BERGAMO, Italy  – Central Asia’s oil-rich Turkmenistan celebrated the 20th anniversary of its independence with a multimedia extravaganza lit by Luc Lafortune. The designer of Cirque du Soliel, amog other shows, kept the Turkmen aesthetic in mind, using a large complement of Clay Paky moving heads from Roome-based Agora.

NEW YORK – WorldStage Inc. supported the final championship event Dec. 17 for Showtime Sports’ “Super Six World Boxing Classic” at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ.  “The championship was an enhanced version of a normal boxing match,” says Jim Ferrara, lighting designer/production manager with Frank Gatto Lighting.  So WorldStage delivered the additional bells and whistles: a lot more lighting effects, video playback and enhanced audio.

AARHUS, Denmark - Gateway Church in Southlake, TX, is an active church with the fixtures operating about 10 hours a day, seven days a week. LD Kyle Russelburg chose Martin fixtures for accomplish three main lighting needs: shooting for TV/web broadcast in HD, lighting for unique services, and hosting conferences throughout the year. Barbizon Lighting’s Texas office did the installation.
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LOS ANGELES – Elation Professional Lighting has entered into a licensing agreement with Litepanels, Inc., to use patented Litepanel technology in its lighting fixtures for television, film and video production applications. One specific Elation product using Litepanels technology is the Elation TVL2000.
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SECAUCUS, NJ –  Jason Roscher joins Rose Brand as a Project Manager in the Technical Services Department, where he will manage the installation of track and rigging systems. With a background in technical theatre, Roscher’s past projects range from festivals to Cirque du Soleil productions.
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MONTREAL, QUEBEC - Fog manufacturer MDG has been appointed the exclusive Canadian distributor of Robe Lighting. The agreement became effective Jan 1. MDG’s Martin Michaud said the company was on the lookout for a lighting product to complement their array of products. MDG will carry promote and support the full range of Robe products.

INDIANAPOLIS – Reed Rigging provided production rigging support for a specially designed and constructed set for the “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” television show broadcast from Indianapolis’ Hilbert Circle Theatre.  The Indianapolis-based broadcasts coincided with the NFL’s Super Bowl week.
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FAIRVIEW, NJ - iWeiss Theatrical Solutions has named Monty McWilliams as Director of Marketing & Sales.  McWilliams comes from Apollo Design Technology, where for the past 11 years he was Marketing Director. McWilliams holds both a Masters in Business Administration and a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from Ball State University in Muncie, IN.

DALLAS - The “Austin City Limits” TV series had a number of challenges when moving into its new, larger studio, The Moody Theatre in downtown Austin, TX. From a studio holding 325 spectators to a venue holding 2,700 for multi purposes, lighting needed to be flexible but specific. Part of the system lighting director Walter Olden chose included Philips Strand Lighting LEKO LITE luminaires and a Light Palette VL control console.

LONDON - UK-based LD Derek Jones had a busy autumn season with two legendary British artists, Cliff Richard  and The Hollies. With both tours overlapping, Jones bought a new Vista S1 out on The Hollies, while he called on Lars Kristiansen to operate Cliff Richard and the Shadows on his Vista S3.