The GTC's 2024 Awards were presented on Wednesday 20 November at the University of Surrey, alongside the Bill Vinten University Awards.

 

GTC Innovation Award

Fujinon
Duvo HZ-K 25-1000 PL mount box lens

The GTC Innovation Award, previously known as The GTC Seal of Approval. This is presented annually to a product that has made an outstanding contribution to the art and craft of television camera professionals and is decided and voted on by members of the GTC Council. This year the Innovation Award is for the Fujinon Duvo HZ-K 25-1000 PL mount box lens. When this was introduced to the market, it opened up new possibilities for camera supervisors, DoP’s and operators to shoot on camera platforms that were previously not so accessible to them. 

Previously this sort of focal length range was only available on non-PL mount lenses, but this lens meant that this range was now available, without the need for adaptors and the attendant loss of optical performance. The Fujinon lens has therefore been seen in many different environments from sports and music through to fashion shows and commercials. 

With its 40:1 range the 25-1000 has the world’s longest focal length currently on the market in a PL mount. 

Having a whole range of zoom lenses available from one manufacturer, the Duvo range (25-1000, 24-300 and 14-100) allows for total consistency across a multi camera shoot. 

Jon Sareen was there on the evening to accept the award on behalf of Fujinon.

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GTC Chairs Award

Simon Staffurth

The GTC Chairs award is a brand new award that was instigated this year after it was decided to pause our ‘Awards for Excellence’. The GTC Chair’s Award has been chosen by our current Chair, Graham Maunder, but the recipient could easily have won an Award for Excellence at any time in his career. 

Graham spoke about how he was lucky enough to work with Simon early on in their careers when they were both ‘skiing cameramen’, so he knew first-hand the dedication and commitment to the craft of camerawork that he has always had. Simon left behind a career on the camera. He went on to become one of the top television light entertainment directors in this country where he transferred all his skills and knowledge gained on the camera into directing multi-camera events in this country and abroad.

Most recently, he was the director moulding together the 140 cameras at his disposal at the Opening Ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics with hardly any rehearsal time and with the added issues that the torrential rain brought with it that night. With the ability to stay calm even with all those pressures and reflecting his great career as a cameraman before he became a director.

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GTC Dick Hibberd Award

Scott McWhinnie

The final award of the evening was the GTC Dick Hibberd trophy which is awarded to an individual who, in the opinion of the GTC Council, has furthered the cause of the GTC by fostering and improving the art and craft of television camera professionals over many years. 

Graham Maunder introduced Scott, commenting that he had first worked with our winner when he was just starting out in the industry, working with him as a camera assistant and spark in the glorious days when you had 3 man crews on single camera shoots. The series they worked on together was called Network 7, a series that IMDb describes as a ‘ground-breaking and influential youth television series featuring current affairs, interviews, music and reports about youth culture’. It ran on Channel 4 for just 2 years in 1987 & 1988 but each series ran for 26 weeks.  It was a mix of pre-recorded material that was produced and interspersed into a 2 hour live show on a Sunday from midday. The show took place in a deserted banana warehouse on the site of what is now One Canada Square in London’s Docklands as the production company didn’t have the budget to use a proper TV studio. Our very own GTC President, John Henshall came up with ground breaking ideas to light the sets, and to save even more money, the whole show was shot ‘hand-held’ an idea that was unheard of back then.

After Network 7 finished, the super keen Scottie worked as a freelance camera assistant before getting a job with London Weekend Television and then as a cameraman with London Tonight, ITV’s local news output before being poached by CNN in 2001. Scott went on to greater things as his drive and enthusiasm was incredible, and the rest as they say is history.  Graham carried on to say, whilst I film in a lot of troubled areas of the world with the comfort blanket that is UNICEF, Scottie has always been there before me but right at the sharp end getting footage and stories that set him apart from others trying to do the same thing.