The ABTT show takes place from 12-13 June at the Old Truman Brewery in the capital city, where Backstage Academy will feature amongst the exhibitors showcasing products, services and training for theatre, covering the latest in things like lighting, sound, staging, seating, stage engineering, projection, textiles, flooring, scenic paints and more.
Backstage Academy, who will be exhibiting for the first time at the show on stand number 27, will also be showcasing its backstage short courses and bespoke skills training to visitors, who tend to come from a wide variety of disciplines across professional theatre.
The new BA Visual Production course will launch at Backstage Academy's Wakefield facility in January 2014 (subject to validation), where it is located on site next to the LS-Live rehearsal arena.
Developed in conjunction with a range of industry partners including d3, Fix8 and XL Video, the course is the first of its kind dedicated to the emerging convergence of visuals and lighting. It's designed to meet the demand for skilled visual professionals that can take a project through from the concept and design stage to the final application, using the right tools for the job.
The course will teach students the personal skills needed to work successfully in the visual production industry worldwide, equip them with the ability to interpret a client's creative scope, supply a design response, understand how far technology can be stretched to meet the brief, allocate the technology required to achieve the desired result - whether it's lighting or video related - and apply this technology to modern show and installation techniques.
Students will also achieve a number of certificates accepted worldwide and cover a variety of visual production technologies, including d3, Photoshop, WYSIWYG, 3ds Max, Maya, Final Cut X, After Effects, AutoCAD, Green Hippo and GrandMA, to mention just a few.
Backstage Academy also offers a 16-month Foundation Degree in Live Events Production (validated by The University of Bolton), short courses in things like Rigging, Event Safety Passport, Stage Pyrotechnics, Working with Electricity, Practical Fire Safety and Working at Height, and bespoke training programmes for production companies, venues, events and other commercial businesses.
(Jim Evans)
