UK - Global investment group CDPQ has acquired a minority stake in Solotech. The goal of this transaction, which represents the largest investment in the company since 2013, is to support Solotech’s acquisition and organic growth strategy to expand its presence in various markets and create more value for its customers.
“With this investment - the largest in the last decade for Solotech - CDPQ will support the company in its next growth stage. Aligned with CDPQ’s priorities, this means not only shifting activities into high gear, but also facilitating the company’s global expansion and promoting its audiovisual and technological know-how,” said Kim Thomassin, executive vice-president and head of Québec at CDPQ.
“CDPQ’s commitment is a gauge of confidence in our business model, and their financial investment will allow us to seize new business

Germany - Dr. Raphael Kiesel takes over the management of ARRI’s lighting division on 1 December 2023. In this role, he is responsible for the entire business unit.
Dr. Kiesel reports directly to Dr. Matthias Erb, chairman of the executive board at ARRI. Dr. Kiesel is currently responsible for global quality management at ARRI. In this role, he has systematically refined quality management at the company. The focus of further development is on the structured transfer of customer requirements into the film technology company’s products and services.
Dr. Erb, chairman of the ARRI executive board, remarks: “We are extremely pleased that we have been able to win Dr. Kiesel for this position. As the new head of the division, he will continue to drive the development of ARRI Lighting. I wish Raphael the best of luck and success in this exciting and challenging task.

USA - Offering powerful output, lime-infused LEDs, a patented ‘sit-flat’ design, a multi-purpose scissor yoke, DMX or IR remote control, and an optional frost filter, Eliminator Lighting’s new Mega Hex L Par is billed as ‘a next generation LED PAR which won’t break the bank’.
This versatile fixture is suitable for a wide variety of lighting applications from uplighting walls to illuminating stages, highlighting décor elements to getting the party started on the dance floor. With a light weight and flexible design, it is equally suited to use by event companies and mobile entertainers as it is for permanent installation in bars, clubs, and other leisure venues.
Powered by four bright 20-Watt HEX (6-in-1) colour mixing LEDs, the compact Mega HEX L Par offers impressive output in a wide variety of colours. Each LED combines red, green, blue, lime, amber and

USA - Vari-Lite will be presenting several new console products at the LDI Show in Las Vegas. New solutions that will be shown in the Vari-Lite booth at LDI include the recently launched Vari-Lite Neo X5 Console, a preview of the next-gen Neo X Server, and new updates to the Neo and ZerOS console software platforms.
The Neo X5 console is a compact, high-performance five-fader lighting console running the powerful Neo platform. “The Neo X15, the larger 15-fader member of the Neo X Series, launched at LDI 2022 to resounding success,” says Jon Hole, global product manager, Vari-Lite Systems and Controls at Signify. “We are excited that the X5 console will also make its public trade show debut at LDI this year.”
The Neo X5 console offers five multifunctional motorized playbacks, backlit encoders, and a built-in monitor as well as a soft touch control screen. The

USA - Robe launches four new products on Booth 911A at the 2023 LDI expo in Las Vegas next week - the iT12 Profile, the T32 Cyc, and two new variants of the PATT series of scenic illumination, the HolyPATT and the MolyPATT.
Additionally, shown for the first time at an expo in North America will be Robe’s new iSeries of IP rated and robustly weatherized moving lights - the iForte LTX - together with iEsprite, iPainte, iTetra2TM and iBeam350TM luminaires.
There will be a special preview of a new generation of searchlight and sky-flower fixtures soon to be launched by Robe.
The Las Vegas version of Robe’s 2023-24 expo spectacular live show, The Power of Imagination will be presented five times a day on the booth - a nine-minute extravaganza of colour, movement, and creative energy, highlighting Robe’s new and current products in an environment for whic

Europe - Rock-pop-punk band Engst is continuing along its successful upward trajectory. The new album Irgendwas ist immer (There is always something) is selling fast and the current tour through Germany, Austria and Switzerland, is already largely sold out.
The production design for the tour is the work of Jonas König of Koeniglicht, who, in addition to deploying many empty beer crates within the set, is using exclusively GLP fixtures.
This is the epitome of stretching a tight production budget for a young, up-and-coming band. “A beer crate costs practically nothing and fits the theme quite well,” says Jonas. He uses a matrix made of GLP impression X5 Compact behind a central wall constructed of beer crates. On the floor in front of the wall he has placed impression X5 Bar 1000. Other crates, stationed in the rows between, house a line of Fusion X-PA

UK - TSL Lighting, one of the UK’s largest independent lighting and rigging rental companies, has announced a significant shift in the career of one of its most respected and dedicated team members, Anthony 'Turbo' Hall. After a career spanning almost 40 years in event lighting design, Turbo is set to embrace a new phase as he embarks on a freelance adventure.
"We are both proud and sad to see Turbo move on to new horizons," says Sam Tamplin, managing director at TSL. "His tenure with us has been marked by ground-breaking work, countless memorable projects, and an infectious energy that has touched everyone around him. We have been privileged to work alongside a true industry visionary and on a personal note, it has been an honour to have worked alongside him."
Turbo’s decision to enter the freelance arena in January 2024 represents an opportunity for him to work

USA - “The ability to work fast and sometimes furiously is imperative,” explains lighting designer Tom Kenny referring to the 2023 iHeartRadio Fiesta Latina event staged at the Kaseya Arena in Miami, Florida, in conjunction with LPS Production.
This year, Tom worked his creative magic with the help of a large rig of over 200 Robe moving lights supplied by rental specialist LPS Production, also based in Miami. This included 62 MegaPointes, 77 Tetra2s, 10 Tetra1s, 58 Spiiders, 16 BMFL Blades and an eight-way RoboSpot system with five BMFL Blade and three BMFL FollowSpots.
Maximising the features and multifunctionality of these powerful Robe products, Tom ensured that the line-up of Latin stars - Ricardo Montaner, Fonseca, Servando y Florentino, Luis Figueroa, GALE, Menudo, Chayanne and others - all looked good onstage as they lit up with the vibrance and dynamics of

UK - Fatboy Slim appeared in the one of the world’s biggest holographic performances at London’s Alexandra Palace where 12 Claypaky Skylos searchlights scanned the sky and drew much attention.
As part of EE’s rebranding, Fatboy Slim’s performance in October was projected outside Alexandra Palace onto a 50m high holographic screen - as tall as the Leaning Tower of Pisa - as fans danced to the DJ’s hit track, Praise You. The event, produced by Saatchi and Really Creative Media, was livestreamed on EE’s Instagram.
Mobile phone network EE has been the UK’s biggest and fastest mobile network for more than a decade. Now the company is broadening its horizons from traditional telecommunications.
“For the headline-making event, we needed to draw focus from far and wide across London,” says Benjamin Cash, lighting designer with Flare Lighting.

Hungary - Lightware Visual Engineering has started its move to a new corporate facility - Hungária Office Park (HOP) in Budapest.
In the HOP, major technology sector corporations such as Siemens, TÜV Rheinland, and TK Elevator have been operating, and Lightware now joins this operational entity.
The history of Lightware began at its former headquarters in 1998, located in downtown Budapest. Over the past 25 years, the company has evolved to become the largest AV manufacturer in Europe.
Due to the persistent growth of the company, Lightware decided to move to a larger office to create more space and capacity for creativity and handling workload even more effectively.
The handover process of the new 7,000sq.m office building began in September 2023, with the relocation of the manufacturing and the logistics departments.
Lightware used to operate its

USA - Visitors to LDI will have a chance to demo Obsidian’s hardware and PC systems, including the NX1, Obsidian’s scalable, full-featured lighting console that has propelled the Onyx platform's popularity to new heights. A compact, motorised fader wing, the NXP, as well as a small USB-powered control surface for ONYX, the NXK, both companions to the NX1 console, will also be on display.
On display in Obsidian’s popular line of Netron signal distribution devices will be the world’s first line of IP65-rated data distribution products for entertainment, recent winner of a PLASA Award for Innovation. Utilising a custom-designed sealed chassis, IP ports and touch controls, Netron IP65 solutions are provided as a six-port RDM Splitter (RDM6 IP), six-port EtherDMX Node (EN6 IP) and an eight-port managed POE switch (NS8 IP).
Obsidian is also launching a comprehensive

USA - “Colour has always been a huge part of our design process,” says Dayne deHaven of the work that he and his collaborator at the District 5 design studio, Tyler Shapard, have been doing for rock-pop trio The Band Camino.
Ironically, on the band’s recently concluded 25-date tour, the show begins in virtual darkness, as eerie electronic sounds resonate over a blacked-out stage. That’s only fitting, since the tour was called Screaming in the Dark, a nod to the group’s latest hit album The Dark.
However, once the band breaks into Afraid of the Dark the first tune in their 30-song set, colour reigns again in all of its powerful mood-making glory; this time, with help from some distinctive UV flourishes. Starting off slowly, with no front lighting, deHaven and Shapard, along with touring LD Alec Molinaro and light tech Sean Mines, build a

The Netherlands - Ryan Schaminee is a Netherlands-based freelance gaffer and lighting board operator who also works internationally on a wide variety of commercial, television and some film projects, utilising various Astera products almost every day.
He finds the Astera ranges reliable, highly flexible and appreciates the great quality of light, all attributes that assist him in thinking quickly and laterally to come up with inventive and cool looking lighting solutions that are spot on.
For a recent commercial shoot for Versuni - home to some of the world best known and domestic appliance brands - Astera HydraPanels enabled Ryan to do just this.
He needed to back-light a large 2m-high by 4m-wide cabinet structure which was built in Westerpark Studio, Amsterdam to showcase an impressive array of awards that have been won by various Versuni brands. The cabinet wa

Denmark - Arvid Müller's Charles Tante, the perennial favourite classic Danish comedy film based on the 1892 play Charley’s Aunt by Brandon Thomas, has been reborn as a new stage musical by Mads Æbeløe Nielsen, Nikolaj Tarp, Claus Reenberg and Rob Hartmann.
Set in the year 1900 and performed in the classic environs of Denmark’s Fredericia Musicalteater, the production ran from 15 September to 15 October 2023, under Per Toft Lehmann’s skilfully designed lighting, which blended the subject matter and its location perfectly.
Incorporated into Lehmann’s rig were 20 Ayrton Diablo S profiles chosen for their versatility and compact dimensions.
“The Fredericia Musicalteater is a classic, old-school venue with fly bars, red curtains and traditional seating and facilities, so we had to be careful in our choice of fixtures,” he explains. “We

Germany - NicLen has expanded its rental park by acquiring the Astra Hybrid330. Provided by Lightpower, the official Prolights distributor in Germany, this hybrid LED moving head offers a versatile range of applications and effects, establishing itself as the latest multifunctional moving head of choice for the German rental company.
Jörg Stöppler, CEO of NicLen, comments: “It’s not that easy to find a professional ‘daily workhorse’ that has a wide range of applications and effects and doesn’t overstretch your budget.”
The Astra Hybrid330 from Prolights was chosen for its powerful 330 Watt LED source, CMY colour mixing, and a versatile zoom range of 3.5° to 52°.
Stöppler adds: “The combination of high light output, compact size, and versatility convinced us to include the Astra Hybrid330 in our inventory. This moving head can produce powerful

Spain - The Medusa festival offers a DJ line up from all around the world embracing a lively mix of dance genres in a seaside location at Cullera beach in Valencia by the mouth of the Jucar River. The 2023 event was enjoyed by over 250,000 people across six days of sun, smiles and superlative music.
This year’s main stage production and lighting design by Eduardo Valverde and a team from his design studio Experiencias Visuales (EV) included 72 MegaPointes and 12 BMFL WashBeams. These lights were at the heart of a spectacular visual environment created for this key area of the festival, which featured five stages of entertainment action.
It was EV’s first time designing the Main Stage for the event organisers, Andreu Piqueras and Javier Crecente, and the setting was evolved working closely with Brok Décor who co-ordinated the construction and setup of the impressi

UK - A zactrack PRO system is integrated with the lighting and sound control for Nicholas Hytner’s acclaimed stage production of Guys and Dolls, currently running at the Bridge Theatre in London.
Bunny Christie’s innovative staging concept and Paule Constable’s provocative lighting has transformed the theatre’s auditorium into a promenade environment, complete with 14 stage lifts which are utilised throughout for the show to denote different locations - bars, clubs, lounges, street corners, etc. - as the cast conveys the serious 1950s New York hustle.
The audience is positioned in different positions surrounding all the action and Paule’s associate Rob Casey explained that to key light all these characters effectively in this created space, they needed around eight follow spots that could reach multiple positions. Given these circumstances and the exce

UK - Held over two days at the Business Design Centre, LiGHT 23 - the trade show dedicated to lighting specification - saw a 43% increase in attendees from its launch event last year - closing its doors to ‘a buzz of positivity’.
The design community came out in force to support the show - with 4,776 attendees passing through the doors to see the latest offerings from more than 150 international lighting brands and engage with 22 talks and presentations from design experts working with light, all while making new industry connections through various networking opportunities.
Attended by a broad mix of designers working in architecture, interiors, lighting, and product design, as well as engineers, end-users, and specifiers, LiGHT 23 saw several new features introduced this year.
A particular highlight included the new darc space decorative area, which saw hig

Europe - Showlight has confirmed that it is back and will return ‘soon’. Following the enforced postponement of Showlight 2023 and a bumpy ride during the pandemic, the committee has reassembled and is working towards the next in the series of this industry networking event.
The Showlight committee is currently exploring new locations and actively seeking sponsorship for the next Showlight, the date and location of which will be confirmed in the New Year.
Many experienced committee members are joined by a flush of new members in organising what promises to be one of the most exciting issues of this quadrennial to date.
Incoming Showlight chairman, Jim Tetlow, who has moved from his previous position as papers chairman, says: “We are truly excited that Showlight is back with such energy and cannot wait to bring our delegates a fantastic programme of papers

Spain - ETC distributor Stonex has announced the addition of the Hog 4 line of consoles to its portfolio. The announcement establishes Stonex as a key player in the distribution of the Hog product family in Spain.
With over four decades dedicated to professional lighting and stage engineering, Stonex will distribute the full range of the Hog 4 line including the Hog 4-18, Full Boar 4, Road Hog 4-21, HedgeHog 4X and more.
Marketing & commercial director at Stonex Paloma Expósito says: “One of the highlights of this collaboration is ETC's ongoing commitment to improving Hog console technology. Since 1994, Stonex has been an ETC distributor in Spain, combining its experience in the sector over the years.
“The entertainment industry is constantly undergoing significant transformation, with a growing demand for technologies that are not only efficient but als

Canada - CAST Group of Companies has announced the appointment of Nicholas Lau as product manager for BlackTrax and Jose Fernandez as assistant product manager.
Nicholas Lau’s journey with CAST started in 2018, and he has since played an important role in the successful delivery of large-scale productions, internal testing, and client technical support. "The intelligence ingrained within the core of BlackTrax provides ample room for growth. Given the ongoing advancements in tracking and automation technology, coupled with the scalability and reliability inherent in BlackTrax, we find ourselves in an ideal position to take this solution further than ever before."
Jose Fernandez, with over eight years as a technical writer for CAST Group, possesses a deep understanding of the intricacies of its three award-winning products, BlackTrax, wysiwyg, and Vivien. With the ne

UK – Berkshire-based Full Production provided the design and installation of the latest Treetop Golf destination. Sited at Metrocentre shopping centre in Gateshead, the new themed attraction includes over 400 luminaires and an immersive audio system with 140 loudspeakers.
The regular service supplier to Treetop since 2020, Full Production has lived up to its name by carrying out the design and installation of the audio, lighting, show control and visual infrastructure. Following Full Production’s work at its most recent site, in Birmingham, where its critically acclaimed design and installation significantly raised production values, Treetop was fully convinced to enhance the new Metrocentre site even further. As well as being able to run standalone for 14 hours a day, seven days a week – the multi-faceted system would also set a new bar for visitor experiences, employ

UK - The recent Channel 4 reality show Don't Look Down brought together nine celebrities for a thrilling six-week adventure in support of Stand Up to Cancer. The show, hosted by Paddy McGuinness, followed these stars on a journey to conquer their fear of heights through vertigo-inducing high wire training.
The grand finale took place at the iLondon Stadium, where the contestants faced a heart-pounding tightrope relay challenge, 100ft high and 650ft across. Limelite Lighting installed a large number of Showtec Helix S5000 Q4 LED washers to provide light throughout the stadium’s grandstands and around the pitch.
The cast included soap actress Beverley Callard, footballer Anton Ferdinand, presenter and Pussycat Doll Kimberly Wyatt, sports presenter and Love Island finalist Chris Hughes, French footballer David Ginola, motoring expert Charley Boorman, TikT

Canada - Metal music fans who packed venues in 33-cities for Motionless in White’s just-concluded Touring The End Of The World tour of North America enjoyed galactic themes. Channelling his fascination with all things galactic, Alex Mungal opened a window to an array of looks in support of the band’s 18-song set by drawing inspiration from Star Trek’s Romulan and Klingon warships.
“I grew up watching a lot of Star Trek and Doctor Who, so it’s no surprise that I draw on the architecture and set design from those stories,” said Mungal, owner of Alien Lites. “For this tour, we based our overhead truss configuration on the wing-shaped warships. This gave us a lot of different angles to direct light from. We had glowing light coming in from the sides of the giant wings. Also, the control centre of the ‘space craft’ in this configurati

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