I have a BA (Hons) in Media Production from the Media School of Bournemouth University. And was featured in the Alumni Association magazine, The Talbot (Summer 2004), a Media Careers special (PDF).

An early childhood fascination with media production began when my parents took me to see Star Wars in 1977. Shortly afterwards I was bought an Hitachi portable tape recorder as a Christmas gift. I started recording off television, my favourite television shows, and listening to the sounds back without the picture (mentally envisaging a different version). I would narrate stories and record conversations and sounds. It became a form of education via entertainment.

When I was not recording or playing with Star Wars, Transformers, Zoids, Masters of the Universe or G.I. Joe toys. I was sending unsolicited toy franchise submissions to Palitoy (the famous Coalville company which sub-licensed products from Hasbro and Kenner)! For example Baron Ironblood's, original UK name for Cobra Commander, Man o' War submersible. Whilst Palitoy invariably couldn't accept my ideas, their customer relations department graciously sent me posters and action figures along with dutifully returned artwork and a thank you note! Incidentally, Character Options is the modern equivalent of Palitoy and hopefully will not suffer its forebears fate.

In 1990 a Media Studies assignment, the music industry, resulted in the brief formation of my Pop/R&B band - Def Track - when I co-wrote the song "Don't Judge A Book By Its Cover" (MP3). The band members were Shane Johnson (lead vocals), Jamie Smith (backing vocals and bass) and myself (backing vocals and keyboard).

As part of an Exeter College/BBC Radio Devon partnership, I co-wrote and produced several documentaries. These were broadcast as part of teenage magazine show "90 MPH"!

The first (MP3) concerns the subject of censorship in the mainstream music industry and how recording artists such as Madonna, Prince and George Michael, and their labels, exploit alleged deviant behavior for profit. This ideology is as prevalent now as it was in 1991.

Here (MP3) is my second documentary. This time concerning the popularity of Australian soap opera Neighbours and its appeal to UK audiences. At its peak Neighbours garnered over 18 million viewers on terrestrial television.

After graduating from the University of Bournemouth, in June 1996, I joined global news agency Reuters working as an online journalist for their Business Information unit. In 1999 the division was merged with Dow Jones to form Dow Jones Reuters Business Interactive. A broad spectrum of skills, and a willingness to develop new ones, proved an invaluable asset when facilitating the aims and objectives of editorial.

In 1998 I worked as a studio assistant on Dirk Maggs' The Gemini Apes, an original family drama starring Christopher Lee, and produced for BBC Radio Four. Fellow Star Wars fans may like to know that Garrick Hagon (Biggs Darklighter) also starred. My role included foley and sourcing original and pre-recorded material from The Soundhouse's extensive library.

Between 2003 and 2004 I was a staff writer for Inside Mac Games (IMG), writing previews and reviews of ports. Collected reviews eBook (PDF).

Since 1998 (personal site) I have been developing original content (in mixed media) for internet distribution. The ability to work cross-platform, and conceptualise, and apply that thinking to print, broadcast or interactive content is key to successful multimedia practitioners! It is about creating a consistent and articulate message that uses the strengths of each medium. And the internet is the ideal point-of-convergence to deliver rich and compelling content to an active global audience.

Aside from the facility to globally showcase my work. The following sites have had unexpected and rewarding social networking benefits too. And, through affiliate advertising agencies, I have built successful marketing relationships with high-value consumer brands.



Blogs:
Cloister Bell | Generation Star Wars

Galleries:
deviantART | .Mac | Flickr | Saatchi Gallery

Social networking:
Facebook | MySpace | Twitter

Wii Console Code:
4054 9122 2571 1110

When not practising digital alchemy on my Apple Macintosh computer; producing Dashboard Widgets (Mac OS X 10.4.3) and podcasts (iTunes). I can be caught playing classic '80s arcade and console games, watching movies and collecting cool merchandise.