The Channel Seven Perth Telethon is the most anticipated weekend on WA television and this year, the 55th Telethon was an amazing spectacle that hit an epic milestone raising a staggering $500 million since it began more than five decades ago.
The 26-hour event was held at Telethon’s new home at RAC Arena in Perth’s CBD with an opening show featuring live entertainment, interviews, donations and performances from AGT host and Australian Idol co-host Ricki-Lee, Ella Hooper, The Voice 2022 winner Lachie Gill, Human Nature’s Phil Burton and more.
Elite Audio Visual Productions supplied the core, mainstage lighting rig including power distribution, consoles and data distribution for this prestigious event.
Lighting designer Matthew Gibbons briefed Brock Preston, EAVP’s Managing Director, who decided to deploy his band new Ayrton Eurus onto the gig.
“Matthew wanted a rig that would be high-impact and most importantly, reliable as it’s live television,” remarked Brock. “Failures were not an option so the gear had to be tier-one equipment. As we already own Ayrton Mistrals, we knew their products were rock-solid.
“Not only do Ayrton products have fantastic features, but we’ve also met many of the Ayrton guys and they fit in with our values where they’re moving with their technology. It was time for us to get the next tier-up workhorse that is super-reliable and obviously, the backing from Show Technology is a bonus. Going with Ayrton is a no-brainer since we purchased our Mistrals.”
The framing ability and large zoom range of the Eurus were particularly useful on the Telethon where Brock had all twelve fixtures situated in the upstage, overhead lighting trusses. Added to that were four Mistrals dotted through the upstage lighting truss.
“We own sixteen Mistrals and if they are ever in the warehouse, I’m surprised!” said Brock.
For a smaller footprint, moving head and framing unit that’s punchy, Brock says his Martin ERA 400s are his go-to fixture using twelve of them as well as for the main overhead wash, 24 x Martin MAC Aura XB.
Sixteen Claypaky Axcor Beams supplied added effects with Brock saying their beams come up well on TV and they’re an easy way to create a big look.
Lastly, were 32 x Show PRO Fusion Pars that performed random work duties around the venue both on stage and off stage.
For control, an MA Lighting MA2 light with an MA2 NPU was chosen to suit the operators. Three Theatrelight 48-way touring power racks were used with Brock commenting that in the 18 months that he has had them, they’ve had zero issues with them.
“They’re reliable, stable and built very well,” he added. “We also used ten Theatrelight DMX Splitters on this job.”
The Telethon broadcast ran exceptionally smoothly with no hiccups and Brock’s equipment didn’t miss a beat.
Seamless AV hired 16 x ShowPRO Pluto 4000 wash and 16 x ShowPRO Pluto 350 spot to the event. GSD Productions also supplied some gear. Key lighting was supplied and designed by Keith Martin.
Photos: Brock Preston and Alex Moffat
