USA - As technical director of The Heights Baptist Church in Richardson, Texas, Bobby Dennis is accustomed to creating big concert looks on stage. Leading Christian artists and Dove Award winners like Aaron Shust and Point of Grace have regularly performed at this dynamic church outside Dallas, which counts international recording artist Sixteen Cities among its worship leaders.

Yet when the time came to upgrade The Heights' lighting system, Dennis was intent on going beyond the church's concert tradition by putting together a rig that could do more than animate music with bold bright hues. He also wanted lighting with the depth and flexibility to create engaging scenes for his church's sermon series. Being on a limited budget, he needed to do this with as few fixtures as possible. He accomplished this ambitious goal with the multi-tasking Rogue RH1 Hybrid from Chauvet Professio

Italy - Nile Rodgers performed an evening of disco music at the Lucca Summer Festival with percussionist and drummer Sheila E., who has worked with Prince for more than a decade and who thrilled Barack and Michelle Obama during her recent show at the White House.

Italian lighting designer Massimo Tomasino, who followed the artist on his 2010 tour, designed the lights and counted on Clay Paky equipment for its reliability and reputation.

In every city where the concert was hosted in the UK (London, Glasgow, Leeds, Manchester and Birmingham), the production team had no difficulty in procuring the same Clay Paky lights or, at least, equally effective alternatives made by the same manufacturer.

Tomassino himself cannot hide his pride when he says "I am glad Clay Paky is an Italian name since it is highly appreciated abroad." He put eight Alpha Spot HPE 1200s on the bac

USA - Nashville based lighting and visuals designer Chris Lisle was invited by production manager Jim Dorroh of LEO Events to light seven performance stages at the inaugural Kaaboo festival recently staged in Del Mar, California.

Chris specified 20 x Robe BMFL Blades as a major part of the lighting scheme for the Sunset Cliffs (main) Stage of the three day event, a music 'experience' and a specially curated 'sound voyage', combining rock music and some EDM with comedy, food, contemporary art, great vibes and premium amenities.

Chris worked closely with co-designer Erik Parker and assembled a hand-picked team of lighting programmer / operators to run and coordinate lighting for all the stages. Music headliners included The Killers, No Doubt, Snoop Dog, The Zac Brown Band and many, many more.

The goal was to make each stage look different and dynamic while keeping everything u

Italy - Clay Paky was a main attraction at Campovolo 2015 thanks to lighting designer Jo Campana. Campovolo was a three-and-a-half hour music festival organized to celebrate Ligabue's 25-year career. The 150,000 tickets sold for 7m euros makes it an all time record for Italy.

This year, the production team concentrated on two priorities: making sure the entire audience, including those furthest from the stage, had a high level of concert visibility and outstanding sound quality. To meet these requirements, an imposing sound system was installed and an impressively big curvilinear stage architecture was built, featuring a magnificent LED wall (960 square yards, 0.6" pitch).

Jo Campana comments, "We wanted everyone there to be able to see the event as if they were in the front row as well as enjoy the music. A lot of airtime was devoted to live images on the huge LED w

UK - Live event production specialists PR Live supplied all technical elements - lighting, sound and AV - to the recent Friends Fest event, a five day expo-style extravaganza staged at the Boiler House in Brick Lane, east London which celebrated the popular landmark American sitcom, Friends.

PR Live's team, project managed by Justin Hammond, were working for live communication agency Premier PR. The Boiler House was transformed into a replica set of Monica's apartment, complete with Central Perk style café and pop-up hair salon where visitors could get a Rachael Green style blow dries plus a load of Friends props and memorabilia. Organised by Comedy Central, tickets for the event sold out within minutes of going on sale.

PR Live's crew worked closely with the builders Scena from Croydon. First, they installed a combination flown / ground supported rigging

UK / Brazil - In order to perform the Olympic and Paralympic Rio 2016 Ceremonies and live events, Filmmaster Group and SRCOM created 'Ceremônias Cariocas 2016 - CC2016', to assist the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Committees.

Durham Marenghi has been appointed by CC2016 as lighting designer for the Rio 2016 Olympic Opening and Closing Ceremonies. Supporting Durham will be Brazilian associate LD Joyce Hammond, UK programmer Andy Voller, TV lighting director Nick Collier, lighting team manager Jennie Marenghi, followspot coordinator Chris Henry and some of Brazil's finest programmers, spot operators and technicians.

Durham commented to LSi: "Having worked on Ceremonies in Turin, Beijing and Sochi, the contract to light the Olympic Ceremonies in Rio is a once in a lifetime opportunity to enjoy the amazing culture, people and weather - the Brazilians know how to PARTY! Exp

UK - Kids will be kids and at the end of a long week at school, a Big Friday Wind-Up is just the tonic which is why this CBBC favourite, presented by 'Sam and Mark', is currently filming its 5th series.

Dock 10 in Salford Manchester has fast become the home of children's television and so who better to be in the seat for designing the lighting show, than Lee Allen who is now so involved with the studios and CBBC that he even has a second home in the area!

It's always so exciting when a new LD gets hold of show, just to see what they will do with it and Big Friday Wind-Up is no exception.

The set and lighting is bright and bold, the perfect back drop for the fun and games that take part on the show. Lee's lighting rig, supplied by Richard Martin Lighting (RML) is a mix of the old and the new, including VL2000 Wash, Golden Scans, Mini Scans, Nexus 4x4, Chroma Flo

UK - On 21 October, 2015, history caught up with itself for fans of the Back to the Future film series, and a collection of Chauvet fixtures was used to help a large gathering of British fans mark the occasion.

In 1989's Back to the Future II, the time travelling Doc sets the destination time in the plutonium powered DeLorean DMC-12 sports car to 21 October, 2015, thus transporting Marty McFly and his girlfriend Jennifer into the future to save the past. To mark this date of mythical cult status, Vision SL was commissioned by Tattooed Bakers to help create a life-sized DeLorean cake for a Back to the Future Day celebration.

Vision SL brought this edible automobile to life with help from two Geyser RGB foggers that simulated plumes of smoke emanating from the cake-car's exhaust. To add extra realism to colour the DeLorean, Vision SL also used four COLORado

The Netherlands - Robe moving lights have been installed at the new Doornroosje (Sleeping Beauty) live music venue in Nijmegen.

Originally founded around 1968 and since 1970 operating out of a disused school building in the south suburbs of the city, the club became a popular hippy hangout in the 1970s, and through 40 years at the cutting edge of live music and entertainment, legendary for showcasing ground-breaking artists on the cusp of success and popularity from Pink Floyd to the Gaslight Anthem. It also hosts Holland's longest running club night, Planet Rose.

As well as being renowned for some of the best techno sounds in the country, Doornroosje was also well known in the day as one of the first places in the Netherlands where marijuana was openly available.

Now housed in a new building right downtown, sandwiched between central station on one side and the police const

Italy - After a string of concerts throughout Italy, Eros Ramazzotti (one of the most successful Italian artists abroad) brought his Perfetto World Tour 2015 to Europe with a series of 14 live dates.

EVO, the new D.T.S. moving head, was chosen for the tour. 30 units were mounted vertically beside the large central LED wall and on the ground behind the platforms of the musicians.

"The EVOs create remarkable backlight effects, and energetic extra-bright beam projections. The exclusive Dyna Prism (D.T.S. Patent Pending) is also very effective, enhancing with spectacular animations any gobo projection," says DTS.

Lighting operator for the tour was Nicola Tallino, whilst Agorà was the rental company.

UK - PRG XL Video supplied video elements for the larger shows on popular drum 'n' bass massive Rudimental's 2015 tour, which started in March and culminated in a characteristically energetic performance at London's Alexandra Palace, complete with a vibrant visual design by Jonny Gaskell.

For this show, the company supplied LED screen and Catalyst media server control, a side projection system plus IMAG cameras and PPU.

The fundamental concept of Rudimental's full design was to make the stage an interactive and theatrical environment with several contrasting visual layers which peeled back as the all-action set developed, revealing more depth and new eye-candy every few songs. The space was defined by several impressive scenic pieces including a large replica of the Hackney Central (London, E8) railway bridge, and a tabbed double-sided back cloth which was in for the first few

Denmark - Following the news last week that lighting manufacturer SGM had filed for bankruptcy, the company has announced that it has "restructured" with "further investments".

"To maintain SGM as the absolute leader of intelligent LED light, further investments were needed. After a period of disagreement between shareholders about the future capital structure, the board of directors had no other option than to apply for a proceeding aiming to restructure the company. On 9 November at 18:00, SGM was completely re-established with its new shareholder and capital. The management ascertains that SGM will continue as before without any changes - and stronger than ever."

The company says that all elements of its business remain unchanged, and that the entire team, the worldwide distributor network and all warranty commitments remain identical to before

USA - Located in North East, Maryland, the Milburn Stone Theatre at Cecil College is one of the region's premier theatrical houses. Proactive in fostering an appreciation of the arts, the company recently produced Bring It On: The Musical set in the high stakes world of competitive high school cheerleading.

To create the lighting design for the explosive musical comedy, freelance designer William Price worked with Philips Entertainment to bring in a winning combination of his own that included Showline SL BEAM 300 FX, SL BAR 640, and SL NITRO 510 LED luminaires, along with Philips Vari-Lite VL4000 Spot luminaires and Philips Selecon PLCYC1 LED luminaires.

"When I was initially asked to create the lighting design for Bring It On, I wanted to pay homage to the original Broadway design by Jason Lyons," began Price. "Understanding the high-impact lighting de

Austria - The laser show at this year's Lake Festival in Austria was spectacular. Laserfabrik used four RTI NANO RGB 30 laser systems together with Lasergraph DSP controllers for covering the whole venue and creating spectacularly coloured effects.

The German Laserworld company Ray Technologies GmbH, located in Valley next to Munich, manufactures high end show laser light equipment, especially for demanding applications like touring, cruise ships and multimedia shows. The RTI NANO RGB 30 laser systems were especially developed for well-colour-balanced high power applications. Due to them being waterproof IP 65, they are the main choice of many pro laser show companies like Laserfabrik.

"The major challenges at this event were the various changes in requirements from the organizer's side. Due to our many years of experience it was no problem to get a spectacular show going

USA - As Production Resource Group LLC, (PRG) continues to grow globally, the ability to strategically source and manage the global assets of the business becomes increasingly critical.

To effectively guide PRG's global asset strategy, the company has announced that Scott Hansen will be transitioning from his current role as chief financial officer into the role as chief asset officer. Since joining PRG in May 1997, Hansen has held a number of key executive positions at PRG and his work throughout his career at the company has kept him involved in both its financial and operational management.

In his new and expanded role as CAO, Hansen will be responsible for the global annual capital expenditure plan, and the development and implementation of strategic asset initiatives. Hansen has for some time been involved with the asset management of PRG, so this move helps to clarify an

South Africa - The annual On the Night fundraising event, staged by St John's College in Houghton on the 10 October, attracted 7000 thousand patrons and featured Mi Casa performing with the school choir, and finalists from Last Band Standing, an inter school band competition.

The sky was ablaze with a magnificent fireworks display and eight powerful Robe BMFLs, which created Hollywood beams and washed the old school in colour. A further 78 Robe fixtures were used, four Showline Nitro 510 added intense burst of light, Clay Paky Sharpy fixtures were faithful as always, and control was on a grandMA2 light.

Lior Manelis and his team from Pristine Moods Productions headed up the technical aspects of the outside production, held on the school grounds, for the second consecutive year. They trusted MJ Event Gear for additional support. Marius Marais from Audio Logic provided PA

UK - The latest Bond movie, Spectre, received a sumptuous World Premiere at London's Royal Albert Hall (RAH) in the presence of their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry on Monday 26October.

Sony Pictures Releasing (UK), the films distributors hired event specialists Andy Peat Associates to manage the auditorium transformation and Nibbs Events to produce the 'Red Carpet', press and VIP arrivals on the South Steps. These two companies, who worked together successfully on the previous Bond films Die Another Day and Skyfall (that also had their World and Royal premieres at the Royal Albert Hall) had a very tight time frame in which to work, given the fact that Bob Dylan performed in the Hall the night before.

Technical director Andy Peat explained, "The film's producers Michael G Wilson and Barbara Brocolli are very clear

Germany - Close to 400 participants embraced the recent dot2 days hosted by MA Lighting's German distribution partner Lightpower.

Lightpower's sales director Herbert Marx was delighted with this success - "We were expecting good feedback because of the huge interest and response of the market to the dot2 however the final result was astonishing. It underlined that the market has received the dot2 with open arms and that MA is following the right concept with the console. Easy and flexible to use, comfortable to travel and based on the powerful MA DNA - the dot2 has already built a large user community across all the different segments."

During its dot2 days, Lightpower introduced the range in detail in Cologne, Hamburg, Berlin and Munich. Hardware and software features were explained, the first steps of programming the console were demonstrated and a whole bunch of t

UK - In March 2015, Battersea Arts Centre's Grand Hall was severely damaged by a fire that also affected the technical stores and offices based beneath the space. Whereas the front third of the building re-opened to the public the following day, an extensive capital project went underway for the rest of the venue. From the moment the fire occurred eight months ago, up until the present day, White Light has worked closely with Battersea Arts Centre to help rebuild its lighting set-up, ensuring that its extensive programme of work remains as unaffected as possible.

Battersea Arts Centre is a public space where people come together to be creative, see a show, explore the local heritage, play or relax. Matt O'Leary, Battersea Arts Centre's technical manager, comments, "The fire was obviously a big shock to us all. One of the biggest issues though was how to move forward in the

USA - Wireless lighting controls manufacturer LumenRadio has presented A.C. Lighting Inc. with its Distributor of the Year Award for outstanding performance in 2015. A.C. Lighting Inc. is the exclusive LumenRadio distributor to the North American market and provides the full product portfolio to its extensive customer base. Since being appointed in August 2014, the company has firmly established LumenRadio in its sales territory.

"We knew when we started that the products LumenRadio manufacture would be well received by our customers, who expect nothing but high quality technology solutions. We are very proud to receive this award, but we are only getting started," says Fred Mikeska, VP of U.S. sales & marketing at A.C. Lighting Inc.

Marcus Bengtsson, international sales manager at LumenRadio, adds, "Since day one, A.C. Lighting has impressed us with its knowled

USA - After 12 years of being sponsored by Toyota, the Today show's popular musical performances at Rockefeller Centre began a new life as The Citi Concert Series.

It isn't every day that such an iconic piece of American TV culture changes sponsors, so it wasn't surprising that the rechristened programme, which is now sponsored by global banking giant Citi, debuted with a bang. From the high-powered superstar on stage, the charismatic Selena Gomez, to the dazzling lighting array made with Nexus 4x4 LED panels and Next NXT-1 moving fixtures from Chauvet Professional, everything about the inaugural concert conveyed the excitement of the moment.

Dressed in a stylish black cutout jumpsuit, Gomez captivated the audience (both live and TV) with a blend of old and new hits, along with some supple choreography, all set against a glittering background of richly coloured l

Italy - The Rock The Lahn Festival celebrated its tenth anniversary this year. The stars of the 2015 edition were Limp Bizkit, led by the extrovert Fred Durst and champions of the nu metal and rapcore movements, along with the Broilers, a punk rock group active on the German music scene.

The Festival has become a must-see event in this region in just a few years. The recent editions have fully achieved the organizers' goal of attracting hundreds and thousands of young partying visitors to this summer event, which offers alternative music, fun and a space for reflection on some social issues such as the co-existence of different language groups, migrations and anti-fascism.

Norbert Hofer is the owner of Alpha Concept, the company that dealt with all the technical production aspects of the event.

"Hosting bands like Limp Bizkit was a big challenge for us," says Hofer

Bulgaria - HB-Laser equipped the flowstone cave in Ledenika, Bulgaria, with advanced multimedia technology: video, laser, sound, LED lighting, fog and water screens have been implemented to add additional attraction and explanatory media to the cave. The European Union supported this project with subsidies, and HB-Laser was chosen as project partner for the implementation, together with their local partner Factor in Sofia.

Making a large scale, complex multimedia installation of this scale is very difficult: The high humidity and in some cases direct water spray requires highly protected equipment, which applies for the video technology, lighting equipment, lasers as well as speaker systems.

HB-Laser not only implemented the technical equipment, but was also responsible for the complete multimedia control and wiring of the whole installation. Five main control boxes were insta

Italy - Dirty Dancing is a worldwide success that shows no sign of losing its charm. On the contrary, it continues to thrill and entertain new and old generations thanks - among other things - to its faithful theatrical adaptation, which allows you to relive all the excitement and magic of the film in a live show. Since 2004 (the year of its world début) Dirty Dancing - The Classic Story On Stage has recorded months and months of sell-outs in its various international versions.

In conjunction with La Contrada - Teatro Stabile di Trieste, Wizard Productions srl acquired the exclusive performing rights of the original version for Italy from the author of the film herself, Eleanor Bergstein. The American author supported the Italian team during the casting, as she always does to make sure her show has the same characteristics as the original in every part of th

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