Newzroom Afrika’s new studio

In celebration of its second year live on air, Newzroom Afrika has relocated to a new address in Oak Avenue, Randburg and has relied on the original set design team, headed by Michael Gill Designs, to deliver a polished set that shoots extraordinarily well for television.

Newzroom Afrika management appointed Ryan Toerien as Project Manager who managed every aspect from air-conditioning and construction to the professional installation of equipment. Joshua Cutts of Visual Frontier, assisted by Paul Modise, were the appointed
lighting designers while DWR Distribution supplied and installed the lighting equipment assisted by The Install Crew.

Newzroom Afrika is a 24-hour television news channel (channel 405) on Multi-Choice’s DStv satellite pay-TV service.

Joshua Cutts comments, “It was a big challenge to light the newsroom set because of the ceiling height and the architectural design. We had to come up with clever angles to use light as both an architectural fitting and studio light. I opted to go completely soft because
it’s news. We chose an architectural lighting fitting that we adapted to make useable in a studio environment. I think it worked well in the end and the lights match some of Michael’s design. It was a great project.”

Project Manager Ryan Toerien added that “The key to the entire project was meticulous planning and working closely with the set team, the broadcast team, and the contractors, and eventually it all came together.”

Most important is that the client, Newzroom Afrika, represented by founders Thabile Ngwato and Thokozani Nkosi were extremely happy with the result.