Europe - Prolights will run a series of online webinars on 13 and 14 April, during which the manufacturer will unveil three new moving-heads, one moving-beam and two moving-washes. Prolights will also showcase its latest products from this and last year.
There will also be keynote presentations on film and TV lighting products, architectural fixtures, virtual production solutions and the entertainment lighting fixtures range.
“We are excited to use what would have been a week of tradeshows to host an online event and communicate directly with customers all over the world,” comments David Ferraz, marketing manager at Prolights. “We are eager to shake hands again with all our customers, but while the world makes an effort to open back up again, we will use all tools available to us to keep contact with everyone.”
Since spaces available are limited, interest

USA - ETC launched two new theatrical fixtures as part of a two-day international online event. The Source Four LED Series 3 and Desire Fresnel are designed for theatres “looking to successfully launch themselves into the modern day with incredible brightness, impressive colour mixing, and wireless DMX/RDM features.”
Source Four LED Series 3 is the third generation of the colour-mixing LED fixture. When incandescent Source Four fixtures hit the market in 1992, they quickly became an industry favourite. As technology advanced, so did the fixtures. Now boasting an eight-colour mixing system that includes deep red LEDs, the fixture can produce more nuanced colours. “With Series 3, you finally get your swatch book back,” says Broadway lighting designer Justin Townsend.
ETC has also added a re-designed classic to their portfolio with Desire Fresnel. A true Fresnel w

USA - Berkeley Dent, Jason Pastel, Trevor Creany, Dustin Lee and the team at 81 Productions demonstrated the unifying power of music in a real sense during this cold, hard winter.
With live music venues in their area of Roanoke, VA, locked down, and musicians out of work, they launched The Space Shop Sessions, a series of five livestream concerts, each featuring a different Roanoke band, and each supported by a different hometown business. Taking place over a two-month period, the sessions helped feed the local appetite for live music, while also providing gigs for some of the region’s favourite groups, and giving businesses a chance to engage directly with customers.
Helping the 81 Productions team create a flowing series of distinctive, colourful looks that reflected the personality of each band in the livestream series, was the company’s “virtually all Chauve

China - League of Legends’ World Championship 2020 Finals were staged at the new Pudong Football Stadium in Shanghai, a high-profile, hi-energy event notable for many things, which – in addition to being an eSports calendar highlight – included a spectacular production lighting design by Mat Stovall of LampedUp and his team.
Thirty-seven Robe RoboSpot systems were part of a large lighting rig for the event, specified by Mat and associate LD Trevor Stirlin Burk of Visual Noise Creative, and supplied by Christie Lites out of their UK and US bases to the event’s main technical contractor, Creative Technology (CT) Shanghai.
Robert Roth coordinated for Christie Lites, working closely with the CT Shanghai team headed by Aaron Ross Durdin, Sam Tibble and Daniel Sun.
Mat wanted RoboSpots on the event for several reasons. He needed “a quality white light source

Bahrain - Woodroffe Bassett Design (WBD) recently designed and delivered a new lighting and video installation on the façade of the Sakhir Tower at the Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in time for the first Grand Prix of the Formula One season. The circular viewing tower is the centrepiece of the BIC and has become a key visual element of the television broadcast of the race, seen all over the world.
The design of the scheme enhances the night-time drama of the track illumination installed in 2014 and follows the original visual concepts that were developed in collaboration with architectural design practice Stufish in London five years ago.
The dynamic and colour-rich scheme is a deliberate counterpoint to the myriad of powerful white lights that illuminate the track during the night races. The design explores the geometry of the spectacular building and articulat

The Netherlands - The sustainable AFAS Theatre, which is incorporated in the new HQ of software developer AFAS, named the AFAS Experience Centre in Leusden, has recently been equipped by Rolight with 74 Infinity TS-260C7 Profile engines from Infinity’s Signature series.
The AFAS Experience Centre has been designed from the ground up to create an “experience” for clients, employees and visitors - a complex that includes office space, meeting rooms, relax areas, demonstration rooms, fitness area, gym, educational spaces, studios, patio & atrium suitable for events, exhibitions and social gathering. The complex takes ecological and environmental aspects into account as much as possible.
Almost energy neutral, it is fitted with solar panels, sedum roofs, heat pumps, heat exchangers, triple glazing, a multitude of sensors and 50 charging stations for electric vehi

Germany - Fine & Bright’s Hybrid Studio Berlin is located in the bustling heart of Germany’s capital. The new 425sq.m space is housed in a century-old former malt factory. Its black and white tile floor and industrial fittings serve as reminders of the building’s past, whilst its advanced design make it suited to provide clients with COVID-safe options for connecting to customers through virtual productions, or (once it is permitted by the government) with combined virtual/live events accommodating an audience of up to 50 people.
“We developed this studio with our partners ICT AG and the Malzfabrik, in order to offer our customers a high-quality and fully equipped space for digital and hybrid events during the COVID-19 pandemic,”explains Robert Ulm, CEO of Fine & Bright. “The studio has all the digital tools required for the quick and direct implementatio

USA - Innovation Nation, the CBS Saturday morning TV show about change-making technologies, recently called on Verge Aero, to find out more about the new aerial technology.
Produced by The Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation and Litton Entertainment, Innovation Nation presents stories of history’s technological turning points, as well as looking at the innovations that are changing the world around us. With drone light shows offering spectacular additions - or even alternatives - to traditional fireworks displays, the technology was ripe for further investigation by the educational programme.
Verge Aero’s drone fleets have been seen performing aerial celebrations at high-profile events including Joe Biden’s victory speech in Wilmington, Delaware, back in November. Presenter Alie Ward visited the company’s headquarters at Pennovation Works, part of the Uni

Europe - Typically utilised before and after performances and during intermissions as practical audience lights, house lighting has traditionally played only a minor role in creating the atmosphere of a space. With the advent of dynamic LED house lighting however, that has all changed. Today’s house lights have taken on a more flexible and increasingly important role as an integral part of a broader and more immersive lighting design impression.
In Elation’s 1 April Coffee Break, Alistair Smyth and Frederik Afif delve into the adaptable aspects of Elation’s colour-changing Fuze Pendant. This LED downlight produces high CRI variable tones to flood a space in hues of colour or functionally wash a venue in shades of white light. Add in a multitude of control, connectivity, mounting and lens options and it is the ultimate lighting tool for modern house and area lighting a

The Netherlands - The new MIMIK cultural centre situated next to the IJssel river in Deventer has been outfitted with a number of Infinity’s professional theatre lighting fixtures. TS-260C7 Profile Engines equipped with TLT-1230 Zoom lenses and Irises, TF-260C7 Fresnels with barndoors and TCYC-7 Cycloramas were used by Rolight to provide the desired illumination.
In the MIMIK, a theatre, four movie theatres, and a grand café are merged into a cultural experience. Open all day and easily accessible, its programme aims to surprise visitors time and time again. MIMIK follows up on the success of film house De Keizer (the emperor) and Theater Bouwkunde (Building Science theatre). Combining both with hospitable catering creates a vivid meeting place that ticks all the boxes for current and future generations.
The theatre is fitted with a retractable grandstand and can be

UK - Dan Ridd, Steven Haynes and a team from Clearsound Productions in Shipston on Stour marked the culmination of a week of #LightItInRed ‘heart’ actions around the country with a livestream broadcast featuring mixmaster DJ Benji surrounded by a heart-shaped lighting rig designed by Steven and featuring Robe moving lights.
With overall direction by Dan Ridd and camera and humour direction by Andy Cox, the multi-camera broadcast included two drone feeds plus assorted visual highlights from the last year of #LightItInRed campaigns. These have focused on keeping the entertainment, production, and performance industry visible and relevant during the pandemic and consequent shut down, and this content was eloquently wrangled by #LightItInRed’s Sarah Berryman.
Working alongside Steven on lighting were two fellow Rose Bruford College students, Sam Jones, who programm

UK - The National Theatre’s production of Clint Dyer and Roy Williams’ Death of England was performed at the Dorfman Theatre in spring 2020 before the venue closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The one-man show was an intense study of grief and identity in Britain, performed in-the-round on a cross-shaped stage by Rafe Spall in an explosively energetic performance. Dyer’s direction, and Sadeysa Greenaway-Bailey and ULTZ’s stark set demanded equally dramatic lighting from the outset, which was provided by dance and theatre lighting designer, and NT regular, Jackie Shemesh.
Shemesh chose four Ayrton Diablo 300W LED profile fixtures as central features of his design, which he mainly deployed as followspots to track Spall’s every move.
The Diablo fixtures were rigged above the four inner corners of the cross stage, side-mounted and droppe

Italy - The Lucca region has given birth to many of the greatest voices in opera, but every spring and summer, Tuscany’s historic piazzas resonate with the impassioned sound of another kind of music, as they play host to world famous blues festivals.
In 2015, Lucca joined the list of Tuscan cities celebrating the musical genre by starting a blues festival of its own. Given the city’s evocative charm and rich musical tradition, the Lucca Blues Festival was an overnight success, attracting internationally acclaimed artists and legions of fans.
This year, because of the pandemic, the live event was cancelled, but the Lucca Blues festival continued its robust celebration of all things blues with a series of livestreams from Amandla Productions Studios, a versatile broadcast facility set up inside the city’s 1,500sq.m event centre by locally-based Amandla Productions

USA - Altman Lighting has announced the promotion of lighting designer, and former vice president of product innovation Pete Borchetta to lead the company as general manager.
"We are thrilled to announce that Pete Borchetta has been promoted to the role of general manager,” says Russell Altman, president of Altman Lighting. “His expertise, communication skills and leadership ability have been a tremendous asset to Altman and the lighting industry as a whole.”
Borchetta led the effort to move Altman headquarters from Yonkers, NY to Denver during the pandemic summer of 2020. Russell Altman cites his collaborative management style as having been integral in attracting and retaining strong teams committed towards the common goal of ‘bringing imagination to light’.
“Since our move, we are reorganising around the concept of a ‘collaborative collective’.

Israel - The Weizmann Institute of Science is a renowned public research university in Rehovot which offers graduate and postgraduate degrees in the natural and exact sciences and hosts an annual event honouring the work of Israeli scientists and their contributions to an assortment of projects.
This year for the first time, the format went fully digital in delivery and was still staged at the Weizmann Institute campus’s Sela Auditorium, without a live audience but with as much ‘live’ presentational content as was possible which included lectures, seminars, presentations, Q&A sessions and the bestowing of honorary doctorates and other awards.
Lighting designer Eran Klein of Cochavi&Klein was asked to create lighting for the event and chose an all-Robe moving light rig to provide the flexibility needed to deliver this high-profile broadcast which was co-

USA - The Illuminate Cities Project recently incorporated Martin VC-Grid LED video tiles supplied by Hayden Production Services into an ‘information-as-art installation’ called Illuminate: COVID-19.
Co-founded by architect Domingo Abrusci and urban planner Alexandra Payne, the Illuminate Cities Project is dedicated to improving cities through data exploration, art, design and engagement. Its pilot project, Illuminate: COVID-19, is an art installation that combines data mapping and lighting design to visually display COVID-19 infection and death rates alongside racial and economic demographic data, highlighting how the pandemic has affected specific communities in New York City.
Brought to life in collaboration with fabrication and design specialist Robyn Squires of RYSQ LLC and lighting designer Elisa Forlini, a RIBA-certified architect, the installat

UK - Leisuretec, distributor of professional and commercial audio, lighting and video equipment, has unveiled a new corporate brand identity that consists of a new logo, website and style.
The new logo is at the core of the transformation, the company opting for one with a modern look and feel to replace the old emblem. The logo device represents the ‘L’ from Leisuretec, with the levels and waves within it reflecting the company’s passion for audio, lighting and video technology. Meanwhile, the four bars stand for the company’s core values of experience, choice, value and service.
“We are very excited to launch our new logo and corporate brand identity, which consists of a refreshed style, website and refined summary of our company vision, mission and value proposition,” comments Charlie Henden, marketing manager at Leisuretec. “Our previous log

USA - Chauvet Professional has introduced the Maverick Force S Profile and Maverick Force S Spot. Complementing the Maverick Force 2 Profile and Force 1 Spot, the new ultra-compact fixtures are intended for smaller-scale projects that call for CMY colour consistency, advanced optics and other high-performance features.
“We have expanded our Force series so we can continue to address the needs of an evolving market as our industry emerges from the pandemic,” comments Albert Chauvet, CEO of Chauvet. “With their limited footprint, the new Force S fixtures are ideally suited for smaller projects with limited crew sizes. Yet, at the same time, they deliver outstanding, very professional-level performance in terms of output, colour rendering, focus, and effects.”
Given their compact design, Maverick Force S fixtures will improve efficiencies by taking up less space i

USA - The University of Houston recently updated the projection mapping content for its basketball team, the Houston Cougars, creating a dramatic, on-court pre-game show at the Fretitta Centre. The bright, 3D graphics were created by Quince Imaging, and enabled by a range of Christie solutions installed by Quince, including 3DLP projectors, Mystique, a Pandoras Box Server, and Terra, an AV-over-IP system.
The University sought to refresh the on-court projection mapping content to align with both in-person and broadcast viewing, says Eric Gazzillo, director of innovation, Quince Imaging. “What’s important now, during COVID, is being broadcast-centric, so we’re using the displays and technology to fill the arena with content, designs and projection mapping. We use the technology in a way to make the arena feel full, if they’re doing partial or limited seating, and to a

UK - Since it opened in 1899, the Town Bridge in Northwich has been a source of pride to local residents and tourist attraction. During the past year of the pandemic, it’s also served as rallying point, inspiring hope and reflecting determination by being illuminated in various colour schemes during holidays and on special occasions.
The visual and emotional impact of these colourful displays has been evident when CSP Audio Visual has illuminated Town Bridge with a collection of Chauvet Professional COLORado Panel Q40 rectangular wash fixtures and Ovation E-260WW IP ellipsoidal units.
“Northwich Town council contacted us to light Town Bridge for VE day celebrations,” says Alun Williams, director of CSP AV. “The bridge was to be lit in the red, white and blue colours of the Union Jack. After the success of that project, the council invited us back.”
Pos

UK - To complement the technology on display at Samsung KX, Snelling Business Systems and Cosmic Electronics recently outfitted the venue with a complete Harman networked AV, lighting and control system.
Situated in the recently developed Coal Drops Yard shopping district in King’s Cross, London, Samsung KX is a destination for the public to ‘experience Samsung’s range of innovative connected technologies working seamlessly together’.
The 20,000sq.ft space features a 32ft Screenmax LED display wall, connected “smart kitchen,” immersive augmented reality experiences and an ever-changing list of temporary installations. To further enhance the futuristic experience, Samsung KX required a facility-wide immersive AV, lighting and control system with enough flexibility to serve any current or future needs. Audio-visual integrator Snelling Business Systems and li

Canada - A multi-venue arts centre in downtown Calgary, Alberta, Arts Commons (formerly EPCOR Centre for the Performing Arts) has invested in a complement of Ayrton lighting fixtures and Robert Juliat followspots from Sapphire Sound.
Arts Commons is located in Calgary’s Cultural District and is one of the three largest arts centres in Canada. Its five theatres and concert hall are home to six resident companies and host a wide array of guest performers annually. While Arts Commons is currently closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the centre has been busy upgrading and expanding its lighting inventory in anticipation of reopening.
According to Kris Ladd, head of lighting at Arts Commons, 16 Ayrton Huracan-X and four Ayrton Diablo-S fixtures were purchased for the Jack Singer Concert Hall, the permanent home of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra and the largest venue

Russia - Lighting designer Vladimir Lyubimov continues to use Astera Titan Tubes as a key lighting feature for concerts by Russian rock musician, singer and poet, Svetlana Surganova.
The most recent of these took place at Crocus City Hall in the Krasnogorsky District of Moscow, staged in the autumn - at the time this was during a brief period when concerts and large gatherings were allowed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Surganova & Orchestra presented their In Contrast programme to a full live audience at the venue after the show was moved at short notice from the famous 1930 Club, also in Moscow, to the larger 7,300 capacity venue.
Having planned to use their most recent touring lighting and stage design from the start of 2020, Lyubimov and the crew were left facing the challenge of making their production work in the new space.
Delighted to be

Germany - Rental company CGS Dry Hire has invested in a large number of Robe’s recently-launched Forte LED moving lights, delivered via Robe Germany. These are now available for dry hire at CGS.
These are the first Fortes to be received in Germany and have been purchased for general lighting rental stock - with CGS’ Christian Geyer looking ahead to when the industry restarts, and for a couple of specific jobs that require a high-powered, multifunctional LED fixture.
Geyer, who founded CGS in 1999 whilst still a technology-obsessed teenager and a keen DJ, commented: “Investing in premium brands and solid technology has always been a CGS trademark. It has helped enable us to build the company’s reputation for excellence, and we see Forte as a smart option for rental stock that will help expand our market position both now and for years to come.”
He and h

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