AFRICA NEWS

CHAINMASTER EXPANDS SOUTH AFRICA PRESENCE WITH DWR

THE DISTRIBUTION DEAL SEES THE BRAND REPRESENTED IN SOUTH AFRICA FOR THE FIRST TIME.

Electric chain hoist and chain hoist controller manufacturer CHAINMASTER has agreed to work with DWR Distribution as its sole trading partner for South Africa.

“While CHAINMASTER is well established throughout the world, it’s the first time the brand will be represented in South Africa, and we look forward to a longterm relationship with DWR,” commented Benjamin Göldner, CEO at CHAINMASTER.

Göldner and CHAINMASTER’s Global Brand Manager, Adam Beaumont, recently visited South Africa, calling on numerous local rental technical suppliers, along with DWR’s Robert Izzett.

“The CHAINMASTER brand is our specific hoist design for the entertainment market and the exciting development and relaunch of the product has occurred in connection with the changed corporate structure,” explained Beaumont. “John Jones, Director of LIFTKET UK and a distributor of CHAINMASTER stage products, has known Duncan Riley and Robert Izzett from DWR for several years, so when we started talking about bringing CHAINMASTER to South Africa, which is an important market for us, they were first in our minds.”

Founded in 1994, CHAINMASTER offers a range of products that enable complex scene changes in theatres and provide solutions for TV studios, multifunctional venues and the touring sector. Over 125,000 electric chain hoists have been used around the globe to date.

In October, Izzett visited CHAINMASTER’s headquarters in Germany and was delighted to see the high quality of their products and the warm welcome he received on site.

“It was amazing to see the company premises and the dizzying number of hoists that are produced there every year and to meet the whole team. We look forward to welcoming the great team to South Africa in 2023 as part of our Open Day and showcasing the new CHAINMASTER chain hoist product portfolio.” Photo: DWR Distribution www.chainmaster.de www.dwrdistribution.co.za

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DSTV MZANSI VIEWERS’ CHOICE AWARDS

DON’T LOOK DOWN APPOINTS AV UNLIMITED AND VISUAL FRONTIER TO DELIVER GLITZY AWARDS EVENING.

The fourth edition of the DStv Mzansi Viewers’ Choice Awards was held at Time Square’s SunBet Arena in Tshwane after a two-year absence due to the pandemic. The event coincided with the lifting of all COVID-19 regulations in South Africa, allowing local celebrities and delegates to feel a sense of freedom as they togged up in fabulous attire to attend the polished broadcast event produced by Don’t Look Down, with technical by AV Unlimited, and Visual Frontier appointed for lighting design.

“What I love about working alongside DLD is expanding the boundaries on every event,” said Guillaume Ducray, Co-owner of AV Unlimited. “You do not grow as a person unless you are doing something different. When working on a production like this, we know that we are going to push the envelope, and afterwards, look back and think, wow, we did this!”

The lighting team included Joshua Cutts, Andre Siebrits and Renaldo van den Berg, while Adriaan van der Walt headed the audio department. The rig included 112 Robe LEDForce 18 RGBWs, six BMFL Blades, 12 BMFL WashBeams, 12 BMFL Spots, 91 Pointes, 27 Spiiders, six Strobe IPs, 32 LEDBeam 100s, 24 Robin 600 LEDWashes, two RoboSpots and 27 James Thomas 4-Lite (Molefay). There were also a total of 28 Martin MAC Viper Profiles, 96 VDO Sceptron 10s and 48 Atomic Dot CLDs, with control coming from an MA Lighting grandMA2.

The experienced team from DLD including Glenn van Loggerenberg, Anton Cloete, Tebogo Mogola, Philisa Bidi and Brendan Holtshousen remained on top of the creative, while Lighting Designer Joshua Cutts from Visual Frontier was only too happy to lend his expertise.

“The lighting is influenced by DLD’s custom staging palettes, and all of the screen creative for this production was designed by Rob Rae,” Cutts revealed. “We have extensive meetings every week, the drawings are changed multiple times and then we tend to sculpt and lock it down. The creative team spend around a week in the studio with the tracks and 3D rig where we build as much as we can.”

The concept was to switch off all lights, then bring it to life with an abundance of beams and bright lights to create energised spaces for the ceremony and entertainment.

“It was a light-driven show and was intense to programme,” admitted Cutts. “We wanted to create banks of beams that came from different angles on the set, from left to right and from the roof shining down. We had a combination of 30 BMFL fixtures used as key lights, backlights and followspots. I used two RoboSpots, my ‘go-to’ for television spotlights.”

He added: “I really enjoy working with Guillaume and his crew. He very much likes to get the pre-production just right, he plans each show to perfection and every person on the team knows exactly what they are doing.” Photos: Judith Belle www.dstv.com