AC Lighting of Christchurch, New Zealand are ready for any gig, providing full service event lighting, staging, rigging, and power distribution for hire or for sale. With clients ranging across festivals, corporate, and broadcast, AC Lighting rely on High End Systems Hog consoles for lighting control, recently adding a Road Hog 4 to their inventory, and supplying another to an important customer, WhitebaitMedia.
Run by husband and wife team Janine Morrell-Gunn and Jason Gunn, who have both been working in children’s TV since the late 80s, WhitebaitMedia have an amazing production facility in central Christchurch. Boasting a 594m2 film and television studio that can host audiences for live shoots and accommodate set builds, and a smaller 120m2 studio with a permanent infinity cyc and green screen, WhitebaitMedia are regularly producing a two-hour live show on the weekends and an after-school weekday pre-recorded young adult show, in addition to being available for private and commercial hire.
“With their High End Systems Hog iPC near its end-of-life, WhitebaitMedia wanted to stick with the Hog platform,” said AC Lighting’s general manager Michael Kelly. “As we have multiple Hogs in our inventory, they also wanted to go with a console that we can provide a back-up for. But the main reason they like the platform is the speed of the workflow. WhitebaitMedia’s shows often include live performances, and on some occasions, the performers may come in only half-an-hour before they go live. Their operators don’t have a lot of time to see what’s required, and they enjoy using the Hogs for busking and getting a good look quickly.”
Back in AC Lighting’s inventory, a Road Hog 4 has joined the family. “We already have a Full Boar 4, a Hog 3 with DP8000 processors, a Hog iPC, a Hog4PC, and lots of MiniWings,” reported Michael. “We’re adding another option with our new Road Hog 4, which we intend to use as a backup on our larger gigs with the Full Boar 4, and to go out on its own for smaller concert-style shows, conference dinners, and other smaller scale work.”
A long-term Hog house, AC Lighting’s pool of operators are veterans on the operating system. “The Hog platform is a quick platform to use,” explained Michael. “It’s robust and reliable. We’ve been doing shows on Hogs since the Echelon on the Hog 2 platform. Our lighting technicians can programme on our Hogs really quickly, and they’re always comfortable knowing they have a Hog on their show.”
AC Lighting’s stable of Hogs is backed by New Zealand and Australian High End Systems distributor Lexair. “We like the crew at Lexair; they’re very approachable, and they provide good support,” endorsed Michael. “We regularly deal with Nick Abel in Auckland and always catch up with the Aussie staff when they visit. As a production company, it’s good knowing Lexair have back-ups and demo consoles available if a problem should arise.”
