UK - When 25 industry companies came together at Sandown Park on 17th June to raise money for industry charity, Behind the Scenes UK, at their annual karting day, leading crewing company Showforce was only too happy to submit a team and lend their support. Other companies competing included: White Light, Stage Electrics, Wonder Works, Brilliant Stages, DiGiCo and Crewsaders.

The karting day saw 25 teams of up to 6 drivers race for 3 hours on an open air course with organisers promoting a competitive atmosphere of skulduggery, out-manoeuvring and general all out 'race to win' attitude. There was also a Formula One style pit stop challenge where the team quickest to change their tyres could claim bragging rights off the track as well as on it! With a BBQ and lots of opportunities to network with clients, catch up with old friends and take part in raffles and stalls to assist with

Canada/USA - Chroma-Q Color Force 72 LED battens are being rigged in an inspired fashion to spell out the word HIP for Canadian rock band, The Tragically Hip's current 2015 tour.

The group, which have had nine No.1 albums in Canada, recently embarked on the Fully Completely Tour, playing their album of the same name in its entirety to their legion of fans.

Brent Clark is production designer for the North American tour, which kicked off in Toronto in January and to date has visited other major cities including New York, Chicago, Boston, Washington DC, and Montreal.

"The concept behind the staging and lighting was to make it look a bit 'throwback'," says Brent. "The grid with the Color Force 72s on is meant to look like an old fashioned digital clock. Spelling out the word 'HIP' was my idea, as the band are affectionately known as The Hip - and using the

UK - A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET) Ltd. is hosting a two-day charity cycle ride between its High Wycombe and Leeds sales offices on 18th - 19th July 2015, to raise money in remembrance of a beloved colleague, the late Kevin Fitz-Simons.

Kevin held an important senior role as Northern Lighting Sales Manager in AC-ET's Leeds office. He was an extremely well liked and respected colleague, and a larger than life character. During his diverse career spanning over 30 years, Kevin built up an incredible number of customer relationships and friendships. He sadly passed away on 31st December 2013, aged 53.

This event - known as the 'Fitz-Simons Challenge' - is being organised by Stuart Burdett, Technical Sales Executive for AC-ET's Video product division. It will raise funds for two great charities which would have met with Kevin's approval, and aims to secure a minimum of &p

Fiji - Working closely with gaffer James Tinsley and his team, Aurora have sent out a full location package to the latest series of Love Island.

The team have been working round the clock to get things ready for the latest batch of islanders. To support the installation, Aurora has provided everything from Tungsten to tape, distro to desks, plus site power and a range of bespoke electronic installations and LED set pieces.

Commenting on the project, Aurora MD Nick Edwards said, "preparing the gear and taking care of the logistical challenge of transporting a full location package to the Island in the sun was the easy part - thankfully James and his team are on board to make sure the 12 islanders are viewed in the best possible light during their six weeks excursion to paradise!" Love Island runs on ITV2.

(Jim Evans)

India - Hyderabad based Namdhari impex has been awarded full brand representation by the Portuguese manufacturer, NEXT- proaudio for India.

The news follows discussions between the manufacturer and the distributor which started just after the Get Show in Guangzhou.

"For NEXT- proaudio it will be good to be distributed by Namdhari impex because they are a very professional company growing in India, and it is another big step ahead to continue growing in the Asian professional audio market," said Andre Correia, NEXT- proaudio's assistant manager.

"This is our honour and privilege to be associated with NEXT- proaudio. We have accepted the responsibility to market and promote their products to the best of our abilities. This is our brand and we are going to rock the Indian market. Our passion combined with these fantastic products will definitely yield the desired

USA - Each year Caravan Stage take their mobile venue - the 30m tall ship Amara Zee - on tour to a selection of coastal cities - with a stunning and provocative production, and the 2015 season kicked off with a continuation of their successful experimental musical Hacked: The Treasure of the Empire in Brooklyn, New York, where the Amara Zee wintered.

Lighting designer Lutz Gock and assistant LD Katie Davies used their new Robe LED fixtures - four DLX Spot moving lights and six LEDForce 18 PARs rig - on what Lutz describes as the "almost upside down" lighting plot.

When it comes to lighting Caravan Stage performances, there are several very specific requirements.

With no stage roof, the kit is exposed to the elements during the set-up, rehearsal and show periods. Lighting, sound and video equipment are all powered by an on-board generator so it is limited, wh

Brazil - Singer-songwriter Luan Santana recently released his fourth live album and DVD Acústico, which - as its title suggests - was recorded acoustically. The recordings took place in Quanta Studios in Sao Paulo, with a retro setting and dress code leading you back to the Broadway Sixties. Shortly after the release, several of the singles reached the top of the Brazil Hot 100 Airplay chart.

For this production, as for previous Luan Santana productions, Spectrum Design e Iluminacao supplied a complete technology solution. LED products from SGM assisted in conveying the old theatre style with a total of 30 P-5 wash lights, 80 X-5 LED strobes and 40 SixPack blinders.

The SixPacks were mounted in the grand upper façade, giving the marquee the effect and look of the halogen emulating lamps, whilst offering the brightness and low power consumption of the LED light sources

UK - This year's First Night Riders charity motorbike and classic car tour of British theatres, which raises money for The Theatrical Guild's (TTG) vital work, takes to the roads on Friday 3 July.

This year marks the sixth year that some of the theatre industry's biggest movers and shakers zoom together for a weekend aimed at raising awareness and much-needed funds to help TTG support Backstage and FOH staff in need. Established in 1891, TTG is dedicated to looking after theatre personnel who, due to a variety of circumstances need welfare advice, counselling, educational sponsorship and many other forms of help.

The charity has many supporters in the industry, including Dara O'Briain who is also a Trustee of The Theatres Trust.

Taking place from 3-6 July, this year's route starts in Scarborough and visits the Spa Theatre & Grand Hall and The Stephen Joseph Theatre. Over the

Japan - Japan's Yokkaichi Municipal Museum has recently reopened following a refurbishment designed and installed by GOTO INC, based around their state-of-the-art 8K triple head hybrid planetarium projection system. This, the most advanced opto-mechanical projector ever, offers a viewing potential that is second-to-none. The ability to display the Milky Way to magnitude 18 is just one of its capabilities.

To create the most sophisticated yet natural accompanying audio soundscape, a TiMax SoundHub2 matrix was installed to provide real-time, cue-based timecode synchronisation between the planetarium's multichannel surround audio and the ultra-high-resolution visual content that almost fully envelopes the audience.

The TiMax2 SoundHub controls routing of audio from a 24-channel small mixing console and TASCAM 8-channel recorder by timecode cues, distributing both wired and wirele

UK - Award-winning designer Lucy Osborne, internationally acclaimed lighting designer Emma Chapman and lighting specialist and designer Howard Eaton are officially launching their innovative new venue design company Studio Three Sixty at the ABTT Theatre Show this week.

Studio Three Sixty designs and builds a new kind of temporary venue, using the latest technology to create beautiful spaces bursting with versatility.

The story began with Roundabout - a very special commission from new writing theatre company Paines Plough to design and build the world's first Plug and Play Theatre. Roundabout went on to win The Stage Awards 'Theatre Building of the Year 2015'.

Studio Three Sixty was founded by Osborne, Chapman and Eaton to design more temporary venues using the ideas and technology developed for Roundabout.

"We are absolutely delighted to be at ABTT at the launch of

UK - This year's First Night Riders charity motorbike and classic car tour of British theatres, which raises money for The Theatrical Guild's (TTG) vital work, takes to the roads on Friday 3rd July.

This year marks the sixth year that some of the theatre industry's biggest movers and shakers zoom together for a weekend aimed at raising awareness and much-needed funds to help TTG support Backstage and FOH staff in need. Established in 1891, TTG is dedicated to looking after theatre personnel who, due to a variety of circumstances need welfare advice, counselling, educational sponsorship and many other forms of help.

The charity has many supporters in the industry, including Dara O'Briain who is also a Trustee of The Theatres Trust.

Taking place between 3rd and 6th July, this year's route starts in Scarborough and visits the Spa Theatre & Grand Hall and The Stephen Joseph Thea

Fair Pay - Apple Music reversed its payment policy, a day after the singer Taylor Swift said she was refusing to allow the company to stream her album 1989. In an open letter to Apple, Swift said she was withholding the record as she was unhappy with the three-month free trial offered to subscribers. Now Apple says it will pay artists for music streamed during trial periods. Swift had said the plan was "unfair", arguing Apple had the money to cover the cost. "I find it to be shocking, disappointing, and completely unlike this historically progressive and generous company. "We don't ask you for free iPhones. Please don't ask us to provide you with our music for no compensation."

Olympic Achievement - The International Olympic Committee will receive an award at IBC2015 for its work on conserving and managing its audiovisual archives. The awar

Austria - UK entry's Electro Velvet's LED costumes for Eurovision 2015 featured a bespoke design by LED specialists Light Initiative.

"We were approached by creative director Dan Shipton and the BBC Eurovision team to help make Electro Velvet stand out during this year's performances," says Bryn Williams, creative director of Light Initiative.

Working alongside costume designer Frank Strachan and his costume maker Natascha Stolle, the team incorporated 20,000 video-mapped LEDs into the outfits with 5,500 on singer Bianca's dress alone. Unlike many incarnations of this idea seen in the past, the costume team's clever design 'seamlessly' assimilated the LED into the costumes, along with the fabric, glittering sequins and tassels, with no detriment to the overall aesthetic.

"It was of paramount importance that the costumes be beautiful," says Williams. "

UK - The new 300 seat Quarry Theatre in Bedford has opened to wide acclaim. Audio Light Systems were contracted to provide rigging, audio, AV & lighting in the space which has been created within the Grade II listed 19th Century St Luke's Moravian Church.

Working to a Theatre Plan specification Audio Light Systems installed a Slingco grid, BJ Designs suspension systems, Doughty Engineering IWBs & facility panels, ETC lanterns, Christie projectors, Zero 88 control and dimmers, Yamaha & EM acoustics sound equipment among other manufacturers.

"This is a truly impressive and well thought-out space, that has come together very well. The ability of Audio Light Systems to install the entire technical infrastructure really helps with synergy of a space like this," says Trevor Cross MD Audio light Systems.

(Jim Evans)

South Korea - The quality and capacity of South Korea's hotel, shopping, seminar and conferencing facilities is increasingly highly-regarded on an international level. Leading operator Amway Korea has been a significant contributor to this upward trajectory for many years, and with the recent addition of a Plaza complex in the Gangseo District of Seoul it now has 14 multi-use sites to its credit throughout the country.

AV distributor and installer Sound Solution was engaged to provide suitably reliable and robust audio processing and distribution for Amway Plaza Gangseo, covering multiple seminar rooms and conference spaces. "The principal requirement for this project was to create an optimal acoustical environment by high quality digital audio processing, and it was this need that led us to consider the use of DSPs from Symetrix - a brand that we have used successfully on

France - Theatre Projects opened its new Paris office last Thursday 18 June at the Passage de Retz, the art gallery located at the entrance of Theatre Project new studios. Guests from the Parisian cultural and architectural scene attended.

The new studio in Le Marais District of Paris is also the base for two respected acoustic designers who have joined Theatre Projects Paris.

Seb Jouan Victoria and Chavez Thielemann will work with the rest of Theatre Projects' consultants on theatre design projects internationally. They will also provide standalone acoustic design services to architects designing sophisticated performance and entertainment spaces.

They are already working on several projects including the new Yves Saint-Laurent museum in Marrakech, the new Abu Dhabi District Lyric Theatre, the Weltmuseum in Vienna, The Casino de Paris and Folies Bergères in Paris, the next

UK - Vortex Events' Matt Gourd and Iain Rendle have a combined knowledge of over 20 years in the events industry. Their company provides both dry rental of all their equipment as well as full production support for everything from musical productions, TV shows and dance events to touring productions, festivals and corporate events.

Having recently purchased a Hippotizer V4 Karst media server, Vortex Events will be putting it to the test immediately on the John Peel stage at Glastonbury this coming week.

Matt Gourd, "We looked at many different media servers and having used a wide range onsite for events, it was easy to see that the V4 range was one step ahead in many ways. These include the value for money and great support they offer. The Karst will help us realise some complicated mapping projects and visualise them at the design stage. This means we can easily translat

UK - Singer-songwriter Ben Howard's UK tour is keeping rental company Nitelites on its toes; with a band full of studio engineers, there really is no room for error. "It's good for us, because it keeps us sharp," says Nitelites' director Andy Magee, who has chosen a substantial L-Acoustics system to deliver the quality of audio his artists demand."

Following his sold out UK tour in November and December, taking in venues such as London's Brixton Academy and Manchester's O2 Apollo, Howard completed a successful UK arena tour in April, with three nights at London's Alexandra Palace, Birmingham's NIA, Glasgow's SSE Hydro and Cardiff's Motorpoint Arena on the schedule.

The team at Nitelites met with tour production manager Chris Pollard, and it was agreed that an L-Acoustics K2 system would satisfy the criteria for nearly all the venues on the December tour.

"

USA - With strong reviews, word-of-mouth recommendations, and 12 Tony Award nominations, the musical Fun Home appears to be right at home on Broadway. Based on an autobiographical graphic novel by Alison Bechdel, it is an unusual show - a delicate, rather than big and flashy musical - according to lighting designer Ben Stanton, who found himself with a low-tech show in need of high-tech lighting.

Stanton uses shifting pockets of light to follow the action from scene to scene, defining rooms of different shapes and sizes as furniture appears and disappears through a complex series of traps. Using an ETC Eos Ti lighting desk, programmer Alex Fogel built a low-res pixel map encompassing the whole stage, with each lighting area as a separate pixel. By applying a gradient to the intensity parameter of the area lights, he was able to smoothly drag focus around the playing area,

USA - University of California, Irvine's (UCI) Claire Trevor School of the Arts presented The Electra Project, famed Romanian director Mihai Maniutiu's reimagining of the classic Electra story.

This avant-garde piece followed Maniutiu's minimalist style, using very little scenery to create a provocative production. Under Maniutiu's direction, lighting designer Martha Carter and scenic designer Morgan Price brought this story to life. Carter used Martin Professional's atmospheric effects to play on the audience's emotions as the titular character battles through her story. They used UCI's existing JEM Glaciator X-Stream and paired it with a JEM Ready 365 hazer which Martin loaned to the students to help fill out their production.

The initial planning started with only a 15-page script and notes from Maniutiu to have minimal scenery. While Carter and Price had their work

USA - Standing out is always important in the world of television, but never more so than during Upfront's Week, an annual event that sees networks pitch their upcoming programmes to potential sponsors.

For the Fox Broadcasting Company this meant renting the historic Beacon Theatre on Broadway, and bringing in a bevy of stars like Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny of The X-Files fame, Lea Michele, Jamie Lee Curtis, and a musical performance by the award-winning cast of Empire, Jennifer Hudson and dancers from the cast of Grease Live! to entertain guests. Adding a dramatic visual element to the high-profile proceedings were two giant video screens set off by the striking light of over 60 Nexus 4x4 panels from Chauvet Professional.

Lighting designers James Schipper and Rachel Miller of Kinetic Lighting (Los Angeles) worked with scenic designer Anton Goss t

UK - Having already worked with a wide variety of different organisations and venues this year, White Light has provided its services on yet another immersive piece of theatre - the world premiere of Heartbreak Hotel at The Jetty, Greenwich. Produced by Managing Mayhem and Zebedee Productions, Heartbreak Hotel opened at The Jetty on 11 June with White Light acting as a production partner.

The show sees The Jetty, which formerly served as a coal-unloading point for Blackwall Point Power Station, transformed into a purpose built structure which allows audience members to check into what is a unique experience.

Prior to the recent popularity of immersive theatre productions, White Light had already established strong working relationships with companies such as Punchdrunk. Their most recent project, the co-production with the National Maritime Museum entitled Aga

UK - Adlib has carried out a sound and lighting installation for Manchester Met Student Union (MMU's) new SU Hall - designing a flexible and integrated Harman Professional solution for a multitude of audio reinforcement duties.

Adlib was awarded the contract for the new £10m MMU SU Building, which is situated adjacent to the Union's Salutation pub, based on their design recommendations, and the relationship that has developed since the company first started supporting MMU with equipment rental and sales.

Overseen by Adlib's Ian Nelson, the design concept is aimed to maximise multiple use of a building involving a bar, multipurpose entertainment space, admin offices, a shop, café and conferencing facilities. The system will cater for student union events, from comedy and club nights though to conferences and exhibitions, and be able to cope with numerous room layou

USA - Big musical numbers, whimsical props, flashy dance sequences - all are key parts of any Broadway musical, and the Roundabout Theatre Company's production of On The Twentieth Century delivers all of these. From the moment the show curtain goes up, RC4Magic Series 3 Wireless DMX and Dimming takes centre stage, supporting a Tony award winning show that was also nominated for four Drama Desk Awards, nine Outer Critics Circle Awards and three Drama League Awards.

"Almost every piece of scenery in this show uses wireless dimming, along with several props, most of which have multiple fixtures requiring wireless dimming," says Brian Maiuri, production electrician at the American Airlines Theatre. "And the show's main scenic element is a life-sized train automated on a free spinning turtle that transports the train up and downstage as well as left to right. Th

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