Main areas of experience	Years	Position(s) attained
	House: Clyde At KHS: 1980 - 1984	Television iPad apps	25 Years 1 Year	Series Producer / Director Producer
		Will advise and answer questions on
	ASK A QUESTION	A Career in Television Producing for TV Producing IPad Apps The values of being Multi Skilled

Profile

I left Kingham after 'O' Levels although I would have liked to have stayed. I then went to a Grammar school and promptly failed all my A Levels... My dream was to join the RAF as a pilot, but it soon became apparent that that wasn't going to happen - something to do with barely passing O level maths... I then realized my other passion was cameras, lighting and recording. I was lucky enough to get some summer work experience at SSVC the forces TV/radio station. Rather than try and get into some sort of Media studies course I took an entry level job at SSVC.

At the same time I applied to the BBC as a Cameraman, I didn't get in as a cameraman but they were recruiting 'Recording Operators' the people who operate the machines that record and transmit all the shows at TV Centre in London. After a few months at their training school in Evesham I started 5 years in the dark basement of TV Centre. It was a great introduction to the world of TV and great fun, but I soon got tired of sitting in a dark room pressing buttons. I applied for a training attachment as a researcher in a production department - this was quite a leap for a 'techy' especially one without a degree... at that time the secretaries had them... but eventually I got a short attachment into the Religious Programmes department.

I worked on live outside broadcasts and a music documentary series "The Cry" which was a great experience.  When my attachment came to an end I had a choice go back to the basement or accept the voluntary redundancy package that was on offer... the sensible thing to do was stay with the rock solid pensionable staff BBC job... so I took the money and embarked on a freelance TV production career! To cut a long story short I was lucky enough to get a contract in BBC Events department working on VE Day and then shows like the Boat Show and Air show. I got my first directing credits and loved it.

After this I looked for my next directing jobs. Now I was in a really competitive field... especially when it seemed that everyone around me went to Oxbridge! But I had got a fair amount of experience by this point and I found that if I didn't mention it everyone assumed I had a degree! Next my experience with boats and plane shows at the BBC got me a job directing shows for the upstart US network - Discovery. For the next decade I worked on a wide variety of 'Boys Toys' shows mainly on Discovery including Extreme Machines and Junkyard Wars.

In 2004 I moved to Washington DC with my American wife and directed a series for the History Channel 'Digging for the Truth' which took me all over the world from Greenland to Zimbabwe. Then I was given my own series to run 'Weapon Masters' for Discovery, which was... interesting guns and swords and an insane host... Next a move to San Francisco and directing 'Mythbusters' and most recently I started my own company to produce iPad apps.

Special Project or Interesting Work

Of all the TV shows I've worked on the one which most people comment on is Mythbusters. I directed one season - 10 episodes. I was working mainly with Tory, Kari, Grant and Jessi. It was great fun of course but much harder to make than it looks - certainly took all my experience. You only have 2 weeks from start to finish for each episode.  I'm still friends with the hosts and am currently working on a new project with Tory... 

Other words of advice

I think Kingham gave me excellent skills for my life and career.  I'm not exaggerating to say I couldn't have succeeded without it.  As a Dyslexic I was given the foundation and confidence to succeed.