South Africa - Award-winning set designer Michael Gill recently worked alongside lighting designers Joshua Cutts and Francois van der Merwe on South African TV studio Red Pepper's ambitious upgrade project, specifying the LED technology of Philips Selecon Studio Panels, SPX Zoomspot and PLcyc1 luminaires for three new prime time game shows.

Red Pepper's CEO Cecil Barry and facilities manager Marius Maritz joined forces with Gill, Cutts and van der Merwe to come up with a revolutionised set design and optimised LED lighting rig, including 14 x Philips Selecon Studio Panels, six Philips Selecon PLcyc1 luminaires and eight Philips Selecon SPX Zoomspot luminaires, supplied by DWR Distribution, for their studios in Linden, Melville and Braamfontein.

"I was very surprised with the Philips Selecon Studio Panels," said Maritz. "They perfectly lit the entire virtual rig,

UK - With beginning of June, Laserworld launched their new website with a new, modern design and a new shopping system. Their shop solution was improved to better fit the requirements of B2B commerce: New product data feeds were made available to distributors, which make it easy to integrate Laserworld products into online shops, customer management systems and accounting software via XML feed.

In addition to that, new categories were implemented, providing bundle and set suggestions - for retailer, that want to get an initial product setup for their shop, and for commercial customers, that search for ready-to-go bundles with software, cables, etc.

Alexander Pokorny, marketing manager at Laserworld comments, "We frequently got inquiries from customers that weren't sure how products could be compared best. That's why we decided to provide some standard setups, so customers

China - Located in the southern Guangdong province and bordering Macau, Zhuhai is a premier tourist hotspot in China. Recently, it is also the host to the Changlong International Circus Festival, of which the committee selected the Martin M6 Console to control and calibrate the lighting systems on and around the stage.

Local Martin distributor Guangzhou Dan-Pro Stage Equipment Co., Ltd recommended the console from a world-renowned brand not only to match the popularity of the venue, but also to provide a compelling experience to such a joyous event.

The Martin M6 console offers the most advanced visualization of lighting control, accommodating a wide product range from traditional fixtures to moving lights and even the most advanced media servers with ease. The setup for the festival features two M6 consoles of the 64 channel version, as well as eight Ether2DMX8 DMX routers.<

Belgium - Show designer Ignace D'Haese from leading Belgian creative show and design practice Arf & Yes 'imagineered a fabulous production design' incorporating lighting, video and scenography for the 2014 live finals of the Voice van Vlaanderen (The Voice of Flanders), staged in the Kuipke (Velodrome) in Gent.

The lighting rig included 100 Robe moving lights - amongst others - and the much anticipated final was broadcast live on Vlaamse Televisie Maatschappij (VTM) the main commercial channel in the Flemish region of Belgium, where five talented young artists battled it out to win the 2014 title.

Being in a position to design the full visual concept - as opposed to just lighting - for the show gave D'Haese a creative continuity that could be seamlessly applied at all levels.

His challenges included working in the 'found' space of the Kuipke which - exciting though site-spec

The Netherlands - Thousands of schoolchildren are expected to visit a new 'ICER' innovation centre in the Dutch town of Ulft, which features a state-of-the-art educational hub transformed into different moods through vibrant colour-changes provided by Chroma-Q Inspire premium performance LED house lights.

ICER, which stands for Innovation, Creation, Education and Recreation, was founded by the local government, several schools, artists and local businesses to provide an innovation centre for young people and other visitors interested in the technical industry. Housed in an old factory, ICER has transformed the cavernous venue into an exciting, futuristic space. The centre is billed to be a thriving creative workspace where visitors will be provided with a broad spectrum of innovative workshops, ranging from brand new product presentations to such cutting-edge activities as 3D pr

Denmark - Martin Professional has announced the release of MAC Viper firmware 2.0. The update contains fixes for all known issues and improvements on existing functionality including low noise cooling for the entire MAC Viper Family.

"Since its launch two years ago, the MAC Viper family quickly became a new industry standard being used in all sorts of entertainment environments," stated Markus Klüsener, product manager for stage lighting, Martin Professional. "Be it corporate events, theatre or concerts, the whole MAC Viper family can cover it."

Low noise cooling, which at first was only implemented in the Performance version, is now standard throughout the entire family. Aligned dimmer-curves and smoother effect speeds are also valued additions to the new firmware.

"We have been in close dialogue with lighting designers, rental companies and techni

UK - For 10 years Sky has been sponsoring young people in schools by providing mentors from the top people in sport. Sky Sports Living for Sport is one of Sky's Bigger Picture initiatives. One of the new shows that has stemmed from this is Game Changers, a new sports show for kids, packed with a range of ideas and activities to help young people get involved in anything from athletics to zumba.

The show, which is filmed live, includes appearances from celebrity guests and athletes from all sorts of different sports, alongside fun tips and master classes from superstars.

Last week the show had its very own Awards, presenting winners of categories such as Student of the Year. Richard Martin Lighting (RML) provided Sky and the team with the lights for the event.

When LD Richard Bowles heard that we had recently taken stock of the Clay Paky A.Leda B-EYE K20, he jumped at

South Africa - All you need is Robe! This was the case for the Chinese Taikang Conference held on 23 April, where the Edwardian arches and high ceilings of the City Hall in Cape Town were lit in green by Robin DLX and DLS fixtures. The technical was supplied by CCPP and the show run on a grandMA2 Ultra Light.

Cape Town based CCPP Group) were the technical supplier for the Taikang Conference, an event attended by some 830 Chinese speaking delegates.

CCPP's founder, Clint Cawood, is all about getting the job done right. For this event, one of the client's requirements was creating an environmentally friendly or green event. This is right in line with how CCPP likes to operate.

He purchased 12 Robe Robin DLX fixtures, four Robe Robin DLS's and one grandMA2 Ultra Light from Bradley Bruchhausen who represents DWR Distribution in Cape Town.

"The end result spoke for itself,

The Netherlands - Wireless Solution Sweden AB's award-winning W-DMX was once again centre stage at one of the world's most popular holidays. Easter is undoubtedly a huge event in many parts of the world but The Netherlands did it justly with the 2014 production of The Passion.

The Passion is a musical play that tells the paasverhaal (Easter tale) in a new way, even revolutionary some say. This year, the third Passion was held in the major northern city of the Netherlands, Groningen. The big stage was at the Vismarkt, a square in the heart of town. Dutch actors play Jesus and his twelve disciples and the other important roles in the story.

Thousands of people attended the event, while a 6m long white, neon cross was carried from the soccer stadium of FC Groningen all the way to the square.

PRG EML Productions in Utrecht handled the lighting for the projec

UK - Over 1000 visitors and industry experts attended the 2014 Rose Bruford College Graduate Exhibition and New Writing Season at the prestigious Bargehouse on London's South Bank from the 5-8 June.

The exhibition included work by over 100 upcoming graduates from the Sidcup based college's School of Design Management and Theatre Arts (DMTA), including; Costume Production, Creative Lighting Control, Lighting Design, Performance Sound, Scenic Arts, Theatre Design and Stage Management.

In addition to the Graduate Exhibition, students from the Acting and Actor Musicianship programmes collaborated with the School of DMTA to present the college's 'New Writing Season' with three new plays and productions; The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe , Perfect Boy by Lawrence Till (adapted from Frank Wedekind's Lulu) and The Litter by Matthew Dunster.<

Hungary - When Budapest's National Theatre opened in 2002, it was fitted with the most advanced lighting technology available at that time. After more than a decade, the venue - which is at the forefront of dramatic theatres in Hungary and is internationally renowned - decided it was time to upgrade their lighting control system, and chose ETC Eos family desks for the job.

Zsolt Fésus, the head of lighting for the National Theatre, knew that selecting a new lighting system would be an extensive and complex undertaking, which needed very careful consideration. He didn't want the changeover to disrupt theatre operations, and he knew that factors like budget, sustainability and product longevity needed to be assessed. "The lighting system's design took more than a year and a half of meticulous planning," he says. In that time, he and his staff tested products by a

The Netherlands - The creative team behind popular Dutch dance event organisers Q-dance turned to the power of the Clay Paky Sharpy when building their latest immersive club night Qapital at Amsterdam's Ziggo Dome.

Show designer Mark Rietveld worked with the Q-dance creative team to design and build a giant 'industrial' DJ set that swept down to encompass the 12,500 strong audience.

"Our in-house stage designer Tamil van Draanen created a centre stage in the Ziggo Dome, inspired by the architecture of Paris' Eiffel Tower," explains Rietveld. "It was a creative decision to design a show that did not include the use of video/ LED-walls. In this way we were able to keep the focus on the artists performing at the center of the structure. Challenging, but ultimately better for the overall experience."

Rietveld enlisted the help of 68 x Clay Paky Sharpys from D

Portugal - PRG were contracted by Imagination, the global creative agency, to provide lighting and rigging services for the Ford Mustang Experience at the 2014 UEFA Champions League Final in Lisbon. Imagination designed and managed Ford's presence at the Lisbon Final.

Held in a custom built dome in the Portuguese capital's Praca do Comércio, the launch introduced guests to the new Ford Mustang, ahead of its official European debut in 2015.

PRG were approached by Imagination lighting designer Lucy Record and production manager Robert Wiggs back in February 2014 to help realise a creative brief; to bring to life an interactive wall - an impressive 4m high and 9m wide curved structure featuring 36 x Martin by Harman AF-2 Fans, with each fan backed by an LED fixture.

Account director Loz Wilcox comments, "The original designs featured a stunning bespoke aluminium fra

USA - The unconventional rock musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch is lighting up Broadway, and its lighting designer, Kevin Adams, is using Robert Juliat Victor followspots to light up the stage at the Belasco Theatre.

Neil Patrick Harris stars as Hedwig Robinson, who's described as the "internationally ignored song stylist," in John Cameron Mitchell and Stephen Trask's musical tale of life, love and a botched operation. The show has garnered eight Tony Award nominations, including Best Lighting Design of a Musical, for Kevin Adams, Best Musical Revival and Best Actor in a Musical, for Mr. Harris.

Adams consulted with his associate Paul Toben on what followspots to use for the show, and Tobin "spoke highly" of Robert Juliat's Victor 1800W MSR followspots. "He knew the parameters and selected the Victors," Adams says. "We needed really br

USA - An awards show like none other took Tampa's Raymond James Stadium by storm when the annual International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards came to the US for the first time. The IIFA Awards honour artistic and technical excellence in Bollywood, India's famed Hindi-language film industry that sells more than 3 billion tickets every year. The show, which aired on Star World Network, used a large complement of Clay Paky Sharpy fixtures.

"The IIFA Awards are the Indian equivalent of the Oscars with 800m viewers worldwide," says lighting designer Eugene O'Connor. "Cinema is huge there, and the awards show lasted more than five hours. It had a very big open and included production numbers with 60-70 dancers."

O'Connor knew that Clay Paky Sharpys "were always going to be the main light" for the show in a stadium that demanded "big looks"

Slovakia - Robe moving lights once again proved they had 'that special something' for the X-Factor - this time the final of the Czech and Slovak edition of the popular talent competition reality TV show, which was staged at the Incheba Expo Arena in Bratislava, Slovakia.

The lighting and visuals designers were Michal Schmidt and Tomás Lecky, and the lighting equipment included 56 x Robe Robin Pointes, 22 x ColorSpot 700E ATs and 20 x ColorSpot 1200E ATs, the supply of which was supported by Slovakian rental company Showservice, based in Bratislava.

The production company was Jam Film 1999 s.r.o and the event was broadcast live on TV channel JOJ in Slovakia and Prima in the Czech Republic. Over 1000 X-Factor fans enjoyed the action live in the arena.

Schmidt & Lecky worked closely with set designer Jaroslav Holota from Ungroup s.r.o. to create the stage environment and the l

UK - The 7th Knight of Illumination (KOI) Awards has announced a new venue for 2014: London's art deco Troxy theatre.

This year's awards ceremony, celebrating outstanding lighting design, is on Sunday 5 October, during PLASA London at ExCel, which runs 5-8 October. Troxy is situated ten minutes' drive from ExCel.

"We're thrilled that KOI will enjoy the luxurious setting of Troxy this year," says Pio Nahum of Clay Paky, which organises the event alongside the STLD, the ALD, and Ambersphere. "With beautiful surroundings comes an even more beautiful event!"

The guest list is open to all who might wish to attend ensuring that KOI continues to establish itself as a pan industry event. To find out more, and submit your entry visit the web address below.

BBC Musical Initiatives - The BBC has announced plans to open up access to the world of musical entertainment within the UK, with two new partnerships designed to train new entrants and increase the technical skills base. Director general Tony Hall, unveiling an ambitious new music strategy, said the BBC would be partnering with the National Skills Academy, which works alongside employers, to increase quality training in the technical and production areas, particularly concentrating on skills required for live performances. "Music is in our DNA just like news" he said, as the BBC gears up for a summer of festivals.

It will also co-fund, with the PRS for Music Foundation, visits for the best new British artists to attend and play at four annual showcase festivals across the United States. Both developments extend the successful BBC Introducing scheme, which dates from 2

UK - The Panalux TekTile 2 is a slimline Bi-Colour illumination solution created by Panalux exclusively for the film, television industry and entertainment media industries.

Featuring instantly variable colour temperature from 3000k to 5800k with no shift in light output throughout the transition via an on board Tektile2 controller or when used in conjunction with Panalux F-stop 8way Controller units

The impressive specification of these new high quality, high output fixtures includes: mains or battery power; local or DMX control; fully dimmable with no shift in correlated colour temperature; Panalux F-Stop® compatible; choice of mounting options; range of accessories; optional wireless control - all housed within a sleek aluminium unit weighing just 2.5kg.

Simple to operate and just 30mm deep, Tektile 2 is perfect as an effective, balanced 'solo' soft light or can be co

UK - Eclipse Presentations - the east London based technical solutions provider known for innovation and flair - collaborated with the marketing team at Central Hall Westminster (CHW) led by Maria Schuett to provide all the required technical production and infrastructure to facilitate their very successful recent one day 'Meet The Future' event.

Central Hall is one of the high profile central London event spaces at which Eclipse provides managed and technical services and Meet The Future, attended by over 300 delegates, was designed to showcase and raise awareness of a number of state-of-the-art technologies that could potentially shape the future design and production of all types of events.

Meet The Future was co-ordinated for Eclipse by key account manager Matt Green who looks after Central Hall and MD Robin Purslow.

Says Green, "We were keen to support 'Meet The Fu

USA - At this year's ULTRA Music Festival, Martin Professional lit the night with an array of lighting fixtures, including the RUSH 5x5 Strobe, RUSH MH2, RUSH PAR1, MAC III Profile, MAC Viper, MAC 101, MAC Aura, M-1 Control and M2go Console.

In preparing for a massive scale production such as ULTRA Music Festival, an epic battle takes place between the passion and dedication of the team and the challenges posed by the environment and the conditions under which the ULTRA Music Festival engine operates.

For the Miami shows, the location in downtown Miami represents one major challenge, as the festival grounds and the stage are shoehorned in between a busy street and a retaining wall. Lighting fixtures and all other technical elements of the festival and stage design are also being put to the test in this extreme environment, where excessive heat, high levels of humidity and endl

Scandinavia - Lighting designer Henrik Lundin is using a number of the triple-award winning Clay Paky B-EYE K20s to light Swedish songstress Veronica Maggio's first-ever Scandinavian arena tour.

Lundin, of Swedish production company YKNOT, says he was delighted to be able to apply the unique features of the new B-EYE K20 in combination with a strategically designed 'mirror-prop' package. "Using the B-EYE to cover the stage, both as front lights and for exposing the mirror props worked brilliantly," says Lundin. "The B-EYE's incredibly wide zoom, fast response time plus the immense power of the LEDs meant that the design process went very smoothly and we were all delighted with the result."

The B-EYE K20's, supplied to the tour by Swedish rental operation Lagom & Gott Ljud AB, have an output that is over 20% brighter than any equivalent LED wash light curren

UK - Liverpool, UK-based Sound, Light & Visual production solutions provider Adlib, has just appointed Mike Docksey as general manager to oversee its fast expanding Lighting & AV divisions. In a challenging economic climate, Adlib, headed by Andy Dockerty which this year celebrates its 30th anniversary, has been steadily building an infrastructure to support and evolve its growing global portfolio of clients.

Adlib's MD Andy Dockerty said: "Mike has undertaken to work alongside the directors and managers at Adlib to help strengthen the brand across all genres and disciplines. He will be overseeing the whole lighting and AV operation with a view to implementing positive and progressive steps to fulfil the aspirations of the company."

"His role will see him forging new bonds, reinforcing existing relationships and helping the sales, rental and operations teams del

UK - When Grillstock delivered a weekend full of BBQ-flavoured treats and good old-fashioned rock'n'roll bands and DJs at Bristol's Amphitheatre, they called on Bristol-based lighting specialists, Utopium, to supply its full stage production package. This included branded graphics, stage, sound, lighting and video walls to host headliners Fun Living Criminals and Hayseed Dixie, as well as other rockabilly favourites.

Utopium's hire and sales manager Ben Knowles commented, "It was great to work with the festival organisers putting together the full scale production to ensure it translated for every element of the event.

"It was also a fantastic opportunity for us to showcase our new lighting technology live for the first time. We supplied six SGM X-5 LED Strobes, 12 Chauvet Legend 419 Washlights, 16 Chauvet 230 SR Beams and 18 Chauvet Nexus 4 x 4 panels, which allow f

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