Chris Hunt, a founder of the company, who will continue to serve as chief financial officer.
Chris comments, “Simon is the right person to be leading Pharos into its next phase of growth. He has been at the centre of our product innovation and development for many years now, resulting in the expansion of the company’s product portfolio, which now includes our new Expert range, our rebranded Designer range and our remote management solution – Cloud. It’s an exciting time for the business, and with Simon’s appointment Pharos will be in the best possible position as it prepares for significant growth during 2023 and beyond.”
Simon’s extensive experience in the sector spans 20 years and has feat

Europe - Obsidian Control Systems has announced that MTG (More Than Group), a growing AV equipment supplier based in Belgium, has been appointed the sole distributor for Obsidian products in Belgium and Luxembourg. The distribution agreement is effective as of 1 January, 2023.
Despite being a relatively new distribution company, MTG boasts considerable experience in the AV industry, with its team having over a century of collective expertise. MTG's co-founder, Micha Meijer, has been a key player in the lighting industry for over three decades, holding roles as a lighting operator/programmer, technician, and designer.
Micha, who previously worked extensively with a different lighting console brand, reached out to his long-time acquaintance Bert Schmeits at Elation Professional. After thoroughly evaluating Obsidian's full range of products, Micha attended training sess

World – Green Hippo has unveiled a Hippotizer v4.8 software update for its range of media servers, packing in a range of new and upgraded features designed to power-up real-time media manipulation, playback and mapping.
A major enhancement is Show Manager, facilitating complete control of multiple productions and installations at once. It allows users to easily save and load various shows on one Hippotizer Media Server, simplifying show management and switching between events. Within this, shows can be duplicated to enable quick modifications without affecting the primary show data, and each show can be easily labelled for one-glance referencing. For productions run by multiple users of one machine, shows can be locked to protect them from any unwanted edits, and the popular HippoLauncher can now be controlled by TCP Commands allowing to start up or switch into the designe

Spain - Brompton Technology has announced the release of a new receiver card, the Tessera G1, which is the first receiver card to support 10Gb fibre connections direct to the panel. It is also capable of supporting a 1m pixel capacity for a new generation of ultra-fine pixel pitch panels, or up to 1,000 fps (frames per second). All this is made possible by a 20x increase in computing power compared to the existing top performer, the Tessera R2+ receiver card.
Cesar Caceres, Brompton's product lead, emphasises that the company's Tessera R2+ receiver card is still optimally positioned to deliver exceptional performance for a vast majority of LED fixtures. In fact, thousands of projects worldwide will continue to use LED panels integrated with R2+ cards with great success.
“We are definitely not forsaking the R2+ card and all its impressive capabilities,” Caceres expl

Spain - LED screen manufacturer Alfalite received the visit of His Majesty King Felipe VI on the first day of ISE. The Spanish manufacturer is exhibiting at the Digital Signage and DooH Zone in Hall 6 (stand 6H310).
Jesús Cabrera, CEO of Alfalite, was among the team welcoming Felipe VI. During his visit, Felipe VI praised Alfalite for their innovations in LED technology.
Jesús Cabrera says, "We feel honoured by the King’s visit to our company stand at ISE. We shared a brief talk about the company, its products and innovations. And we took the opportunity to invite him to visit our plant in Huelva."
The Spanish manufacturer has 20+ years of experience designing and manufacturing LED screens for advertising, shows, television and conference rooms with the most sophisticated technology. Its innovations for the display market include technologies like ORIM or Mo

Spain - Electronic musician and composer, Jean-Michel Jarre, and contemporary French artist Eric Decastro teamed up with Coda Audio to unveil Space by Coda at ISE 2023.
Space by Coda combines advanced AV technology with art ‘to create a seamless audio-visual experience that is scalable and adaptable to any environment – and where the mechanics of what is a concert-grade audio experience are rendered completely invisible’.
“Conventional AV solutions are often a compromise between technical requirements and visual aesthetics,” explains Coda founder and MD, Svetly Alexandrov. “High quality AV solutions usually include projector and/or LED screens, multiple loudspeakers, mounting accessories, and a lot of cables as well as acoustic absorbers and diffusors. This is usually at odds with the vision of the architect and/or interior designer who don’t want loudsp

Europe - Hall Technologies has announced a new distribution relationship with ADI Global Distribution, a global distributor of security, AV and low voltage products. ADI customers across EMEA will now have access to the comprehensive line of end-to-end pro AV solutions from Hall Technologies.
“As part of our global expansion strategy, we’ve partnered with ADI to bring our human-centric products to their clients. Hall’s focus is on truly understanding what customers need and offering top quality products to exceed those needs. We look to ADI as a key strategic partner to help us grow our brand and customer base in the region. We’re thrilled to collaborate with ADI and look forward to our mutual growth opportunities,” says Hall Technologies vice president of sales and marketing, Hal Truax.
"ADI remains committed to expanding our Pro AV portfolio of products and

South Africa - Bridge Church in Alberton, Johannesburg, is a contemporary church that strives to be a catalyst of positive social change within the local community; ‘moving lives’ forward. The congregation has grown considerably in recent years, causing the church to undergo a renovation, increasing its capacity from 400 to 900.
As part of this renovation, Stage Audio Works (SAW) was brought in to design, supply and deliver a complete audio overhaul plus a turnkey house lighting and additions to the existing stage lighting solution, complete with flexible control for all of these systems.
SAW was referred to the project by their very own Lee Thomson, a SAW project sales manager, who is also a member of the church. Having observed the successful delivery of many similar solutions, he could confidently recommend SAW, who have an extensive House of Worship project por

Spain - Harman Professional has announced its new AMX SVSI N2600 Series encoders and decoders. The Series combines affordability and versatility making it suitable for colleges and universities, corporate, casinos, hospitality, government or just about any streaming application.
N2600 models feature a low-latency 4K60 4:4:4 MWC codec that is ‘perfect for transmitting both live video and detailed content’. They also feature transport of full-bandwidth USB 2.0 signals between encoders and decoders, video preview images viewable from the built-in web interface or from a touch panel, and enhanced support for high-security networks.
N2600 encoders and decoders are available in wallplate form-factors in both US and UK/EU styles. Wallplate Encoders include both an HDMI input and a USB-C input that supports both video and USB 2.0.
"This Series brings a lot of excit

Spain - Amadeus has debuted a new 2.1 software version for its immersive platforms – Holophonix Servers, and the Holophonix Native app for macOS – plus two new configurations for its hardware processor offering 128 outputs and 64 outputs. The new 2.1 software update version is free and will be available on 1 February at https://holophonix.xyz/
The new Holophonix hardware configurations are available for order now and feature redesigned rear panels with Neutrik-housed connectors integrated into the aluminium chassis, including one powerCON mains connector, three etherCON connectors for remote control and Dante redundant protocol, as well as HDMI and USB 3.2 connectors for service.
The updated Holophonix processor models are 1.6x faster than the previous model. The 128 model offers 128x128 I/O at 96 kHz in Dante AoIP format, while the new 64 model offers 128 inputs

Spain - Video processing and AV signal distribution technology company tvONE is exhibiting alongside its media server brand, Green Hippo, at ISE 2023.
Exclusively at ISE, tvONE will provide an advanced preview of Calico Pro, the first of a line of powerful, newly developed video processing solutions. Calico Pro is an ultra-powerful video processor with multi-window, multi-screen and multi-layer based upon tvONE’s latest, fifth generation 4K/8K, 10bit processing engine on a new, high bandwidth, flexible, 2RU hardware platform.
Designed from the ground up, Calico Pro is suitable for direct view LED walls, extensive projector edge blends or displays, or even a mix of all three.
Additionally, key tvONE experts will be showcasing the company’s range of professional AV products, including its popular CORIOmaster2 video processor, recently used on the Council of the

Spain - Among a wide range of products being shown at ISE for the first time, on the Neutrik Group booth #E680 in Hall 5, are new audio, data and power connector series from Neutrik and Rean, and a portfolio of power distribution products from Contrik.
Neutrik’s signature speakON series of audio connectors expands still further with the introduction of the new speakON NL4FXX & NL2FXX 4-pole and 2-pole cable connectors. These new connectors feature a locking boot to protect against unintended opening, together with a unique two-compound housing to improve handling in daily operation. The connectors are easier and smoother to assemble, as the strain relief chuck snaps to the insert.
The new powerCON NAC3FXXA & NAC3FXXB cable connectors are colour coded blue – for power In – and grey – for power Out. These conform to relevant device standards, including

Philippines - Located in the central business district of Makati, Philippines, HIT Productions is a 31-year-old post-production studio known for creating award-winning work serving the advertising, music, film, and streaming localisation markets.
With recent changes in how content is created, distributed, and consumed, HIT realized that its old facility no longer met the needs of its production teams and clients. Studios in the old facility were based on analogue point-to-point connections built back in the era of specialised rooms with limited signal routing options, resulting in inefficient use of space and resources. When a new building became available in 2021, HIT jumped at the opportunity to build a new facility that would allow them to meet the challenges of a constantly changing technology ecosystem. 
Dennis Cham, founding partner and chief technology officer

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