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The 1990s
The Early Years After four years as an enthusiastic and dedicated amateur at University, with its strong ties to the early Rave ..and also the local crusty folk-rock scene - in North Wales, Richard without declined the career he was offered as a project manager in the defence industry for the insecurity of being a freelancer in the entertainment industry. He found sleeping on cold stages being paid in bread and beer more interesting, although financially dubious.
Read MoreThe new Millenium
The Naughties Flash and Trash Having arriving just in time to catch Broadcast television at its height, Richard had a very varied decade. There was a lot of Moving Light Programming and Operation on a wide mixture of Light Entertainment and Children’s shows for Broadcasters big and small, across pretty much every major - and many minor - Televisino and Film Studio in the UK; together with a random smattering of Outside Broadcasts from Hospitals to Stately Homes and Castles. James Campbell For a good chunk of the naughties, Richard worked closely with LD James Campbell (…RIP), intiially just a moving light programmer on long-running household names such as Mastermind, Question of Sport, and even, oddly Crimewatch. Over time, as Production requirements and Technology evolved, and shows started to shrink from full-size to fun-size studios, he also started opeering the Key (face) lighting on show such as Morgan & Platell, The Golden Lot, etc. James gently imparted his great skill and craft for portraiture in a multi-camera enviroment, vital skills that have stood him in great stead ever since. Corporate Events Away from Television, there was an eclectic mix of Live Events - mostly Corporate, many still involving video elements. Apart from the usual Conferences etc, the highlights ranged from opening the Mercedes-Benz world at Brooklands (an intersting cooincidence, see later), to 7 successive seasons of Xmas Parties at The Brewery, a historic venue next to the Barbican in the City of London. These end-to-end themed events ran daily for 1 to 2 months each, with custom-produced video content created each year, all played back from Hippotizer media servers controlled by Richard’s lighting console, to ensure perfect synchronisation between the lights, the video playback, and the desert. Childrens TV two notable series in 2007, this time with LD Geoff Thonger, who was a joy to work with. Space Pirates for CBBC was shot in Elstree Film Studios, next door to Who Wants to be a Millionaire - although not working with their budgets, and a vision gallery that was literally the back of a small van, rabbits were pulled-out of the proverbial hat, thanks to great team work and helpful suppliers. It also was the first time Richard encountered the brilliant work of Set Designer Jason Underwood, who later designed many of Richard’s favourite sets at Sky. 2008 - Starts Freelancing for Sky Intially brought in to help program the lights for the refurbishment of Studio A for Sky News, this expanded into being asked to come back to provide ad-hoc relief cover for the staff Lighting Technical Operators. And, not long after, being asked to light various of their other in-house products, the first of which was, of course - Football First (Sky Sport’s version of Match of the Day, except with an actual Match not just bits of Matches.) His Biggest Show - Ever Miss World. Earls Court, 2011. Stuart Gain as LD. Another loverly man to work with!
Read MoreSky Sports
Series / Lead Lighting Director for : Sky Sports - Football Way way way more studio football punditry than can be counted… …but still don’t understand the offside rule. Monday Night Football (MNF) Sky’s Flagship production with lead pundits Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher delivering unusually long and serious pre- and post- match coverage.
Read MoreSky News
Sky News LD oversight : Overall responsibilty for over-sight of the visual output for all Sky News studios for over 10 years. Primary point of contact for the Sky News Leadership Team and Studio Directors for all lighting questions; On-call 24/7/365 Ensured smooth operations wuith no significant on-air lighting issues. Successfully managed the transition from the original tight team of dedicated Lighting operators working in a traditional single flagship studio with tungsten lighting to a dozen LED-lit studios & locations, all remotly-operated by a fluid pool of general Technical Supervisors who in general had little-to-no lighting experience, no operational training as well as a myriad of competing calls on their time & attention. LD directly : HM The Queen Elizabeth II Christmas Speach 2018 Buckingham Palace & Kings Collage Chapel, Cambridge. Prime Ministers live election debates (at least 3…) Knight of Illuminations Award nomination 2017 Brexit debate with Gove (“had enough of experts”) Various Party Leadership debates Live OB’s around the country (Rotherham, Shoreditch,) Multiple General Elections including 2019 massive take over of Sky Central. Lead LD for The Pledge (all series)
Read MoreSky Entertainment
Sky Entertainment Various studio and OB shows for Sky Arts, Sky Atlantic, etc. Thronecast (final series after being asked every time but unable due to MNF) Sky Sessions - both series, best Studio 4/5 ever looked, Oscar coverage - various Internal Corporates, Award Shows, etc.
Read MoreSky Studio Design
Sky News Technology Innovations Introduced LED lighting (ETC Source 4 S2 Daylight, Arri S30/S60/L7, Lightpanel Gemini) Remote Studio Operations
Read MoreThe Present Day
Post-Sky work The past year has been primarily focused as a much-needed extended period to decompress and focus on personal and family matters, together with starting on home improvments.
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