Rosco Lighting's Hollywood warehouse was destroyed in a fire on February 26th. The fire broke out around 5:00am, and, because of its size and intensity, was on the morning television news in Los Angeles. Company officials report that before noon of that day, dealers from California and other parts of the country called with offers of temporary space and other forms of help. No one was injured in the fire and Rosco's Hollywood office and showroom were protected by a firewall. Phone lines, computer operations and all Hollywood office operations were also unaffected. As this issue went to press, arrangements for additional, temporary warehouse space were underway, but not completed. Rosco's main US warehouse, located at company headquarters in Stamford, CT, will fill orders usually filled in Hollywood from stock in Stamford. Rosco asked ED to thank all the people in the industry who offered assistance and issued a statement saying, "By the time this issue of Entertainment Design is published, Rosco expects to have the first phase of its warehouse restoration completed and some products available locally on shelves in the renovated Hollywood warehouse."....AC Lighting Inc. has appointed Christian Choi, a frequent collaborator/programmer for designers such as Peter Morse, Marilyn Lowey, Patrick Woodroffe, Luc Lafortune, and Richard Pilbrow, as software and programming specialist at the company's Agoura Hills, CA office....The Guthrie Theatre and its employees of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 13 have reached an agreement extending a new four-year contract through April 2002. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The new agreement covers hourly wages, work rules, job classifications, and union coverage....George P. Johnson, the Auburn Hills, MI exhibit and events company, has created a new lighting design and theatrical production called Juice Creative. The company has appointed Chris Medvitz, who previously operated his own lighting design company, as creative director/lighting designer director of Juice Creative....Renkus-Heinz, the Irvine, CA manufacturer of sound reinforcement systems, has hired Christian Doering, a five-and-a-half-year veteran of EAW, as director of marketing....Jules Fisher and Paul Marantz of Fisher Marantz Stone announced recently that Charles G. Stone II has become managing principal of the firm and will continue to serve as a design principal.... American DJ has opened a Taiwan office, American DJ (Asia) Ltd., to distribute its wares through Asia. It's being run by Jason Echols, formerly with Antari in Taiwan. The address is: No. 30, Yen Ku Street, Tao Yuan, Taiwan; phone: 886-3-317-7155; fax: 886-3-355-3319; email: [email protected].... Apogee Sound, Inc. has added two new employees and promoted two employees: The new employees are: Marlene Bochene, who joins the company as sales department coordinator responsible for processing ord ers, communicating with US dealers and foreign distributors, and customer service, and Kerri Marshall, who joins Apogee as customer service manager and sales associate. Apogee has also promoted Federico Serrano to director of international sales and Timothy Thornton to VP of sales....Scenic Technologies has moved, to 6050 Valley View Blvd., Las Vegas, NV 89118. Phone: (702) 942-4774....Costa Mesa, CA-based QSC Audio has hired Clare Climaco as its in-house public relations coordinator. Climaco will work with QSC's sales and marketing team, headed by director of sales and marketing Pete Kalmen and marketing services manager John Subbiondo, producing press releases, writing feature articles, and coordinating product reviews for pro audio publications....Cooper Lighting, a fiber optics company, now has exclusive marketing and distributing rights in North America for Super Vision's architectural lighting products. In other Super Vision news, the Orlando, FL-based company has recently promoted former architectural lighting division manager Cheryl Oreal Meyne to the position of director of architectural lighting. Meyne will be responsible for the Cooper Lighting/Super Vision partnership, providing sales support, new product development support, and training for all Cooper Lighting sales teams. Before joining Super Vision, Meyne was VP of Gallery Images, Inc., a rep for Fiberstars....State of the Art Lighting & Control Inc. has hired Barret Jackson "BJ" Moffatt, formerly of Artec Consultants, as design and sales associate....Dallas-based control manufacturer AMX has expanded its Eastern office, AMX East, into a complete AMX direct support center for the Northeastern US region. AMX East will now handle all dealer activity for the region, including sales and systems design assistance, proposal creation, system programming, consultant relationships, and technical support. In other AMX news, Gordon Alexander, an instructor at AMX University, has been invited by the ICIA (International Communication Industries Association) board of governors to become a faculty member of the ICIA Academy. Alexander will teach lighting and control system design at the Academy's School of Design....Elco Lighting has moved, to 2042 E. Vernon Ave. in Vernon, CA, 90058. The new phone number is: (323) 231-2600; fax: (323) 231-3200....Furman Sound, Inc., a manufacturer of power conditioning/distro and signal processing equipment based in Petaluma, CA, has been sold in a management-led buyout. The buying group consists of Gary Kephart, president and CEO; Joe Desmond, VP, sales; Hunt Moore, VP materials, and Pacific Mezzanine Fund, a private investment fund in Emeryville, CA....Amek US, a division of the British audio manufacturer Amek, has appointed Jimmy Church Western regional sales manager at its Burbank, CA office. Prior to joining Amek, Church worked at Alesis and the Guitar Center in Hollywood.... Mad Lighting of the UK has opened a US office and warehouse. The address is: P.O. Box 560846, Charlotte, NC 28256-0846; phone: (704) 372-0153; fax: (704) 372-6121. Michael Klugar is its operations manager....Schuler & Shook Inc. of Chicago has promoted Todd Hensley, ASTC, from project manager to principal of the firm. Hensley's recent projects include the Old Town School of Folk Music, the Fort Smith Convention Center, and the International School of Beijing....Pro-Tapes & Specialties and Permacel Corp. have formed a strategic partnership to produce and market specialized pressure-sensitive cloth and specialty tapes to the arts and entertainment industries; among the tapes to be produced and marketed under the new arrangement are Permacel Gaffers Tape, Permacel Scenic Masking Tape, and J-LAR(R) Gel Repair Tape; the partnership is expected to lead to the production of new products and new colors and sizes of old products as well....Matthews Studio Group, based in Burbank, has added a 40' x 60' MOS stage to its Tempe, AZ production facility. The Tempe facility is home of Hollywood Rental Company, Expendable Supply Store, and Duke City Video; the new stage has an 18' lighting grid, with a two-wall, 40' x 60' coved hard cyc and makeup, wardrobe, and production office space....Quested Monitoring Systems, the British studio monitor manufacturer, has appointed a new distributor to rep its products in the US. Q.usa Inc. is the new agency, headed by Brian Anderson, formerly the Quested product sales manager at Audio Independence. The address is: 462 N. Baldwin St., Madison, WI 53703; phone: (608) 251-2500; fax: (608) 251- 3518; email: [email protected] (Towards 2000 Inc.), the Burbank, CA theatre and lighting supplier, is changing its name to Y2K+ just in time for the Millennium. In addition, the firm has hired several new employees in its sales and rental and production departments. John Mitchell, formerly with Strand, will head up the new theatrical and contracting sales department; Richard Corral and Erick Mejia will jointly take care of the club and DJ equipment markets, as well as showroom retail and used equipment sold on the company's website. Another addition to the sales department is Kathy Trumbull, who worked recently at Xenotech. She will be a sales associate with primary responsibilities in studio sales and rentals, customer service, and public relations. In Y2K+'s rental department, Jason Mullen, also formerly of Strand Lighting, will be responsible for all rental and production equipment. Lance Charles also joins the production sales and production team, where he will do CAD design and modeling for clients to previsualize event design. Jim Mecsery, a set designer, joins the team as crew/production manager. Other additions to the rental and production department include Mike Berg and Scott Ramsey, who joins the staff as general manager and will handle overflow in any department in addition to his duties overseeing the sales, rental, and production operations....Audio graphic equalizer manufacturer Klark Teknik Group has hired a public relations officer, Patricia Baxter, and a new international sales manager, David Wiggins. Baxter has seven years' business experience combined with a PR background in the building industry; Wiggins was formerly sales manager for UK reseller LMC Audio Systems. In other Klark Teknik news, the company is celebrating 25 years of business with a special edition of its DN360 graphic equalizer. The commemorative equalizer will be offered entirely plated and transformer-balanced and will have a 25-year warranty; the number of units will be limited to 360, in honor of the unit's name; the equalizer was displayed at NAMM in January....