With Covid-19 lockdowns worldwide and health authorities urging people to self-isolate and practice social distancing on a massive scale as part of an enormous effort to #FlattenTheCurve of this global pandemic … we are reaching out to industry friends, colleagues, associates, partners, etc., and asking them to share their #StayAtHome and #QuarantineAndChill activities with us during this extraordinary time.

Our industry is in need of urgent support! Almost 6 months ago we watched our busy work calendars empty & now our warehouses show the stark reality, empty of people, but full of equipment unused and gathering dust…

The group is a new arm of the Production Services Association - the largest UK trade body for the live event production industry - and includes tour managers, production managers, safety professionals, venue and festival managers, travel and logistics specialists, promoters, and leading industry suppliers, who work with artists at all levels of touring, from emerging acts to the biggest performers in the world. The PSA Tour Production Group has an impressive record in live events and touring productions. Past and present clients of the team include Madonna, Queen + Adam Lambert, Sam Smith, P!nk, Kings of Leon, Robbie Williams, Spice Girls, One Direction, Adele, U2, BST Hyde Park, Reading Festival, Nile Rodgers, Anastacia, Fatboy Slim, Ed Sheeran, Neighbourhood, Bluedot Festival, Tool, Isle of Wight Festival, Eminem, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Lollapalooza and Underworld.

Red Alert is also being supported by numerous companies, professionals, organisations and other individuals and practitioners working in the entertainment technology industry and performing arts sector. The Red Alert campaign’s goal is to get the live entertainment and technical production sector in front of politicians, specifically those in the exchequer and at the DCMS (Department of Culture Media & Sport), the latter as the industry’s representatives at parliamentary level.

The event coincides with France’s National Day (on July 14). And having scaled new heights last year with the unique solutions and I/O capacity provided by the two German partner brands—creating an immersive environment for Radio France, with 152 Optocore preamps and MUX22 IVT / MADI connectivity—this year technology contractors GB4D went even further. Working once again for Radio France, they set up an elaborate optical broadcast network topography on the Champ de Mars in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, but with the location eerily empty other than for technicians.

The Tauron Arena in Krakow, Poland, is a favourite venue among artists, promoters, working crews and music fans on the normally busy year-round European arena touring circuit, but like most venues, it lies shuttered and empty while the live entertainment industry is ‘on hold’ as we fight the pandemic! Lighting designer Maciej Hofstede from design / creative direction specialist OF COURSE based in Bochnia, who would usually be juggling a full schedule of tours festivals and band shows, decided to go BIG when it came to participating in the recent #LightTheSky Poland lighting action.

Auckland, New Zealand-based lighting designer Rachel Marlow of Filament Eleven 11 created an edgy and exciting ambience with ‘Who Lived in a Vinegar Bottle’, an immersive lighting and audio installation work staged over four days in Auckland Town Hall Concert Chamber.  This was part of the ‘Auckland Live Fringe Town’ aspect of the city’s annual Fringe Festival event, a proudly independent and hugely popular open-access arts festival which took place earlier in the year, just before the Coronavirus pandemic shut down the industry for an indefinite period.

Located in Nashville, Tennessee, Pinewood Social is a gathering and meeting space that can accommodate the needs of its guest’s morning, noon or night. Whether it’s for a cup of coffee in the morning, a casual lunch, or cocktails and dinner with bowling, bocce ball and lounging by the pool, Pinewood Social strives to create a complete experience for all those stopping by. As the lockdowns began to occur nationwide due to the Coronavirus pandemic, owners Strategic Hospitality needed to think fast in order to continue meeting the needs of the community around them, so they worked with Elite Multimedia Productions who designed and created their Carpool Cinema outdoor event design.

Five high profile buildings around the UK were proudly lit with Anolis fixtures in the recent #LightItInRed lighting action organised to draw attention to the special requirements of live performance, entertainment and events as the economy re-starts after the coronavirus lockdown. The five – the O2 Guildhall and the Mayflower Theatre both in Southampton, Waddesdon Manor in Buckinghamshire, Knebworth House in Hertfordshire and Somerset House in The Strand, central London – all feature permanent Anolis lighting schemes to illuminate their facades and intricate architectural details.

With Covid-19 lockdowns worldwide and health authorities urging people to self-isolate and practice social distancing on a massive scale as part of an enormous effort to #FlattenTheCurve of this global pandemic … we are reaching out to industry friends, colleagues, associates, partners, etc., and asking them to share their #StayHome and #QuarantineandChill activities with us during this extraordinary time.

TVU Networks, the market and technology leader in cloud and IP-based live video solutions, has announced that visionary Barcelona broadcaster betevé will use TVU RPS, a remote production system for live synchronized multi-camera production, for broadcast and streaming coverage of the Grec 2020 Festival of Barcelona. This marks the first time that the festivals’ events will be broadcast and streamed live. Events will be broadcast live on betevé, the city's public broadcasting service, as well as streamed live on the network’s website.

Robe UK was extremely proud to work with a number of companies, organisations, venues and individuals to light ten significant buildings and landmarks in and around its hometown of Northampton … for the #LightItInRed lighting action campaign on Monday night, 6^th of July. #LightItInRed was a UK-wide initiative set up by Steven Haynes from Clearsound Productions and Phillip Berryman from The Backstage Theatre Jobs Forum to highlight the challenges facing the live events, entertainment, arts, and performance sector, which,  despite a very welcome £1.57 billion financial assistance package for the ‘culture’ sector announced by the government on the eve of the event, still has no re-open date after the lockdown.

With Covid-19 lockdowns worldwide and health authorities urging people to self-isolate and practice social distancing on a massive scale as part of an enormous effort to #FlattenTheCurve of this global pandemic … we are reaching out to industry friends, colleagues, associates, partners, etc., and asking them to share their #StayAtHome and #QuarantineAndChill activities with us during this extraordinary time.

AO Drones, the specialist provider of drone light shows, recently played a key role in an unforgettable event to thank Dubai’s frontline workers for their heroic service during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conceived and produced by AO Drones’ Producer, Marco Niedermeier, the event combined a stunning aerial display from AO Drones’ sophisticated drone fleet, plus a special message from emergency services vehicles arranged to spell ‘Thank You’, in both English and Arabic. The whole event was captured in a short film, shot in the style of a dramatic action movie, and shared widely on social media.

Trending in Twitter’s top 3 on the night, the #LightItInRed campaign saw over 670 buildings, monuments, landmarks and structures all over the UK illuminated in “Emergency Red” on Monday 6^th July to highlight the vast challenges facing the live events, music and performing arts sectors. The action was organised – in under a week – by Steven Haynes from Clearsound Productions and Phillip Berryman from The Backstage Theatre Jobs Forum and was a massive success.