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Los Angeles, May 4,
2009
When
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) marked the 25th anniversary of
“WrestleMania” with a dynamic four-hour Pay Per
View event, four grandMAs and four grandMA lites were deployed by
Christie Lites. Lighting/Production Designer Jason Robinson and
programmers Jeff Wilkin, Anthony (Geddy) Kordyjaka, Jason Shaw, John
Buck and Troy Eckerman were tasked with programming and running the
massive show, which aired on April 5 from Reliant Stadium in
Houston. A.C.T Lighting is the exclusive distributor of the
grandMA in North America.
Christie
Lites is no stranger to special one-off events where it has to
coordinate resources and get online in a timely fashion.
Previous WrestleMania’s had employed a different control
platform and the design team was really pleased with their switch to
grandMAs,” says Robert Roth, of Christie Lites.
“The boards performed flawlessly and enabled them to get the
show programmed in three days. That’s a testament
to the quality of our equipment and to our highly experienced crew of
12 who did a great job.”
“WrestleMania
XXV” was “big in all respects: big audience, big
production value, perhaps the biggest PPV event of the year,”
Roth reports. According to the Houston Chronicle
“WrestleMania XXV” drew a sellout crowd of 72,744
people to the stadium and grossed $6.9 million in ticket sales. It
featured eight matches with wrestlers from all three WWE brands: Raw,
Smack Down and ECW.
"From a
visual and programming standpoint think of each of the superstars of
WWE as having his own personality with his own look, color scheme and
music,” explains Roth. Putting all of this variety at the
programmer’s fingertips while allowing a dynamic, flexible,
playback environment is easily accomplished with the grandMA
“In addition, the team had to light the audience completely
for TV while allowing them to see the matches. Production designer
Jason Robinson did a masterful job of that in a stadium scale
environment.”
Ten semis of lighting equipment were required for
“WrestleMania
XXV.” The gear included more than 500 moving lights and an
equal
number of conventional fixtures, plus truss, rigging and 15 miles of
cable. “That’s pretty substantial in
today’s
market,” notes Roth. “There were four lighting
directors:
one controlled the entrance lighting system, one the ring and audience,
and one the Synchrolites and Macs, while the fourth had six
Hippos.”
The show, which delighted the live audience in Houston and fans viewing
the event around the world, was “challenging and fun, and we
enjoyed doing it,” he concludes.
“My hat is off to Jason Robinson, to Christie Lites and to
the
talented team of programmers for pulling off a well-lit spectacle.
These shows are an extreme adrenaline rush from load-in to being on the
air, and the grandMA system is ideal in this environment. This is the
environment in which the grandMA really shines,” concludes
A.C.T
Lighting President and CEO Bob Gordon.
Brian Petree was production manager for “WrestleMania
XXV.”
MA Lighting is
exclusively distributed by A.C.T Lighting.
A leading importer and distributor of lighting products, A.C.T
Lighting, Inc. strives to identify future trends and cutting-edge
products, and stock, sell and support their inventory. The company
provides superior customer service and value for money to all of its
clients.
For more information call 818-707-0884.
Copyright © ACT Lighting 2009. All rights reserved.
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