Mediatech Africa: next gen features and new tech

Broadcasters, sound engineers, lighting technicians, filmmakers, DJs and entertainers - this show is for you. This trade fair allows thousands of decision-makers in these key industries to discover new trends, solutions and service providers and assess top technologies from manufacturers and distributors locally and around the world; in an environment that allows for hands-on testing, live demos and product shoot-outs, a conference and extensive networking opportunities.

Among the highlights are:

• An exhibition area featuring over 130 exhibitors including manufacturers and distributors, and over around 700 brands.

• Two presentation zones featuring high-level talks, demos and workshops focusing on the two main verticals:
1) Broadcast/film/production/post production/animation/new media
2) AV system integration/live event technology/studio and recording/Pro DJ

• Workshops by renowned international lighting designers Paule Constable and Durham Marenghi will be staged on Thursday and Friday, due to popular demand.

Constable, a multi-award-winning British lighting designer and an associate director of the National Theatre in London, has worked on productions such as Wonderland for the National Theatre and Entfuhrung, His Dark Materials (NT, 2005), Don Carlos (West End, 2006), The Chalk Garden (Donmar, 2009) and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night (2013) and Warhorse. Constable will be talking about her design process and how this is reflected in works such as Warhorse and A Curious Incident.

Durham Marenghi has designed the lighting for a wide variety of theatre, opera, dance, trade, concert and television productions and is the first British lighting designer to have lit the opening and closing ceremonies of an Olympic Games. His theatre designs include the world tour of Diamonds for Holiday on Ice; UK tours of Dancing on Ice - The Tour and Saturday Night Fever. Marenghi will explain his approach to bringing theatrical lighting to stadium events such as Olympic opening and closing ceremonies.

• The outdoor Mediatech Sound Demos: a unique opportunity for AV professionals and end users to assess the quality and output of a variety of speakers. Speakers meeting the needs of organisations scaled from churches and educational institutions through to major event and concert companies will be assessed here.

• Solution demos and talks including Ryan Martyn of Syntech on Independent media professionals and the disruption of an industry; Gary Atkins of Extron on The truth about 4K, and Natalie Delport on Leadership in Media. View complete agenda here

• The finals of the Lighting Designer Contest hosted by Electrosonic SA, Martin Professional Denmark and Lighthouse Holland.

As southern Africa's one-stop hub for media and entertainment technology, Mediatech Africa brings together professionals involved in broadcast, film and AV; production and post-production; animation and new media; studio and recording; pro DJ and more for three days of networking, updates and new technology discovery.

Join the conversation for news on new technologies, event features and practical advice Facebook and Twitter @mediatechafrica. Pre-register for free at www.mediatech.co.za using this unique code: PR00001.