News

Stay up to date with the latest happenings in the live events and technical production industry. From product launches and training sessions to behind-the-scenes stories and project highlights, our news section is where you’ll find it all.

Get the scoop on what’s new at DWR, follow our journey with industry partners, and discover the people and moments that make our community so unique. Whether you’re looking for inspiration, information, or innovation — this is the place to be.

Gerda on Industry Legends

26 July 2012   Gerda Kruger Philip Kruger Consulting   If there is a lighting designer in South Africa, someone who has stood the test of time, someone who has influenced lives and who, still is passionate about lighting design, it would be Gerda Kruger.   Gerda has done tremendous

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Fly Piggy Fly

19 June 2012 From Fly Piggy Fly, Scott Kelly, Nerine Janse van Rensburg, Julie Coetzee &  Lawrence Mthunzana Fly Piggy Fly, which has a new TV production house called Bay Studios (the first television studio in the Eastern Cape), recently purchased a Philips Strand 200 Series console, a Philips Strand 6

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300 Robins for BMW

06 June 2012     Courtesy Louise Stickland Over 300 Robe ROBIN 600 LEDWash and PureWhite moving lights were specified by lighting designer Peter Heilig of SfS Project Aschaffenburg to light a special pavilion area showcasing the new BMW 6 series Gran Coupe on the BMW stand at the 2012

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Oscar night for Caxton

14 May 2012     The Oscars was the theme for this year’s Caxton Awards, held at The Theatre on the Track on 29 March 2012. Caxton and CTP Publishers and printers are recognized as one of the largest publishers and printers of books, magazines, newspapers and commercial print in

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Till we meet again

09 May 2012   Hugh Wyllie and Duncan Riley, DWR Distribution   DWR Distribution would like to take this opportunity to say good-bye to Hugh Wyllie and wish him everything of the best for the future as he relocates to Surrey, England. Hugh started his career in theatre at the

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Prolyte appoints DWR

02 May 2012     Duncan Riley and Robert Izzett, DWR Distribution   From May 1st onwards, DWR Distribution will represent Prolyte Group and its full range of products as distributor for South Africa. DWR is not entirely new to the Prolyte network, over the last years they have gained

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Avicii in Durban

02 May 2012   Photos with kind courtesy Kierran / Ocean Driven Media   When Avicii performed at the Wavehouse in Durban as part of his South Africa tour recently, Insane Sound & Lighting were the technical suppliers. Avicii drew in a crowd of 5 500 people. While the nomadic

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7 Year programme for Transnet

25 April 2012   MJ Event Gear provided the full technical including; stage, sets, video, lighting and sound for a Transnet breakfast event held on the 10th April 2012 at the Hilton Ballroom in Sandton. Transnet Group CEO, Brian Molefe, provided detail on a R300bn, seven-year investment programme aimed at

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A spot on Multi-Media

05 April 2012     At the start of this year, Multi-Media purchased 12 x Robin 600LEDs, 12 x Robin 600 Spots and 4 x MMXs. We asked Tim Fish, a partner at the company, to give us feedback on the sale and where the units have been used over

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Robins for Paul van Dyk

22 March 2012   All the way from Germany, Paul van Dyk opened up his Johannesburg (South Africa) set of his Gatecrasher World Wide Tour at Truth Nightclub in Midrand on 3 February 2012. XGX Productions, commissioned by Vic Vaid and Lee Govender, were the technical suppliers of sound, lighting,

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Avolites Titan Training Course

15 March 2012     The Avolites Titan Training Course, comprising of two two-day sessions in Johannesburg (DWR Distribution Offices), and a one two-day session in Cape Town (The Arena Crew Lounge at the GrandWest Casino), was well attended by delegates across South Africa… and even Namibia! The course, presented

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Robe at Prolight+Sound

13 March 2012 Czech Republic moving light manufacturer Robe launches five innovative new LED based products at the 2012 Prolight+Sound exhibition in Frankfurt. These are all in Robe’s eco-conscious ROBIN range – with the emphasis on smaller, brighter, lighter and utilising genuinely more energy efficient technologies – underlining Robe’s “Think

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The Theatre Lighting Archive

01 March 2012   South Africa is delighted to announce the launch of a brand new website, The Theatre Lighting Archive,  which celebrates the pioneers of theatre lighting design in South Africa. The website, www.theatrearchive.co.za, went live on the 29th February 2012. “I figured February 29th doesn’t happen every year

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Watershed tour with Titan Mobile

27 February 2012     Michael Lewis from Untapped Sound was the Lighting Designer (amongst other roles!) for Watershed’s recent tour, Laying New Tracks. He travelled with an Avolites Titan Mobile – a list of venues and dates are listed below. Michael kindly answered a few questions:   When did

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VWV invests in Robe MMXs

21 February 2012   Courtesy Louise Stickland Johannesburg-based VWV, One of South Africa’s leading production companies – responsible for the spectacular closing ceremony of the 2010 Soccer World Cup amongst many other events – has invested in Robe’s new ROBIN MMX Spot moving light fixtures. “They are currently building up

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dB Audio love their Robins

21 February 2012   Old Mutual Jazz Encounter dB Audio took delivery of 12 Robin 300LED fixtures in October 2011. David Benade, Managing Member at dB Audio comments, “In our significantly girl powered company, the 300s became an immediate hit owning to their comfortable size and weight.” The 300s jumped

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Well done!

20 February 2012   Easy Moeketsi and Basinki Sekori   Sometimes you have to brag and this is one of those occasions! DWR Distribution have an outstanding team who go the extra mile and for that we are grateful! Well done to Easy Moeketsi and Basinki Sekori (AKA Alex) who

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Gareth joins DWR

20 February 2012   A warm welcome extends to Gareth Chambers (33) who joins DWR Distribution to assist with technical support. Gareth worked at AV Tech for nine years where he was in charge of the Lighting Department and Managed the crew. In October last year he started freelancing and

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Journey through the Shadows

09 February 2012     Thank you for the stunning photos Chashish Photography   Their latest album may be titled “Journey Through The Shadows”  but The Parlotones have stepped into the light. Quite literally, their tour has been hosted in some well equipped lighting venues including The Lyric Theatre, Emperor’s Palace

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Crown Gospel Awards

09 February 2012     There was a mixture of excitement and nerves when Black Coffee were awarded technical supplier  for the Fourth SABC Crown Gospel Music Awards held at the Durban International Convention Centre (ICC) in November 2011. Lighting Designer, Michael Broderick cautiously stepped in behind the grandMA 2

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Sound Headquarters

31 January 2012   Married couple, Alvin and Anrika Bruinders who head up Sound Headquarters.   Johannesburg based rental hire company, Sound Headquarters Africa, headed by Alvin Bruinders, in 2011 invested in Robe professional lighting gear to compliment their EAW line array sound systems. Sound Headquarters were the main  technical

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VLXs on Skouspel

30 January 2012     Visual Frontier was hired to provide the lighting and AV solution for Skouspel 2011, held from 7 – 9 October and 14 – 16 October at the Sun City Superbowl. Joshua Cutts,  who heads Visual Frontier, was the lighting designer. It was the fifth time

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Welcome Nick Barnes

24 January 2012   Jubilation was followed by regret as it was announced that DWR Distribution would have their very first staff vacancy in Durban but that none of the current Johannesburg team would be candidates for the position. How disappointing….after all those dreams of surfing during lunch break! As

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Dreamsets for Miss SA

23 January 2012   For the second consecutive year, Dreamsets have provided the full technical for Miss South Africa and Miss Teen held at Sun City’s Superbowl during December 2011. Lighting Designer from the company, Mauritz Jacobs, has worked on the show at least five other times. This year was

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MMX and Bryan Adams

14 December 2011     Courtesy Louise Stickland The latest Bryan Adams tour is the first major one in the UK tour to feature Robe lighting’s new ROBIN MMX Spots, as specified by lighting designer Ewan McRobb and supplied by the tour’s lighting contractor, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, UK based Siyan.

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Varstrap

12 December 2011       The first season of the brand new television musical competition, Varstrap, aired on KykNet (DSTV), has just come to an end. Set in a cellar at Lourensford Wine Farm in Somerset West one can almost imagine the oak wine vats combined with fruity aromas

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Merry Christmas

09 December 2011   Thank you to everyone in the industry for your valued support during 2011! Like you, we are counting down the days to the holidays!! May you have a Merry Christmas, may the holidays be a fun time to unwind and spend with those you love, and

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Robins for Multi-Media

06 December 2011   Multi-Media used their 12 new Robin 300 LEDs for two prominent events, Herbalife Southern Africa Extravaganza and the PICA Awards. Herbalife Southern Africa Extravaganza Some 2 500 guests from across the country attended the Herbalife Southern Africa Extravaganza, a three day event hosted at the Emperor’s Palace

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Anolis Protea Court

05 December 2011 With special thanks to Louise Stickland for article and photos Protea Court is the newly opened extension to South Africa’s most desirable and glamorous retail destination – Sandton City in Johannesburg. It features the first ground-breaking architectural lighting installation of its kind in South Africa, designed by

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Pan Tilt at Motorshow

23 November 2011   Rental Company, Pan Tilt, give their feedback on the brands / stands they worked on at the Johannesburg International Motor Show.     PAN TILT   ALFA   Technical Supplier: Pan Tilt Client: Set Squared Spec: Client wanted six lights per cars. The main focus was a

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25 years of Magic

18 November 2011 Rebecca Heartfield, RM Photography M-Net, launched as South Africa’s first pay TV channel, celebrated 25 years of magic at the M-Net Studios in Randburg during October, utilizing a grandmA and 49 Robe fixtures.     TechRig supplied the full technical and Robert Grobler, from the aforementioned company,

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New dimmers for Playhouse

13 October 2011   Dan Riley, DWR Distribution   “When looking at The Playhouse Company tender we had won, I wondered if we would complete it,” said Dan Riley, DWR Distribution. “It was a major job and they put in clauses that the theatre could not close and that shows

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5000th Robin 600 LEDWash sale

24 September 2011 L – R : Harry von den Stemmen (Robe, Sales Director), Yannick Danguy (Axente sales manager Paris), Guillaume Perrier (Axente, technical support), Josef, Valchar (Robe, CEO), Xavier Drouet (Axente, owner), Alain-Rene Lantelme (Axente, sales director), Ingo Dombrowski (Robe, Key Account Manager Europe), Jérôme Bréhard (Axente, MD), Renata Stodulkova (Robe, Sales Operations Manager), Daniela Šimčíkova (Robe,

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Innibos 2011

19 August 2011 Photo courtsy Lurina Fourie   A highlight on the arts and culture calendar is the Lowveld National Arts Festival, Innibos, held this year from 27 June to the 1st July 2011 which amazingly was attended by over 100 000 people. The festival kicked off with a performance by

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Techrig 4 Clover

18 August 2011     When Clover recently hosted their annual conference and gala dinner at Sun City, they called in the services of Techrig to provide the full technical. Gala Event    Acclaimed Michael Gill was responsible for the set design for the gala event held in the Ballroom,

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Robe at PLASA

18 August 2011 Robe – PLASA 2011 Preview : Stand 1-F47 Robe launches two important and unique new LED products at PLASA 2011 – the ROBIN 1200 LEDWash, and the ROBIN DLX Spot, and previews the upcoming ROBIN ‘Sniper’ – a mega-bright fixture with a super-tight parallel 230 mm fat

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Namibian Awards

18 August 2011   One can be forgiven, when thinking of Namibia, to imagine desert terrain, intense beauty and a landscape that  goes on forever. But google Windhoek, the capital of Namibia, and you realize it’s a vibrant city from which rental company dB Audio keep churning out one successful

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MAJOR for JIMS

08 August 2011 DWR Distribution introduced MAJOR to the industry at Mediatech. The fixtures are perfect for exhibitions and may be considered for the Johannesburg International Motor Show coming up in October – DWR is currently running a special on these fixtures. Source Four PAR EA CDM 35W/70W/150W/250W CDM-T   PAR luminaire with discharge lamp

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Dresses needed

04 August 2011   Strike Productions are on the hunt for previously adored fabulous dresses, accessories etc to ensure that disadvantaged Matric girls get to go to their matric dances with self-esteem and dignity. Last year they dressed over 250 girls for their big night out. “I think this is

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Splitbeam is one

02 August 2011   Congratulations to Gearhouse Splitbeam who are celebrating their first birthday.   A clearly proud (and rightly so), Alistair Kilbee, Managing Director of Gearhouse Splitbeam, gave us feedback. “It is truly amazing to me, that in the first year of Splitbeam we have had such great support

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DWR enjoys amazing Mediatech

01 August 2011 Bob Schacherl (Vice President of Worldwide Sales & Marketing, Philips Vari-Lite), Duncan Riley (DWR) and George Masek (Product Marketing Manager, Philips Vari-Lite)   South Africa’s leading professional lighting sales operation, DWR Distribution, enjoyed an exceptionally successful Mediatech Africa 2011 exhibition, the country’s biennial trade show for the

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Fun outside Mediatech

28 July 2011 Memories of Mediatech, outside the show. Donatellos, Monte Casino               Rhino & Lion Nature Reserve                      The Carnivore Restaurant           Maropeng              

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Mediatech memories

26 July 2011 Wow! What a time we had at Mediatech – thank you Simon and your helpful team. To our overseas guests, it was super to have you here with us and to the staff at DWR Distribution, you excelled. Thank you to all of you for building, carrying,

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Before Mediatech: Meet Thierry P Fletcher

12 July 2011 Thierry P Fletcher Sales Director MDG       We look forward to welcoming Thierry to South Africa. This will be his first visit to our country.     Dan asked: “Did you plan your life in the industry or was it by default?” I started in the industry

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Before Mediatech: Meet Pete Floyd

12 July 2011   Pete Floyd International Sales Manager LSC Lighting Systems (Aust) Pty Ltd   Meet our UK born Australian, Pete Floyd. We asked if he would be kind enough to return some stray South Africans home with him when visiting Mediatech next week. He could only guarantee a

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Before Mediatech: Meet John Jones

09 July 2011 John Jones Managing Director LTM (Lift Turn Move Ltd     We look forward to welcoming John back to South Africa.     Dan asked: “Did you plan your life in the industry or was it by default?” By default, I started work in a factory making

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Before Mediatech: Meet Bob Schacherl

09 July 2011 Bob Schacherl Vice President of Worldwide Sales & Marketing Philips Vari-Lite       It is a privilege to have Bob Schacherl attending Mediatech this year that is not even two weeks away!   Nick asked: “How did you get into the industry?”   After graduating from the

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R10 000 up for grabs

08 July 2011   Drop your business card into the “fish bowl” at the DWR Distribution stand (H17) at Mediatech, and you could stand a chance to win a gift voucher to the value of R10 000.00. It’s that easy!   The draw will take place at our stand at Mediatech

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Before Mediatech: Meet Ola Melzig

07 July 2011 Ola Melzig Production Manager     Ola Melzig, respected production manager in the industry (Eurovision & Commonwealth Games) will present two workshops, well worth attending, during Mediatech. *Full details below. We asked him a couple of question, which he kindly answered while he was away on holiday

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Before Mediatech: Meet AJ

07 July 2011 Alan “AJ” Jesse ESP Vision Director of Marketing & Support     From Vegas meet AJ, a man who is passionate about poker, flying and the industry. He will be in South Arica for Mediatech.     Dan asked: “Did you plan your life in the industry

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Sport Awards Gauteng 2011

04 July 2011   It’s an hour before the Sport Awards Gauteng 2011 is broadcast live from Emperors Palace on Supersport 4. Debbie Batzofin walks across the stage, headgear in place, Warren Bowles from Diversity Management directs the presenters as they practise their routine onto the performing area for the

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