International News

ZWOLLE, Netherlands – The first Ice Sculpture Festival in Zwolle, Holland features more than 40 ice sculptors who created sea animals, ocean monsters and other characters in ice for the nautical themed event. Naturally, lighting needed to be low heat-emitting, and the Philips fixtures fit the bill. LD Jasper Schimmel used a number of Philips Selecton Pacific and PL3 LED Luminaires from Rolight to create a dramatic lightscape. The festival runs to Jan. 29.

LONDON – After a successful trial run with an internship program, Green Hippo started 2012 with an ongoing program to offer opportunities to those with interest and talent in the industry. Shown here are recent interns Suzy Casserley and Arthur Horrigan.

WISBECH, UK – European flightcase manufacturer 5 Star Cases kicks off the new year with a new, much larger, custom designed sanding booth area at its Wisbech headquarters. The sanding booth plays a central role in 5 Star’s case production process. With the new system, the company says they can work faster and more efficiently, which will benefit their clients.

HIGH WYCOMBE, UK – A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET) Ltd. hosted a workshop event for some of the industry’s hottest lighting designers to showcase next generation LED, lighting and video control technologies from leading manufacturers. LDs Jamie Thompson, Johnny Barker, Dave Cohen, Greg Hill, Andres Atkinson, Louis Oliver and Chris Swain demonstrated products from Chroma-Q, GLP, PixelRange, VARI*LITE, Jands Vista and Green Hippo.

BUDAPEST, Hungary – Robe lighting played an integral role in dance guru David Guetta’s worldwide touring spec, and did so again for Guetta’s “Nothing But the Best” live showcase in Budapest. LD Jonathan “Leggy” Armstrong spec’d the gear, run by UK-touring lighting director Alex “Junior” Cero. The lighting rig featured 29 Robe LEDWash 600s, 18 ColorSpot 1200E ATs and 12 ColorWash 250E ATs at its core, with a grandMA console, all supplied by Colossal.

SERIATE, Italy – Justin Bieber filmed a Christmas show, “This is Justin Bieber” at ITV’s London Studios with Clay Paky Alpha Beam 700s and Sharps in the rig. Lighting director Oli Richards designed the lighting with support from London-based suppliers Richard Martin Lighting (RML).

LONDON – White Light is now an authorized Philps Vari-Lite Service Center, offering maintenance and repairs of VARI-LITE products across the UK and Europe. The staff has been trained to handle all VARI-LITE products, from the VL500 and VL3000 to the VLX range of LED fixtures. To quicken their service, White Light has invested $100,000 in spare parts to help carry out immediate repairs.

Valasske Mezirici, CZECH REPUBLIC – An energy saving Anolis LED lighting scheme designed by Petr Kolmacka has been installed to highlight the City Hall Tower in Ostrava. The city’s first civic lighting scheme is part of the process of helping to create a new cultural identity for Ostrava, the ‘City of Colors.’ Kolmacka, Anolis’ brand manager, designed and managed the lighting project. Challenges included the copper cladding on the exterior. The lighting is programmed to switch on at dusk and off at dawn, and runs right through the night.

LONDON – White Light continues its long association with The Royal Shakespeare Company by supplying the rig for the RSC’s production of Matilda The Musical at the Cambridge Theatre in London. The show was first created on the thrust stage of the RSC’s Courtyard Theatre; some re-thinking was therefore required for the show’s transfer into the proscenium-arch Cambridge Theatre. LD Hugh Vanstone was able to revamp and reshape the show a bit, including the late addition of lasers for dramatic effect.

AARHUS, Denmark – A production of traditional song, dance and art, “Holy Heimori,” premiered in the Shanghai Temple in Inner Mongolia with Martin lighting incorporated into the design. LD Sha Xiao Lan, world renowned for his lighting design of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, helped the show come to life. Lighting supplier was Beijing Constellation Digital Technology Ltd., the sole distributor of Martin lighting in Northern China.

HIGH WYCOMBE, UK – Jands Vista consoles, running the new Vista v2 software, have been installed in the two TV studios at Lincoln University’s Media Broadcast Production Centre. The studios were recently upgraded to offer students the opportunity to learn on the latest lighting and camera technologies. Jands exclusive UK dealer A.C. Entertainment Technologies Ltd (AC-ET) supplied the Jands Vista consoles – a T2 and an I3 – to the University.