Rigging / Staging

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14 March 2016

The Academy shared an exhibition space with specialist live events insurance broker Doodsons at The Royal Armouries Museum Centre, where the team spoke to students and those working in the entertainment industry about its roster of short courses in backstage skills and its Live Events Production Foundation Degree.

"We had an overwhelmingly positive response from students keen to hear more about our Foundation Degree in Live Events Production," said COO Robin Watkinson. "Many of them could see the benefits of studying in such close proximity to a real working environment as offered by the LS-Live

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14 March 2016

As the only annual event of its size that is dedicated solely to the global rigging community, it attracts professionals from over 30 countries. Out of around 200 delegates, over 40% are international visitors. These include not only rigging practitioners themselves, but venue technical staff, production managers, health and safety staff and policy makers, providing an exclusive platform to examine and debate the use of newly devised products, in

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14 March 2016

Dirty Rigger products were designed for the diverse & arduous situations found within the rigging & outdoor event sectors of the international entertainment industry. Constant innovation and client requests have seen new gloves appear for exceptionally heavy duty industrial applications including mining, emergency services and mountain recovery. Dirty Rigger now has international distribution in over 40 countries.

Le Mark celebrates 2012 as their 30th year in the production of specialist security and heavy duty printed materials. These products will be equally represented at the Safety & Health Expo with a display of both custom printed 'Tamper Evident and Heavy Duty' equipment labell

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14 March 2016

Cirque du Soleil's senior production manager for arena shows Pierre Guillotte explains, "Conversations first started with Stageco in August 2011, with the system first being used mid-February; an impressive turnaround. When looking to extend the reach of our tours we looked at the suitability of many arena venues, some have capacity but there are a significant number of buildings that cannot accommodate us. Our research and scouting has taken us into emerging markets from Eastern Euro

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14 March 2016

The massively successful 'crossover' group who have just completed the first full production UK and European leg of their Wicked Game world tour.

It was HSL's first tour with the band, after being brought on-board by tour director and production manager Andy Proudfoot.

Lighting designer Matt Pitman started work with Il Divo for this tour following a one-off stadium show in Paraguay at the end of 2011 in front of 36,000 people. His design has brought additional vibrancy and vitality to the set and screen elements that are part of artistic director Brian Burke's visual concept.

The schedule of the first three months of the tour meant that they were picking up local production everywhere based on a spec - so effect

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14 March 2016

With the original equipment delayed in transit, production manager Romain Rossel of MCI Geneva was put in touch with Unusual Rigging and Engineering, who were able to step in and provide the precise control required for the performance.

Project manager for Unusual Rigging & Engineering Leon Ingram explains, "The rings were suspended from a 10m high ground support system, the movement being provided by 11 hoists. With only days to come

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14 March 2016

At the exhibition Prolyte Group is showcasing a broad selection of its products, including new products like the H40R truss, PreRigTruss and the LiteConsole.

During the exhibition Prolyte Group will present two seminars. Marc Hendriks, technical director, will present a masterclass on the ProLyft Hoist on Friday and will also present two build up sessions for an MPT roof on Thursday and Friday.

(Jim Evans)

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14 March 2016

Showtech Australia is working on the sixth season of AGT which is filmed at the Dockland Studios in Melbourne.

For this season Showtech is providing the automation system for the entire series. This consists of differing winches and other equipment from the hire stock held in Showtech's Melbourne base and controlled by a Stage Technologies console running eChameleon software. The winches will be used for flying aerial effects, specialist performances and stunts.

Australia's Got Talent is a challenging show for the production team. The nature of the s

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14 March 2016

The new circles, along with the supply of Robe moving lights and accessories will be used for a rental at the Joburg Theatre, where the spectacular Grand Cirque Adrenaline show will run from 23 May 23 to 17 June.

(Jim Evans)

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14 March 2016

Responsible for more than 40 theatrical productions - West End, regional and touring - plus upcoming corporate events and installations - plus an exceptionally busy summer - Unusual has added 500 Liftket chain hoists to its existing stock of over 1,500 units. The new stock comprises 50 x 2 ton, 350 x 1 ton and 100 x 500kg hoists, all of which are direct control and double braked.

Unusual's hire stock of truss has been increased with the addition of Prolyte's H40 and S52. The H40 is designed for permanent or semi-permanent installations such as theatrical sets and studio grids, while the heavy duty square S52 truss is designed for high load bearing demands and high frequency usage, such as supporting structures, overhead

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14 March 2016

"Prosound has over 30 years of experience in the entertainment market and will be a great asset to our Worldwide Dealer Network," says Martin Kuyper from Eurotruss.

Eurotruss has a wide range of aluminium truss systems. Next to the lightweight truss system called FD, Eurotruss carries ground support towers and bigger truss systems like XD, ST, FT and the pre rig truss like XT and TT. Over the last few years Eurotruss has also supplied many roof systems - from 80sq.m till 400sq.m. Eurotruss also manufactures and sells wind up stands, the Euro-Lift, and barriers.

(Claire Beeson)

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14 March 2016

With 10,000sq.ft of distribution space spread across two NYC locations, Wits End offer an outstanding step forward in Dirty Rigger's expansion into the US market, says the company.

Wits End's CEO Keith Guliner says, "The products that we were finding here in the US for gloves and accessories were just not up to par. When we saw Dirty Rigger gloves, tool pouches and accessories for the first time....well...the products stood up and spoke on their own. The product is pure quality, and they are priced right. I believe that the Dirty Rigger brand will be a product line that we can count on as a quality product, and that Dirty Rigger as a company will stand behind its products."

Le Mark's export manager Matt Every says, "Wits End are a

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14 March 2016

The Titanic Festival kicked off in early April with a spectacular light and pyrotechnic show, using the Titanic Building to project onto and illuminate. StageCrew worked alongside Seeper, Whitelight and Culture Creative to create a truly awesome display.

The next week was packed with events, culminating in the MTV Titanic Sounds concert. Back in November 2011 Stage Crew had worked closely with MTV production teams as a preferred supplier on the EMA events, so when it came to MTV's outdoor concert on the Titanic Slipways they were the obvious choice for the supply of all local crew. The gig was attended by over 16,000 people. Olly Murs headlined, with support from Katy B, Sean Paul, Rizzle Kicks and Pixie Lott.

Stage C

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14 March 2016

In the two years since the merger with Prolyte Group, the Litestructures brand has evolved into a special projects division of the Group.

The website is focused on providing ways for new and existing clients to engage with the Litestructures brand and learn about the innovative solutions it offers. There is a facility to view and download case studies, and the opportunity to interact with the Litestructures team by registering to receive the newsletter, viewing the Twitter feed or signing up to the Facebook page. The site can be viewed at www.litestructures.com

Prolyte Group's website - www.prolyte.com - will continue to provide a wealth of information about the company's other brands - P

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14 March 2016

PRG's account director Mick Healey worked with lighting designers Jon Pope for Horse Power and Al Gurdon for ITV who later handed over to Nick Collier, to deliver a plan that would satisfy the requirements of lighting the arena and also to illuminate the Pageant show stage and three satellite stages for TV transmission by night. The show was programmed and run by Phil Cole for the arena and Sam MacLaren for television using Chamsys and GrandMa Lighting Consoles.

PRG's Brixton Atkinson-Banner specified a bespoke SmarTmast to

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14 March 2016

After the introduction of the i-line range and policy at the PALM show in Beijing last year, this policy -underlining the importance of not only supplying quality products at the best prices, but backing this up with excellent availability and the best service and support you can get - has proven to be very successful, says the company.

The Prolyte X and H trusses, MPT towers and standard StageDex are now in stock for immediate delivery in Asia and Australasia, as well as Europe.

(Jim Evans)

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14 March 2016

QVC, which claims to reach 15.4m UK homes, has installed Triple E track systems in all four of its new Chiswick Park studios.

In Studios 1, 3 and 4 QVC has installed twin parallel Unicyc track systems, which feature dropout sections and points. This particular system facilitates the easy swapping of Cyclorama backdrops between tracks or allows them to be easily lowered to the floor, minimising the necessity to work at height.

Studio 2 has been equipped with Triple E 2WAY track, which will be used to create a number of variable sized spaces, specifically for close up camera work.

"Triple E was first approached in 2010 when the new studio project was at early planning stages," explains managing director for Triple E, David Edelstein

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14 March 2016

Off Grid Energy provides remote energy solutions for people in places where grid power is unavailable, unreliable or too expensive to connect. Traditionally, if mains power is not available, then a generator has been the only way of generating electricity.

Managing director of Off Grid Energy, Danny Jones, says, "We've produced a viable solution to generate clean, silent and cost effective energy and significantly reduce CO2 emissions. Our off the shelf hybrid power system - E-Cube mini - is self-contained and particularly useful for commercial applications. Used on its own or coupled to a generating set the system can be easily deployed and transported to wherever it is needed."

With diesel costs so high, many in the building

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14 March 2016

As newly appointed distributors for Tüchler, Independent Studio Services will be exhibiting the Tüchler Stage Platform Zoom 1200 and a selection of curtain tracks, alongside Tüchler's Tom Kat category 'A' chain hoist.

Independent Studio Services is also the UK distributor for HOAC, suppliers of staging and ASM Steuerungstecknik, manufacturers of drive and control technol

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14 March 2016

He continues. "It's been brilliant having The Voice based here at Elstree as we've been able to instantly provide LD Mark Kenyon and his head rigger Dave Morrell with all the gear they need right from our Elstree office. We worked closely with them on-site throughout the whole process, from creating technical drawings during the planning process right through to supplying extra components on actual show days."

ELP were involved even before The Voice UK came to Elstree. The show was broadcast in three stages. The first stage involved blind auditions from BBC TV centre where co

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14 March 2016

Throughout the last year, the Association has continued to develop and promote its Technical Access Passport (TAP) - launched at the ABTT 2011 Theatre Show - a scheme that creates an online repository for verified training, skills, insurance and other professional information.

Now, with TAP gaining weight within the industry, the second phase of the scheme is ready to start. Industry trainers will

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14 March 2016

No Show - Lady Gaga has cancelled a concert in the Indonesian capital Jakarta, citing security concerns after protests by religious groups. The s

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14 March 2016

'The Rig' is a charitable organisation currently managed by Jason Robbins. It was originally set up in 2000 by parents of a local scout involved in the lighting and sound industry to help his group weather financial difficulties, and started off running local discos with some scouts on the crew.

Since then things have grown considerably. A team of 10 regular volunteers and others enable The Rig Scout Active Support Unit to provide a full range of technical production services for stage shows and events, in the process helping to support all scouting activities in the Huddersfield North District.

Robbins approached 5 Star's Keith Sykes - initially at the PLASA 2011 exhibition - aski

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14 March 2016

Triple E says it believes that its latest version offers significant advantages over the original design. Simpler mechanics and an improved slat design have reduced weight, and enabled a much smaller stacking distance. The new design incorporates an enclosure for both the lifting system and the stacked fabric with the bottom tray forming a closing panel.

"Our new variable acoustic system, Varibanner is the result of 15 years of experience in designing products that not only absorb sound but are also visually and architecturally pleasing," says David Edelstein, managing director at Triple E. "We're hugely excited to be introducing the industry to our new version at ABTT, which confirms our edge in this market."