REMOTE LOCATIONS
ARCTIC / ANTARCTIC
Over the past decade I have gained a wealth of experience filming in ice, snow and extreme cold. In 2008 I spent a month on the British Antarctic Survey ice-breaker, the James Clarke Ross, in sea-ice off of Svalbard, producing a global-warming 'Arctic Special' for Newsnight. In 2009, I returned to frozen fjords of Svalbard to film expedition support material for the Catlin Arctic Survey. That year I also joined the Moon-Regan Transantarctic Expedition team as cameraman, documenting vehicle testing in Sweden and team building in Iceland before setting off in 2010 on the first ever crossing of Antarctica in wheeled vehicles. Then in 2016, I directed a River Monsters 'Arctic Special', fishing for Greenland sharks through solid sea-ice with the Kalaallit Inuit in Greenland and deep water boat fishing near Tromso in Arctic Norway. I own most of the extreme cold weather kit I need, including some very big and very warm boots. |
JUNGLES
I have directed a lot of 'jungle' filming around the world and learned in the process how to best keep cameras - and camera teams - going in hot and humid conditions. These shoots always require complicated risk assessment and often tricky medical evacuation planning. At times we have taken former battlefield paramedics to mitigate risk. In 2013, on Survive the Tribe, I spent ten days camping, filming, hunting monkeys and avoiding deadly snakes in Amazonian rainforest in Ecuador. In 2014, while series directing Kings of the Wild, I took my team deep into cloud forest in Mexico before tackling both tropical jungle and impenetrable wetlands in Borneo, where threats ranged from saltwater crocodiles to Filipino piracy. Then in 2017, for Earth's Natural Wonders, we traveled for five days deep into the Central African Rainforest where we filmed a community net hunt with the Bayaka people. We camped in the forest and sourced food and water locally. |
UNDERWATER
I'm an experienced SCUBA diver with 100+ hours underwater in locations including the Galapagos Islands, Honduras, Mexico, Thailand, Indonesia, Mozambique and the Mediterranean, as well as cage-diving with Great Whites in South Africa. This has all given me a good understanding of dive planning and HSE requirements for working underwater, as well as topside supervision and communications. In 2001, I produced two diving specials for Channel 4's Time Team: Diving for the Armada, in north-west Scotland; and the Wreck of the Colossus, looking at Nelson's long-lost flagship off the Isles of Scilly, Cornwall. Both involved putting presenters in the water, full-helmet comms and complex dive plans. In 2013, I directed and filmed actuality in the water for Survive the Tribe in the Solomon Islands, using snorkels and rebreathers. In 2014, we shot spearfishing scenes for Kings of the Wild in Borneo using BCDs and waterproof housings. And in 2016, on River Monsters in Sulawesi, we used full SCUBA gear to film snorkelling PTCs, underwater drama recon and GVs on the coral reef. |
MOUNTAINS
With a lifelong passion for big mountains, I have trekked, climbed and skied in some of the world's most beautiful places, including Everest Base camp and the wider Himalaya in Nepal & India; the Alps; the Rockies; and the Pyrenees. This has left me with a good understanding of the hazards that come with the territory, especially extreme weather and altitude sickness. In 2012, filming Gold Rush in the Yukon, we came up against Grizzly bears, moose, and wolves and underwent bespoke emergency / trauma / evacuation training. In 2014, we spent a month filming for Kings of the Wild around the Copper Canyon in the Sierra Madre and also in the Central Highlands in Mexico. This involved treacherous ascents and descents and hunting sequences in difficult terrain. In 2015, I employed a rope access team on Secret Britain to film a sequence with presenters hanging over the white cliffs of Dover. In 2016, I took Michael Portillo onto the lower slopes of the Matterhorn in the Swiss Alps. And in 2020 I documented (and participated in) a gruelling footrace with Ed Stafford from the Tibetan Plateau down to the Zoige Marshes on First Man Out. |
DESERTS
Over the past thirty years independent travel and filming expeditions have taken me through a number of deserts where temperatures have frequently topped forty degrees. I understand the unique set of health and safety concerns in these environments, the complex risk assessment and careful logistical arrangements necessary to keep crews working and safe. Locations have included the Sahara desert in Tunisia and Egypt; the Thar desert in Rajasthan; the Mojave desert in the US; the Negev in Egypt; and the Great Sandy and Victoria deserts in Australia. On Survive the Tribe, we filmed San bushmen in the Kalahari desert sharing tracking and survival skills with our presenter; in 2005, I filmed on the Skeleton Coast and in the Namib desert; and very early in my TV career, in 2002, I spent several weeks in Wadi Rumm in Jordan, and in the Arabian desert, much of my time dressed as Lawrence of Arabia either blowing up trains or riding camels. |
OPEN WATER
I'm a keen surfer, swimmer and water-skier who is very happy on boats and rarely suffers sea-sickness. I have experience of big ships: I once spent a week on HMS Fearless during a training exercise with the Royal Marines, and in 2008 I spent a month living on the BAS research ship James Clarke Ross in the waters around Svalbard; and I have taken the Royal Navy's 'Basic Sea Survival' course and passed my Seafarer's medical. I have spent several weeks living on-board medium sized vessels, in the Galapagos islands, Turkey and Australia. And I've spent countless days at sea on fishing boats, yachts and in canoes, filming shark fishing in Norway, cage diving in South Africa, net fishing in Sulawesi, spear fishing in Borneo, hand-lining for sharks in the Solomons, and marlin fishing off the Philippines. I have also filmed archaeological dive projects on boats off the UK; accessed an offshore wind farm; and tailed presenters on hand-built rafts in shark and crocodile infested waters. |
CAVES
I don't particularly like the tiny squeezy ones but I have produced and filmed in a number of caves, including 'Paradana' in Slovenia, one of Europe's largest and most challenging ice caves. This involved complicated rope work, crampons and ice axes and lighting huge spaces with battery lights. I also filmed in a number of other beautiful and spectacular caves in Slovenia, some open to tourists, many not. This invoved hiking far underground carrying all our kit and on occasion paddling along subterranean rivers in inflatable boats. I've also filmed a short caving expedition in the UK, following a family of three kids and their dad into an underground wonderland in the limestone caves of Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. Recreationally I've spent quite a bit of time diving and exploring cenotes and caves in Mexico. |
REMOTE SKILLS, TRAINING & EXPERIENCE
Health & Safety: Extensive experience of Expedition planning and Risk Assessment; familiar with Foreign Office advisories and travel restrictions; understanding teams in extreme conditions; and knowing when to take an armed escort and when to simply avoid travel. Remote Travel: Getting teams, camera kit and expedition equipment into trucks and onto boats, planes, helicopters and skidoos. Journeying up rivers, through jungle, over mountains, to remote islands, far flung valleys and wind swept plains in all conditions. Wild camping: Setting up camps under the sky or tree canopy; pitching tents / using local huts; bringing in generators and fuel; sourcing food and water locally. Local Fixers / Guides: Working with local fixers to safely navigate extreme weather, rough seas, cliff fall, dangerous animals, poisonous plants, bandits, civil unrest, piracy, etc. Comms & Medivac: Familiar with setting-up comm plans with pre-agreed check-in times; putting together complex 24/7 medivac plans with insurance / logistics companies; use of sat phones. Medics / First Aid: Using ex-forces paramedics where rapid medical evacuation is impossible; personal training in hostile environment survival / first aid - courses tailored to local conditions with Centurion, 1st Option, Antarctic Logistics & Expeditions etc. Bear Attack: on the ground training while filming in the Yukon wilderness using bear spray, air horn and anything else to hand. Sea Survival: Royal Navy 'Basic Sea Survival' course (2008), covering the evacuation of sinking ships, use of immersion suits and liferafts at sea; passed the ENG1 Seafarer medical. Innoculations: My blood contains an ever changing cocktail of jabs for Tetanus, Hep.A & B, Typhoid, Yellow Fever, Cholera, Meningitis, Japanese & Tick Borne Encephalitis, Rabies. Languages: Advanced level Spanish and French. Some German and Japanese. |