Simon was raised in Devon, UK. “I have this amazing memory of my Dad taking me to see Raiders of The Lost Ark when I was 9 and just being blown away! I had no clue then I would end up behind a camera years later.” Studying Graphic Design at Torquay Fine Art School he discovered a love of B&W photography as well as daydreaming about movies and movie making. “So I borrowed lights and a Super 8 camera from the school and made my first short film with my brother as the lead and my mum as the gaffer!“

He attended the Napier Film School in Edinburgh wanting, like most, to be a director yet discovered another key role he felt instantly drawn to - cinematographer. He spent his entire grant on old Arriflex ST camera from a former BBC Cameraman and began shooting a number of music promos and shorts films with friends, learning as he went. (One short, SEX & DEATH, won a Scottish BAFTA Television Craft Award for Lighting). In 2002 he shot his first feature film THE LAST GREAT WILDERNESS for Oscar winning director, David MacKenzie.

His first real break came with feature film THE SWEENEY (2012 d. Nick Love) based on the 70’s TV show. “I remember taking my parents to see it at a Multiplex in Devon and that feeling of shear pride and knowing no matter how hard this industry can be, cinematography, and the artistry that came with it was my lifelong passion.”

For his first TV experience he shot one episode of DOCTOR WHO (2013 d. Colm McCarthy) which led to episodes of RIPPER STREET (2013 d. Kieron Hawkes) and then the entire Season 2 of the acclaimed show PEAKY BLINDERS (2014 d. Colm McCarthy) which earned him a BAFTA & RTS nomination.

In New Orleans he shot AMERICAN HERO (2015 d. Nick love) a documentary style feature film giving him an insight into the American film scene. It was while shooting the Canadian based movie I STILL SEE YOU (2017 d. Scott Speer) he was invited to LA to shoot the series THE ASSASSINATION OF GIANNI VERSACE (2018) a vast TV production for Ryan Murphy Productions and Fox Studios (that went on to be nominated for 18 Emmys). “I couldn’t believe my luck so I put my head down and worked and created as hard as I could”

Since then he has photographed the powerful transgender TV show, POSE (2018-19) in New York (based on the 1990 documentary, Paris is Burning ) and more recently the alternative vision of discrimination in HOLLYWOOD (2020) for Netflix which both changed his view on the power of entertainment and "how it can make a difference by challenging and possibly healing key social

issues."

He was invited into the BSC in 2018.

OTHER CREDITS: A WOMAN IN WINTER; THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS; THE LIMEHOUSE GOLEM; THE POLITICIAN; RATCHED

SELECTED AWARDS: FARGO FILM FESTIVAL Winner: Dimensions (2011 d. Sloane U'Ren) ROYAL TELEVISION SOCIETY & BAFTA TV Craft Award Nominations: Peaky Blinders (2015 d. Colm McCarthy)

Instagram: @simondennis_dop

Host: Jamie Neale @jamienealejn Discussing rituals and habitual patterns in personal and work life. We ask questions about how to become more aware of one self and the world around us, how do we become 360 with ourselves?

Host Instagram: @jamienealejn

Podcast Instagram: @360_yourself

Music from Electric Fruit

Produced by Tom Dalby

Composed by Toby Wright