By John Westwood

Formerly a banker come accountant, John Westwood, in his early twenties, made his first documentaries and sold them to the ABC. After twenty years in the finance industry and a long involvement in amateur film and video clubs John turned professional and created Redgum Television Productions in 1984. Since then he has made over 3000 documentaries with more than 200 broadcast in seven different countries.

Although camera work is a key starting point for most videographers John has a bent for scriptwriting and editing and has won international acclaim in North America, the UK and a number of Asian countries. More commonly known as Redgum, John still has a strong involvement in the amateur club scene and can be found between documentary shoots trolling the local video clubs sharing experiences with budding filmmakers or relating that experience through the pages of the auscam magazine.

Currently, John is working on a commission to produce five one hour documentaries for an international agency. This type of work will keep him busy for two or three years and add another element to his industry based training regime for budding documentary makers. John can be contacted through www.redgumtv.com.au