August 2010 - Transforming with stars

August was Star cloth month, after weeks of building we now have enough star cloth to fully drape the wedding marquee at Braxted Park, and our first weeding was Sunday the 23rd. Deadline met on time, and a bride and family bowled over at this magical effect transforming the room.

July 2010 - Natalie Cole

In July this year we had the pleasure of lighting Natalie Cole at the Westminster bridge park plaza hotel ballroom. This fantastic new hotel sited on the south bank directly opposite the houses of parliament is a stone’s throw from the London Eye and all the other attraction of the south bank. A wonderful evening for all involved we are looking forward to our next visit.

June 2010 - Summer Ball

June and we were back at Essex university for the annual summer ball. Once again we provided a full set up of lighting, sound and staging with the addition of projection for England’s opening game of the world cup. A good time was had by all despite the result of the football.

May 2010 - Return to Bournemouth

May and our annual trip to the South coast. Once again Knight International where pleased to be involved with the police federation conference at Bournemouth international centre, providing all the rigging for this event.

April 2010 - KI has a sporting weekend

The Easter weekend saw us travel to Loughborough for the National Sports Festival, held at the University Campus.

During the day various sporting events took place, while the evening entertainment took place within the large sports hall, providing some challenging deadlines as this was also used during the day for Badminton, Volleyball & Basketball so all trusses were at their maximum trim heights.

A versatile lighting rig, designed by Phill Knight, allowed us to easily light the entire room and the variety of entertainment, including a fashion show, quiz night & a final awards ceremony. Also supplied were a D&B based PA, complete with our EAW SM84 wedges and all mics, operated by our client. The stage look was completed with a two screen projection system, complete with all the required switching, DVD players & laptops.

The whole weekend was a massive success, with the organising team already looking forward to next year

Febuary 2010 - New Website!

Welcome to the launch of our redsigned website. Knowing how much we all experience the many demands on our time we believe the revised structure will greatly assist locating the information you require, especially easy access to our hire catalogue.

As always, your feedback about the new site is invaluable, please send any comments to web[at]knight-international.co.uk

December 2009 - Panto season again

The beginning of the festive season brings the return of the old favourites, Christmas holidays, new year parties and Riverside Ice & Leisures annual pantomime on ice, this year being Alice In Wonderland.

Alice In Wonderland, this years extravaganza, recieved good reviews and was enjoyed by all who attended. As in previous years, Phill Knight programmed and produced the lighting for the show, blending the permanent lighting system with additional temporary lighting enhancing the artists performance.

November 2009 - Curtains fall quickly and reliably at the touch of a button.

Always seeking new ways to provide a product launch or reveal, we have invested in a stock of Electro Kabuki units. Many will at some time have experienced a product launch where the intension to suddenly reveal the product has not been a sucess due to the unrelability of the older scaffold and spike system of release.

Put such concerns out of your mind, Kabuki units will work with any type of curtain or fabric (subject to weight per unit) and can easily be expanded if required. Forget the old fashioned tugging on a rope, simply press a button and the job is done.

November 2009 - Retail sector goes searches for a star

November found Chris Wisbey & Simon Deacon spending their weekends at locations from Brighton to Glasgow managing the technical requirements for a series of charitable events for the Retail Trust in their "Search for a star".

Auditions were held in front of a live audience and a panel of judges. In additional to the normal staging, drapes, lighting and sound the production included a video presentation system.

October 2009 - The Three Firsts

A first for Knight International. Early autumn brought a first for us as we provided technical support of lighting and video projection for a rare style of theatre production. A promenade performance that was held at the former bus depot at Colchester. Directed and produced by the Mercury Theatre Company this critically acclaimed production was an amazing and unique experience for all involved.

A first for Chelmsford Cathedral. For the first time in over 400 years a mystery play was performed in Chelmsford Cathedral for which we provided lighting, sound and rigging. The three hour play was a modernised account of a medieval mystery play from ancient times to the birth of Christ.

We also became members of The Professional Lighting and Sound Association.

August 2009 - Touring again

August 2009 once again found us working with Bhupinder Kambay of Kamtech Stage Services for a rock and roll tour to celebrate Pakistan Independance Day, with the event promoted to attract audiences from both the Pakistan and Indian communities.

A large A large number of performing artists ranged from dance troupes to solo singers. Once again we find Chris Wisbey and Matt Davis providing technical support. The nature of the event required a modest two truss show with an archway behind the drum riser producing a stunning effect.

July 2009 - New staff

In July we were please to welcome Phil Wright to our team. To add to the confusion of life the universe and everything we now have two Phil’s! Yes two. The new one is Phil Wright, joining us to run sales and be a full time contact in the office, plus give support to Phill K and the rest of the team involved in hire and production.

Phil brings a wealth of experience with him, having started his career at Donmar Productions in Covent Garden and then running sales at Gradav. He is however not just a sales box shifter. Phil also brings a love of theatre, with a long standing involvement as technical manager and a trustee of the Old Court theatre Chelmsford. Having been involved with over a hundred productions from set building and lighting for The Diary of Anne Frank back in the 80’s to lighting Blackadder for comic relief earlier this year.

While sales will be the main area he will be looking after he is also happy to help with your hire enquiries, and can also be found helping Jim loading and unloading too. Yes we know having two Phil’s is going to be confusing!

We have a new email for the second Phil - e: Philw[at]ki-sales.co.uk

June 2009 - Summer Ball Season Returns

Early June was Essex University Students Union Summer Ball time when a green open space at Colchester became a hive of activity. Providing main stage lighting, video, site power, outdoor lighting, radios and general site assistance, our team once again made the Summer Ball a night to remember for all those attending.

May 2009 - Motors, Truss & Motors

May has become to be known as motor month at KI, with the annual Police Federation Conference happening, for the second year running at the Bournemouth International Centre.

Following on the success of last year, we returned to look after the installation of motor points, motors and trussing, along with draping in one of the breakout rooms. The team, led by Phill Knight, had just the Saturday to get all the trusses floating, with some getting as far as being flown and safetied, with a small team finishing the installation of safety wires as trusses were completed. Phill stayed on site for any unforseen situations for the week, before leading the loadout the following Thursday.

April 2009 - SkyArt arrives

Knowing only that Phill has brought 8 lights, Jim in the warehouse knew when a 7.5T truck arrived to deliver them that these were something big!

A 4K lamp, complete with DMX controllable pan, tilt, scroller, shutter & focus, the SkyArts provide a different spin on the often used skytrackers. Available for dry hire or with an operator, these ensure people are wowed miles before they arrive at your event!

February 2009 - Time For A Carnival

Returning to Olympia for the third year running, KI provided again for the Zee TV Carnival. Running for 3 days, Knight International supplied a ground support system for the main stage, complete with 3 sides of drapes and a roof, all lighting and power for the stage, along with other stages and exhibition stands within the Olympia complex.

October 2008 - The Doctor's Calling!

October saw us going out again with regular client Bhupinder Khambay for the UK leg of the Adnan Sami tour.

Starting with the Trent Arena in Nottingham for just the one day, Knight International handled all the lighting and video requirements of the tour, which was specified, programmed and operated by Roosevelt D'Souza who was touring with the show.

Knight International brought in their usual large event production manager for the show, Chris Wisbey, to undertake all the liasing with Bhupinder & Roosevelt and to do all the things a production manager has to do!

The event was well recieved by the audience in Nottingham and the double date at Wembley the following weekend, the show being branded a huge success. We look forward to working with Roosevelt on his next show. Making the show a success for Knight International were Chris Wisbey (Production Manager for KI), Simon Deacon (LX & Rigging), Matt Davis (Rigging), Ben Shepard (LX & Rigging), Gary Taylor (LX Tech), Phill Knight (Video), Glen Evans (Projectors & Video Editor) & Murray Hancock (Projectors & Camera).

June 08 - Experiencing The Great British Weather!

Us Brit's do not let the weather get us down, a statement which was proven well at this years Essex University Summer Ball.

With rain hindering the site build from the first day, causing a chain effect of delays, many people thought we wouldnt make it! With the main marquee officially handed over for us to work in over a day later than scheduled, we managed to achieve what seemed the impossible and when everyone arrived in their tuxedos and cocktail dresses, combined with welly boots, their good spirits ensured the evening was a success.

With a circus theme, the main stage trusses were draped by the theming company, located within the big top marquee. Knight International took on the added responsibility of site radios and main stage video this year, in addition to the usual site mains, additional staging and main stage lighting.

February 2008 - Off To Olympia!

For the second February in the row Knight International headed to Olympia in London for the Zee TV Carnival.

A combined exhibition and live event, Knight International provided a ground supported lighting rig for the main stage and small ground supports systems for the autograph stage and for two of the exhibition stands, including the Zee Radio stage.

The lighting designs for all stages were done by Phill Knight, with production support from Chris Wisbey. Crew for the event were Phill Knight, Chris Wisbey, Simon Deacon, Matt Davis and Jim Davis, with main stage operation by Jas Singh.