Neill Watson Brief Bio 2012

Contact DetailsNeill Watson18 Wardell CloseYarmNorth YorkshireTS15 9UZUKCell: 0044 (0)7812 766760Tel: 0044 (0)1642 781112Web: www.neillwatson.comEmail: nw@neillwatson.com

Statistics

Born!! ! ! 23rd January 1965Height ! ! ! 6ft 4 inWeight! ! ! 75 kgDriving Licence ! Full UK car / motorcycle / trailer up to GVW 12,000 kgsPassport! ! ! United KingdomNearest Airports ! Durham Tees Valley, Newcastle, Leeds Bradford

Professional Memberships

Guild of Motoring Writers, UKPro Imaging - Global organisation for professional image makers.

Overview

I have a wide ranging experience and constantly evolving skill set as a result of my varied career. Since 1999 my experience in photography, writing, web development, driver coaching and more recently video production are valuable skills that can be used in a diverse range of environments.

The brief resume below gives information on my career and experience to date. When not working, I combine the usual family obligations of wife, sons, dog, cat etc with an continued love of cars, aviation, cameras and Art Deco buildings. If you admire the sound of a Rolls Royce Merlin as much as a Cosworth DFV and respect flying of the late Ray Hanna as much as Sir Stirlingʼs driving, then youʼll find weʼre on the same page.

The skills and experiences in the following pages are in no particular order of specialism and form an overview of the types of projects I regularly work on, either as solo or as part of a larger team.

Image - Porsche GT3RSR ALMS car. Words & pictures feature.

Editorial Car Photography

My editorial car photography commissions are often linked together with providing the words to form a complete feature. Other times, Iʼm working as part of a larger team on a road trip project or other larger feature. Working 100% on location, often with only available light and using the subject and the moment to maximum advantage.

Image - Sir Stirling Moss, Blonde, Nick Masonʼs Maserati 250F, Donington

Writing & Journalism

Itʼs an interesting time to be writing about the car. Thereʼs a fundamental change going on that will transform the face of motoring for ever over the coming decade. The impact these new technologies are having on our society is already being felt and while Iʼm as big a supercar lover as the next person, thereʼs no doubt that in the medium term, the internal combustion engineʼs days are numbered.

Personally, I find the development of the new technologies fascinating, but my heart will always be with the internal combustion engine. While we may soon be commuting to the whine of an electric motor, the sounds, smells and emotions of iconic, historically important automobiles will be with us for decades to come. Writing

While I specialise in writing complete features for motoring publications worldwide, the fast changing nature of digital publication finds me writing anything from a 2500 word feature through a 500 word blog post to a series of 160 character tweets.

With a long career in the specialist car industry, plus competition experience in rallying and race track instruction, I write with knowledge, passion and conviction on the subject. Iʼve told readers about such diverse subjects as driving a Lamborghini LP640 at 200mph, driving on frozen lakes in Sweden and being caught speeding in France. Iʼve met everyone from World Champions of Formula One and traffic police perfecting TPAC driving to rock star drift car drivers. The new media technologies are just as fascinating as the new cars weʼll soon be driving and I find the flexibility of new media and exciting place to be.

Image - Porsche 993RS Prototype Development Logbook. Words & Pictures Feature

Aerial PhotographyI shoot aerial photography for a variety of uses, anything from single days for architectural visualisations and CGI rendering to fine art prints destined for the boardroom display wall. With long experience of the aviation environment, I organise all helicopters or fixed wing aircraft and take care of production, permits and other legal issues.

Image - Hull City Stadium

Track Instruction, Driving Coaching and Events

I am a regular track instructor in the UK and Europe. Iʼve worked on the frozen lakes of Scandinavia providing advanced coaching as well as general track and event days. These days, my instruction and driver coaching work is for a smaller group of clients, often private owners of cars wanting to gain knowledge and a thorough understanding of the principles behind the task. This can be taken away and used again and again.

I can also be found driving both in front of and behind the camera on still photography and video shoots.

Image - Ferrari 458 Italia, Prodrive Proving Ground, Warwickshire

Web Development

Octane Factory is a small team of people I bring together to create websites and associated projects for clients. The source of our business in this field is overwhelming word of mouth and the Octane Factory project brings together varied skills including Wordpress integration, Blog and Social Media authoring and training, PHP, CSS and other technical design skills together with the creation of content for clients to improve their business fortunes online.

By co-ordinating specialist skills, the Octane Factory project is instantly scaleable depending upon the needs of the client.

Image - Northern Sweden, February

Career History & Qualifications

Educated to A Level standard at 6th Form College, academic and other experiences as follows:

O Levels - Maths, Physics, History, Computing, Technical DrawingA Level - Engineering Drawing

1984 - 1993. Began as sales assistant in a Toyota Dealership and rose to senior sales executive by 1986. Remained with the same company, progressing to sales manager and Lexus sales executive by 1993. After nine years with the same company, the chance to work in specialist car sales was offered.

1993 - 1995 Worked as sales executive in specialist cars, representing franchises for Jaguar / Daimler, Aston Martin, Rolls Royce, Bentley and Ferrari.

1996 - 1999 Returned to Lexus as sales manager, using the experience with marketing high end specialist cars to good effect. Consistently top five performing dealership, winning those lovely trips to New York etc

2000 - 2001 Consultant work for a fledgling motorsport company who had aspirations in circuit racing. I advised on the true cost implications of setting up a full race team from scratch and their prospects of a profit within two years as being a shade optimistic as a target. They did not proceed once the true cost projections of motor racing were spelled out.

2006 - 2009 Instrumental in establishing Ice Driver Ltd. One of the original directors, established the web presence, marketing materials and branding. Responsible for logistics, undertaking a series of visits to Sweden and creating relationships with local suppliers and locating an optimum location for reliable conditions for driving on frozen lakes while still making travel for guests a practical proposition.

2001 - present. Freelance in a wide variety of roles using the skills described above, working either solo or as part of a team on short term or long term projects. Experienced at working in environments as diverse as the South of France to the winter wilderness of Northern Sweden.

Contact

Contact Neill UK time on

Cell: 0044 (0)7812 766760Tel: 0044 (0)1642 781112

Or Look Online At

Web: www.neillwatson.comEmail: nw@neillwatson.com

Content copyright Neill Watson 2012 Images and text available for download and licence