Quiz show “Who Wants to Be A Millionaire” has been a TV favourite – and sometimes talking point – for years. For the 2020 Israeli edition, broadcast on Channel 12, lighting designer Ofer Jacobi was asked by producers July August Production to light the show again, 20 years after the last time he’d done so, which was the first roll out in Israel. Ofer was absolutely delighted to be working again after the coronavirus pandemic has all but shut down the entertainment and production industry worldwide! This time, he specified a Robe moving light rig and worked closely with set designer Oren Hanan and show director Amir Ukrainitz at Mizmor Petah Tikva Studios about 10km east of Tel Aviv.

For the millions of professionals working on the technical side of the entertainment industry in the United States., September 1’s #WeMakeEvents #RedAlertRESTART #ExtendPUA night of illumination was a collective shout for help, imploring the US Congress to pass the RESTART Act (S.3814) and PUA extension as quickly as possible. Elation was proud to be part of this momentous initiative with partners coast to coast lighting buildings, venues and structures in red to focus awareness on the plight of the live events industry and the need for immediate financial support.

Over 1,500 Ticketed Cars and 10,000 Pay-Per-Views Prove a Profitable New Model for Live Music During COVID-19

Riedel Communications partnered with Remote Recording Network (RRN) and Live Nation to establish a first-of-its-kind trans-Atlantic remote mastering workflow for the Wacken World Wide 2020 music festival. Streamed live to 11 million fans worldwide from July 29 to August 1 by MagentaMusik 360, Wacken World Wide took the world’s largest heavy metal festival online in a mixed-reality production. The audio for this broadcast was mixed in Hamburg, Germany, and mastered at Valhalla Studios NY, with communications and signal configuration, transmission, and monitoring handled by Riedel’s Remote Operations Center (ROC).

A compact Allen & Heath SQ-6 console was on mixing duty for one of the world’s most remote festivals.

At the last big event in Las Vegas before the lockdown, Bobby Grey of Notan Creative used 60 Claypaky Mythos 2 fixtures to deliver a variety of looks for the 102 songs that rock band 311 performed in three marathon shows at the Park MGM’s Park Theater.  Felix Lighting in Los Angeles was the lighting vendor for the concerts. Grey did the full production design for the series of concerts, March 11-13, and created and curated the shows’ video content.  The band annually celebrates “311 Day” on March 11 staging marathon live concerts in even-numbered years and playing a cruise for fans in odd-numbered years.  Formed in 1988, 311 has released 13 studio albums, two live albums, four compilation albums, four EPs and four DVDs.

As a light-hearted escape from the tribulations that mark everyday life at present, online comedy shows are experiencing a resurgence of popularity. Comedian Pat McGann’s recently released special, “Sebastian Maniscalco Presents Pat McGann: When’s Mom Gonna Be Home?,” is testament to that upsurge with large viewer numbers since premiering on streaming services July 28th.
 

The first live arena concert in the world … since coronavirus silently spread global mayhem,  was headlined by sizzling hot rising-stars L.A.B. at Auckland’s Spark Arena, New Zealand, a momentous occasion offering the artists, their management, crew and fans a joyous and heartfelt night where they could once again all embrace the emotions, experience and adrenaline rush of live performance! Robe moving lights were on the rig in a production design created by lighting designer Jack Hooper – his first gig for the band – together with the artists, their management team Loop, visual director Olivier Jean and live video specialist Big Picture. A truly collaborative effort that made a big impact.

Mexican ballerina Elisa Carrillo, principal dancer at the Staatsballett Berlin and 2019 winner of ballet’s top prize, the Prix Benois de la Danse, traveled to her country of origin to present a series of ballet performances called “Gala of Stars, Elisa and Friends.” The special shows, which took place last year in some of the most renowned venues in Mexico, including the Auditorio Nacional in Mexico City, were lit by Rafael Mendoza using Elation Artiste Picasso™ LED profile luminaires. 

The 2020 Cross Fire's 12th Anniversary Ceremony was held in Shanghai. This time, the end game and mobile game competition system were integrated, and the brand-new CFM Super League was upgraded to a professional league. With a larger scale and more intense competition, the top ten teams were put on the league stage.

In the CF double-end autumn finals which ended this year in March, SMT Virtual AR Studio together with VSPN, the organizer of the event, completed the first large-scale application of virtual technology in the field of e-sports through the innovative production method of the virtual studio witch caused attention of the industry.

There is absolutely no lack of creativity or ideas when it comes to artists performing in the world of Covid-19 lockdowns and other restrictions …  In Kyiv, Ukraine, ‘Vertical Concerts’ were initiated by rock band Green Grey who performed on the rooftop of a building opposite the city’s Bratislava Hotel … where fans occupied 9 stories of rooms with separate balconies, each with a fantastic socially distanced view of the gig! Leading Ukraine rental and technical production company Alight was asked to provide lighting for the rooftop stage – actually atop the Hotel Bratislava’s separate restaurant building – with a production lighting design created by Eugene Kostyra which included 10 x Robe MegaPointes.

This year, 818 festival coincides with Suning’s 30th anniversary. According to Suning’s 818 report, GMV exceeded 100 million in 26 minutes. Within 7 hours, Suning APP, Tik Tok, PP Sports, PP Video, Baidu, Sohu Video, iQiyi , and other platforms, the number of viewers exceeded 140 million.

Caylee Hammack is used to making the most of a hard situation, so she wasn’t about to let a pandemic stand in the way of her first album’s debut. After experiencing heartbreak, losing a college scholarship and later her belongings to house fire, she poured her hurt and heart into If It Wasn’t for You which launched August 14. To celebrate the release, Hammack recorded performances for future, virtual television appearances. The rising singer-songwriter utilized the full production studio at the Steel Mill with its 60’ x 40’ stage area and an impressive Bandit Lites-supplied lighting rig comprised of over one hundred moving fixtures, including the new Chauvet R2X LED washes and a grandMA2 Full console.

An Allen & Heath dLive system recently mixed a special performance by around 50 musicians from the Heidelberg Philharmonic Orchestra, livestreamed against the sumptuous backdrop of the Königssaal (Royal Hall), within the walls of the historic Heidelberg Palace.
 

Technology developments in filmmaking have deeply broadened the spectrum of what is visually possible and have also taken the live event experience to all new heights. With the implementation of high-resolution LED video environments that have become the backbone of such award-winning production designs as Star Wars: The Mandalorian, production houses across the nation have begun to look at applying this type of technology for the benefit of their clients. Such is the case with PixelFLEX™ rental network partners Mountain View Staging and Elite Multimedia Productions, who have taken their live and virtual event capabilities into a new realm of possibilities using production designs with LED video.