UK - The Stagemaker Division of leading French manufacturer, Verlinde, has announced a new distributor in the UK - Hoist UK, based on The Wirral. Hoist UK is a new company founded by ex-Tomcat general manager Tony Dickson, and ex-Tomcat technical manager Paul Jordan. Tony and Paul have in excess of 30 years' experience in the design and installation of specialist lifting equipment for the entertainment and industrial sectors.

This latest deal to extend the Verlinde network in the UK was negotiated by Verlinde's UK sales and marketing manager, Simon Rothechild, who said: "Tony and Paul have a wealth of experience in specialist lifting, particularly in the entertainment industry where their expertise and overall offering is second to none. We are delighted to welcome Hoist UK as a Verlinde distributor in the UK and wish Hoist UK every success with its UK launch."

Hoist

UK - HRH The Earl of Wessex will visit the Wakefield offices of Litestructures GB Ltd. on Thursday 1 March to officially open the Litestructures Studios rehearsal arena and film studio.

Litestructures Studios is a purpose-built, music tour rehearsal and film and television production facility in Wakefield, West Yorkshire. With over 17,500sq ft of floor space and a height of 54ft the studio is able to accommodate even the largest music tours and film productions. For the live music sector it sets a new standard of excellence for rehearsal space while for film and television production it is a significant addition to the UK's facilities and is a viable option for major film production in the North.

"We are honoured to welcome The Earl of Wessex to open The Litestructures Studio," says Litestructures managing director Adrian Brooks. "Since we built the Studio in 20

UK - SPS, one of the UK's largest live event companies, is adding to its team with the appointment of Lee Rennie to the role of creative producer for its solutions division. Rennie joins from George P. Johnson Company, where he worked across a variety of projects creating inspiring experiences for events. Preceding this, Rennie spent seven years working at Project Worldwide.

In his new role, Rennie will be working alongside SPS event producers and production managers to administer creative solutions that work flawlessly with technical solutions, in order to communicate the client's needs.

The solutions division of SPS provides creative services for events through the latest computer graphics, digital video and other innovative technologies. It concentrates on delivering client's messages effectively with bespoke solutions which look vibrant and appealing to the audience, rathe

UK - For the fourth successive year, Hawthorns were contracted by the East Midlands Conference Centre (EMCC), based on the Nottingham University Campus, to provide the technical solution for the Xerox Annual Year Start Conference. The Conference took place over four days and attracted 1700 delegates.

"This year, Xerox and the EMCC were looking to do something completely different and less corporate, whilst maintaining the Xerox Corporate Brand and the ability to use their standard PowerPoint presentation content," said Hawthorn's project manager, Oliver Moores.

The Hawthorn solution in the main auditorium was to provide a 24m x 7m cyc white backdrop as a massive projection screen, utilising a triple projection system driven by Barco's encore system. This gave the ability to use many creative and interesting backgrounds, both static and animated, with an infinite numb

USA - Stage Technologies has announced that Jack Suesse will be assisting them in worldwide projects as special projects advisor. After working with entertainment technology company J.R. Clancy for many years, Suesse moved on to form J Suesse & Associates LLC in 2005.

With over 30 years' experience designing and coordinating a wide variety of projects, Suesse specialises in stage rigging and motorised stage equipment. In 1993 he was elected to be a Fellow of the United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT) and is a committee member of ESTA (The Entertainment Services and Technology Association). In 2004 and 2005 he was appointed as a Rigging Subject Matter Expert for the Entertainment Technician Certification Program Council (ETCP). For the past several years he has been an instructor at the IAAM Backstage Boot Camp, instructing facility managers about the operation an

UK - Sunday 11 February was a great day for royalty as The Queenand The Last King of Scotland scooped the BAFTA Film Awards at London's Royal Opera House. Vertigo Rigging gave the stars a suitably glamorous entrance with a specially designed and built roofing system that spanned the breadth of Bow Street outside the theatre's main entrance - commissioned by event production company West Design and Production on behalf of BAFTA (the British Academy of Film and Television Arts).

Briefed to create a glitzy grand entrance to the red carpet evening at London's Royal Opera House, the Vertigo team designed and built a 660sq.m. roof on Bow Street, using Vertigo's UK-exclusive Libera Flat Truss system to create the roof and supported on 68 Thomas Supertruss legs. The structure had to be designed to allow access room for the public to buildings on Bow Street.

The temporary

UK - Yorkshire's historic Scarborough Spa Complex has unveiled the first phase of its £3.75 million pound renovation programme, with a team from Fagan Electrical heading a massive technical refurbishment designed to place the venue firmly on the touring map. The project is headed by Fagan Electrical, lead contractors for the entire technical refurbishment programme, with the audio system design and installation carried out in close co-operation with Lo Humm Audio.

This major undertaking was funded by Scarborough Borough Council, the Yorkshire Forward regional development agency and the European Regional Development Fund. The 1,924 capacity Grand Hall, at the heart of the Spa Complex, has already reopened for business with brand new production lighting, audio and video systems.

Aside from the new, installed lighting rigs, most of the new production systems have been fligh

UK - In an effort to cut fixed costs, The English National Opera (ENO) has announced it is to cut 10% of its staff - around 45 jobs - which will include both performers and technical staff. BECTU, the union representing those working in broadcast, film, theatre, entertainment and leisure, has said it will "strongly" fight any cuts, and representatives will shortly be meeting with ENO management.

ENO says it fears reduced funding if government money to the Arts Council does not increase. ENO chief executive, Loretta Tomasi, was quoted on the BBC News website as saying: "Many options have been considered to achieve increased flexibility and a decrease in these 'fixed' costs and, whilst we believe it is vital that ENO retains a strong core of staff, the contractual overhaul includes the potential loss of around 45 jobs across the company."

Commenting on the co

UK - Simon Battersby and Mark Logan have been appointed as operational directors of Showsec. Both have both worked with Showsec for over a decade, and started their crowd management careers working as stewards whilst attending university and worked their way up to become Showsec's Regional Managers.

Both were among the first in the UK to be awarded the foundation degree in Crowd Management at Buckingham and Chilterns University, in line with Showsec's ongoing training and development programme for all staff.

Showsec managing director Mark Harding comments, "Over many years of dedicated service to Showsec, Mark and Simon have proved themselves to be both great leaders and team players, with unrivalled passion for their work. The loyalty and commitment they have shown, combined with their continuous influence on the progression the company, has left no doubt in my mind that

UK - Lighting designer Steve Douglas is using an Avolites Diamond 4 Vision console to control lighting for Las Vegas-based The Killers' Sam's Town world tour which is currently playing UK arenas.

Dublin-based Douglas has used Avolites consoles since the start of his professional career. He used a D4 on the previous US leg of the tour, "so it was a natural choice to continue" he says. He's also the show's programmer and operator, so he wanted a powerful desk that he knew was fast and easy to set up. He adds that with their schedule already including a festival season in the summer, "Features like Fixture Exchange are really invaluable".

Equipment for the European section of the tour is being supplied by Siyan. The stage features some spectacular red curtains, borders and legs, with monitor and guitar worlds onstage also wrapped in matching red materia

UK - Drapes and scenic specialists J&C Joel has launched its line of 'Brusan', described as "a revolutionary new innovation for the entertainment industry" and made by LDC International. Custom-designed with set builders in mind, Brusan is produced by laminating aluminium and textile together to form a flexible, distortable fabric - with no elastic return.

J&C Joel's Fiona Blackett states, "We chose Brusan to complement the diverse range of theatrical fabrics that we already offer. It's unique and also highly practical for our industry, allowing set pieces to be made quickly and easily. It is also reusable which is perfect for touring companies or those with limited storage space for sets from past productions".

Brusan's flexibility enables endless possibilities in terms of the quick and easy creation textures, three-dimensional shapes and special effects,

UK - Star Events Group Ltd (SEGL) has added significantly to its portfolio with the acquisition of The Rigging Partnership which provides custom-made solutions for the concert touring, theatre, exhibition and television industries. Its blend of off-the-shelf technology and innovative thinking means that it has the likes of the Harry Potter films, Take That's comeback tour and a variety of West End shows on its list of credits.

The staff is retained in its entirety and current managing director Gavin Weatherall continues to run the company, which will now trade as a specialist subdivision of Star Rigging focusing on theatre and trade show/corporate work. He will also take up a place on the board of SEGL as a director and shareholder.

"The inclusion of The Rigging Partnership's team of highly trained technicians undoubtedly gives us the finest collection of event rigging an

UK - Among the many companies honoured at this year's Total Production Awards ceremony was the Birmingham based Total Solutions Group. "We were absolutely delighted and proud to receive the award for 'Favourite Stage Set Company'," said managing director Chris Cronin. "It's a tremendous 'thank you' to our dedicated and hard working team who are always prepared to take on the next unusual challenge that this industry constantly issues."

Hosted by Suggs, of Madness fame, a record 1,200 people from the live entertainment industry attended the ceremony. "It's a great honour to be recognised as an industry leader by your own peers," said a clearly delighted Cronin.

Over the year, Total Solutions provided staging for Kylie, Il Divo and George Michael along with a host of other top artists. The Company specialise in blank paper design challenges such as

UK - Lifting and rigging sales specialist Lift-Turn-Move (LTM) will show a range of their standard products at ProLight&Sound, Frankfurt. LTM will also highlight its latest training initiatives, an element that key individuals in the company have pioneered and actively promoted in the industry for the last 12 years.

LTM offers an extensive range of lifting and rigging equipment including the Lodestar and Prostar electric chain hoists which will be promoted at the show. Also on show will be the compact CM Prostar hoists, with increased capacities and speeds. This higher speed version will lift at 6 or 10 m/min (increased from the industry standard 4m/min). A small, lightweight 250kg at 4m/min version is also available.

LTM started manufacturing hoist controllers a year ago and has constructed systems for both direct control and low voltage controlled hoists. The past twelve mon

UK - Kinesys automation and control systems have been specified for several recent high profile concert tours including The Killers, The Feeling, Muse, Nelly Furtado and Keane. The Kinesys system is being increasingly chosen by lighting designers to add a new visual dimension to their creative canvas, says the company.

A 14-way Kinesys system - along with all rigging and crew - was supplied by Summit Steel for the UK section of The Killers tour. This was a sub-hire to lighting rental contractors Siyan. Lighting designer Steve Douglas' upstage truss featured four contemporary chandeliers - consisting of steel wire rope drops of lights - rigged onto a truss flown on two Kinesys motors. This was brought in and out at the appropriate moments.

Downstage were three box shaped lighting pods, each suspended on four Kinesys motors - all half tonne CM Lodestar JJs running at up to 21-me

Europe - Lighting&Sound International magazine is making an unprecedented special offer to European industry professionals at the forthcoming ProLight&Sound exhibition in Frankfurt (28-31 March).

For the first time ever, L&SI is offering full-time professionals on the European mainland the chance to sign up for one year's FREE subscription to L&SI magazine - a subscription that would usually cost around 75 euros (£50). Visitors to the show can sign up for this great offer by visiting the PLASA/L&SI stand at the Hall 8.0 Walkway, stand J80. (Look for the VPLT, ESTA & PLASA signs).

(Lee Baldock)

Romania - Paradigma Group hosted the official opening of its brand new headquarters on 8 March, based in Bucharest, as the final part of a special Romanian-Dutch joint venture in the entertainment technology market. His Excellency Dhr. J. Werner, Dutch Ambassador to Romania, was guest of honour at the opening ceremony.

The purpose built 3,500sq.m headquarters, just a few miles from Bucharest's Otopeni International Airport, is divided into offices and warehouses. The space enables Paradigma Group to maintain large rental stocks of audio, lighting, video and staging equipment, to provide professional servicing and training facilities, as well as housing the group's sales company including a showroom and maintenance department.

Paradigma Group is a joint venture between Ampco Flashlight Holding BV of Holland and AEI Broadcast Concept, one of the leading facilities companies in R

USA - New York's Brooklyn Academy of Music has installed a new 32-axis power flying system from Stage Technologies, making its backstage equipment "as current, sophisticated and impressive as any major new build".

During a dormant period of nearly two decades the building greatly deteriorated and suffered extensive water damage. A major restoration project in the 1980s worked to retain and dramatically enhance the building's historic appearance. Without detracting from the prime aesthetics of the building, a new power flying system has been installed to automate the theatre's existing scenery bars, enabling a much quicker turnaround for performances.

The venue is now equipped with 32 BigTow winches and controlled from an Acrobat control console. The power flying system eliminates the use of counterweight cradles, improving the theatre's health & safety backstage. Sta

Europe - UK-based automation specialist Kinesys has announced a European distribution agreement that is a joint venture between Sonoss, based in France, and Louis Reyners from The Netherlands.

The two companies have exclusive distribution of Kinesys' chain hoist related control products, including the new K2 3D visualisation and control system and the Elevation 1+ hoist controller, for Benelux, Germany, France, Spain, Austria, Switzerland and Denmark.

Dave Weatherhead from Kinesys says that these companies were chosen because: "They are well established, have excellent reputations in their markets and both are already selling complementary products, including chain hoists, cable, basic fixed speed control and so on."

Sonoss also has a rental operation. This allows clients to test the water with new and innovative products without initially having to commit large su

USA - With TV and film producers hungry for ever more dramatic special effects, Stage Technologies rental department's high-speed BT290 winches continue to be in great demand, the company reports.

These compact winches fly objects at speeds of up to 9m/s and are supplied as stand-alone products or mounted inside truss frames. They have been used for a wide variety of moving effects in the UK and USA including most recently for a high-speed stunt for TV's Desperate Housewives. The truss-mounted products have also been used to fly a stunt man in Mission Impossible 3 in Los Angeles, whilst the same technology whizzes cameras around the sets of Harry Potter and the Golden Compass, for example, in the UK. The winches were also used to defy gravity in the movie Sunshine, which is released on 4 April.

(Lee Baldock)

Germany Rosco Europe has announced the arrival of Katrin Schlüter who joins as development manager. Working from Rosco's German office, she will be responsible for the development and management of Rosco's business in Scandinavia, Benelux, Iceland, Switzerland, Austria, Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovak Republic.

Schlüter brings nearly 10 years experience in the lighting and entertainment industry to Rosco. Most recently, she worked for Lightpower (Rosco's German dealership) and MA Lighting / Rainbow International as the international key account manager.

"I really enjoyed my long-term work with the team of Lightpower and MA Lighting, but now look forward to a new step in this exciting industry. Rosco represents a whole new challenge to me. When the opportunity came up to join them and become a part of their team, I had to go for it. Rosco is on the move and cl

USA - Hall Stage Limited, the long-established British theatre rigging manufacturer, has joined forces with a number of US distributors & manufacturers to form Hall Stage North America Incorporated and has started shipping selected ranges from its extensive catalogue of over 1,200 products.

Launching the venture at the USITT expo in Phoenix, HSNA announced the deal, with an initial roll call of 10 key dealers including Thern inc, John S. Hyatt & Associates, Gopher Stage, Centre Stage Lighting & Rigging, Schell Scenic Studios, and Westbury National Stage Equipment already confirmed. HSNA will be accepting applications for new dealerships until later this year.

Charles Haines, Hall Stage owner and UK CEO says, "We have been planning an entry into the North American market for over two years, but could not have imagined such a positive response - the reception has been truly

UK - Stage One has recently taken delivery of a Routech Chronos CNC machining centre, a nine tonne, five-axis machine with a working size of 3m x 1.5m x a 800mm Z height - one of only four in the UK.

This technology enables Stage One to machine out both scenery and 3D objects such as moulds or sculptural pieces, in wood or plastic, with the utmost precision, making "an astonishing variety of 3D models a possibility and allowing the company to offer a rapid prototyping service to customers.

"Machines such as these have been used in other industries, such as furniture making for some time," says Stage One production director Chris Augur. "We believe, however, that this machine is unique to our industry and added to our portfolio, will allow us to provide yet another exclusive service for our clients; in fact it has already caused quite a stir."

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