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Tel/Fax 0113 284 3515, Mobile 07850 293180, e-mail nettleship@jnv-tv.co.uk

 Available for:

ENG camera operation, with lighting - Single man or larger crew

OB & Studio camera operation. "Hot-Head" operation.

Other experience: ENG sound recording, ENG Radio Links, VT Editing, Studio/OB sound & lighting,

Undercover/covert filming, Training seminars.

Nationality: British Languages: French (Workable)

Driving Licence: Car, Motorcycle Qualifications: BSc IIii (Hons.) in Physical Electronics 1977

NVQ Level 4 in Camera Direction. 2001

Potted history: Warwick University 1974-1977

BBC TV Leeds 1977-1982 & 1984-1993

Global circumnavigation 1982-1984.

Courses: C Parts 1 & 2 TV Engineering (1977). Island Site Operations(1979). BBC Training, Evesham.

I own a 4:3/16:9 Widescreen switchable Betacam-SP camcorder kit with lights, mono sound equipment and a MiniDV camera. I am therefore available 24 hrs a day for single man 'news' type assignments with no prior notice. The kit is also suitable for most other work, without augmentation. Extra lighting and sound equipment (including a recordist!) is usually available within the hour but is obviously subject to availability. See my rate card for specific details of kit.

My Single Camera/ENG work covers much News & Current Affairs but also encompasses music, sport and corporate videos. I have filmed for "The Cook Report" using concealed body cameras, fixed hidden cameras and 'night-vision' cameras, not forgetting their hallmark double crewed 'Stings'. Light relief has included drama style corporates and local adverts, "Motorway" for Granada TV, location reports for "Tonight" (YTV Regional), "The Big Breakfast Show" and reports on the quirkier side of Britain for European distribution by RDF.

Outside Broadcast/Studio work has covered many and various sports, (football, rugby, boxing, racing, & many others) as well as corporate conferences, fashion shows and internal communications. Cameras used cover studio, static, hand held & remote "Hot-Heads".

Most satisfying for me are music and L.E. shows, which I have worked on for broadcast and sell through. I have a particular interest in music, whether as a single camera or OB set-up. Having played in a group (badly, many years ago), I believe I have the musical sympathy necessary for good visual interpretation of musical performances. I also think it's great fun.

My previous experience, before going freelance in 1993, was as a technical operator for about 13 years, with BBC North in Leeds. Towards the end of my BBC career I worked largely as an ENG cameraman &/or recordist, mainly on "Look North", "Close Up North" and "North of Westminster". This work covered a large variety of situations from fast moving news and sport, to music and dance. Aside from ENG work, my duties consisted of operating a range of broadcast equipment both in the studio and on OB's. This included camera operation, sound recording and balancing, VT operation & editing, vision control and lighting, plus some first line maintenance. (I actually joined the BBC as an engineer but soon found I preferred playing with the toys to mending them). On occasions I acted as Technical Manager in overall charge of transmissions or recordings in the studio. I also went on attachment to the national OB Unit at Kendal Avenue in London as a cameraman, and to BBC TV News as a radio links engineer/operator and as an ENG Sound recordist. Other attachments were as a Senior Operator in Nottingham and Southampton.

I believe my wide experience means I am able and willing to adapt to any type of production from hard news, through entertainment, to weird and wonderful (?) youth programmes. If you are looking for some directorial input, I should add that I produced (& shot & edited) a 50 minute sell-through video for the British Motorcyclists Federation in 1994. A perfectly broadcastable programme (if I say so myself) albeit a financial disaster. I am also used to directing myself on news reports etc. Having also been involved with training journalists and new producers, I am used to originating my own &/or modifying their ideas to suit changing circumstances.

PERSONAL DETAILS

Interests: Travel Experience of Africa, India, S.E. Asia, Australasia, Central & North America

Motorcycling Regular European tourer and race spectator, especially Isle of Man TT when possible. (i.e. not much recently!)

Music I used to drum in a rock group at university (the odd couple of decades ago); I still enjoy filming them.

Outside work my main enjoyment comes from travel in various forms. Whether by motorcycle, car or public transport, I like encountering a variety of people, places and experiences. Should you be interested in my foreign experience, I include the following (yes, it’s a long time ago now, but it’s not something you do every week!):

In 1982 I left BBC Leeds to fulfil a long held ambition to travel around the world. This included hitching through North Africa, driving a battered Peugeot 405 across the Sahara (not recommended!), being robbed three times and sharing 8-seater mini-buses with 15 other people through Ghana to Zaire, where the only transport was on top of lorries struggling to cover more than 30 miles a day on the dirt roads. Accommodation ranged from comfortable mission stations to mud huts. After seven months travelling through desert and jungle, Nairobi seemed like arriving home. I flew to India, where bureaucracy replaced nature as my main challenge for four months. Then briskly through Thailand and Malaysia to ensure I did not miss seeing a total solar eclipse in Indonesia. Australia was a big culture shock: getting used to not being stared at in the street. Hitching here was easy, including sharing the driving of a lorry 2,000 miles non-stop across the desert.

I reunited with my (then) wife in America, where we toured by motorcycle for a year, taking in the USA, Mexico, Belize and Canada.

On my return to England in 1984 I was immediately offered my old job back, with promotion. After another nine years and around 2000 Look Norths I decided it was time for something new. So here I am, on my biggest adventure yet: surviving the freelance jungle. Where shall I go next? Maybe you have an idea? Just pick up the phone and give me a call...........

 View some of my pictures
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