The Yorkshire facility for the live events and creative industries has secured a £12 million Government loan which it will use to expand and develop its Wakefield campus over the next decade. Production Park is one of 11 major arts and heritage organisations across the UK to have received a loan offer this week from the £1 billion Cultural Recovery Fund, a combination of grant and loan cash from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS), targeted to support a culture sector that has been devastated by the effects of COVID-19. Other organisations to have benefitted from the…
Author: Jacob Waite
Remote Recording Network (RRN), Riedel Communications, TV Skyline, The Black Project, and 13 other partners joined forces to produce a virtual live event on 22-23 November which brought together remote teams operating across four countries and three continents. Headed by Peter Brandt, CEO of RRN, the show is considered the first-ever fully decentralised production of a live, global music event. On 22 November the livestreamed program opened with Purple Schulz playing an intimate, center-stage concert in the One2One Studio in Bottrop, Germany, with Stephan Ullrich and Daniel Klein thrilling audiences with a performative reading on 23 November. iPads placed in…
Professional Wireless Systems (PWS) has added the Tour Series (TS) Helical Antenna to their antenna line. The TS Helical differs from their standard helical versions (available in both the 460-900 and 900-1000 MHz frequency ranges) because it was designed with a lower profile making it useful for applications that require compact size and easy storage for touring applications. “The TS Helical was a product that we had kicked around for a while,” explained Jim Van Winkle, General Manager for Orlando-headquartered PWS. “Touring professionals and integrators were looking for something that was less obtrusive in size and visibility. All our helical units have circular polarization,…
Since the release of PROLIGHTS ECL Panel TWC — a 2×1 softlight with tuneable white and coloured LED soft light for TV and studios a year ago —PROLIGHTS has been able to tap into the livestreaming market. With recent product launches of late 2020, PROLIGHTS had expanded the ECL collection into what can be described as a one-stop lighting solution for TV, streaming and motion picture studios — the product portfolio includes Fresnels, Ellipsoidals, PARS, Cyclorama and soft-light panels, with fixtures available in multiple sizes and with different LED sources as Tunable White + Coloured LED sources or static white…
When the COVID-19 pandemic arrived at the start of the year, it wiped out live events almost overnight. In the intervening months one thing has remained clear – we still crave those “goosebump” moments experienced during a live show just as much now as we ever did before. The world of virtual production is helping to fill the void and give us something just as thrilling. While virtual production methods were already harnessed by a few companies in the live arena – with some using interactive ‘smart stages’ – from March 2020 onwards, they’ve become essential. Those already in the…
The progression of video within the events market has been quite astounding. Even in these troubling times, video is one discipline that has continued to progress and innovate thanks to the proliferation of LED sets, virtual events and, of course, streaming. However, the ubiquity of video has created an issue when it comes to the relationship between content creators, video operators and end clients – the sheer size of data makes it incredibly difficult to preview content. To address this issue, Avolites has announced the PRISM PLAYER. This latest release is the first tool in the PRISM range and is…
Following the wave of momentum for widespread cultural and political change stemming from the Black Lives Matter movement and in proactive response to #BlackOutTuesday, 10 Black women were chosen from a talent pool of 550 applicants to take part in a 12-weekend-long live music training programme based at ICMP in central London. The 3T (Tour Tech Training) course was founded by multi-GRAMMY, Mercury and BRIT-nominated artist, Nao and GRAMMY award-winning singer-songwriter, Mura Masa, and funded by the artists, Native Management, Sony Music UK, and several other private individuals. Black women are not only under-represented in the live music and production…
Earlier this summer, during one of TPi’s virtual team meetings, the topic of Production Futures came up. Like many, we naively assumed that when the UK was plunged into lockdown in March that we’d be out of this mess by autumn, or at the very latest, winter time. However, as the months dragged on it seemed the likelihood of us hosting Production Futures in-person was looking increasingly unlikely. That being said, and during one of the most trying times within the live events industry, it seemed imperative that our annual event still went ahead to inspire those hoping to break…
Despite the variety of jobs within the production industry; from audio to lighting, and rigging to tour management, there are some annoyances that everyone on an event site shares. From tearing your T-shirt with a walkie-talkie clip, to never knowing where you put that damn Sharpie, these are common irritations that production crew will know only too well. It’s a specialised industry that has specific demands on those who work within it, but, up until now, there has never really been a central hub for crew to purchase clothing and equipment developed specifically for those working within the field –…
Last month, Claypaky and CAST Group of Companies announced the WACKIT virtual lighting design competition, a concept created by award-winning Lighting Designer, Durham Marenghi and his partner, Jennie. “We were all sat in lockdown and coming towards November when we are usually working on Classical Spectacular in the Albert Hall,” reminisced Marenghi, discussing the origin of the competition. “At the same time, I was doing many design pitches for next year on WYSIWYG. With that in mind, we came up with the idea of giving those in the industry something to do during this hard time.” WACKIT comprises two side-by-side…
Stagehand and Crowdfunder UK launch #ILoveLive, a prize draw campaign organised to raise funds for the production staff and stage crew impacted by the loss of work caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The campaign is spearheaded by artist manager and promoter, David Stopps with Andy Lenthall and Mike Lowe at Stagehand. “When I heard about the 10th suicide among stage crew in late August, I knew I had to do something,” Stopps said. “Stage crew are not only suffering great financial hardship, but most are also experiencing ill mental health. Money raised from these prize draws will actually save lives…
Following a difficult year of dormancy, live music returned to the masses in New Zealand in October. Marking a world first, indie-pop phenomenon and rising global superstar Benee livestreamed the closing night of her first headline tour with production to a global audience. The touring campaign covered eight shows – ranging from theatre to arena level – across four cities, wrapping up at the Spark Arena, Auckland, playing to a sold-out crowd of 13,000 overjoyed fans. Tasked with bringing the vision to life was Production and Lighting Designer, Ben Dalgleish of Human Person. “I am lucky to have started my…
With COVID-19 restrictions making in-person audiences temporarily impossible, WWE set about creating an elaborate immersive experience that would capture the essence of its hugely popular live shows. The solution? The ThunderDome: a state-of-the-art facility setup inside Orlando’s Amway Center, featuring massive LED screens, pyrotechnics, lasers, cutting-edge graphics and drone cameras. Making its TV debut on 21 August, the WWE ThunderDome was an instant hit. “WWE has a long history of producing the greatest live spectacles in sports and entertainment, yet nothing compares to what we are creating with WWE ThunderDome,” commented WWE Executive Vice President of Television Production, Kevin Dunn.…
James Bay, his band and loyal touring team joined forces for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic’s unwelcome arrival to present a unique livestream experience at Shakespeare’s Globe in London on 21 October. The ambitious livestream, which saw the artist play in a range of spaces across the venue as well as an encore at the Jacobean Theatre, was produced by Driift, and provided an outlet for live music fans and production crew. Tour and Production Manager, Jamal Chalabi of Backlash Productions headed several site meetings at Shakespeare’s Globe ahead of the broadcast. He picked up the story: “Most…
It’s hard to find a silver lining where COVID-19 is concerned, however, if the live events industry has gained anything from the pandemic, it’s been the chance to pause and consider health and safety regulations and duty of care for the hard-working crew behind tours, festivals and large-scale events. It is why we have seen collectives such as the Touring Production Group (TPG) form to help provide guidance alongside the Production Services Association (PSA), with the aim of preparing people for events in a COVID-19 world. There have also been organisations outside of our industry providing services to those wishing…
“Streaming is the opposite to Field of Dreams – it’s not just a simple case of ‘if you build it, they will come’,” explained PUSH LIVE’s Global Head of Marketing, Steve Munachen, while he and fellow PUSH LIVE colleague, Jonnie Coffin, chatted to TPi via Zoom. “In short, to build an audience, content needs to be streamed to channels and destinations where audiences already congregate.” Although this year has marked a significant rise in the number of artists, promoters and productions having to adapt to this developing form of a ‘live’ event, PUSH LIVE had been making inroads into this…
The volunteer trustees at Stagehand, the original live production welfare fund, have opened the second application window for the COVID-19 Crew Relief Fund. Applications for grants of up to £500 will be invited from those that have received zero or minimal support from self employment or furlough schemes or have no significant alternative income. The fund is open to non-theatrical live event crew, for those in theatre, our colleagues at the Theatre Artists Fund have support available. Applications are open until midday on Monday 21 December 2020, organisers anticipate over-subscription and will work hard to contact applicants in early January.…
Singer-songwriter, Louis Tomlinson has announced a special one-off livestreamed show on 12 December with profits from the show split between FareShare, Crew Nation, Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice and Stagehand. The artist is also donating money to his own touring crew, many of which have been out of work since March. The multi-camera event will feature Louis and his full band performing fully live, and will be available to watch for 28 hours, giving fans globally the chance to view at a time convenient to them. The show will feature songs from Louis’ debut solo album Walls (Top 3 in the…
