I’ve DoP’d a number of entertainment shows, including reality shows “Celebrity Chef, East v’s West” and “Bolt of Talent” forFox, as well as the fashion make-over show “How Do I Look? Asia” Seasons 2 & 3 for Diva Universal. Other reality entertainment shows include: “The Apartment” Season 6 for AXN; “Wondernesia” for Discovery TLC; and “Photo Face-Off” Season 2 for History.
I also took on the role of Senior Cameraman for three of Asia’s largest shows – “Asia’s Got Talent” Season 1 for AXN, ”The Apprentice Asia” for AXN, and the multi-million dollar production “F1 Rocks” broadcast in over 100 countries, working with such stars as Beyonce, Rain & Lindsay Lohan. My first reality show as camera operator was “Amazing Race Asia” Season 2, followed by “Asia’s Next Top Model” Season 1.
One of my recent documentary projects was “The Last Artisan” for Latent Image, currently touring the festival circuit. Other documentaries include a two-part series called “Brave New Worlds” for CICC/Al Arabiya TV, “Wild City” for Channel News Asia, “A Culinary Coupe” for Food Network and “Pandas Wild Move” for National Geographic, the last two were nominated for Best Cinematography and Best Documentary respectively at the Asian TV Awards.
TRIVIA: I’ve had 2 near-death experiences whilst filming – 1/ crash-landing in a balloon into an electricity pylon in the UK, 2/ getting lost & separated from my expedition crew in a blizzard in Tibet. Neither of which were my fault!
Outside of video camerawork, I produce, direct and edit my own corporate projects for a small number of MNCs. I also take on the occasional photography job – mainly industrial commissions around Singapore’s shipyards, plus the occasional corporate portraiture project.
I am proud to say that for about 5 years I was Associate Filmmaker for the China Exploration & Research Society (CERS) – undertaking many expeditions in China as well a Myanmar. For three years I also helped organise documentary filmmaking and photography trips to China for students from Singapore’s NTU. This project was originally an initiative of Canon Singapore, and organised in association with CERS. As well as NTU, I’ve been a part-time lecturer at the Lasalle College of the Arts.
Before Singapore, I was mainly based in London as a DoP and editor, working on entertainment programming and TVCs. I originally studied photography at Salisbury College of Art and Design in the UK, and after completing an HND in Photography I went onto study film in their PQE programme (Professional Qualifying Programme).
My work has been aired on an extensive range of broadcasters, including:
ABC, AXN, BBC, Bloomberg, CICC, Channel 4 (UK), Channel 7&9 (Australia), Channel News Asia, CNN, Discovery Networks Asia, Diva Universal, ESPN/Star Sports, Food Network Asia, Fox, History Channel, National Geographic Channel, NHK, Star World, TLC, TVN
My corporate clients include:
Accenture, AON, The British Army, BP, Buro OS, Canon Singapore, Commonwealth Scientific Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Citibank, DBS, Deutsche Bank, Diageo, Ernst & Young, Express Newspapers, Facebook, Forbes, Google, HSBC, The Human Dignity Trust, IBM, The IMF, Inchcape, KPMG, Kerry Foods, Maybank, McKinsey & Company, Microsoft, OCBC, Oracle, The Puttnam School of Film, SAP, Singapore National Parks Board, Singtel, UAE Ministry of Culture, Unilever, World Medical Authority
Jon Moore, Executive Producer & Director, The Deck Media Group [Singapore]
“Chris has been our first-choice cameraman and Director of Photography for all of our productions for many years. During our time working together, we have teamed up on many formats in both broadcast and corporate. Our productions have taken us all over the region, often to challenging locations.
Chris brings a high level of creativity to all of our productions, but manages to combine this with reliability and intimate technical knowledge we know we can count on, together with a wide selection of up-to-date and well-maintained equipment. Chris has become more than one of our freelancers – we now value him as a production partner and an integral member of our core team.”
Corinna Sager President, Lifestyle International [USA]
“Chris is an excellent DP. He has tremendous experience and brings that expertise and professionalism to every shoot and every client. With Chris you can be sure that your production is taken care of, whether it’s just him and his gear, or a team he puts together. He is also very thorough – making sure in the pre-production stages that he clearly understands the objective, the goal, and the equipment needs. And he will always bring more than necessary to be prepared for any eventualities.
We really enjoyed working with him. He was even in client meetings with us (which I generally don’t do) and his insights proved very helpful in certain situations. He is a great team player, he listens to ideas and suggestions then adds and offers his own visual concepts to improve upon those ideas. In addition he has a nice easy going way about him and a good sense of humor. Critical in stressful situations. I look forward to working with him again anywhere in the world, but certainly the next time I’m in Singapore.”
Susan Oliver Head, Beach House Kids [Singapore]
“I’ve worked with Chris Dickinson as a Lighting Director/DOP on numerous occasions. I think the best thing you can ever ask a referee is: ‘Would you work with them again?’. In Chris’s case I would say ‘Absolutely’. “
Lawrence Andrews
Head of Content, Line Up [UK]
“I am based in London and Chris and I first worked together when I flew to Singapore in need of a local crew. I had a great experience working with Chris and his professionalism and creativity helped me deliver a very well received film. As a result of this first experience I have asked Chris to shoot on my behalf in Asia on a number of occasions, and he always delivers top results.
He has great kit and is always helpful in arranging additional production and crew. It makes my life easier in London knowing I have someone as reliable as Chris in Asia who I can call on anytime to help me on projects large and small”.
