The latest movers and shakers

INDUSTRY APPOINTMENTS

Simon Hutchinson, Nick Pidgeon, Matt Horwood, and Chris Brittan; Main Light expands its premises and debuts a newlook logo; Adam Hall Group appoints Link Audio as sole Gravity Distributor in Australia; AVIXA Diversify Council Chairperson, Frank Padikkala.

ACT Lighting (RapcoHorizon/ProCo Sound/RHC Holdings) has launched ACT Entertainment, a new entity formed by bringing together the brands of the ACT Lighting and RHC Holdings family of companies.

“Offering exceptional products and services, ACT Entertainment gives the most exciting and valuable entertainment technologies in the world a single home in North America,” said ACT Entertainment CEO, Ben Saltzman. “We are exclusively focused on empowering our customers with the tools and support they need to enhance their clients’ creative visions. ACT Entertainment enhances live experiences by discovering, developing, and delivering products that create value for our customers while supporting our products with industry-leading service and education.”

Adam Hall Group continues the expansion of its international distribution network for Gravity solutions with the appointment of Melbourne-based Link Audio.

“We are delighted to have found an exclusive sales partner for Australia in Link Audio,” explained Adam Hall Group COO, Markus Jahnel. “The Australian retail market is particularly challenging due to Australia’s geographical size alone and plays an important role in our international endeavours. Link Audio is a young, dynamic and flexible company that benefits from a wealth of sales experience with well-known audio brands. We are looking forward to working together to make Gravity’s ever-growing portfolio even more popular in Australia.”

Link Audio Managing Director, Michael Jago added: “We are extremely proud to sell Gravity in Australia. For us, Gravity meets all the criteria of a successful brand: high-quality design, attractive packaging solutions and a five-year guarantee. Gravity is a great addition to our existing portfolio – we can’t wait to get started.”

Audio Production Hire (APH) has launched a new sub brand of Acute Audio Productions (AAP). Based in Brighton, APH has launched its new tailored Design – Develop – Deliver pro audio production services and training platform ‘Sound System engineering the environmental approach’ exclusively using DAS Audio products.

AVIXA’s Leadership Search Committee (LSC) has appointed Frank Padikkala, CTS-D, CEH, CHFI, Kairos Solution Architect at Panasonic, to serve as Chairperson of the AVIXA Diversity Council.

“The growth of the AVIXA Diversity Council in the last three years under Charmaine Torruella’s leadership has been meteoric and we will continue to honor her legacy. Frank’s focus on outreach and the addition of both local and regional events will raise the sense of community and belonging that we champion at AVIXA,” said AVIXA Chief Global Officer, Sarah Joyce.

“The advancement of diversity within our AV community is so much more than training sessions and webinars,” said AVIXA Diversity Council Chairperson, Frank Padikkala. “My biggest goal is to bring the community together for personal learning journeys through the creation of safe spaces where we can each learn from one another, learn about ourselves, and learn about the value and power of our own diversity.”

Digital Projection has welcomed Visualization as a technical distribution partner in the UK. Digital Projection International Sales & Marketing Director, Chris Axford said: “Visualization UK is on an aggressive growth trajectory with an excellent team who really understand the

Martin Audio Associate Director of Design, Phil Anthony; Sidev General Manager, Lionel Roudil with Powersoft Sales Distribution Manager, Fabrizio Bolzoni; Martin Audio Research Director, Ambrose Thompson; Pixotope’s Ian Puszet, Karoline Storbråten amd Joachim Ringstad.

projection market and how to bring real value to their customers. This new partnership comes at an exciting time for both companies. With positive signs of the market reawakening after the pandemic, along with strong demand for our Satellite MLS system, we are excited to start working together on some fantastic projects.”

Visualization Managing Director, Nick Pidgeon added: “We are extremely excited to be working with Digital Projection. Our partners and end users can be assured that Visualization is partnering with what is a great British company that has a global presence and reputation. Digital Projection has an exciting and unique product roadmap that offers a clear indication that projection is very much part of the display industry going forward.”

Main Light has expanded its operations with an updated logo and new premises in Las Vegas. The new 40,000 sq ft shop at 6435 South Valley View, Las Vegas will allow the dry hire service to better support the western US.

“Having a West Coast shop is something that our clients have been asking about for some time,” stated Main Light General Manager, Randy Mullican. “As the entertainment and event industries are re-opening, many clients are asking us to step-in and support them across the country. Though we always would provide gear wherever needed, the Las Vegas location will allow us to respond to those needs more efficiently, and very importantly, cost effectively.”

Martin Audio has promoted Phil Anthony as Associate Director of Design and Ambrose Thompson as Research Director, from within to create two new director roles for its R&D department.

Anthony commented: “It’s a great responsibility to continue the legacy of Martin Audio products and one that I relish and look forward to. We have made great strides in recent years in the number of products we have brought to market and I’m confident that by investing in new tools, developing improved processes and pro-active communication across departments, that Ambrose and I will bring genuine customer value with our product roadmap.”

Thompson added: “I’m looking forward to helping drive a more even balance between technical, design and marketing strands of the company into all our products. On the software front, the aim continues to be removing tedious manual operations from our users’ workflows by making better tools. Equally, with Martin Audio inside the Focusrite Group, there is a proactive outlook where real investment in future development success seems possible.”

Pixotope has made two senior promotions and a new hire within its leadership team. Ian Puszet joins Pixotope as its Chief Customer Success Officer after a decade working at Avid; Karoline Storbråten has been promoted to Regional Sales Manager for Southern Europe; Joachim Ringstad celebrates his fifth year in the company joining Karoline as Pixotope’s Regional Sales Manager for the Nordics and Benelux.

The Future Group CEO, Marcus B. Brodersen commented on the growth of the firm: “Virtual production solutions have seen a huge increase in popularity, particularly due to the onset of the pandemic, and growing demand will continue to disrupt traditional content creation and delivery. Our latest additions and promotions within the team enhance Pixotope’s sales capabilities and customer delivery in the highly competitive virtual production marketplace, and they will help us navigate the next stage in our breakthrough of this increasingly evolving market segment.”

Powersoft has welcomed Sidev as its new distributor for France, working alongside Powersoft’s other French distributor, DV2. “Powersoft is a renowned brand on the AV Market, with a strong line-up to address both the staging and corporate markets,” said Sidev General Manager, Lionel Roudil. “When we looked for a new amplifier brand to develop and expand our audio portfolio, Powersoft was the obvious choice.”

Powersoft Sales Distribution Manager, Fabrizio Bolzoni commented: “We are very pleased with this new partnership; Sidev has a strong presence in the commercial install side of the business, so it will give us an advantage with verticals such as corporate, retail and education, which are in line with Powersoft’s strategic developments. The company will act in the French market in synergy with our partner DV2, who is heavily focused on the leisure live and entertainment install side of the market. We believe this perfect mix will offer immense support to the French audio market.” TPi www.tpimagazine.com/category/industry-jobs