GTC Award Winners 2015

The Guild of Television Cameramen’s 43nd annual awards were presented on Sunday 17 May at The Great Barn in Upper Aynho, Oxfordshire. The evening started with a keynote talk by Stuart McDonald, one of the UK's premiere live and event television directors, and the Awards were presented by GTC Chair Keith Massey.

The GTC Awards team were also delighted that two of its founder members, Dick Hibberd (Honorary President) and John Henshall (Honorary Vice President) were able to be there. The audience was also treated to a sneak preview of a recently recorded video interview with Dick and John about the vision and history of the GTC since they came together with a group of other cameramen to found the GTC in 1972.

TiCA Winner: Martin Hawkins

The Guild’s award, the TiCA, was presented to Martin Hawkins. Martin started his career in the post room at LWT back in 1974 but quite quickly made the move to the camera department as a trainee. 

Starting as a trainee he then moved up the ladder to camera operator and worked on LWT productions such as Within These Walls, Just William, The Stanley Baxter Show, Russ Abbott's Madhouse, Canon & Ball, Bruce Forsyth's Big Night, The Royal Variety Shows and Live From Her Majesty’s.  

In 1983 he joined the newly formed Limehouse Studios in London's Docklands where he eventually became head of the camera department. Limehouse was put on the TV map with programmes such as Network 7, Who Dares Wins, Hiawatha for the National Theatre and the RSC production of Cyrano De Bergerac starring Derek Jacobi. When the bulldozers moved in, it was time for him and the rest of the staff to go out into the new and exciting world of freelancing.

Since then Martin (aka The Hawk) has become the first-choice DoP for a trully impressive list of productions, particularly comedy. Recently he was DoP on two movies: Mrs Brown's  Boys D'Movie and What We Did on Our Holidays. Read more about Martin in Zerb.

Comedian Peter Kay writes: "Comedians love to work with Martin, this is because his skills as a cameraman are only slightly superseded by his fantastic sense of humour. I truly believe he inspires the comedians he works with. That's why we all want to work with him. He helps generate an atmosphere on set that's often superior to the finished product itself." 

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GTC Awards for Excellence

Strictly Come Dancing The Camera Team  Strictly Come Dancing survived its move from White City to Elstree and has gone from strength to strength, continually demonstrating great energy and skill. The Award was collected on behalf of the camera team by Lincoln Abraham - with a little help from his two lovely children.
Danny MacCaskill’s The Ridge Drone Cameraman/Director: Stu Thomson Drone Cameraman: Lec Park Cameraman: Scott Marshall  A good head for heights was needed even to watch the clip of this - extraordinary images and skill were shown in this production, originally made for the internet.
Eurovision 2014 – the Netherlands entry Steadicam: Karsten Jacobsen Follow Focus: Martin Samsoe  Steadicam excellence – precision and perfectly timed moves. The Award was collected by Martin Samsoe, who flew in from Sweden to be there.
The Condemned Camera/director: Nick Read A very moving documentary, with no commentary, about  life prisoners in Russia, in particular the moment they hear that capital punishment has been abolished; shot and directed by Nick Read. Nick was there in person to collect the Award.
Hinterland DoP: Richard Stoddard A unique production from BBC4 made in Wales, produced in both Welsh and English for an international audience, which has been recognised for its excellence all over the world.
The Queen’s Garden The Camera Team  Robin Cox and his team (Robert Hollingworth, Tim Shepherd and Simon de Glanville).  had unprecedented access to the Buckingham Palace gardens and came up with two episodes of beautiful coverage of one of the most mysterious areas of central London. The Award was collected by Robert Hollingworth.
Hive Alive DoP: Robin Smith A fascinating mixture of excellently captured live footage along with macro work to show the ins and out of life around a queen bee. Robin Smith could not be there so the Chairman of the 2015 GTC judges, David Fader, accepted the Award on his behalf.
Our Girl DoP: Nick Dance BSC The drama Our Girl is the story of army medic Molly Dawes in Afghanistan with all the dangers and tensions this entails; excellent pictures captured under some very trying circumstances. Nick Dance was able to collect the Award in person.
John Bishop’s Australia Drone work: Heliguy Guy Littermore The wide expanse of the enormous continent of Australia gives some marvellous opportunities for drone work excellently captured by the Heliguy team led by Guy Littermore. The Award was collected by Guy’s brother Sam.
The Wonders of the Monsoon, ep 5: The Drought Camera: Nick Lyon and camera team  Transmitted over five episodes on BBC2, The Wonders of the Monsoon really did show the audience some of the most stunning pictures a weather system can produce in all its guises. Nick and the team were not able to be there but sent a 'thank you' message which was read out by GTC 2015 Awards judge Anna Carrington, who also picked up the Award.

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The Mike Baldock Award

This year the Mike Baldock Award was won by the Rory Peck Trust. It was collected bythe trust's director, Tina Carr, who gave an introduction to the work of the Trust.

The proceeds from this year's GTC Awards Prize Raffle were also donated to the Rory Peck Trust.

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 GTC Seal of Approval

The GTC Seal of Approval was awarded to Rotolight for the innovative Rotolight Anova V2 BiColour EcoFlood LED lamp. Read more about the Anova V2.

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Honorary Membership of the GTC

Honorary Membership of the GTC was presented to David Monkhouse, a great supporter of the GTC over many years, who recently retired from the Vitec Group after more than 30 years with Vinten.

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 GTC Awards judging

The GTC Awards are each year judged by a different panel of invited GTC members and colleagues. With the shortlist also consisting of nominations made by GTC members, the GTC Awards can truly be recognised as an accolade from peers from within the camera department. This fact is noted by many recipients as making them particularly valued.

 Watch a short video of the 2015 judges in action:

GTC Awards 2015: The Voting Process from Guild of Television Cameramen on Vimeo