International News

LONDON — White Light has updated some venerable London venues, including the Royal Albert Hall, the Royal Opera House and the Guildhall School, with Ethernet network infrastructures, adding versatility and ease of use. At the Royal Albert Hall, for example, DMX distribution to the dimmer room and lighting trusses has make life easier for the Hall’s staff and for visiting companies. Pictured here, from left: Richard Thomas (RAH), Roger Hennigan (WL), Nick Ware (ROH), Robin Barton (ROH) and Ollie Jeffery (RAH).

JOHANNESBURG — Gearhouse South Africa’s Tim Dunn had the goal of avoiding the same old thing for the City of Johannesburg’s New Year’s Eve event, and with a little help from Mother Nature, his wish was answered by the bucketfull.

LONDON — With a life-sized giraffe and elephant to contend with, AV supplier XL Events said the CBeeBies Live Treasure Hunt arena tour has been anything but child’s play. "This is the 4th year that I have been involved in this project and every year brings a new set of challenges,” said XL Events' Rich Rowley.

LONDON — E/T/C London projected video images onto the 353-foot-height Shell building for the Mayor of London’s 2009 New Year’s Eve festivities. E/T/C has worked with producers Jack Morton Worldwide on the event for the last five years, but this was the first time projected video was used for the event.

LONDON — LD Ian “Scampi” Bintliff is known for making even a modestly-sized rig look larger than it actually is, and the Bang tour for U.K. rockers Thunder, staged in a wide variety of venues, was no exception. Blackburn-based HSL once again supplied lighting equipment and crew, managed by Howard Dean.

ABUJA, Nigeria — The MTV Africa Music Awards with Zain (MAMA), the first in a series of annual awards presentations that are to be staged in different African countries, came to life with a set and rig with 50 tonnes of gear air-freighted from Johannesburg to Abuja in a chartered jumbo jet.

AMSTERDAM — Dutch pop star Jan Smit is touring the Netherlands to promote his latest album. Prolyte supplied the complete staging and trussing set, through its distributor Controlled for Triple show Techniek, which supplied all the technical equipment for this tour.

STOCKHOLM, Sweden — Wireless DMX controls may not be able to save the world from conflict and strife, but they can control lighting equipment in an environment thick with cell phones, live broadcast cameras and an occasional marble wall. A recent case in point was the Nobel Prize Banquet.

MELBOURNE, Australia — LSC announced that Aubs Tredget has recently joined LSC as business development manager for the U.K. and Irish markets. He is expected to work closely with White Light, where he's worked for four years, to help LSC expand in the U.K.

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — The spherical set provided by Gearhouse South Africa for Miss World 2008 was sleek, stylish, and very…gray. But the pallid paint color served as a canvas for a team of lighting and visual specialists headed by LD Tim Dunn, using the biggest assembly of Robe’s newest gear to date.

DUBAI, UAE — Robe’s “The Future is Digital” Roadshow had stops in the Middle East, South Africa and Chicago before taking a break for the holidays. The program, organized to give attendees a first-hand look and an in-depth discussion about the company’s new digital gear, resumes in January with a stop in Poland.