| PNTA Upgrades Membership | | PNTA (Pacific Northwest Theatre Associates) recently upgraded from Supporting to Sustaining membership status. The company is the largest stocking dealer of theatre equipment and supplies in the Northwest. It also manufactures platforms and draperies and provides sales, rental, and service of lighting fixtures, control and dimming, sound, intercom, and SFX. For more information, visit the company’s website. To Top  | | Stage Lifts on Exhibit at ShowTech | | Serapid, Inc., showcased its award-winning products at ShowTech 2009 Berlin June 16 through 18 at the Berlin Exposition Centre. A supplier of stage lifts, orchestra pit lifts, and scenery wagon transfer systems for the entertainment industry, Serapid’s LinkLift and horizontal motion systems provide simple solutions to many of the common challenges associated with stage engineering. At the heart of all the company’s products is the Rigid Chain – a chain capable of pushing, pulling, and lifting with the strength of a steel column. The LinkLift was recently seen during the 2008 Olympic Opening Ceremonies in Beijing. For more information about Serapid, visit the website. To Top | | TMB Media Controller at Tribeca Festival | |  Spring in New York and Tribeca Film celebrates emerging and returning filmmakers. The Vanity Fair party held April 21 at the historic State Supreme Court building in downtown Manhattan featured a 4 x 41 foot Barco LED wall at the top of the portico steps programmed to resemble a marquee. Controlling the giant LED marquee was a Hippotizer Stage V3 media server manufactured by Green Hippo and distributed by TMB.
For more information about Hippotizer, visit the TMB Hippotizer web page. Learn more about other innovative products from TMB at www.tmb.com. To Top | | Sapsis Rigging at Manhattan Events | | Sapsis Rigging Entertainment Services Inc. provided rigging design, equipment, and installation supervision and labor for the New York Park Avenue Armory and artist Ernesto Neto's first commissioned art installation in the 66th St. and Park Avenue venue.  The piece is a 120 by 180 foot canopy suspended from the armory roof structure. Columns of fabric, weighted with spices and sand, descend 60 feet and help define a maze of rooms and passageways.
Sapsis Rigging also provided rigging services for the 23rd Annual Mt. Sinai Crystal Ball. The ball is the New York City hospital's largest fundraiser of the year. The event was moved this year to the Central Park Conservancy tent in Central Park. To Top | | TOMCAT Launches ‘Did You Know’ Series | | As part of its ongoing education efforts, TOMCAT introduces a new video podcast series as an extension of TOMCAT U. The “Did You Know” videos are relatively short in length – about two to four minutes each – and will address a variety of topics in rigging, motors, fall protection, and truss.  The first release addresses fall protection harnesses and how to properly inspect them before use. The videos can be viewed and downloaded at the TOMCAT website, on TOMCAT’s Facebook page, or on TOMCAT’s YouTube channel.
Contact a TOMCAT sales representative for additional technical information at sales@tomcatusa.com. To Top | | Transition, Autopilot at Texas Church | | When Trinity Fellowship Church of Amarillo, Texas set out to design a new 4,000-seat sanctuary, it chose a stage in the round – a unique feature for a house of worship. This creative space called for creative lighting, and Wybron played a part with its Autopilot II performer tracking system and Transition fiber-optic illuminator.  The church also utilizes Wybron’s Nexera color-mixing luminaires in the children’s area of the campus as well as its west sanctuary. The Nexera combines CMY dichroic color mixing with a powerful light fixture available in profile and wash models.
For more information about Wybron, call 719-548-9774, e-mail info@wybron.com, or visit www.wybron.com. To Top | | New Name, Same Great Products, Service | | The London, Ontario company people have relied on for fog, atmospherics, and pyrotechnics (under the Pyropak brand) has a new name, but the business philosophy is the same. Ultratec Special Effects Inc. will continue to provide excellent customer service, quality products, on time delivery, and competitive pricing. The company decided to change its name so it could differentiate itself more effectively, especially in global markets. Adrian Segeren, president, and Marnie Styles, vice-president, continue to lead the same team of dedicated employees customers have come to know and rely upon. Staff phone numbers currently in use will remain the same. For staff e-mail addresses, replace the old company name in the domain portion of the address with the new one (for example, firstname.lastname@ultratecfx.com). For more information, please visit the company’s new web site ultratecfx.com (visitors to the old site www.pyropak.com will automatically be redirected to the new pyrotechnics web site). Customers can check the site for the latest on new products, pricing, and training courses. To Top | | |
