Instructors

Workshop Instructors

ROBIN THWAITES

Robin Thwaites originally studied and had a career in stills photography but started his association with Steadicam whilst working for the UK distributor progressing to help organize and assist at the first major residential Steadicam UK workshop with the late great Ted Churchill in 1987. Following that success Robin identified the need for short familiarization courses which then transitioned into a formal three-day workshop run regularly throughout the year together with many location and bespoke workshops for various production companies both in the UK and internationally in places as diverse as Lebanon, Finland, Ireland, Switzerland, Iran and more. On moving to work for The Tiffen Company in 2006 Robin continued the three-day workshops for a whilst forming an association with the BBC Training Centre at Wood Norton and went on to evolve and formalized the syllabus for the Silver workshops which is endorsed by Steadicam inventor Garrett Brown. The concept of Bronze, Silver and Gold workshop progression scheme soon followed to include the longer and shorter workshops of the time and, in his time at Tiffen, Robin has acted as course organizer and coordinator for Silver and Gold Workshops held in England, Turkey, Egypt and Morocco bringing in many talented and world famous operators as instructors. Additionally he taught at various Gold workshops alongside Garrett Brown, Jerry Holway and Chris Fawcett in many parts of the world hosted by various Tiffen Steadicam partners. This has involved travel to a range of countries from the USA to Europe and then in Asia including Malaysia, Japan and also under the shadow of the Great Wall in China. Robin’s knowledge of the equipment is wide and inevitably spans a great date range however his philosophy for training is always that the student should fall in love with the pictures and possibilities and the ability to tell a story.

DANNY HALLETT

Danny originally qualified in Lithography and Mechanical Engineering with London City & Guilds. His deep interest in Film Production and background in manufacturing led him to take a position with Tiffen International in 2006. He has since been working around Steadicam® for 18 years joining in the same year as his colleague, Robin and attended his own first 3 day workshop at the BBC Wood Norton Studios in 2006. Now working alongside Robin Thwaites at Tiffen International primarily on the Motion Picture side of the business, he has helped expand the Steadicam Workshops into the well-known Bronze, Silver and Gold formats now known throughout the UK, Europe and beyond as an organizer and key instructor in each of the standards. He also rolled out the concepts to numerous Universities including the SAE schools across Europe, and still “Trains the Trainers” with how to teach Steadicam. Alongside Robin, and the esteemed Garrett Brown, Jerry Holway and Chris Fawcett, and many other well known local professionals. He's been on the instructor line up at Gold Workshops such as The Malibu Classic USA, 2x Tenerife Gold, Turkey- Gold, Denmark-Gold, 5x UK Gold, Gran Canaria Gold, 2x Tuscany Italy Gold, Australia, Ireland, Belgium, Netherlands, Sicily's Terra di Cinema events, plus countless Bronze and Silver courses in the UK and Europe to date.

CHRIS FAWCETT

Chris Fawcett is a Steadicam Operator and Cinematographer with 30 years of broadcast and film experience. He was trained on the streets of Belfast, graduating from AC to Camera Operator for BBC Newsnight. In 1998, he became a film and TV documentary DP, shooting mountaineering footage on Aconcagua at 7,000 meters. In 2003, a passion for camera movement led him to Steadicam. He now specializes in the aesthetics of camera movement, filming and teaching worldwide. His feature film, Let Each One Go Where He May—a series of 10 ten-minute continuous Steadicam takes, shot in the heart of the Amazon Rainforest—won Best Film at 5 international film festivals, attracting high praise for his cinematography. Chris is the author of Steadicam Posture, co-inventor of the Steadiseg, the 3rd generation Steadicam Segway, and inventor of the Exovest, an exoskeletal support harness for Steadicam; co-inventor (with Ulrich Kahlert) of the Steadiseg and co-founder (with Garrett Brown) of Exokinetics.

Website: http://steadivision.com/

GARRETT BROWN

Garrett Brown is best known as the Oscar-winning inventor of the Steadicam^®. He has operated Steadicam on nearly 100 movies including Rocky, The Shining, and Return of the Jedi. Garrett holds 50 patents worldwide for devices which include the Steadicam Merlin, a smaller, handheld Steadicam for camcorders; Skycam, the robot camera that flies on wires over sporting events; and Mobycam, Divecam, Flycam et al that pursue athletes worldwide. His new zeroG technology “floats” tools and reduces workplace injuries. In past lives Garrett has recorded for MGM as a folksinger (www.BrownandDana.com), sold Volkswagens, directed TV commercials and made films for Sesame Street, and his voice was the other half of that well-known ad-lib duo on radio for Molson and American Express (www.TwoVoices.com*). He is a member of the American Society of Cinematographers, the Directors Guild, the Screen Actors Guild and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Garrett has just been inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame.

Website: www.garrettcam.com

JERRY HOLWAY

Jerry Holway got his first taste of filmmaking at the age of five when Margaret Mead came to his house in Connecticut and tested out her Bolex on him before heading off to the South Seas. Jerry made his first 16 mm film in high school, ended up with a film degree from Cornell University, and started making documentary films before graduating. For several years Jerry worked on documentaries, industrials, and political spots, and earned a Master’s degree from Northwestern University. Jerry learned how to operate a Steadicam in 1982 while he was teaching filmmaking at Penn State. Several years later Jerry left teaching to become a freelance camera operator, specializing in Steadicam. In 1991, Garrett Brown invented – and with Jerry, developed – Skyman™, the first of several low-tech “flying Steadicam on a wire” devices that Jerry owns. Jerry has been the head instructor at over 100 Steadicam workshops since 1990 (Philadelphia, Malibu, Scandinavia, Atlanta, Istanbul, to name a few) and is the author of the Steadicam Workbook, The Steadicam EFP Manual and Videotape, The Steadicam Ultra manual, and The Dynamic Balance Primer, and The Steadicam Operator’s Handbook. Jerry also wrote many articles for and was the editor and publisher of The Steadicam Letter.

BEX WILSON-JENNINGS

Rebecca (Bex) has been shooting professionally in New Zealand since the 1980’s. She attended Garrett Brown and Jerry Holway’s 2002 US workshop and has been a working Steadicam Operator ever since. Her experience includes live television such as ‘Dancing with the Stars’, Live Sports, ‘World of Wearable Art’ Awards, Official Public Engagements, Film Premieres, Concerts and much more. Bex instructed alongside Garrett and Jerry at the Australian and Malaysian Gold workshops in 2011/2012 and while she enjoys working locally, she loves instructing and is looking forward to leading many more workshops. She is passionate about the craft of Steadicam and thrives on seeing the progress and success of her students.

EVRIM KAYA

Following film school and a few years as a camera assistant, Evrim took his Steadicam workshop in 2009 and was trained by Garrett Brown and Jerry Holway. At the end of the workshop, they made him take a pledge of sharing this knowledge with who ever is interested. He has tried to stay true to that promise since then. Having had a successful operating career of 12 years and counting, which included shooting a few hundred TV commercials, an absurd number of shorts and music videos, 4 seasons of TV series and 25 feature films both his hometown of Istanbul, and adopted home, London.

Since 2021, Evrim has dedicated part of his time as a regular instructor on Gold workshops a few times each year all around the world.

JAKOB BONFILS

Jakob Bonfils was educated as an advertising photographer and some years later, Transitioned to filmmaking. Firstly on a couple of films as a stills photographer; then as as gaffer and grip; then as a grip and Steadicam operator at the same time (not a good combination!) for a number of films and finally continuing only as a Steadicam operator for many years. He did work much with video, but rather working primarily with film cameras, and because of his experience, found himself doing fiction most of the time, on 35 mm. He hardly did any TV studio work, as his heart was always connected to fiction in any form. Jaokob loves teaching on workshops and seeing young folks being able to do Steadicam shots in a couple of days, whether trying it for the first time or those who are more advanced and curious…. If you connect to Steadicam, it gets into your blood!

RICHARD DALLIMORE MALLABY “VAKY"

In 1986, at one of the first Garrett Brown’s Workshops in Italy, Vaky got to know the Steadicam and fell in love with it. He found in the Steadicam his ideal working companion and with it he expresses himself at his best in filming.
During his long career in film and television, he has collaborated on countless feature films, commercials, music videos and documentaries. Based in Italy, Vaky has participated as an instructor in many Gold Workshops, From Ischia, Tenerife, Tuscany, and Gran Canaria to name a few.
Vaky loves to transfer his knowledge to future Steadicam operators, and with his fanastic sense of humour, is a firm favourite with students.

JUNIOR AGYEMAN-OWUSU ACO

From lights to camera, Junior has had a colourful history that has enriched his unique path into both film and Steadicam. After attending a Silver Tiffen workshop in 2017, Junior transformed himself from, then a spark, into a fully-fledged and very versatile camera operator, merging his love for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and dance to eloquently tell stories through movement.
Over the last several years, Junior, who mainly specialises in feature films and TV dramas now, has gone on to operate notable programmes such as Champion, You & Me, Insideman, The Meg 2, The Strays and Ten Percent to name a few. His approach to Steadicam, like his career thus far, has been unorthodox: steep and intense. Over the last several years, Junior has been brought in as a guest instructor to help run Silver Tiffen Workshops in the UK and actively teaches around the country, sharing his knowledge of the craft.

PAUL EDWARDS ACO

From an early age Paul was fascinated by the magic of film. Borrowing his Dad’s 8mm Bolex, he would shoot stop motion animation and experiment with split screen and double exposure effects. After obtaining a degree in Mechanical Engineering, Paul spent a few years working as an engineer before giving it all up to join the BBC camera department. Five years later he left to work on contract for the Dutch national broadcaster in Hilversum and then, on returning to the UK, an opportunity arose to attend a Steadicam course at the National Film School in Beaconsfield. Paul had always been fascinated by the 'man and machine' mix of the Steadicam system and, since that initial introduction, has never looked back. To date, he has operated on over 80 feature films mainly as a Steadicam or Steadicam/B camera operator and has enjoyed working with a wide range of some of the most talented practitioners in the industry including directors Ridley Scott, Richard Curtis, Edgar Wright, Danny Boyle, Joel Schumacher, Guy Ritchie, Neil Jordan and John Landis. Paul is an Associate member of the BSC, a member of the GBCT and a founding member of the ACO. “The courses are brilliant and enormous fun - you soon realise Steadicam is not all about size and strength but more about balance, stamina and subtlety"

WAN ZHONG WEI

To operate the Steadicam is like doing a dance, structured but with finesse and yet able to tell a story. Although Zhong Wei is not a dancer by nature, with Steadicam he is able to move together as if he is one with the camera. Zhong’s interest in the art of the moving camera sparked in 2009. Being technically eloquent with various camera formats, Zhong Wei is able to perform to his fullest potential even in the most demanding situations. Based in Singapore, he has collaborated with Directors and DPs both locally and internationally including work in areas such as Taiwan, China, Malaysia, the United States and the United Kingdom. As a firm believer of education, Zhong Wei has been an instructor on several Tiffen Steadicam-accredited workshops since 2013. Being fluent in a few languages including English, Chinese and Cantonese, has brought Zhong to the Philippines and China to instruct in the Steadicam Bronze and Silver workshops, educating and inspiring many other Steadicam operators alike.

ROGER TOOLEY

Roger has been operating Steadicam around the world for a number of decades. Working in Feature Films, HETV and other great stuff.

He's a favourite with Students when instructing at workshops.

Roger bought his first Steadicam from Robin Thwaites in 1993 and hasn’t looked back since.

Rogers advice?

"Do a workshop, buy a Steadicam, don’t look back".

Gareth has had a lifelong love of filmmaking - receiving his first camera at age 6 & being encouraged by his father to use his Super8mm camera. Both his parents worked onstage/in front of camera so Gareth was destined to follow them into the industry, initially working for the BBC. As a young Camera Operator, recently stepped up from 1st AC, Gareth was introduced to Steadicam in 1994. A keen student of the martial art Aikido, the combination of freedom of movement, graceful fluidity and physicality immediately appealed. Gareth signed up for a course - led by our own Robin Thwaites - and was iimmediately hooked. Gareth’s 30 year career as an Operator in HETV Drama has been perfectly complemented by Steadicam - a tool that he admits has undoubtedly advanced his career which he feels is important to offer as part of his role. He’s now working with his 3rd rig - a Tiffen M2/Volt with G70x arm - which he finds perfectly suits the demanding schedules in TV Drama. As A/B-Camera & Steadicam Operator, Gareth has worked for major Producers including Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Disney, Paramount, Channel4, ITV & the BBC. Gareth is honoured to be invited to join the ranks of Tiffen Steadicam Instructors. To be able to offer a little back to the industry he feels is like coming full circle. “I’m so grateful to Robin for starting my Steadicam journey, & now being able to support him & help train future Steadicam Operators is a natural progression in my career”. Gareth is a full member of the ACO, GBCT and GTC. https://www.ghcamera.com/

Garrett Brown

GARRETT BROWN

Website: www.garrettcam.com

Jerry Holway

JERRY HOLWAY

Chris Fawcett

CHRIS FAWCETT

Website: http://steadivision.com/

Robin Thwaites

ROBIN THWAITES

Robin Thwaites originally qualified as a photographer at what is now Richmond upon Thames College, near London and followed this education working in various studios. He moved to become involved with a major motion picture manufacturer and rental house where he first became involved with Steadicam®. He was involved in organizing the first major Steadicam® Workshop in the UK in 1987 with the late Ted Churchill as lead instructor. Since then, Robin has been instrumental in creating multiple workshop formats for the UK and EU and has participated as both joint instructor and technical advisor for Tiffen at affiliated workshops such as the workshops hosted by the Steadicam® Operators Association.

Bex Wilson-Jennings