France - ELC Lighting's Buddy has been making waves in Paris, turning one of the world's most famous skylines orange as it helped mobile phone giant Orange celebrate its 20th anniversary. With over 1,800 guests gathered for a reception at a venue a short distance from Orange's building on Parc Des Exposition Porte de Versailles, the event's organisers wanted to illuminate their office tower with the figure 20, visible for all to see in the night sky.

Thierry Bernin, project manager at Impact Evenement, which conducted the event, was brought on board to devise a solution for lighting the windows. He selected Arcaline LED lamps from Aryton and to ensure seamless communications between the lights on different floors, he chose ELC's Buddy.

He explained, "Buddy was recommended to me by Axente who were very enthusiastic about a new product on the market that was very easy to us

Egypt - Hi-Lights Egypt are using more than 800 fixtures from the PR Lighting catalogue to build the atmosphere on one of the country's most popular TV cookery programmes, The Taste Egypt.

The largest rental company in Egypt, Hi-Lights became involved from the outset, working closely with both SYNC-MEDIA, the production company, and lighting designer Fouad Haddad of Hand Made Image (HMI).

The programme is a worldwide franchise and although the production format had been pre-arranged, according to Hi-Lights Egypt's Hamad Arafa his company had no problem in convincing the LD that PR Lighting fixtures would fulfill all his requirements - particularly after undergoing camera tests to demonstrate colour temperature, CRI etc.

The schedule of equipment deployed on the set - which was built in one of the principle studios of Al Nahar TV - included 80 of PR Lighting's recently

USA - The educational seminar programme of PLASA Focus: Orlando will kick off on Tuesday, 17 February at 9am with Light and Theatre - 50 Years of Change. Presented by ElektraLite, speaker Richard Pilbrow will describe and discuss 50 years of revolutionary change that has occurred in stage lighting, theatre technology and theatre architecture, and explore the rich possibilities that lie around the corner.

Immediately following the seminar, Richard Pilbrow will be signing books on the show floor at the Group One booth #408. "High-calibre education is critical to the process of sharing ideas in design and technology, and bringing these kinds of resources to regional events such as PLASA Focus: Orlando are essential for our ever-evolving market," said Tyler Wise of Group One Limited.

Free registration to both the show floor and educational seminars can be obtained

UAE - Al Rashid Events - headed by Taleb Rashid Al Zaabi - is based in Sharjah in the UAE and is a busy and dynamic technical solutions provider throughout the region.

The company supplies lighting, audio, video, staging, draping, etc., to a wide range of clients and projects, and attribute their continuing success at least in part due to investments in premium brand equipment, which saw an early decision to adopt Robe and create an all-Robe lighting rental house.

Taleb has known Elie Battah - general manager of Robe Middle East for many years - in fact before Elie was even involved with Robe. As soon as Elie joined the Robe international team, Taleb started buying the product with great enthusiasm, commencing with the various ColorSpot and Color Wash ranges. This was in around 2007, and he has continued with new purchases year-on-year.

"When we decided to invest in mov

USA - ETC is gearing up for its biennial CUE professional development conference, which will be held in Wisconsin, USA, from 26-28 June 2015. Registration for the conference will open on Monday 19 January, with a special early bird discount offered until Saturday 28 February. ETC will also offer several sponsorships to help offset the cost of the conference, transportation and/or lodging. Sponsorship applications will become available on Monday 19 January.

The CUE conference is a great way for lighting professionals of all skill levels to gain knowledge that can be used in their careers. It also gives students the opportunity to get hands on experience with the technology they'll use when they enter the workforce. At CUE 2015, ETC will offer two special tracks: a Technical Theatre Continuing Education track geared toward students and educators, and a Console Training and Certifi

Germany - Berlin University of the Arts (Universität der Künste Berlin) has built a light installation at the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin together with noted Japanese artist and photographer Yuichiro Tamura. Tamura's Long Exposure of the Lonely Explorer has been integrated into David Chipperfield's installation artwork Sticks and Stones, currently on display at the gallery.

To build the installation, the lighting designer and operator Björn Hermann fitted a Clay Paky Supersharpy to a supporting structure three metres above the ground. With the help of an eps Club Car, the structure was moved on a trailer around the Nationalgalerie at 20-minute intervals. The size of the installation was calculated in such a way that the entire structure could go around the building in a perfect circle to provide uniform light intensity. A 2kW generator provided the power nece

UK - Richard Martin Lighting (RML) regularly supports local community charities and events.

The Questors Theatre is a community theatre in Ealing that has a main auditorium and studio space which is used for staging drama, panto and skills classes.

Last November it was host to Harker Productions version of Club Vertigo. A spectacular dance show with a romantic story, great songs and comedy - it has the style of a West End musical at half the price.

Starring former Strictly Come Dancing's Hanna Haara and other award-winning dancers, street performers and singers, Club Vertigo was a memorable night out, suitable for all ages.

Lighting designer Nigel Lewis of LXDL was on hand to create an energetic and vibrant look to compliment that of the dancing, support by RML. He used Robe Robin 100 LEDBeam, Clay Paky Sharpy and GLP Impressions to enhance the spirit

UK - The Entertainment Industry has seen many improvements in safety practices in recent years as 'health and safety culture' becomes common place in all aspects of day to day business.

One of the latest areas of focus is the design and management of temporary electrical systems in not only the TV and Radio world, but also in films, at events, in theatres and other similar workplaces.

Whilst the current IET Wiring Regulations BS7671 (17th Edition) qualification exists for fixed electrical systems, there has not been an agreed industry qualification for BS7909 - the Code of Practice on Temporary Electrical Systems in the Entertainment Industry.

Therefore, an industry working group involving the leading broadcasters, lighting rental companies, BECTU, PACT - representing the Independent Production Companies, several key employers and, Creative Skillset have all come together to

Germany - When Gunther Hecker's name is on the design credits for a show, you know it's going to be visually interesting, idiosyncratic and a bit 'out-of-the-box' with a few flourishes of the unexpected ... and so Gunther has created another epic stage, set, lighting and video design for maverick German hip-hop band Die Fantastischen Vier's latest - and current - Record tour.

Prominent on the lighting rig are 50 Robe BMFL Spots - the brand's new multi-functional signature fixture - which are supported by another 180 Robe moving lights - 40 Robin Pointes, 60 Robin LEDWash 800s, 68 Robe ColorWash 2500E ATs and 12 x ColorSpot 2500E ATs.

Gunther is working closely with lighting director and FOH systems engineer Marc Lorenz on this tour, with the Fanta Four celebrating 25 years at the top of a massively successful career.

Robe's busy reporting team caught up with the tour

Kuwait - Wireless Solution Sweden AB recently played a pivotal role in High PRO Event Management in Kuwait using W-DMX for the Journey of Hope sailing expedition. The journey took a ship to 39 ports in 19 countries over 210 days of sailing around the world, with the purpose of spreading a global humanitarian message for the benefit of the mentally challenged. The boat docked back in Kuwait on 1 December 2014.

The ship departed in May 2014 from Marina Crescent Ground near the seaside, Salmiya in Kuwait. W-DMX sent signal over a 1000m distance to a variety of fixtures including 30 Clay Paky Sharpys on top of the Marina Hotel. Signal was sent from 2 W-DMX F-1 transmitters with booster, parabolic antenna and 12 W-DMX receivers.

W-DMX also sent signal to 12 Griven Kolorado 2500 fixtures to illuminate the boat, eight VMB Dimmers for the key light of the stage with 18 ETC Profiles, 3

USA - The Austin City Limits Music Festival returned to Zilker Park for two three-day weekends in October to showcase more than 130 rock, pop and hip hop artists on eight stages, including Outkast, Beck, Eminem, Skrillex, Calvin Harris and Pearl Jam. Clay Paky A.leda B-EYE K20 and Sharpy fixtures were on hand to provide lighting support and control for festival performers.

Eight K20s, supplied by LD Systems, were dedicated to each of two secondary headline stages and positioned in an upstage array across the rear truss.

"Most of the rig was a lot of smaller fixtures, so we wanted something that would give a big, full color wash," says Seth Jackson, who served as festival lighting designer and lighting coordinator. "There were no backdrops on these stages and, given the power situation, the B-EYEs were the perfect choice to fill the whole back picture. They reall

World - Lighting designer Caio Bertti has become one of the first to specify the new Clay Paky Stormy CC RGB LED strobes for a major tour, choosing them to deliver a plethora of dramatic effects for rock and rollers Motorhead.

Bertti's simple yet powerful rig includes 17 of the Stormy CC fixtures, supplied by GLS.

"Ian Turner from GLS, which has been the lighting supplier for Motorhead for many years, recommended the Clay Paky Stormys," says Bertti. "I had originally specified a different strobe, which he said he would confirm after the PLASA exhibition. A week later he sent me an email saying the Stormy CC had impressed him so much at PLASA he wanted to offer me that instead. I trusted him and accepted and I'm glad I did."

The Brazilian designer used the Stormy CC fixtures for strong side-lighting, blinders and powerful yet considered strobing looks thro

Germany - Lighting designer Manfred 'Vossi' Voss used 100 x Robe BMFL Spots to light the 2014 Ein Herz für Kinder (A Heart for Children) show, a high profile charity fund-raiser, produced by Schwartzkopff tv staged at the new and trendy Tempelhof airport, Berlin, and broadcast live on German national public services channel, ZDF.

Technical provider was the Berlin based PRO LIGHT Lichttechnik Vermietung GmbH. The BMFL Spot fixtures were supplied by NicLen.

Sixty of the BMFL Spots were used to light the audience and 40 were dotted around the stage - all hung on trusses in the roof. They were used throughout the show for a variety of tasks including creating general lighting ambience and scenes as well as spectacular effects for the cameras and the live audience.

The show featured special live performances from The Voice Kids, Norske Talenter star Angelina Jordan, award

USA - Most fans probably didn't know what to expect when evenly matched Georgia Tech and Mississippi State squared off at the 2014 Capital One Orange Bowl, but there was one thing that everyone thought they'd see when they entered Sun Life Stadium for this iconic bowl game: a memorable halftime show.

Amazing entertainment has become a tradition at the Orange Bowl, which in recent years has featured standout performances from the likes of Train, the Goo Goo Dolls, Kelly Clarkson, Kool & the Gang, Ciara and ZZ Top. This year, Grammy-winning country superstars Little Big Town did the game's halftime tradition proud with a nonstop high-energy seven-minute performance set against a dynamic lightshow featuring Nexus Aw 7x7 panels from Chauvet Professional.

Lighting designer Abbas Ritscher of The Design Oasis used 32 of the Nexus Aw 7x7 panels at the show, which was produced by ACT P

USA - More than 20lbs of confetti rained down on 130,000 people in Music City as the sixth annual Jack Daniel's Bash on Broadway rang in 2015. Bandit Lites worked with lighting designer John Lucksinger and production manager Chris Lisle to provide the lighting for the event where more than 40 acts, including Lady Antebellum and Gavin DeGraw performed. Storme Warren emceed while Charles Esten hosted the segments airing on ABC's Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest!.

Lucksinger created three looks for the bash: the main stage, tower and Broadway. The main stage consisted of an "old school" look with 324 1k pars, 40 Clay Paky Sharpys, 18 VL 2500s, 10 ETC source 4 lekos and six 8-light moles.

"Pars are great for doing the show on the fly," said Lucksinger. "Just an old flash and trash show. The Sharpys were chosen to cut through th

USA - A Jands Vista system was used to control the lighting & visual media elements for Texas-based WaterTower Theatre's spectacular production of Bonnie and Clyde.

Founded in 1996, the multi award-winning WaterTower Theatre is a not-for-profit professional theatre company in Addison, Texas. It produces six main stage shows each season in its flexible, state-of-the-art facility, which is part of the Addison Theatre Centre.

The Centre already owned two Jands Vista consoles - the ultra-compact M1, and the original Vista T2 model, but recently added the range's flagship L5 console to their inventory.

Dan Schoedel of FullStageProductions.com, who was the lighting designer for Bonnie and Clyde, comments, "We actually upgraded from our existing Jands Vista T2 to the L5 during the show run. This is one thing that I love about the Vista line - the fact that the so

Bahamas - New Year's Eve revellers often have cold weather and sometimes snow to contend with when they celebrate. Not so for guests who welcomed 2015 at the Atlantis, Paradise Island, Bahamas. Surrounded by crystal blue waters, clear skies and a NYE temperature in the comfortable 70s, Paradise Island more than lives up to its name. Still, Atlantis Resort didn't become world-famous just because of its natural amenities; the popular destination also offers an array of activities, dining and entertainment options, which on New Year's Eve included a stellar party that featured a high-impact lightshow designed by Kinetic Lighting.

Lighting designer James Schipper of Kinetic Lighting used 22 Nexus 4x4 LED panels from Chauvet Professional to create an impressive downstage array that served as a backdrop for a live show that include dancing, acrobatic and musical performances. The Nexu

UK - Robert Juliat lighting fixtures have been spotted covering all angles of the stage from front to back at Chichester Festival Theatre in recent months.

The new production of Gypsy (see Lighting & Sound International December 2014), which transfers soon to London's Savoy Theatre, employed four Robert Juliat Le Cin'k Fresnels, each fitted with 5000W tungsten lamp bases, in Mark Henderson's flexible lighting design. Hired from White Light for the season, these helped to cover a busy stage with multiple areas of focus, including three moving trucks.

"We find Le Cin'k to be brighter and slightly narrower than the 5kW units we previously used which, in their rigged position, is good because control is important in a thrust space," says the Festival Theatre's head of lighting, Sam Garner-Gibbons. "Being a completely exposed rig, unit size is critical

World - Las Vegas rockers The Killers played several exciting headline festival shows with Clay Paky Sharpys, A.leda B-EYEs and SuperSharpys delivering colossal lighting effects as part of, as The Telegraph describes, 'a fittingly over-the-top display of lights, fireworks and explosions.'

Lighting designer Steven Douglas specified 36 Sharpys, supplied by NegEarth, after using them extensively on the The Killers' previous tours.

"If you're looking for something that's going to be big and impactful, the first thing that comes to mind is the Clay Paky Sharpy," says Douglas. "They are the obvious choice for me as I've used them consistently in my designs for the last two years. They're great, reliable, compact lights that really pack a punch - everyone knows how good they are."

Douglas rigged the Sharpys to create a huge wall of light behind the band, in plac

Italy - Avolites has announced that its range of lighting and Ai video and multimedia control technologies will be distributed in Italy by Music & Lights.

"We are confident that the appointment Music & Lights as our distributor is our most effective step to ensure our continued growth in the Italian market," says Avolites managing director, Steve Warren. "We are extremely impressed with the potential of Music & Lights and CEO Fabio Sorabella's highly effective team are enthusiastic, dynamic and focused on growth."

Warren's words are echoed by Avolites sales director, Koy Neminathan. "Music & Lights have proved that they are capable of providing excellent service training and support, both pre and post-sale. Avolites have invested in the development of new and unique features for both lighting and video control and it is of the upmost importance that we

Archive Campaign - The British Library has launched a campaign to raise £40m to digitise the country's sound archive of more than six million recordings. The library said around two million of these are fragile and rare recordings. These are at risk of being lost due to physical degradation and the disappearance of the technology to play them, the library said. The archive, which includes the voice of Florence Nightingale, is held on more than 40 formats. These include wax cylinders, lacquer discs, cassette players, reel-to-reel tapes and minidiscs.

The UK Sound Archive includes recordings of local accents and dialects used to monitor the evolution of the English language and sounds of rare or extinct wildlife. It also includes full recordings of theatre productions going back 40 years, including the opening night of Hamlet in the Old Vic, starring Peter O'Toole and

USA - When the fourth biennial Stand Up to Cancer special aired in the US and Canada, it raised more than $109m for its groundbreaking collaborative research efforts. Some 60 Clay Paky Sharpy fixtures were deployed for the event.

More than three dozen broadcast and cable networks in the US and Canada telecast Stand Up to Cancer. The show, staged at LA's Dolby Theatre, featured celebrity guests, music by Lupe Fiasco, Jennifer Hudson and Common, The Who, the Dave Matthews Band, and Ariana Grande, and inspiring stories about patients who have benefited from the research supported by the organization. Atomic Lighting of Lititz, Pennsylvania provided the Clay Paky fixtures.

"This show really means a lot to me," says Brad Hafer, vice president of account management, at Atomic Lighting. "Stand Up to Cancer is about something real - it's not just do

UK - Lighting director Howard Harrison has used ETC's Source Four LED Series 2 Lustr fixtures for the City of Angels musical at The Donmar Warehouse, in London's Covent Garden.

The musical depicts a 1940s Hollywood writer working on a film noir thriller; the play switches between gritty, black and white film scenes, and the real writer and his friends, shown in bright, vivid full colour.

"This is the first time the show has been revived," says Harrison, "and one of the biggest challenges was performing it in the 250-capacity space - we needed flexibility of colour without using too many fixtures. I'd heard about Source Four LED Series 2, but had never used them, and despite not having the time or resources to do any kind of tests or shootouts, I was keen to give them a try. They turned out to be exactly the right thing."

The colour changing abiliti

France - Czech Republic based lighting manufacturer Robe Lighting s.r.o. has announced the launch of a new wholly-owned subsidiary, Robe Lighting France S.A.S, which will be headquartered in Paris.

Robe Lighting France S.A.S. will be headed up by two senior managers. Managing director Bruno Garros, a familiar face in the world of the French professional entertainment lighting market takes the helm of the French operation alongside Elie Battah, who as business development manager for France, will spearhead the parent company's business plan.

The new subsidiary is part of Robe Lighting s.r.o.'s planned medium-term expansion strategy, and follows robust trading worldwide in recent years.

Robe Lighting France joins four other highly successful fully Robe-owned operations worldwide - in the UK, USA, UAE and Singapore.

Also responsible for Robe Lighting France will be Ingo Dombr

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