White Light has recently joined the Production Services Association (PSA), reaffirming the company’s commitment to the welfare of its freelancers.

The PSA is the trade association for companies and individuals involved in the live event production industry. Its aim is to represent, improve, educate and develop the business of technical production for live events. This is achieved by pooling the knowledge of the entire industry to create a single voice and a central resource for its members.

The association is directed by its members through the PSA Council. One of these council members includes John McEvoy, who is WL’s Head of Business Delivery Resources. John comments: “I’ve been involved with the PSA for several years now and know what a brilliant organisation it is. It’s there to deal with the real day-to-day issues that many freelancers face and ensures that they are backed by a strong support network who can offer everything from legal advice to any generic queries”.

He adds: “At WL, part of my role is to look after all of the freelancers on our books. I want to ensure that anyone who works alongside WL is given the very best support possible and knows that we take the responsibility of looking after our freelancers very seriously. As a company, we’re renowned for our people and their friendly, approachable nature. We want to make WL a great, supportive place for anyone to work hence why joining the PSA is so important”.

The PSA was formed in the early 1990s at the International Live Music Conference when a group of forward-thinking individuals decided that the industry had issues best addressed by one voice speaking as a whole. Since then, the organisation has encouraged its members to make them aware of any issues that need addressing. The initial contact is usually made through the PSA office or council member. The PSA has many functions but one of the most important ones is that of pooling the resources of the industry to tackle any issue. The PSA is also widely recognised as the body that can represent the views of the industry when deciding on legislation and codes of practice.

John concludes: “Ultimately, it’s the freelancers who are out there on a day-to-day basis delivering our projects and acting as our representatives. Everyone who works for us is part of the WL family and we want to show our commitment to them by offering all of the benefits they deserve”.

• Zumtobel Group redesigns customer centre in Bologna, Italy
• Light experience on 450 square metres
• New customer forum and showroom for Zumtobel and Thorn brands
• Harald Gründl, EOOS presented new Zumtobel SUPERSYSTEM collection at Salone de Mobile

On the evening of 16 April 2019, the Austrian lighting company Zumtobel Group opened its redesigned Light Centre in Bologna covering an area of 450 square metres. Around 200 guests attended the official opening. The conceptual redesign of the Bologna Light Centre has created a customer platform which conveys the experience of light in its various applications and underlines the extensive lighting expertise of the Zumtobel Group and its brands.

“We are delighted to have created a platform for our customers with the new Light Centre Bologna, which shows everything from indoor to outdoor lighting solution. The final location inspires and creates an inviting space to discuss and design lighting solutions together with our customers. It is a place where light can be experienced and it is enormously important to us to be able to convey this experience of light to our customers,” says Karl Oberhollenzer, General Manager Zumtobel Group Italy.

Opening framed by Francesco Iannone & Serena Tellini
The evening event was framed solemnly by a keynote speech by the lighting designer Francesco Iannone & Serena Tellini, Consuline Architetti Associati from Milan, Italy. Francesco Iannone has been working with lighting design and industrial design applied to lighting for 30 years. In 1986, he founded the Consuline office in Milan, where he works with Serena Tellini.

The fascination of light
The Zumtobel Group showcases at the newly designed Bologna Light Centre its broad product portfolio and the expertise of the Zumtobel (Indoor) and Thorn (Outdoor) brands. Light for specific applications, professional lighting solutions and the related services.

The idea of the Zumtobel Group Light Centres was raised more than 25 years ago based on the philosophy to establish a place where people can experience the best light for a particular application – this is also the philosophy that the new Light Centre in Bologna pursues. With the recent opened light centres in Vienna, Paris, Zürich and now Bologna the company wants to step in into a new area of customer dialogue and interaction. For March 2020, the next milestone in the company’s history is just around the corner, as the new Light Forum at the headquarters in Dornbirn will open up its doors.

Milan Design Week: Presentation of new Zumtobel SUPERSYSTEM integral collection with EOOS designer Harald Gründl
On the occasion of Milan’s Design Week, EOOS designer Harald Gründl from Vienna, Austria, presented the new Zumtobel SUPERSYSTEM integral collection in the prestigious setting of the Royal Room of the Central Station in Milano on the evening of 12 April 2019. The Zumtobel SUPERSYSTEM integral collection designed by EOOS provides light planners with a tool for outstanding lighting technology aiming at making the light source nearly invisible.

Eight of ArKaos’ new 4K Studio Servers were in action providing a 360-degree video solution for the recent fourth German edition of popular TV franchise Dancing on Ice, which was recorded at the Magic Media Company’s Coloneum venue in Ossendorf, Cologne, in a special set up that was customised for the first series.

The show’s lighting designer was Manuel Da Costa who is very well known in the world of television, and has lit DSDS and many other leading German talent and music shows. Manuel worked alongside his regular visuals designer Dennis Muhl who wanted to run the video cues via his grandMA3 console. The video and screens supplier was ETC Germany.

They approached ArKaos looking for a new server solution that could offer extremely high-quality rendering performance, and that was easy and intuitive to control from a lighting console.

They needed this for quick and precise video mapping of the large-scale LED screen covering 360 square metres and wrapping the studio which was integral to the production design … as well as hardware with genlock capabilities.

The LED screen was three different pitches – 2.8, 5.7 and 8.6, and the two main rings of LED around the studio were 6768 and 8568 x 144 pixels resolution respectively. In addition to this, four LED banners ranged between 1768 and 4160 by 728 pixels and there was a strip of LED in front of the judge’s chairs.

Eight Panasonic 31K video projectors were used to project detailed and intricate images onto the ice, effectively using it as another screen.

On top of all that, there were 44 universes of LED tape that needed to be mapped – via the network – into Manuel’s grandMA2 lighting console.

Manuel and Dennis wanted a manufacturing company that had an imaginative approach and whom they could trust in terms of support and ongoing development as well as a team with whom they could build a solid relationship for the development of potential future needs.

ArKaos ticked all the boxes!

Dennis had it in mind to use the ArKaos 4K servers following an encounter at the ISE expo in 2018 with Olli Winkler from LMP, ArKaos’ German distributor.

After the exhibition, Dennis and his colleagues attended one of ArKaos’s regular free training programmes to get more in-depth with the Belgian brand’s popular MediaMaster software and its intuitive VideoMapper.

Dennis saw this as an ideal opportunity to check out MediaMaster software with DOI in mind, after which he ordered a demo version to test it further.

Olli and Dennis met Manuel Da Costa at the latter’s MDC company HQ, where they discussed the overall production design that Manuel had in mind and how the ArKaos system would help facilitate the specific aesthetics.

They all embraced the idea of pushing technical boundaries, and in utilising the 4K server to handle high quality video content fully integrated into the lighting console.

The next meeting involved ArKaos’ operations manager Benjamin Bauwens plus Volker Suhre from Erkrath based ETC Germany, the show’s video supplier.

Everyone had many questions related to the performance of the servers in relation to the high quality HAPQ codec as the size of the video content was huge. They also talked extensively about the new functionality of ArKaos’s ‘DMX surface control’ because they would be the first visuals team worldwide to use it!

After this, ETC Germany placed the order for the eight servers – plus a spare – so Dennis and Manuel could have the powerful, flexible and dynamic video control they required.

The hardware was delivered directly to MMC’s studios where the servers were installed by Dennis, plus Olli Winkler who also supported the first setup and was on hand for Dennis and MDC’s server farmer Viola Weinert during programming.

The series’ video content was created by Gravity Germany, and the show was broadcast on Sat 1.

Dennis comments: “For me, the ArKaos server is a fast plug-and-play solution that stands out from other media servers in terms of flexibility and speed. I am very interested in how this server will be developed even further.”

As a result of the success of this project, an updated version (v5.4) of MediaMaster was released by ArKaos for the benefit of all, with new features including a boost to the rendering and performance by 33% utilising the same hardware.

This boost is partly delivered by the utilization of a GPU accelerated codec, HAP, which dramatically speeds up the decoding elements of the process.

The 2019 Dancing On Ice series was hosted by Daniel Boschmann and Marlene Lufen and was very well received by the public. The competition was won by Sarah Lombardi and her professional partner Joti Polizoakis.

This year sees Clerkenwell Design Week celebrate its 10th edition, taking up residency in one of London’s key hubs for design and architecture. From new designs by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec for Established & Sonsto Fritz Hansen’s exhibition in collaboration with Zaha Hadid Architects and an outdoor cooking space serving food by Kitchen Architecture, CDW’s 10th edition is a show full of celebration and achievement. Set across three days, 21 – 23 May 2019, CDW is the annual focus for London’s leading design district. The festival programme has been tailored to reflect the unique nature of this culturally rich area playing host to hundreds of showrooms, fringe events, talks, workshops and installations.

C D W   P R E S E N T S

For CDW Presents 10 year anniversary, expect exciting street spectacles, including Once Upon A Time in collaboration with UAL, in partnership with Landsdown’s London which takes inspiration from the rich and sometimes dark historical tales of Clerkenwell. For this initiative, CDW have collaborated with BA Graphic Design Communication students at Chelsea College of Arts to create a series of graphic installations inspired by the stories relating to the significant locations. The seven winning entries have been chosen by a judging panel including; Max Fraser, CDW Content Editor; Priya Khanchandani, ICON Editor, and David Barnett, Chelsea College of Art Course Leader, BA Graphic Design Communication. In conjunction with the project, Lansdown’s London will be hosting historical walking tours during CDW exploring its past as a centre of making, from clock-makers to gin distillers.

C O M M U N I T Y   P R O J E C T S

CDW’s installation Reflect Us, created by artist Beau Kerouac intends to bridge gaps in society by confronting visitors with illuminated eyes etched onto 10 glass gateways, telling the stories of the homeless from our city streets. Using AR technology, Beau Kerouac invites visitors to question how an act of respect; simply making eye contact, can change someone’s day for the better through shared experience.
For its fourth year, Scale Rule is back, engaging students from around London to create a concept which inspires visitors to take a moment and look up, by creating an arch within an arch in the historical location of St John’s Arch. This year’s winning concept plays with the idea of space and enclosure by subtly drawing on the historic form of St John’s Gate.

C O N V E R S A T I O N S   A T   C L E R K E N W E L L

For CDW’s 10th anniversary, the Talks will take place in the Moth Pavilion designed by architect Pereen d’Avoine from Russian for Fish. Conversations at Clerkenwell, curated by Katie Richardson brings to life topics of the day with leading and emerging designers, architects, thought leaders and creative institutes. Highlights for 2019 include a workplace panel including Sebastian Wrong and Erwan Bouroullec, in conjunction with Established and Son’s installation for CDW, discussing how good design can shape the workplace of the future. Benjamin Hubert joins Max Fraser for a chat on his latest collaborations across the CDW event. New London Architecture showcase some outstanding work for an ongoing public housing project, including a submission by Alison Morris Architects and the talk will be chaired by Ben Derbyshire, the president of RIBA. OnOffice will host a panel session of design-innovators making a difference to wellness in the workplace. The full programme will be announced closer to the show. Talks are ticketed at £5.

P O P   U P   S H O W R O O M S   A N D   W O R K S P A C E S

For Clerkenwell’s 10th anniversary, a plethora of exciting pop up showrooms and workspaces will take place during the festival. Established & Sons will take up residency in Fora to launch four new designs including The GRID SOFA by Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec, the KD TABLE and BEAM TABLE by Konstantin Grcic and the LUCIO CHAIR by Sebastian Wrong.

Fritz Hansen will be collaborating with Zaha Hadid Architects to showcase aspects of their Heritage Exhibition, whilst Relay Design Agency will present + Halle, Baux, Orsjo, Mitab and Zeitram within a fashion house on Clerkenwell Road. KI, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of workplace and education furniture will take over an architectural gem in the centre of the festival site. The pop-up showroom at the landmark Paxton Locher House on Clerkenwell Green will be transformed into ‘KI House’ for the launch of several new UK-designed & manufactured products.

S H O W R O O M S

Integral to the festival are the local resident design showrooms, many of whom partner with CDW, providing an array of stimulating events from talks and workshops to major installations. Coinciding with CDW’s 10th anniversary, an abundance of new showrooms will arrive in Clerkenwell including Optelma, Vescom, Fredericia, Workstories, Duravit, Abstracta, Piemme Industrie Ceramiche S.P.A, Haiken Ltd, , Savile Row Projects, Parkside and JPMA Global.

E X H I B I T I O N S

CDW’s exhibitions are hosted in distinctive spaces around the area linked by a route running through the centre of EC1. There are seven exhibitions, each with a different curatorial focus, ranging from cutting edge international design, to emerging talent, lighting, luxury interiors and the best of British design.

Back by popular demand, Light at Clerkenwell Design Week 2019 will showcase the top international lighting brands located within the brick vaults of fabric, the former cold-store turned nightclub. Exhibitors include Belgian based company Wever Ducre who create trendsetting lighting sytems. Established in 2015, Swedish design brand Pholc will be showcasing lighting in collaboration with talented designers, each sharing the Scandinavian aesthetic.

For more information on what’s taking place this Clerkenwell Design Week, visit: www.clerkenwelldesignweek.com

Making its debut at the NAB Show, the new Chroma-Q® Space Force onebytwo™ variable white LED soft light panel won a Lighting Product of the Year Award in the show’s inaugural awards event, held in Las Vegas on April 10th.

The cost-effective, bright, high quality unit is a modern replacement for traditional soft sources used in TV studio, live broadcast, vlog, film & photographic applications.

Featuring Chroma-Q’s 15 years of LED innovation and its award-winning Space Force™ LED space / soft light’s technologies, the onebytwo is the ideal fit for standard room ceiling height studios and small spaces.

“It is an honor to accept this prestigious award on behalf of the Chroma-Q team.” explains Paul Pelletier, Global Brand Manager. “The response for this product has been overwhelming on the show floor and through our distributors. We developed the onebytwo to provide our customers with a more compact variant our popular Space Force model, enabling them to utilise our innovative soft lighting technology in any size studio.”

The 1×2 ratio and compact dimensions enable panels to be mounted side-by-side in either ratio, overhead or on a wall, to create a huge volume of light in a small space.

Highly efficient and natively single-source, the onebytwo is CCT variable between 2,800K and 6,000K, and has an output of up to 13,900 lumens. The extremely high quality, diffused light is matched by a superbly smooth dimming intensity gradation.

Convection cooling provides quiet operation for studios and a cooler working environment – reducing air conditioning needs to further boost energy savings.

Manual & remotely controllable LED frequency up to 96,000Hz ensures flicker-free operation, along with wired or optional LumenRadio CRMX, RDM functionality.

The lightweight design (only 8.25kg / 18lbs) incorporates all power & control electronics, making it quick and easy to set up. Built to last, it requires minimal maintenance and retains colour consistency between units owing to Chroma-Q’s LED emitter inspection and proprietary ColorSure™ LED calibration system.

Optional accessories include a low-profile hanging offset bracket, 4-way bridle, and a full range of beam control accessories.

Visit www.chroma-q.com for more information and to find your nearest Chroma-Q dealer. Alternatively, the Space Force onebytwo will be on display in Stage 5, Booth S315 at Cine Gear at The Studios at Paramount, Hollywood, CA from May 31 to June 1st, 2019.

Follow us on: www.facebook.com/chromaq.lighting.

Last month, North Yorkshire-based lighting rental company R&M Productions acquired a large stock of Martin by Harman’s award-winning MAC Viper Profiles.

The MAC Viper Profile is regarded as one of the market-leading profiles, with the 1200-watt high-output profile luminaire boasting a highly efficient optical system. In addition, it is brighter, faster, more compact and consumes far less power than many of its rivals.

Peter Shorten of R&M Productions said: “The MAC Viper Profile is regarded by many as the industry standard in large format spots. We’ve been supplying them to meet riders for the last couple of years and have had client demand for them, so it seemed like the natural progression to make them our next major investment.”

The Vipers were purchased through production equipment sales company A.C. Entertainment Technologies Ltd. (AC-ET), who delivered them in a matter of days to get them straight onto a run of R&M shows. R&M Productions has a longstanding working relationship with AC-ET.

Peter said of Ben Steppenbeck, Northern Sales Lighting Manager for AC-ET: “Ben’s a great asset to A.C., we’ve worked with AC-ET for a long time as they’ve got a proven track record of good service.”

On what specifically persuaded them to invest in the Vipers, Robbie Baxter of R&M Productions said: “They’ve got a range of gobos and an impressive zoom, as well as exceptional light output and optics.

“We’ll be using the Vipers on a range of projects over the summer and into autumn, including outdoor events, festivals and tours. They’re the go-to choice for most of the touring LDs we work with.”

Contact the company now to discuss how AC-ET can help you achieve your aspirations, on +44 (0)1494 446000/sales@ac-et.com, or visit www.ac-et.com.

Keep up to date with the latest AC-ET news via their social network pages:

www.instagram.com/ac_ent_technologies/

www.facebook.com/acentertainmenttechnologies

North American Lighting and Video rental specialist 4Wall Entertainment has invested in new Kinesys automation equipment with the purchase of 36 x Elevation vari-speed chain hoists, 36 x LibraCELL load monitoring shackles, two K2 control consoles and numerous Kinesys Vector control systems.

This substantial purchase is for general stock and reflects the growing trend and demand for automation systems as part of shows, events, touring lighting and video systems as well as set element motion.

The decision to go with Kinesys was made by Brett Puwalski, Vice President of Operations, a key catalyst in this move to boost the automation resources available for 4Wall’s diverse roster of clients.

Kinesys was selected because the brand has a “great track record for reliability and service, and due to its longevity in this specialist area. Kinesys has proved time and again that it is rock solid” stated Brett.

“The current generation of visual and production designers use automation to move both lighting and video elements to WOW audiences and create amazing drama and stunning stage environments” he added, highlighting how video, in particular, has become a huge part of so many production designs in the last decade.

The decision to invest in both of Kinesys’ powerful and intuitive control options was also for maximum flexibility.

The K2 console is a self-contained hardware solution produced by Kinesys that includes a PC optimised to run the K2 software for the best possible user experience. It allows faster programming and easier operation with an intuitive approach, as well as dedicated buttons and playbacks. There’s also an inbuilt Emergency stop (ES) and Dead Person’s Handle for connection to an ES system, such as Kinesys’ own Array PD-ES.

The operator can ‘click-and-drag’ objects around the K2 screen that outputs a 3D graphical representation of space rather than typing positions into a table, which gives instant feedback as to the object’s position in relation to other moving items.

“For K2 projects this gives us an amazing amount of accuracy with the hoists. We were all impressed with the 3D visualisation” said Brett.

4Wall’s crew received training at Kinesys’ Atlanta facility at the end of last year and again in 2019, and their general feedback has been that the kit is safe, dependable, easy to install, programme and use – all aspects that are key to a smooth tour.

The first project for the new 4Wall Kinesys kit was an iHeartRadio ALTer Ego 19 event at The Forum in Los Angeles featuring performances by Twenty One Pilots, The Killers, Muse, Weezer, Rise Against and others.

4Wall’s new Roe LED video product was moved, ‘Guillotine style’ over the turntable stage. As each act finished their set, the stage revolved around, revealing the next act already set up and ready to go.

The Kinesys system will mainly be kept at 4Wall’s Lititz, Pennsylvania shop when it is off the road and will be available wherever needed.

Mayflex was formed in 1917 in Birmingham and today as part of the Sonepar Group, a global leader in B-2-B distribution of electrical solutions, leads the way in the distribution of Converged IP solutions, including infrastructure, networking and electronic security solutions.

With a brand new state-of-the-art warehouse, Mayflex selected GEWISS to supply 110 new Esalite High Bay LED fittings, installed by Chubb Electrics, GEWISS’ installation partner.

GEWISS was chosen for its high-quality solution, reliable and responsive service, and cost-effectiveness. The Esalite fittings offer 90-degree optics in open areas and specialist elliptical optics within the racking spaces. This ensured the light was controlled accurately to achieve the required Lux levels across the unit, while providing all the benefits of low energy, low maintenance LED lighting.

For more information, contact GEWISS t: 01954 712757 www.gewiss.com

Multi award-winning event design and technical production specialist Maestra Group, run by Justin Hammond (London) and Tom Clements (Dubai), has doubled the size of its UK and European operation ready for a busy 2019.

The east London HQ was bursting at the seams of its charismatic Victorian industrial building in Woolwich, where the Maestra mission started on January 4th 2016. When the opportunity to take over the warehouse next door arose, it provided an exceptionally convenient solution!

The adjacent unit had previously been occupied by a trendy craft beer company, and over the last three years Maestra’s young and hard-working team had shared a natural affinity with the brand and made friends with the people involved. When they vacated, Maestra realised a great opportunity and took over the space.

Parts of the walls have been knocked through and the interiors completely re-designed so the two spaces operate as an efficient and continuous workspace with that great Maestra vibe.

There are now new prepping and dispatch areas for projects leaving the warehouse, greater space for truck loading as well as enlarged storage and maintenance sections for all the different equipment sections. The extra space made available downstairs has been taken up already with new kit investments!

On the first floor, the original Maestra open-plan office space – known for its buzz and energy – has also been dramatically expanded and made into one large integrated space that traverses the two units.

“With considerably more space, we have an excellent set up to continue growing our European business” commented Justin. “We all really loved the building, so when the chance came up to move sideways – literally – it was a fantastic lateral manoeuvre!”

Celebrating its third full year of operation, the dynamic London and Dubai based company finished 2018 with substantial equipment investment – including sound, lighting, video and rigging.

This includes a number of white products including d&b speakers and subs, Robe Pointes, Spiider and LEDBeam 150 moving lights and ETC Source Four Junior profiles.

Upstairs in the new building, there is a new meeting and client liaison area, plus a bar, two kitchens, as well as a giant glitter ball flown from the ceiling, to add some flourishes of contemporary funkiness!

Maestra Group is currently among the fastest growing events companies in Europe and the Middle East, which has stood out for its creative energy and original ideas.

In 2018 Maestra Group serviced over 400 events – from music shows to high profile corporates, brand activations and other live events of all sizes, genres and budgets, bringing quality and innovation to each and making all productions unique and special.

One hundred and eighty-two of these were in Dubai and there were 250 plus in London, around the UK and Europe.

A total of 29 talented new individuals joined the Maestra team in 2018 across both locations bringing the total to over 70 full-time staff, with the core teams expanding by one or two a month throughout 2018!

“We are extremely proud of our staff retention rates as well as their passion and investment in our brand, company and core values” commented London based business development manager, Euan MacLeod.

In the three years since Maestra London was launched, the company has built a solid reputation for being accessible and offering exceptional teamwork plus the best technologies to produce vibrant and practical ideas and thinking laterally to deliver its clients the most imaginative WOW factors and maximum engagement for their events.

Recent projects have included working on The Grammy’s and The Brits for Warner Music, as well as working for; Bloomingdales, Cannes Film Festival, Moet and Virgin to name but a few!