Rowan Johnson appointed as Canon Ambassador
Southpoint Films Managing Director Rowan Johnson has joined Canon’s prestigious Ambassador programme, recognising his work across commercial filmmaking, live production, technically demanding multi-camera projects and emerging production technology.
Rowan’s relationship with Canon has developed over several years through the work Southpoint Films has been doing in live, corporate and educational production.
In 2023, Canon invited Rowan and the Southpoint Films team to share their experience of using PTZ cameras in live education environments as part of its Master the Craft series. Since then, the relationship has continued through further collaborations, events and case studies including Boomtown Festival, where Southpoint Films has been developing increasingly ambitious multi-camera and remote-camera workflows.
The Ambassador role gives Rowan a closer relationship with Canon’s professional imaging team, with opportunities to explore new technology, contribute practical feedback from real productions and share more of the thinking behind how Southpoint Films approaches technically demanding work.
For Southpoint Films, though, the appointment is less about putting a camera brand at the centre of what we do and more about recognising something that has always been part of the company: a genuine interest in production technology, combined with knowing when it adds something useful to the job.
A straightforward interview does not need to become a technical exercise. A large live production may need multiple cameras, remote operation, contribution links, switching, graphics and a control room pulling it all together. The job is knowing the difference, and putting the right level of production around each project.
That is also what makes the relationship with Canon such a good fit. Rowan has always been interested in the point where creative production and technical problem-solving meet, whether that means improving the way a small crew works, placing cameras in positions that would otherwise be difficult to reach, or building a live system that can cope with a much more ambitious brief.
“I’m incredibly honoured to be joining Canon’s Ambassador programme. The relationship has grown quite naturally over the last few years because we’ve been using the technology on real productions and having proper conversations about what works, what we’re trying to achieve and where things could go next.
I’ve always enjoyed the technical side of production, but for me it’s only useful when it improves the job in some way. If it gives us a better shot, makes a live setup more flexible, reduces pressure on a crew or allows us to do something that would otherwise be difficult, then that’s where it gets interesting.
I’m looking forward to spending more time with the Canon team, getting closer to some of the technology they’re developing and continuing to share what we learn from using it in the real world.”
Read Rowan’s Canon Ambassador profile
Canon has published a full profile looking at Rowan’s route into filmmaking, the growth of Southpoint Films, his work across commercial and live production, and some of the technology behind recent projects.
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