Producer/director Gerry Troyna gave the keynote speech about starting in television as a sound recordist with Keith Massey before progressing to a variety of jobs learning the skills required for a career in broadcasting. Gerry has directed Panorama and wildlife programmes and spoke with admiration about the different qualities cameramen bring to a team and the different genres.
In 1979 Gerry was asked to make a pilot for a series that subsequently became Great Railway Journeys of the World. Given a choice for his next film in the series, Gerry chose to go to India – and Deccan and this started a love affair with the country, a BAFTA nomination and several RTS awards. He spoke of his passion for documentaries and has returned to India many times to film on the sub-continent railway including Monsoon Railway, Bombay Railway, Indian Hill Railways and, most recently, India’s Frontier Railways.