Germany - J&C Joel demonstrated they were the ringleader of fabrics when they showcased their big top circus tent stand at Prolight + Sound Frankfurt.
The tradeshow stand was inspired by the Madagascar themed circus tent the company created at Motiongate Dubai, a theme park within Dubai Parks and Resorts.
As visitors rolled up to the stand they were transported to a circus complete with a red and blue Deko Molton big top, sand effect digitally printed Joelmat flooring, an 8m by 4m seamless canvas digitally printed with a big top tent and popcorn for everyone to enjoy.
People were also able to view an impressive black and silver Reefer String drape, a seamless projection screen with video content about the company’s recent work and a variety of tracks.
The company also continued their successful partnership with Backstage Academy which saw their stude

UK - The Broadsword Production Group has been awarded a contract by Royal Museums Greenwich as a production supplier. Based in the heart of Greenwich, the sites are suitable for large gala dinners and awards ceremonies, inspiring daytime conferencing, epic product launches and intimate private dining.
The five historic venues include the National Maritime Museum, the Queen’s House, the Royal Observatory Greenwich, the Peter Harrison Planetarium and Cutty Sark.
Broadsword has a flair for the theatrical and are thrilled that their crew are about to learn the ropes and produce live event experiences with “such versatile and luxurious backdrops”. They have an innovative Set Building Department and are excited about how they can put a new slant on event branding within the different spaces, with stage sets, custom theming, props and bespoke items.
The in-house

South Africa - Andrew Rodgers has joined South African based DWR Distribution. With his considerable experience in project management, technical skill and maintenance contracts, Andi will head the DWR Installation Department.
Born and raised in Liverpool, Andi did various maintenance and repair contracts at recording studios such as the Ezee Studio and prior to that the Pink Studio in the UK before moving to South Africa in 1990 where he was offered a maintenance positioned at Sun City’s Superbowl.
His colourful career has seen him working at Prosound in electronics design and maintenance, and he also did a stint or two as a freelancer in South East Asia where he worked on various projects including the project management for an audio recording studio for Taffix Solutions of Brunei.
“Andi has been a wonderful friend for close to 20 years now, where we often

China - Creative Technology (CT) has announced that with immediate effect Chris Burke will take on the role of managing director of Creative Technology in Shanghai. Chris will also continue as managing director of CT in Hong Kong and Singapore. This appointment now puts all of CT’s Asia Pacific Business under his control.
Chris has been with Creative Technology since 2009 and in that time, he has developed the necessary skills to effect the changes that will be needed to further develop the China business and expand CT’s operation in this region.
Chris replaces Simon Tibble who passed away suddenly at his home in Shanghai just over a week ago. Simon was a key part of the China business and a true industry veteran whose skills helped develop the business into what it is today. He will be missed by all.
Graham Andrews, president of Creative Technology North Ame


UK - Green Hippo has confirmed three new international distributors. These new members of the Green Hippo family, respectively covering Italy, New Zealand, and South Africa, extend the influence of Green Hippo’s video playback technology, including its award-winning Hippotizer range of media servers.
In Italy, Spotlight, the Milan-based distributor, will use its 50 years of design and production experience, to help see the Green Hippo gear at work in Italy’s celebrated collection of opera houses and theatres, as well as auditoriums, conference rooms, and TV studios.
Nicolo Oliva, partner and CEO of Spotlight, said, “It’s a short time since Spotlight have started the distribution of Green Hippo, and we’re already very fond of the brand. These media-servers are really powerful and easy to configure, and the new software interface of Hippotizer V4 is a st


Creative Strategy - Creative companies are becoming increasingly important to the UK's future economic success and should be at the heart of the government's new industrial strategy, a trade body says. The Creative Industries Federation says film-making, music, advertising and video games are all big export earners but are often overlooked by ministers. It says enterprise zones, tax breaks and access to finance could help firms.
The role of the UK's creative industries, which also includes theatre, architecture, broadcasting, fashion, museums, and galleries was recognised when the government unveiled its industrial strategy Green Paper in January for boosting the post-Brexit economy. The Creative Industries Federation says ministers need to "overhaul" their approach. The federation has unveiled a blueprint of policy recommendations for the creative industries which it


UK - East Anglia-based CEG Hire & Productions has recently moved to new premises, as well as relocating their rental operation from Norfolk to Cambridge. From 1 March, CEG started operating from their new base – allowing them to push forward with their long-term growth strategy.
CEG's director, Ben Bowles explains, “Since starting the business, we have continually looked to improve the service that we offer and one big way we can do that is by being situated conveniently for all of our customers.
“Our new location is five minutes from the M11 and 10 minutes from the A14. This will provide fantastic access to both London and the South, as well as the Midlands and the North. We will now be within 45 minutes of the North Circular and 90 minutes of Park Royal. Beyond the improved journey times, our new premises will have better access, facilities and, mos

Europe - The Claypaky Scenius Spot is being championed for its output, colour and optical quality by lighting designer Dan Williams who is using the fixture as the main lighting workhorse on British rockers Skunk Anansie's current European tour, Anarchytecture.
Lighting supplier for the tour, Buckinghamshire- based lighting design and rental outfit Siyan, recommended Dan the spot fixtures to work alongside the production's dominant LED video package, that includes both floor and flown LED screens.
"The main issue with working with such a strong video element is getting a fixture that is bright enough to stand out against the LED screens," says Dan. "The Scenius Spot has absolutely no problem with this."
To create the show's saturated colour pallets and punchy back and beam light Dan is utilising the fixtures advanced CMY and linear CTO colour systems.
"Eve

UK - J&C Joel, has announced a new sales structure. The changes come as the company looks to position itself for future growth.
Oliver Marns, previously the UK, Europe and Russia sales manager, has now been appointed to the newly created role of sales manager to head up creative sales and focus on key accounts within the business.
Marns has worked for the company for more than five years, and during this time has been involved in delivering several of the key creative projects the company has provided. His new role is designed to enhance J&C Joel’s existing offering to new and existing customers by giving them a dedicated person to deal with and ensure the firm offers innovative solutions whilst continuing to deliver on specification, budget and on time.
Marns said: “I am delighted to take on the new role and I am genuinely excited to work even closer

UK - How do you make Gaffer Tape a rock star? You take a breaking rock band called Star from Ivy plus a great range of Gaffer tape and link the two together and you get https://youtu.be/PcEMR5scOgc
The video was produced, filmed and edited by the St Ives Cambridgeshire based Le Mark team, in time to be showcased by Le Mark at the world largest trade show for music and entertainment products, ProLight + Sound held at the famous Music Messer Frankfurt.
Le Mark has combined a Brexit beating innovative marketing ‘first’, take an everyday consumable product and project it as ‘the’ No 1 rock & roll accessory. Magtape - the professional’s gaffer tape, has a backing track that is fully downloadable and is being played around both central & eastern Europe and Scandinavia. Promoting the product range and a new Br

UK - An online auction of production and broadcast equipment which brought the curtain down at Fountain Studios raised over £670,000.
The sale, organised by auctioneers Charterfields on behalf of Fountain Television, attracted worldwide interest with more than 450 bidders registering from as far afield as Australia, New Zealand, USA, Italy and the Netherlands as well as the UK.
Among the range of sound, lighting and camera equipment, the Calrec Apollo 72 fader digital audio console item led to the highest winning bid in excess of £85,000.
Fountain Studios closed in December and is described as ‘the birthplace of TV talent shows’ after being home to some of the UK’s most popular programmes since the launch of ITV in 1955. They include TV classics such as On The Buses, Upstairs Downstairs and Opportunity Knocks to modern family favourit

UK - Currently playing at the Salisbury Playhouse, Echo’s End tells the story of a young couple in 1915 Wilshire who find themselves caught up in the turmoil of troubled times. It is written by award-winning playwright and novelist Barney Norris, directed by Alice Hamilton and features a lighting design by Howard Hudson. White Light was called upon to provide the equipment.
Echo’s End marks Howard’s fifth production at the Salisbury Playhouse. He comments, “Salisbury is a great venue and this is a brilliant new play that tells a story about that part of the world. The entire play is set outside on the Salisbury Plain, so one of the main requirements was to achieve a sense of natural light and the epic undulating scale of that area at different times of day.”
As with most of his designs, Howard had to work closely alongside the set design, which

Germany - Adamson Systems Engineering is now officially operating out of its recently expanded, 40,000 sq. ft. Canadian headquarters in Port Perry, ON. Full details were outlined at a press conference at ProLight+Sound in Frankfurt.
Driven by three years of rapid growth, the new expansion will allow Adamson to meet the increased demand of its growing sales network. While the new addition has been dedicated entirely to production and R&D, the original facility has also been revamped to shape the future of research, product development, and education.
Along with the architectural improvements, Adamson has also invested heavily in machinery and manufacturing technologies to guarantee efficient production of performance loudspeaker systems in Canada. These include new CNC routers, milling machines, and semi-automated production lines, all aimed at maintaining Adamson

UK - The Fifth Estate Ltd has announced the growth of the company, with the arrival of well-known entertainment technology editor and journalist, Lee Baldock, who joins the group of experienced marketing content producers and strategists. Baldock, who left Light & Sound International (LSi) magazine this spring, joins The Fifth Estate as senior account director.
Based in Sussex, Lee will work from the company's seaside office near Brighton. Working closely with creative director Sarah Rushton-Read, his focus will be on business development, alongside helping existing clients craft their brand stories for the variety of audiences and platforms that today's marketing communications need to reach.
Baldock's long career has seen him spend 22 years representing the entertainment technology industry working on leading B2B publication LSi, gaining experience under t

UK - To mark the launch of their highly anticipated new album Humanz, Gorillaz performed a secret one-off show at Printworks, London, and Mojo Barriers showed it’s not all about big tours and festivals by supplying its world-class stage barriers to this prestigious event, 24 March 2017.
The world’s most successful virtual band celebrated the release of their new studio album with a very special performance which saw Gorillaz play Humanz live for the first time in a ‘’triumphant comeback gig’’ (NME) supported by Telekom Electronic Beats.
As the Gorillaz live band took to the stage, Mojo Barriers ensured artist and audience safety, highlighting that a big artist launch in a small venue still needs detailed attention. Held at new London venue, Printworks, the show saw Gorillaz joined on stage by a stellar rollcall of talent including Del La Sou


Sgt. Pepper Promotion - The Beatles released Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band 50 years ago this week – and it remains widely regarded as the best rock and roll album concept of all time. To mark the anniversary, the city of Liverpool is to host a huge cultural celebration, called Sgt. Pepper at 50: Heading for Home from Thursday 25 May to Friday 16 June. The council has invested £750,000 of National Lottery funding through its Ambition for Excellence scheme to fund the celebration. The events include:
When I’m 64 - A mass sing-along - broadcast live on radio - of 64 choirs from across the city and of all ages. With an inter-generational theme, the event will focus on what age really means to anyone who is between 14 and 64.
Lucy in The Sky with Diamonds - A light festival on an Olympic scale, with music and fireworks, in

UK - Blitz|GES has promoted two of its senior team - Carol Gibbs and Mark Watson - to newly created roles as the business plans for growth in 2017. The new structure underlines Blitz|GES’ key strengths and supports a robust pipeline for the year ahead.
Carol Gibbs takes on responsibility for the company’s growing venue portfolio in the newly created role of director of venues. Mark Watson is promoted to creative director with a brief to expand Blitz|GES’ strong reputation for high-quality design.
Blitz|GES is the preferred technical production partner to many of the UK’s major venues and recently won official status for the new Hall 1 at Farnborough International Exhibition & Conference Centre – due to open in 2018.
Gibbs will be working closely with the Blitz|GES teams at the venues to identify and capitalise on new business opportunities in the r


UK - VDC Trading has made a number of new appointments and implemented a re-structure of its London-based team. Designed to offer more streamlined services to clients in the UK and overseas, the new approach centres on customer experience.
Cain Cookson has been appointed to the role of senior relationship development manager, heading up the UK pro-active sales team. With over five years’ B2B sales experience, Cain combines commercial expertise with technical capability, having achieved a first--class honours degree in Audio and Music Technology from the University of the West of England.
Herpreet Kaur Sing has taken on the role of customer service manager, with responsibility for delivering the highest level of customer service to VDC Trading’s growing international client base. With more than three years’ experience in pro-audio sales, Herpreet is also a


Diversity Programme - Improving diversity and protecting local authority funding are at the forefront of UK Theatre’s business plan for the next four years. The plan from the membership organisation, which sets out its objectives for 2017-2021, describes its aim to improve the diversity of theatre and the performing arts as “a significant priority”. The organisation commits to working with Tonic Theatre, Equity and other stakeholders to publish a planning tool for the casting process in order to improve diversity on stage.
It will also establish a ‘board bank’ of professionals from black, Asian and minority ethnic, disabled and low socio-economic backgrounds to assist organisations in addressing the diversity of their boards. Another focus in the business plan is addressing the increase in live-to-digital theatre. The industry body promises to negotiate a st

UK – Supporters and trustees of Backup - The Technical Entertainment Charity - gathered in London on Monday evening to help raise the profile of the charity’s new name and logo in entertainment industry. Around 80 guests attended the event, which included live entertainment from Jay Johnson.
Backup exists to provide financial support to technical professionals working in live events, theatre, TV and film, helping them to get back on their feet when their lives are disrupted by illness or injury to themselves or to family members. Previously known as Behind The Scenes UK, the charity changed its name to Backup in 2016.
Backup’s chairman, John Simpson, welcomed guests to The Hospital Club in London’s Covent Garden, which generously sponsored the event. He reiterated the purpose of the charity by highlighting some of its achievements to date. “We have helped a n

USA - The Long Reach Long Riders (LRLR) celebrated their upcoming ride through Southern California with a raffle and live auction to benefit Behind the Scenes during the USITT Conference in St. Louis last week.
Sales of raffle tickets, some key donations, and sales of BTS and LRLR-branded swag raised over $15,000 for the charity. The LRLR 2017 ride, dubbed the Avocado Adventure, starts on 16 June in Escondido, CA. The riders cover all their own expenses so everything they raise goes to the charity. Sponsor a rider today at www.behindthescenescharity.org/lrlr.
Festivities led off with the traditional kazoo parade led by Bill Sapsis and USITT executive director David Grindle and many of the LRLR. Following the parade, BTS Pledge-a-Product partners InCord (Orchestra Pit Safety Netting Systems) and ETC (irFR and aRFR application for iOS and Android devices) presented chequ


Unlimited Fines - Online touts who bulk buy tickets and sell them for inflated prices will face unlimited fines under government plans. An amendment to the Digital Economy Bill means it will be illegal to use "bots" to bypass limits on the maximum number of tickets that can be bought. Tickets purchased by bots can appear on secondary websites at prices many times greater than their face value.
A Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) spokesman said the profiteering was "simply not fair". High profile artists such as Adele and Ed Sheeran have previously criticised the touts and asked their fans not to buy tickets from secondary sites. Last month, resale site Viagogo was accused of "moral repugnance" for selling tickets to an Ed Sheeran Teenage Cancer Trust gig for up to £5,000. And an £85 ticket to see Adele at the O2 in London last year was reportedly being

South Africa - DWR Distribution has been appointed Littlite agents. Littlite was represented in South Africa for many years by Tadco’s Simon Oates, who recently made the decision to pass the brand on to DWR. A large stock order is coming soon, and DWR is running a competition where three people will have opportunity to win the Littlite Anser Lampset 18 “Goosneck and Dimmer integrated into chassis.
Littlite products are made in Michigan, America, and the range of task lamps are not only suitable for sound and lighting consoles, but can be used as map lights, desk lights, lectern lights, microscope lights, inspection lights and reading lights.
“We initially wanted to order Littlite task lights from Tadco for our DiGiCo console users,” explained Duncan Riley of DWR. “In true Simon Oates fashion, he opted to rather make a phone call to Littlite and ask if the b


Stagecraft - Harry Potter and the Cursed Child has received 11 Olivier Award nominations, which makes it the most nominated new play in Olivier history. The musical Groundhog Day, which begins on Broadway this month, has picked up eight nominations. Glenda Jackson receives her first nomination since 1984 following her return to the stage as King Lear. Her leading role at London's Old Vic last year was her first stage appearance for 25 years after giving up acting for politics in the early 1990s.
Groundhog Day competes in the best new musical category against Dreamgirls, School of Rock and The Girls. Jesus Christ Superstar, composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, receives six nominations, including best musical revival. "In a year of global change, the nominees for this year's awards demonstrate London theatre's ability to chal

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