USA - A new International Green Theatre Alliance (IGTA) has been launched at this year's LDI show in Orlando, Florida. The IGTA formalises the growing partnership between Julie's Bicycle (UK), which works on environmental sustainability across the creative industries in the UK, and the Broadway Green Alliance (USA), which works with the US theatre community and its patrons to adopt environmentally preferable practices.

The Alliance's first project is a new website www.igtalliance.com which will go live in December 2011 and provide an entry point for international practitioners seeking information and resources on environmentally sustainable best practice in the arts. The website will introduce the extensive sustainability programmes of alliance members and direct users to international resources and support networks.

Alliance members will be working together on a range of proj

USA - The 2011 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee was the Greenest one yet. Bandit Lites delivered very green systems for both the main and the second stage at this major event.

Production guru Hadden Hipsley of Lambda Productions once again called on Bandit Lites to serve as prime lighting contractor for the three-day arts and music festival. Bandit's Dizzy Gosnell worked with Hadden, Leslie Radigan, Joel Carmichael, Steve Drymalski, AC Entertainment, Superfly Productions and Coran Capshaws Red Light Management to provide the artists with their illumination needs at the award-winning event.

Artists at the 2011 Bonnaroo included Widespread Panic, Eminem, Lil Wayne, Arcade Fire, Buffalo Springfield, My Morning Jacket, Mumford and Sons, The Strokes, Primus, Robert Plant and The Band of Joy, The Black Keys, Galactic, Wiz Khalifa, The Decemberists, Grace Pot

UK - White Light is lending its support to Omnibus Clapham, a charity established with the aim of turning the former library of Clapham, south-west London, into an arts performance hub for the community.

With Clapham's existing library facilities due to relocate to a new building, part of a leisure and residential complex, in 2012, future plans for the traditional library building have been uncertain. Omnibus is a group of local people determined to see the building retained and transformed into a vibrant local arts centre.

To support their campaign, Omnibus is running a series of events in the library featuring famous local residents -so far, acclaimed actress Miriam Margolyes and author and broadcaster John O'Farrell.

To help transform the library into a makeshift performance space, Omnibus' George Owen turned to another local resident, lighting designer Rob Halliday, who

UK / USA - This year has been a memorable one for Irish indie band, The Script and their lighting designer, Jamie Thompson. Not only has he been touring a highly creative lighting set - scalable to arenas and stadiums - but has been rewarded for his efforts by receiving a coveted Knight of Illumination Award.

The lighting design, co-conceived with Bryan Leitch, was inspired by the rustic gold colour artwork of last year's Science & Faith album - and heavy usage of GLP's impression 90 and impression Zoom has helped him to recreate that feel - with more than 100 of the GLP impression wash lights used on the overhead trusses and under the floor grilles as uplighters.

Thompson has been working with the band for almost three years. "I was asked to cover a few shows and ended up getting on really well with the band. They have a lot of ballads and big tracks and they trus

USA For the Elm Shakespeare Company's annual free summer Shakespeare production in New Haven, Connecticut's Edgerton Park, Robert Juliat followspots once again played a key role, this time for The Bard's Measure For Measure. Some 30,000 people attended performances through August and over the Labour Day weekend.

"It was be our fifth season using Robert Juliat spots," says Jamie Burnett, who serves as lighting designer, production manager, resident set designer and master electrician for the Company. "We used the Super Korrigan [1200-watt HMI] and Topaze [1200-watt MSD] fixtures for the play, and their light output is great."

Previously, Burnett tapped Robert Juliat followspots for The Three Musketeers where the fixtures were placed in towers in a downstage side light position. He says the production was "one of our most elaborate to date

Japan - The latest autumn/winter Tokyo Girls Collection (TGC) fashion show was lit in great style at the Saitama Super Arena in Tokyo by lighting designer Masaaki Aiba and lighting co-ordinator Yoichi Ashikawa, using 90 Robe moving lights supplied by Tokyo based rental company M Tech Style.

The high profile twice yearly TGC event has grown to epic proportions since its beginnings in 2005 - "bringing Japan's 'real clothes' to the world" - and is a big hit on the fashion calendar, showcasing streetwear by domestic designers. This year over 30,000 people enjoyed the five-hour live stage show, where the designer collections were interspersed with bands, music and other entertainment.

Yoichi Ashikawa of M Tech Style has worked on many previous shows and projects using Robe. The latest TGC show was particularly challenging to light from many different aspects. Not least be

Italy - High End Systems' products play a part in the entertainment spectacle, Ben Hur Live, which debuted 29 September at Rome's Nuova Fiera di Roma (Roman Fair) stadium.

Media Resource Group (MRG) delivered, installed and are now supporting the sound, lighting, rigging and communication services to the production. MRG supplied High End Systems gear from Preworks Austria: 54 intellaspot automated luminaires, two Road Hog Full Boar consoles, two Road Hog Playback Wings and four DMX Processor 8000s.

Preworks' general manager Andreas Reinbacher said, "Ben Hur Live has raised the bar of live spectacles so high, it requires creating a new word for its classification in the production industry: monu-tainment. Monumental entertainment."

Live chariot races are just one part of the production - with 100 performers and 100 animals, specially trained horses, an

UK - The new Chroma-Q Color Force Compact is a powerful creative lighting tool that works in harmony with the popular Color Force range. The Compact is billed as a cost-effective workhorse, suitable for a wide range of applications. Utilising core LED technology from the Color Force range, the fixture provides 1700 lumens in a cost-effective, slim, compact profile while maintaining color compatibility with the rest of the range.

Despite measuring only 235mm / 9.25" in length, the Color Force Compact produces a powerful 1700 lumens output - making it suitable for lighting areas with a very small footprint.

Up to five fixtures can be daisy-chained from each 15-way Compact PSU output, eliminating the need to home-run a cable from each fixture back to the PSU. In addition, up to four fixtures per output can be daisy-chained on a Chroma-Q Color Block PSU (PSU-05B, PSU530).

T

UK - Cooper Controls has announced the launch of Version 7.0 ZerOS software for the Zero 88 Leap Frog 48, Leap Frog 96, Frog 2 and ORB Series consoles.

ZerOS 7.0 is the most substantial update to the ZerOS software platform to date, incorporating over 30 new features including: a completely redesigned look and style for an enhanced, clearer user interface; Colour Filter lookup - match your moving lights to any Lee, Rosco or Apollo filter using on-screen palette keys or syntax; A new 'Fixture Levels' window to provide instant view and modification of tracking data for the entire cue stack.

"The launch of ZerOS 7.0 is a testament to the investment Cooper has made in Zero 88 over the last four years. During this time our software capability has been growing and growing, and the launch of ZerOS 7.0 is the latest addition to this powerful platform" commented Peter Kirkup,

UK - Manchester-based lighting rental company dbn supplied a lighting design and equipment for the Opening Ceremony of the 2011 Commonwealth Youth Games stage in The Bowl Stadium, Douglas, Isle of Man.

dbn's Nick Buckley designed a lighting scheme for the show which was produced by Walk The Plank - a regular dbn arts based client renowned for their innovative and entertaining large scale shows. Says Buckley: "We are very proud to have been involved in this event. Working with Walk The Plank and their creative director Liz Pugh is always interesting, challenging and engaging, and this was no exception".

Walk The Plank's 30 minute theatrical element of the two hour long Opening Ceremony show - which also featured the Athletes Parade - was divided into three dance-orientated sections. An intro spectacular was followed by a tribute to the Isle of Man's culture including

USA - The second annual Moogfest, held 28-30 October in Asheville, North Carolina, engaged Bandit Lites to provide illumination services for the main stage in the Asheville Civic Centre. Production manager Joel Carmichael and lighting director Brooke Kimple worked with Bandit San Francisco GM Dizzy Gosnell to provide the stunning show. Bandit crew Chuck Hastings and Sam Harden were the onsite gurus making the gear sing and dance.

Kimple used a fan of angled trusses running up to down stage covered in Thomas 2 Lite Units, VL 3000 Spots, VL 3500 Washes, Pixelines, and GRN Moving Washes. Kimple's console of choice was the HES Road Hog with a wing. The rich, vivid wash provided by the battery of LED based fixtures provided Kimple a broad pallet on which to work the hard edge lights throughout the event. His art was nothing short of amazing.

Artists of note that appeared at Moogfes

USA - Atomic Lighting of Lititz, Pennsylvania scored two high-profile TV gigs for grandMA2 lighting consoles when it supplied gear for season three of NBC's a cappella singing competition, The Sing Off and Fox's live telecast of the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards from LA's Nokia Theatre.

Felix Peralta, who shares lighting director duties with Kevin Lawson on The Sing Off used a pair of grandMA2 light consoles for show. "We made the jump to grandMA2 with the Miss America pageant this year," Peralta reports. "I haven't gone back since. I'm a big fan of the grandMA2 and all the new software features. We used 48 universes of DMX to accommodate the gear-heavy music series. The show file gets bigger and bigger with each episode; we've compiled hundreds of effects."

Twenty seven Clay Paky Alpha Profile 700 and 30 Sharpy fixtures were used for the

UK - A.C. Entertainment Technologies' lighting division will showcase the latest film, television and broadcast products from its key distributed brands at the BVE North show, Manchester Central 16-17 November.

Chroma-Q's Color Force and Studio Force LED battens and fixtures will be highlighted - specifically the new Studio Force LED range - which has been designed for TV, film, studio and touring applications as well as exhibitions, corporate events and theatre shows.

Studio Force is available in 12" (300mm), 48" (1.2m) and 72" (1.8m) versions, and the range features a choice of 6,100K CCT, daylight white (Studio Force D) and 3,000K - 6,100K CCT, variable white (Studio Force V) models - between them providing an extreme output ranging from 5,300 up to 28,000 lumens.

AC-ET carries one of the largest stocks of Manfrotto and Avenger stands and grip in Europe, an

USA - Elation Professional has introduced two new LED par cans - Opti RGBA and OPTI QA. The Opti RGBA is a compact yet powerful stage wash that produces "an infinite rainbow of eye-popping colours via its 36 1-watt LEDs: 10 Red, 10 Green, 10 Blue and six Amber. The Opti QA is the same case design but is powered by 18 x 5W RGBA LEDs that feature Elation's exclusive Quad-Color technology, combining red, green, blue and amber in one LED source.

Adding amber to the LED mix gives the colours a deeper, more zesty glow, making the Opti RGBA suitable choice for a wide variety of stage, theatrical, concert, video and display applications, where a warmer-toned wash is desired, says the company.

"We developed the Opti RGBA as an updated model to our popular Opti RGB with improvements for lighting pros who want the same great features but more colour range as well as power con i

UK - West London based Entec Sound & Light celebrated 25 years of supplying lighting to cult Gothic rockers, The Mission, a remarkable achievement, and an anniversary also shared by Entec's own Adam Stevenson, who has worked both with Entec and - on and off - the band for a quarter of a century.

An incendiary gig at Brixton Academy, The Mission XXV- sold out months in advance - saw the Mission back in their original line up - all apart from the drummer, and this was followed by a club tour around Europe.

Stevenson was asked by lead singer Wayne Hussey amd manager George Allen to design a special show for Brixton, and leapt at the opportunity. "It was a real honour - the band have been such an important part of my life and I still think of them as friends and family first and employers second after all these years". He was also the only original crew member to clock t

UK - London-based design studio United Visual Artists (UVA) have created the stage design for the latest Red Hot Chili Peppers 'I'm With You' tour. Using d3, their real-time production toolkit, UVA were able to pre-visualise moving and expanding screens, as well as to pre-sequence the show months before the tour started. d3 was then successfully integrated with the GrandMA lighting console for maximum versatility in live show control and expanded to receive tracking data from the TAIT Navigator system. d3 will continue to be used throughout the RHCP world tour.

Functioning as a 3D pre-visualiser, real-time sequencer and output tool, d3 has for the first time been successfully integrated with the GrandMA lighting console for the most flexible live show operation. During show time the GrandMA sends Art-Net commands to d3, which triggers the chosen track and specific cue, as well a

USA - Parasol Advanced Systems of Vancouver, BC, Canada, was stopping traffic with its new KLRTM System (Kinetic Light Ring) during LDI 2011in Orlando on the Clay Paky booth, demonstrated with 12 Clay Paky Sharpys.

With its eye-catching display, Clay Paky won the LDI Booth Award for 'Most Creative Use of Light' at a ceremony on the show floor on Saturday, 29 October. The award was accepted by Clay Paky chief commercial officer Pio Nahum, who thanked Parasol for their involvement in making the Clay Paky booth the talk of the show.

Nahum says, "The Parasol system made a spectacular contribution to our booth, and is an ideal partner to our Sharpy spotlight. Apart from being unique on the market, the KLR system is standardised and completely market-ready. I feel sure that the Parasol system will be widely adopted and initiate an entirely new approach to designing with automat

Europe - Following the success of the first leg of the Europe and Middle East wide Vista roadshow, Jands has confirmed the next set of dates through November and December in Germany, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium and Poland.

The roadshow is designed to give everyone a chance to take a look for themselves at the next generation Vista v2 software for the Jands Vista lighting and media control range.

Events in Norway, Sweden and Switzerland have proven to be a major success, with much positive feedback received afterwards from attendees, says the company.

Jands Europe's Neil Vann says, "If you haven't taken a look at Vista v2 for yourself yet, the roadshow gives you a great opportunity to see just how fantastic it really is. We have heard back from many visitors that have expressed how impressed they are with Vista v2, as well as how they wished they had taken a look earl

China - Leading Hong Kong based lighting rental company A-Team Plus has become the first operation in greater China to invest in Robe's new Robin MMX Spot moving lights.

This follows on from also being the first company in the region to purchase Robe's Robin 600 LEDWash fixtures at the start of the year, where their first show was the highly anticipated 2011 Hong Kong Fashion Week.

Internationally renowned lighting designer and technical director Troy Daniel had initially been reluctant to use any LED fixtures on the HKFW show at Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre's Grand Hall. However he now reports, "Let's get serious, nothing beats Robe's Robin 600 LEDWash."

Fellow Australian and now Hong Kong based Luke Hall, who is production manager and lighting designer for Untitled Entertainment Asia, one of the A Team's top partners adds, "Our company prides i

UK - Chauvet reports that season two of ITV1's television show Ant & Dec's Push the Button, showcased nearly 100 COLORado 1 Tour wash lights which were used to uplight the set.

The fixtures were specified by lighting designer Mark Kenyon and supplied by TMB, a production and services company for professionals in the entertainment production and architectural lighting industry.

The richly appointed set was a feast for the audience's eyes - both in the studio and for those at home. The woven textured walls were uplit in saturated washes by COLORado 1 Tour fixtures discreetly lining the staircases contestants descended to reach the stage.

"The COLORado 1 Tour performed amazingly well," said Mark Kenyon. "They are tremendously bright, with an even field of rich colour and convenient dimming curves for smooth uplighting. They allowed me to create a visual im

UK - Stage Electrics supplied its new 20mm pixel-pitch LED curtain for Portishead's recent European tour that included two headlining slots at the I'll Be Your Mirror festival staged by All Tomorrows' Parties at Alexandra Palace, London.

Providing the central visual focus of the production, the stage-wide LED video curtain, using 100m² of panels for a screen size of 14 x 7m, showed the work of video director John Minton and video content designers As Described, an hallucinatory smorgasbord of grungy imagery and deliberately lo-fi, distorted i-mag work.

Stage Electrics was brought in by As Described, and flew the screen from four 1 ton Lodestars and 14m of Prolyte Truss, as well as supplying mains distro and a portable production unit consisting of two Analog Way Tetra-VIO scalers, preview monitors and a 32x32 Composite Matrix Switcher. For the final two IBYM shows at Alexandr

Italy - Coemar S.p.A. has announced that the company has a new majority shareholder, Salvatore Grillo, who will immediately take up the role of sole administrator. Ten years after being acquired by the private equity fund Mezzanine Management UK Ltd (now MML Capital Partners), the company, which has a long history in the field of entertainment lighting, again has an Italian majority shareholder.

Salvatore Grillo is a 37-year old entrepreneur who, after accumulating his professional experience in a wide variety of companies in Germany and the United Kingdom, has decided to undertake a new challenge at the head of Coemar, alongside the renewed commitment of MML Capital Partners, which remain as minority shareholders.

"After nearly 15 years abroad, I'm very pleased to be able to sustain an Italian firm that is a real ambassador of the 'Made in Italy' in over 70 countries&quo

UK - London-based AV and technical production services company Presentation Rentals (PR) supplied external building projection and sound and lighting equipment for two party areas within the Freemason's Hall in London's Covent Garden for the press launch of the latest Batman game sensation - Arkham City.

PR was working for production company Limited Edition, for whom they are a frequent supplier of technical production design and services.

Outside, across the street from the entrance of Freemason's Hall, the PR crew built a scaffolding tower, and onto this was positioned two Panasonic 10K projectors, double stacked and fitted with .8 lenses.

The venue is an imposing Art Deco building dating back to 1933, now Grade II listed inside and out, and one of the finest examples of this architecture in the UK. The throw distance was 10m and the projection area about 45ft wide,

Australia - European LED manufacturer Anolis has engineered and produced a custom lighting solution for a major new installation in the impressive foyer space of The Australian National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA)'s award winning theatre complex in Kensington, Sydney.

A new energy efficient lighting scheme has been installed, replacing 28 recessed 500W PAR 56 halogen fittings with the new Anolis ArcSource 48 MultiChip (MC) fixture, specially designed by Anolis for this project.

The Anolis ArcSource 48 MC consists of twelve 10W Cree MCE RGBW LED chips, which enable full and seamless RGB colour mixing plus an excellent selection of 'real' whites in a variety of colour temperatures.

NIDA's lighting supervisor Adrian Wright explains that top of their brief for the new lighting was to make a significant reduction in electricity consumption across NIDA's public areas. They al

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