UK - Lighting Partners, operators of usedlighting.co.uk, have been appointed as the UK distributor for Smoke Factory.

Commenting on the agreement, David Morgan of Lighting Partners said, "We have seen many Smoke Factory machines come through our operation and have always been impressed with the build quality and their longevity. Since meeting with Florian von Hoffen and the team in Germany, we have been very excited about bringing a dedicated sales and technical support service to the UK while expanding still further our new sales offering."

Smoke Factory's Florian von Hofen added, "We are very excited about this new co-operation. The UK used to be one of our most important markets, and with these dedicated partners we are looking forward to serving our existing customers as well as many new customers with Smoke Factory machines and service in the UK."

(J

New Zealand - Selecon is involved with supporting the upcoming OISTAT student Scenofest!, both with sponsorship funding and with providing Selecon Rama PCs for the Lighting Laboratory venue. This festival of scenography, held during the Praque Quadrennial in June 2007 provides an opportunity for professionals and students to get together in a truly international arena where interests and experiences are shared during in an intensive week of performance, lectures, exhibitions and workshops. There are over 300 activities on the schedule for this year.

As part of the Scenofest! programme the art of stage lighting is recognised as making its own distinctive contribution to the theatre and this is reflected in the calibre of the workshop and presentation speakers such as Beverly Emmons, Nick Schlieper and Richard Pilbrow.

Beverly Emmons has designed for Broadway, Off-

Slovakia - Leading Dutch trance-master Tisto and 6,500 enthusiastic dance music fans rocked the Incheba Expo Arena in Bratislava, Slovakia, together with one of his renowned, blockbusting theatrical shows, featuring over 60 Robe moving lights.

The lighting rig was supplied by Ministry Light and Sound from Banska Bystrica, who provided the trussing, rigging and all lighting fixtures including the Robes, plus an Avolites Pearl for control that was operated by Ludek Kovarik.

The trussing was sculpted into an interesting shape. It featured three long 'fingers' linking the stage with a circular truss that was suspended over the audience, together with several wide straight trusses, running the width of the building, positioned at FOH and at the rear of the stage.

The Robes - a mix of ColorSpot 1200 ATs and ColorSpot and ColorWash 575 ATs - were distributed all over the various tr

UK - Following PLASA 2006, ChamSys received a rather unusual request from Neil Carson of Enhance Production regarding a MagicQ PC Wing - could he have a custom colour? Thinking that most clients would perhaps opt for black, ChamSys were delighted when Neil asked for a far more unusual colour - pink.

"The pink goddess is beautiful! I have had it out on two shows already," Carson said just one week after receiving the custom PC Wing which was used for the recent Sovereigns Ball event at RMA Sandhurst Military Academy. The MagicQ PC Wing was controlling 12 Colour Block DB4 units all acting as audience blinders over an arch truss and all dimmers.

Carson added, "The wing was used because the operator, Mark Jones, was using an Avo Pearl 2000 and it became apparent that there wasn't enough power in that desk to run the LED flexibly and create many interesting looks. Th

USA - Lightswitch played a key role in the first ever Project Earth Day fashion show in New York that featured emerging eco-friendly designers displaying their latest apparel and textiles made from organic or recycled fibres, and found materials.

Sarah Jakubasz, lighting designer for Lightswitch created an overall design that used as many eco-friendly lighting fixtures as possible. Lightswitch designers use eco-friendly fixtures when ever possible on all their projects, says the company. Jakubasz created her design using Color Kinetics' Color Blaze 72s and Color Blast 12s. She also designed custom compact florescent fixtures that were placed on each end of the bars. Lending a hand to this worthy cause was Production Resource Group who provided lighting gear and helped defray some of the rental costs.

Lighting manufacture ETC also pitched in by donating some HID Source F

USA - GearSource and PRG announced today the first 'Gear-Up' sales event powered by GearSource.com, beginning on 1 May. This event will offer equipment from PRG's audio, lighting, video and rigging inventory at "unheard of 'auction-like' pricing, but without the hassle or buyer premiums associated with auctions".

All items will be sold on a first come, first served basis. "This isn't an auction, but the buying frenzy will be the same, based on the pricing we're already seeing coming in," says GearSource president Michael Fairbairn. "Obviously, PRG has a massive inventory of equipment in audio and lighting. This event is created to help them liquidate that inventory without the trouble of staging an auction," says Fairbairn. While the Gear-Up sale may eventually open up to other GearSource.com vendors, this event is exclusive to PRG's US-based invent

UK - Tomorrow's A.C. Lighting North Event (1-2 May) will see the first UK showings of two new product innovations from leading Italian trussing and rigging manufacturer Litec. The new Litec EXE-Lodestar 650C1 is a BGV-C1 multifunction electric chain hoist designed for use in the entertainment industry.

BGV-C1 is a German code of practice for the entertainment and theatrical venues, part of which covers lifting and rigging equipment. Adopting BGV-C1 is voluntary, but it is generally required to obtain insurance within Germany and is therefore rapidly becoming an industry standard across Europe. A C1 chain hoist can be defined as a unit suitable for use to move and hold loads above people, and as such has to meet certain criteria such as a design factor of 10:1, underload and overload protection and a double brake mechanism.

"We needed to make a simple hoist that could work

Denmark - Martin Architectural's Cyclo IP65 Directional Series is a new range of fully weatherproofed directional luminaires designed for outdoor illumination of facades, structures and signage. With a slim linear design based around white or coloured 54 W fluorescent tubes, the Cyclo IP65 Directional offers long-lasting performance and uniform distribution of light and colour.

Developed around Martin's fluorescent colour-mixing module, the Cyclo IP65 Directional Series is further enhanced by its use of a well-known lamp technology that ensures long lamp life (20,000 hours) and a low maintenance schedule, says the company.

The Cyclo IP65 Directional can be programmed to generate smooth variations in light and colour, as well as 'daylight' variations in colour temperature. The Series offers a choice of static colours, variable colour temperature, or RGB colour mixing. Each of t

UK - ADB Lighting's UK distributor, LSI Projects, will be showing some of the latest ADB Lighting products at this week's AC Lighting North event in Leeds.

On display will be the award-winning WARP/M (Motorised) and manual WARP zoom profile spotlights, which have recently been installed in the UK at leading venues including the Barbican Concert Hall, Glyndebourne Opera, the English National Opera's home at the London Coliseum and the London School of Speech and Drama.

Alongside it on LSI's stand will be the compact, powerful ADB Mentor control console, whose leading UK customers include ITN and the BBC, which has taken delivery of ten consoles for its UK regional television studios and recently ordered another two of the desks for a new London studio that will open in June.

LSI Projects will also be displaying the Europe and Eurospot luminaires, two of ADB's best-selling lig

UK - Germany-based lighting control systems specialist MA Lighting invited friends and colleagues to the opening of its new London office and showroom yesterday. The opening of the office follows success for MA's lighting control systems in London's West End, on shows including Thoroughly Modern Millie, Mamma Mia!, Avenue Q, Wicked, Sinatra and the Blue Man Group, as well as the upcoming productions of Lord of the Rings and The Drowsy Chaperone.

The company has also reports seeing strong uptake of its lighting control systems in the touring rental, TV/studio and architainment markets.

The new London office will have a dedicated technical support and sales team in place to support the UK market, and the company plans to open its New York office later this month, through its US distributor A.C.T Lighting, to service its growing Broadway presence.

(Lee Bald

UK - Hawthorn supplied lighting and staging for the recent International Visual Communications Association Awards Ceremony, held in the Great Room at Grosvenor House, London.

The theme of the evening was the Four Seasons, and for the room lighting, Hawthorn's LD Matt Oscroft used PAR cans and Selecon Cool 90s, complete with gobo break-ups to change the mood from season to season throughout the ceremony.

Working for The Staging House, Hawthorn also installed a 76ft x 12ft foot stage using its Steeldeck modular staging units, as the stage had to be large enough not only for the live band, but also to hold all of the award winners together for group photos at the end of the awards.

Hawthorn's stage backdrop consisted of an 18m x 6m Prolyte truss goal post, with a starcloth backdrop and sharkstooth gauze panel in front. LD Oscroft used the gauze as a projection surface fo

UK - The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) recently completed the purchase of 10 Martin Professional MAC TW1 80 V Tungsten fixtures with narrow lenses. Specified for King Lear and The Seagull by lighting designer Neil Austin, the RSC also bought eight Atomic 3000 strobes.

The RSC attracts audiences and artists from around the world to its three theatres (Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Swan Theatre and Courtyard Theatre) in Stratford-upon-Avon. Currently, King Lear and The Seagull are performed in repertoire at the 1500 seat Courtyard Theatre. The two productions make up the last of the RSC's Complete Works season after which the productions will embark on a world tour that includes stops in Singapore, New Zealand, Australia and the East and West Coasts of America before returning to the UK. The remainder of the tour will be played over an eight week

USA - ESTA's Technical Standards Program announces that two draft standards have been posted on the ESTA website for public review through 25 June 2007.

The draft standards, BSR E1.35-200x, Standard for Lens Quality Measurements for Pattern Projecting Luminaires Intended for Entertainment Use, and BSR E1.36-200x, Model Procedure for Permitting the Use of Tungsten-Halogen Incandescent Lamps and Stage and Studio Luminaires in Vendor Exhibit Booths in Convention and Trade Show Exhibition Halls, can be accessed at http://www.esta.org/tsp/documents/public_review_docs.php

BSR E1.35-200x, Standard for Lens Quality Measurements for Pattern Projecting Luminaires Intended for Entertainment Use, describes a method for measuring stage and studio luminaire lens quality with particular emp

USA - Josh Groban began his 29-city North American concert tour in with the grandMA in tow for lighting control. Groban's tour was in support of his latest studio album, Awake on Reprise. His two previous studio CDs have been certified five times platinum with the most recent, Closer"I fell in love with the grandMA after the Paul McCartney tour a couple of years ago," explained lighting director Wally Lees. "It was the only console that could do the job. The grandMA has a lot of universes, and its NSPs are so stable. I got great backup from MA and A.C.T."

For this tour, Groban wanted a more industrial rock look for the lighting even though he's not recognised as that kind of performer. He asked production designer Roy

UK - Almost 30 years after Nottingham's Theatre Royal reopened to the public following extensive refurbishment work and 25 years since the Royal Concert Hall was unveiled, Theatre Projects Consultants is providing theatre consulting services to the Royal Centre Nottingham again.

The Royal Centre, a celebrated Nottingham landmark and regular touring venues, is currently undertaking a strategic review. MD James Ashworth explains, "Theatre Projects were the natural choice for the job with their intimate knowledge of the building, having helped us conceive it during the 1970s and 80s. With a vast portfolio of experience and an unparalleled reputation for excellence, we believed they would assist us in ensuring the Royal Centre continues to be one of the country's finest facilities for the 25 years."

Theatre Projects is currently celebrating its 50th anniversary of consul

UK - Robe ColorSpot 2500E ATs were specified by Dancing on Ice Live lighting designer Mark Cunniffe and lighting director Svend Pedersen. These are a major element of the lighting scheme for the sold out arena tour which follows the second hugely successful Dancing On Ice TV series.

The 2500s were chosen for their power and intensity and also their reliability. 21 of the CS 2500E ATs are rigged onto the main trussing structure above the ice, consisting of a circle in the centre, with eight spines radiating outwards towards the edges of the ice. There are six units on the circle and then either one or two on each of the eight spine trusses. There's another four above the judge's panel at the end of the ice rink, and six on the floor directly behind them.

Pedersen has been a Robe advocate ever since the first time he used ColorSpot 1200 ATs two years ago on a TV sp

UK - Bandit Lites UK supplied full lighting production and crew for the Once In A lifetime Rewind tour, featuring a line-up of UK and US artists from the 1970's - Showaddywaddy, David Cassidy, David Essex and The Osmonds.

Bandit also supplied the original Once In A Lifetime (OIAL) tour in 2005 as well as the OIAL country tour in 2006, all project managed by Bandit Lites' Lester Cobrin.

For this Rewind tour, the lighting design was completely reworked by Bandit's production designer, Dizzy Gosnell from their San Francisco office, which included the addition of a moving truss system. This enabled the rig to be moved into different shapes for all the acts. Although there was a specific running order, they were all effectively headliners.

"Making each artist look different was the biggest task for me," says lighting director and console operator Pe

Poland - Telewizja Polska (TVP SA) which is one of the largest stations in Europe has invested in a variety of lighting equipment by ETC. Impressed by the calibre of lighting control on the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest, which was done with four ETC Congo consoles, TVP decided to acquire its own Congo.

According to Janusz Plewin'ski, the general lighting operator for TVP in Poznan, "Congo is a good choice for mid- to large-sized studios, particularly because the console doesn't use a touchscreen. Its versatile faders and keys allow quick shortcuts to help lighting designers keep up with the busy world of broadcasting."

Congo's 'zoomable' channel views are another helpful feature for television studios, as well as the zoomable Channel Layout function that allows users to draw their own live displays using standard channel symbols or icons. TVP technicians apprec

USA - Wybron has appointed Bryan Steele as Northeastern regional sales manager for the company. Steele replaces Miles Dudgeon who previously held the position and was promoted to director of marketing at Wybron.

Prior to joining Wybron, Steele was the Rosco Laboratories account executive in charge of covering the northeastern United States. He is currently an artist in residence at the University of New Haven.

"Bryan is a terrific salesperson, well-known and liked in our industry," said Larry Turner, CEO of Wybron. "Many of our dealers have written me to congratulate us on hiring him and tell us how much they look forward to working with him as he transitions to Wybron. Additionally, Bryan's background as a lighting designer really gives him a clear understanding of our clients needs."

(Jim Evans)

UK - Research for the proposed National Skills Academy for the Creative and Cultural Industries suggests that current and projected growth in live entertainment will generate demand for an extra 10,000 skilled offstage and technical staff over the next decade. And with half of the current workforce expected to retire or leave the industry by 2017, the total estimated number of recruits required rises to around 30,000.

Major employers in the theatre, live music and events industries already report serious difficulties recruiting qualified and experienced professionals in a wide range of disciplines including lighting, sound, stage controls and specialist backstage support staff.

Since January 2007, more than 300 individuals and organisations - including employers, trade bodies and freelancers - have been consulted on the Skills Academy proposal being developed by Creative & Cul

USA - It's rodeo time in Texas, and MA's grandMA made its debut at the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo where two consoles were used to control the main and perimeter lighting rigs for star turns by leading performers.

"What's unique about this show is that you're dealing with 20 performing artists in 20 days," notes LD Systems' John Dickson, who handled all the overhead stage lighting. "And that means 20 different lighting designers. They don't run the board; they give you ideas to translate. The challenge is coming up with different looks using exactly the same rig every night.

The grandMA is really fluid, and its timecode is totally cool. Two shows were done to timecode: the National Anthem and a multimedia presentation honouring the volunteers and featuring a brief history of the rodeo. The grandMAs took the timecode feed better than any other system I've used

UK - SPS has just completed its work for the Institute of Directors Annual Conference, a one day event that featured presentations by high profile business leaders at London's Royal Albert Hall.

SPS has worked on the IoD flagship event for four years and utilised its extensive experience to design and construct the impressive stage set. SPS used LED screen technology both as a graphic display and a powerful lighting source. This allowed the 2,500 company directors attending the event a clear view of the stage. These LED screens coupled with two large video projection screens created a dramatic stage set. SPS's creative team also produced the graphics and visual content.

The theme of this year's event was Success in a Challenging World. It examined topics such as the rapidly expanding European Union, globalisation of markets and environmental issues. Key note speakers in

Denmark - Martin Professional's Stagebar 54 is a compact, powerful LED luminaire with a comprehensive colour range, all-in-one simplicity and a tough temperament for the touring market. It functions as a pixel bar for displaying imagery and video or as a wash luminaire for floodlighting surfaces and stages, says the company.

The Stagebar 54 is bright enough to be matched with other light sources. With five coloured diodes (Red, Green, Blue, Amber and White), instead of the usual three, the Stagebar 54 offers a broad range of colors. Lens options include a 29° standard lens or opaque diffuser.

A central feature of the Stagebar 54 is the ability to create even and consistent colours. Each pixel board has been measured and calibrated, "guaranteeing standardized brightness and colour performance".

To ensure the best possible lumen performance, on-demand fans monito

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