UK - The BBC show, Tonight's The Night is now in its third series and still presented by West End star John Barrowman.

Richard Martin Lighting (RML) continues to support lighting designer Roger Williams on the show which is filmed at BBC Glasgow. Tom Sutherland programmed and graphics were provided by Potion Pictures which were run off two Hippo Grasshoppers.

The lighting rig, incorporates a heavy variety of the Clay Paky range - Alpha Spot 575 HPE, Alpha Beam 700 and Alpha Wash 300s.

Various LED Lights completed the look - including LED Par 36, 2 Lights, iCove QL and Chroma Strips and the new intelligent LED chasing ribbon.

(Jim Evans)

International - There are just 10 days remaining to make your nomination for the 2011 Gottelier Award.

When the Nomination phase closes on Friday 29 July, the shortlist will be announced and voting - open to PLASA Members, as well as PLASA Show Exhibitors and Pre-Registered Visitors - will begin on Monday 1 August.

This prestigious award is presented each year during the PLASA Show to someone who has made "a significant and sustained contributions to the advancement of entertainment, presentation or installation technology - whether in audio, lighting, rigging, staging, or any other related field".

The Award was introduced in memory of Tony Gottelier, the highly respected lighting designer, product developer and industry commentator who passed away in 2006.

Previous Winners:

2007 - Tony Andrews | Funktion-One

2008 - John Stadius | DiGiCo / Soundtra

Theatres at Risk - The Theatres Trust has called on local communities to fight to save theatre buildings which are at risk. Some 58 UK buildings are on the trust's 2011 'at risk' register, with the Brighton Astoria and London's Cochrane Theatre among those facing demolition. It said it hoped legislation, including the new Localism Bill, would empower groups and individuals to "take on the guardianship of theatres at risk".

Theatres in Wallsend, Alsager, Ayr and Glasgow were all recently demolished. The at risk register also features theatres threatened by neglect, local development, funding cuts and closure. The trust said this year's register highlighted the impact of austerity measures over the past year. It praised "the tireless efforts of community and campaign groups who are the guardian angels of many UK theatres". But it said there was still "a de

Australia - Lighting designer Rohan Thornton is singing the praises of the Clay Paky Sharpy and the Alpha Spot 1500. "On all productions I now instantly specify 16 of each model - I would ask for more but that's all there is available for hire," he claims.

As head of lighting for Australian broadcaster GTV 9, Thornton has used the Clay Paky Alpha Spot HPE 1500 on such projects as The Footy Show Grand Final Special, Carols By Candlelight, This Is Your Life, TV Week Logie Awards and Million Dollar Drop.

"The Alpha Spot HPE 1500s are a great light," he said. "They are bright, but that's not the most important thing, the optics is sensational, the zoom range is great and the colours are consistent. The CTO wheel is particularly good and manages to remove the 'green' spike that their competitors have been unable to achieve

Czech Republic - Robe lighting supported the 12th Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space (PQ), by supplying moving lights and technical assistance for the 2011 PQ Awards ceremony, staged in the National Theatre's New Stage auditorium.

The Awards celebrated some of the most creative and innovative work and practitioners from the world of theatre, film and live arts. Equal space was given to street art, site specific interventions, socially engaged performance and puppet theatre as well as conventional forms of theatre.

The 10 awards categories ranged from gold medals for visuals, sound, production and stage design and emerging new talents to the Golden Triga for the Best Exposition, all of them recognising invention and imagination worldwide. The 'Best Use of Theatre Technology' Award went to Croatia's Numen/For Use project.

Attended by thousands of interna

UK - Entec Sound & Light co-ordinated the full European touring production package and sourced key crew for the recent X Japan tour, and also supplied lighting equipment.

This was the first foray into Europe for the cult Japanese heavy metal superstars founded in 1989, who reformed in 2009 having disbanded in 1997 at the peak of a remarkable career in Japan. They have recorded four studio albums and sold over 30m records and 2m home videos.

Entec was brought in by the band's tour director Richard Ames who due to his own busy schedule touring with Supertramp in Canada, realised that it would be a practical and tactical decision to get an experienced European based rental company onboard to advance and handle all aspects of the tour, including crewing and sorting all the technical production departments.

Says Ames, "I specifically wanted a company that was dynamic and agi

UK - The Reflection LEDko, Coemar's LED profiler that had its world preview at ProLight+Sound in Frankfurt, received a special mention during the ABTT 2011 Awards ceremony.

Reflection LEDko (in the Soft Profile and Profile versions) is the first LED profiler able to project a shaped light with diffused edges, also offering the possibility to reproduce any tone and nuance of colour, and any shade of white, says the company.

It guarantees reduced installation costs and maintenance, and cuts energy consumption by at least 70%. What's more, it allows you to print gobos on glossy paper using a normal printer. The costs of lamp replacement, dimmer, scroller and gelatine are eliminated.

Reflection LEDko is available in three models: Reflection LEDko Full Spectrum, Reflection LEDko VariWhite 3000/7000 K, and Reflection LEDko White 3200 K, with Soft Profile and Profile optics.

(Jim

Lighting Innovation Hermann Sorger GmbH will launch its INNO Four 25°-50° zoom HMI effects projector, which the company describes as an "unprecedentedly powerful effect projector for its compact dimensions".

All effect parameters are DMX-controllable and the unit is based, the company says, on the brilliant optics of the ETC Source Four Zoom. The design combines the high intensity of the INNO Four 575 HMI lamp house with the GAM SX4 effect universal motor drive and electronic zoom and INNO Dim to create a high-intensity projection effect.

The picture shows a lighting installation entitled 'Chromotopia St. Stephan' at Vienna?s trademark St. Stephan?s Cathedral by Viennese light artist Victoria Coeln.

PLASA 2011 1-C4

Retop will show the latest in its range of cutting-edge LED displays in the shape of its new 12.5mm mesh product. Specially developed for the indoor and outdoor rental and staging markets, the IP65-rated product measures 400mm X 400mm and weighs in at just 3.5kg.

The company says it has invested in a fully automated encapsulation robot to manufacture the mesh, which is designed to be transparent, light in weight, and easy to build up and break down.

Off-axis viewing is cited as 140? (horizontal and vertical). The company adds: "With its hanging brackets and plug and play connectors for data and power, a display size of 100m2 can be built up in less than two hours by just two people, with no steel frame being required."

PLASA 2011 1-J40

USA - Thanks to the residency of the Royal Shakespeare Company in New York's Park Avenue Armory this summer, you can meet the man behind the RSC Lightlock and see how he uses this innovation to light Shakespeare's works.

Vince Herbert, head of the Lighting Department for the RSC, will be on hand to demonstrate the RSC Lightlock's technology, discuss its evolution, and explain its use in the lighting system installed for the company's residency in New York. The event will be held on Tuesday, 2 August in the Wade Thompson Drill Hall of the Park Avenue Armory beginning at 2pm. The event is free and open to the first 50 registrants.

In addition to his responsibilities as the head of the RSC's Lighting Department, and his work in developing the award-winning technology of the Lightlock, Herbert has also overseen the reconstruction of the company's main theatre and home at Stratford

UK - Black Light has announced new dates for its Rigging and Working at Height in the Entertainment Industry training course.

The course is designed to provide the knowledge and practical guidance needed to work safely when rigging equipment high above a stage or auditorium. It is proving extremely popular, so the company has scheduled three new training sessions that will take place later in the year.

Course dates now available for booking are: 21-23 September, 12-14 October and 2-4 November 2w011. The three-day Course is £390 ex VAT and attendance is required on all three days. You can get more information about the course and Black Light's training programme at www.black-light.com

(Jim Evans)

The first of two companies to announce new LED displays so far, VISS Lighting will show no less than five new products at the show.

Its THIN4/6/8(P4/6/8) LED display and PADORA 10 LED floor are the latest, headed by the THIN4/6/8 super-slim high resolution LED tile display which, says VISS, offers low weight, high clarity and is just 1cm thick. Each tile measures 500 x 500mm, weighs 6kg and features SMD 3-in-1 technology, with a viewing angle of 140° (horizontal) by 110° (vertical).

The Curtain 12 LED strip screen is designed for stage background rental applications using high-density, high brightness SMD 3-in-1 LEDs. Pixel pitch is 12.5mm and each panel measures 1200 x 600 x 48mm and weighs 6.5kg. Transparency is quoted at 44% with 140° (horizontal) by 110° (vertical) viewing angles.

The KingKong 20 LED display is a multi-purpose IP65-rated 20mm pixel pitch LED dis

UK - Lighting&Sound International magazine is now available in app form - Get access to the latest digital edition as well as our huge archive with LSi-View!

Readers can download the free app from Apple's App Store and browse the magazine on their iPhone or iPad, wherever they are.

LSi-View not only allows you to flick through the latest digital edition of the magazine (as well as our archive of back issues), you are also able to download useful or favourite issues or articles for future reference.

To visit the App Store and download your free LSi-View app, simply click here.

(Claire Beeson)

UK - A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET) provided the architectural lighting system for the Clubhouse of the British Racing Drivers' Club (BRDC) at Silverstone racing circuit, for their annual British Grand Prix Ball event.

The BRDC Ball is held in a luxury marquee erected adjacent to the Members' Clubhouse on the Saturday evening of the Formula 1 Santander British Grand Prix weekend, it has always attracted the crème of the membership, including leading GP drivers and motorsport stars past and present.

Personalities from the motor racing fraternity including BRDC president, Damon Hill OBE and Formula 1 Force India driver, Paul Di Resta appeared on stage to talk about their experiences to motor racing UK TV commentator, Louise Goodman.

AC-ET, a patron of the British Racing Drivers' Club's exclusive Rising Stars Programme, worked closely with the BRDC events team to deli

UK - The prime time NBC game show, Minute to Win It is about to hit UK TV screens. Lighting designer Will Charles, supported by Richard Martin Lighting (RML) has been chosen to implement the American show to the British audience.

Charles chose to use RML LED 12 Lights, GLP Impressions, Sharpys, VL1000TS, VL3500 Washes and Chroma Banks.

(Jim Evans)

Italy - Made even more evocative by Coemar lights, the eleventh edition of the d'Amore e Moda (Love and Fashion) show, the most important performance-fashion television slot of Retequattro, was hosted in Alghero.

The common theme was Made in Italy and once again the event included fashion shows and musical performances, with Roberto Vecchioni and Dolcenera.

The lighting system provided by Franchino Service included the Panorama Cyc Power 2x575W with TLT patented double lamps placed on the ground for the lighting of all the layer towers; the small but high performance iSpot 150, with silver colour personalized by the covers, positioned on the ground along both sides of the 14m catwalk; the Infinity Wash XL 1400W and the Testa 2500W followspot for the lighting of the stage mounted on the front and side layer towers; the iSpot 150, iWash 575 and Par Lite LED for the

UK - Live communications and production agency DesignScene production designed and managed the first full scale large live event to be staged at the new flagship St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, a charity fundraiser organised by the Anderson Foundation in aid of The National Autistic Society.

It is the second year that DesignScene has produced the event for the Anderson Foundation. The project was managed for them by Ben Turner, and designed by DesignScene's creative director, Attila Keskin. Turner comments, "It was very exciting to be working in London's newest high profile hotel. As nothing this large had been done before we had a real chance to set a standards."

The high profile Anderson Foundation event for about 250 people was staged in the hotel's main space off the main reception areas. DesignScene's brief included the specification and supply of lighting, sound

UK Rental company HSL continued its working relationship with Production North, supplying the lighting design and equipment to the recent Olly Murs UK tour.

The chart topping singer/songwriter and runner up of X-Factor 2009 has evolved a live performance style of his own, cutting a new and fresh model from that of other successful reality TV contestants who follow up with solo careers. Show producer Beth Honan's stage set was designed with a ska/2 Tone flourish, and Murs' performance included some Madness inspired quirks and a generally up-beat, jaunty tone, backed by a nine- piece band including full brass section.

The lighting design was created by Phil Wiffin for HSL. Dave Lee operated and looked after everything on the road, working alongside tech Johnny Harper. HSL's project manager Mike Oates comments, "Once again Production North compiled a great team to pro

Europe - An addition to the Philips Entertainment LED lighting arsenal is the Philips Strand Lighting LightPack LED controller.

Grant Bales Smith, sales manager for UK, Scandinavia and Benelux for Philips Entertainment EMEA explains, "Smart addressing technology has simplified LED fixture set up by ensuring that end users can quickly address any luminaire in the Philips PLTR1 range.

"The range features three types - the PLTR1W (Tunable White Flood), the PLTR1RGB (RGB Colour Mixing) and the PLTR1RGBAW (five colour unit with tunable colour temp settings). Each one has different channel requirements and differing features.

"The LightPack LED controller can sense which unit is which and assigns the correct number of channels. It can also include a virtual dimmer channel and is capable of setting the mode of a fixture i.e. 8 or 16 bit. The LightPack LED controller'

Germany - From the beginning of September 2011, MA Lighting, its German distributor Lightpower and the media academy once again offer all current and upcoming grandMA2 users in Germany access to the MA University training programme in Paderborn.

This is in addition to the training programme that is offered in cooperation with the media academy in Berlin, so customers now have an additional choice of location to visit for their training.

All training dates are published on the Lightpower website (www.lightpower.de). More information about the MA University can be found there as well, together with full details of the training, including an in depth explanation.

(Jim Evans)

UK - Grey skies and a spattering of rain failed to dampen the enthusiasm of more than 300 industry clients and friends attending White Light's Open Day last Thursday - an event that allowed guests to explore White Light's new additional warehouse space, get hands-on with some of the latest lighting products, enjoy some great food, fine company, and be entertained by music from White Light's in-house band.

The new warehouse space, directly adjacent to White Light's existing building in Wimbledon, south-west London, gives White Light an additional 20,000sq.ft of working space, which will be used to accommodate the company's ever growing range of sales products, to provide additional pre-rig space for tours and other shows, and to create a demo area that will allow lighting designers to try out equipment in a decent sized space, or even to hang rigs for pre-lighting or rehearsal.

Sweden - Gröna Lund Amusement Park, located in Stockholm, has recently inaugurated two new rides, including the Blå Tåget.

The Blå Tåget ride already existed but has gone through a total makeover. This ride is a ghost train loaded with new chills, thrills and effects especially designed for visitors' enjoyment. The train passes through several chambers, each filled with skeletons, scarecrows, rats, wolves, fire, lightning, ghosts and more.

The setting inside the ride was designed by artist Magnus Sörman and the entrance to the ride was designed by Joakim Hansén. For the technical making of this scary adventure-ride, Kreativ Teknik was contacted by Gröna Lund. Kreativ Teknik, a Swedish-based company which mainly works with lighting, control systems and effects, selected Medialon to be part of the project.

Kreativ Teknik delivered a total solution including light

Czech Republic - Moving light and LED manufacturer Robe lighting will sponsor and co-organise the 2013 Showlight conference, which will be held in ?eský Krumlov in south Bohemia.

Staged every four years, Showlight is an international symposium organised by and for professionals working in all areas of lighting and the visual arts including video and projections, stage and set design.

Open to all, from the most experienced practitioners to the most enthusiastic aspirants across all sectors of the performing arts and entertainment industries, the four-day colloquium is supported by an exhibition and a full social programme for networking.

A diverse range of individuals attend Showlight. It is a forum for discussion, debate and exchange of knowledge and ideas, as well as an opportunity for approximately 400 guests to see a selection of the latest technology available. Companie

The Netherlands - eldoLED's LINEARdrive 720D - designed for full-colour LED applications in entertainment, stage, façade and architectural lighting - has been upgraded to support 5V, 12V, 24V and 48V LED strips.

The LED strips can even operate concurrently, giving designers increased freedom and future proofing for the installation, says the company. The LINEARdrive, which dims down to as low as 0.1%, can be used with all leading protocols (DALI, DMX, DMX/RDM, 0-10V). A wealth of configurations settings is set over the intuitive user interface.

Thanks to the driver's Remote Device Management support, you can easily track down and address your luminaires from an RDM capable DMX controller. There is no need to open luminaires to re-address the driver during installation or re-commissioning.

When using the LINEARdrive in a DMX network, you can easily configure it to get the li

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