Following the PLASA Innovation Awards, the prestigious Gottelier Award was presented to JB Toby, Technical Director for Avolites. This award, named in memory of Tony Gottelier, the renowned industry innovator and commentator who passed away in 2006. The Gottelier Award recognizes individuals or teams of people who have made sustained and significant contributions to the development of entertainment technology.
“Receiving this award is something very special indeed,” Toby commented. “For years I looked up to the other award holders in what they stood for, seed innovative ideas into the industry, and see them grow into beautiful shows. And today the industry has selected me to join that list. I would like to thank PLASA and the industry as a whole for this tremendous honor, and my family for giving me the extra time for innovation to serve this amazingly crazy and creative industry.”
Toby joined Avolites in August 1994, and has a strong and proven track record at Avolites Ltd working extensively within the research and development department. He was focused on developing the dimming range which put Avolites in a strong position in the live touring market. In 1999, Toby spearheaded a team and launched the Art 2000 dimming range which is now a well-known product in the live entertainment, film and TV markets. Not only would it start a revolution in intelligent dimming, the Art 2000 dimming range would also act as a catalyst within film and TV, being put to work on the sets of the Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and James Bond movies. The Art range legacy continues in the form of Art 2000+ and Art 2020.
Toby was also the team leader on projects such as the D4, Tiger Touch, Sapphire Touch, and Sapphire Media as well as the Avolites Media Ai range of products. As technical director, Toby continues the user-driven product development aided by the creative and multi-talented team at Avolites.
The nominees for the 2022 Gottelier Award included:
David Edelstein – Managing Director of Triple E
David Edelstein, founder of Triple E, invented the Loose Pin Hinge in 1984 after spotting a huge gap in the market. The product went on to receive an ABTT Product of the Year award and has since inspired many imitations. Edelstein went on to design and launch UniTrack in 1988, which is now found in theatres, opera houses, cruise ships, and film studios around the world. Since then, Triple E has won five Product of the Year awards in the UK, as well as the Rigging Award for ChainTrack at LDI 2021. And since 1998, Edelstein has designed variable acoustic systems which are now staples of Triple E’s product range.
Peter Kirkup – Solutions Director for disguise
Starting as a control technician for Stage Electrics 20 years ago, Peter Kirkup has played a key role in pushing forward exciting new technology with a hands-on approach. Most recently, Kirkup was one of the first to push virtual production and metaverse technologies to a new level. Having joined the disguise EMEA Sales team in 2015, his continuous drive to push innovation forward, while staying close to the customer, opened him up to entirely new opportunities within the company and he now heads up Global Technical Solutions, working closely with the disguise user community to build solutions tailored to their specific project needs.
Paul Mardon – Founder and Technical Advisor for Pulsar Light Ltd
Paul Mardon designed the Pulsar Masterpiece, which was the most popular club lighting controller for many years. In addition to this, Mardon designed all of the electronics for the Claypaky scanner range, up to and including the Golden Scan 3, as well as the ChromaRange LED fixtures which led to the industry-wide use of TriColour LEDs. Alongside this, he serves as an important member of an industry panel which set the first ever standards for DMX control of lighting fixtures.
