Julie Ritson MBE is a highly respected News Camerawoman who spent 36 years’ working for the British Broadcasting Corporation. During her time at the BBC, she covered many historic News stories from the troubles in Northern Ireland and nearly every conflict around the world over a period of three decades.
She joined the BBC in 1988 as an Assistant Film Editor but by the mid-1990s, Julie had added camerawork to her video editing skills, covering major international stories in Bosnia, Chechnya, Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel, Gaza and Ukraine. She also spent six years based in the BBC’s New York and Moscow bureaux, before returning to London to join BBC2’s Newsnight programme. Over the next seven years she did dozens of military embeds in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as filming interviews with world leaders, politicians, actors and artists.
Julie began teaching camerawork and editing in 2013 alongside her News coverage duties, helping to recruit new camera crews in the BBC Overseas Bureaux and trained hundreds of UK based camera crews, editors, engineers and journalists. In 2022, she returned to the frontline, this time in Ukraine, where she came under a missile attack whilst filming near Zaporizhzhia.
Julie was awarded an MBE in the 2026 New Year Honours List, becoming the first broadcast News camerawoman to receive this recognition. The honour reflects not only her extensive work in global war zones, but also her pivotal role in recruiting and training the next generation of camera professionals.
Since leaving the BBC in March 2025, Julie has run numerous Smartphone photography, filming and editing training courses for corporate marketing clients. She has also delivered several cruise ship lectures about her career and is keen to accept further cruise ship speaker opportunities.
Born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, North-East England
Raised in Scotland but due to my father’s work as an engineer, spent many childhood years in Australia and South Korea.
Has enjoyed scuba diving since the age of sixteen and was a qualified Padi Divemaster (lapsed)
Other passions are travel, art and wildlife photography.
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CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
SMARTPHONE FILMING & EDITING TRAINING
CORPORATE
TEAM
TRAINING
Over recent years, Julie increased her use of iPhone filming and editing in her workflow.
She's now created a one day Smartphone Filming & Editing course designed for
Corporate Comms teams, Journalists, Social Media Managers, NGO's and Educators
Learn not only the technical skills and best accessories/apps to use, but also the craft of filmmaking
and tips of the trade from a seasoned professional.
INDIVIDUAL
IN-PERSON
TRAINING
FREELANCE SHOOT/EDIT
Julie has extensive filming and editing experience from fast moving News stories
to longer form documentaries. Julie is particularly interested in environmental stories and keen to cover climate issues.
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Sony A7s3, Z200, iPhone 16 Pro Max
FCPX & Adobe Premiere for Mobile
Drone pilot and Padi Divemaster/Nitrox
Testimonials
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A huge thank you to Julie Ritson for delivering her fantastic bespoke Smartphone Filming and Editing course at the Lawn Tennis Association. Julie completely tailored the course to our needs, and her coaching was clear, concise and very practical. The mix of expert insight and hands-on learning made the whole session incredibly valuable - and fun too! Her enthusiasm and supportive teaching style boosted confidence, and I’m looking forward to putting these new skills into action! Thank you, Julie — you were brilliant!
Judith Ahern, Corporate Communications and Content Manager, LTA
I recently completed Julie’s Smartphone Filming & Editing course, and I genuinely can’t recommend it enough. Working in Internal Communications, I found the training incredibly practical and empowering – it’s been a great addition to my content creation toolkit. Julie’s teaching style is clear, hands-on, and really engaging. I left the course feeling confident and excited to start applying what I’d learned. Since then, I’ve already directed and edited my first video using just my smartphone – and I’m genuinely thrilled with the result! If you're in a Comms team and want to start using video more effectively, this course is a fantastic investment.
Sandra Chachulska, Internal Communications Manager, LifeArc
The full day mobile filming training that Julie did with our team was fantastic! We chatted beforehand about the team’s level of knowledge and experience, and Julie pitched the workshop perfectly for our needs. The day was a great balance of information and hands-on training and the whole team left feeling really clear on technical set-up and filming best practice, and confident to get started. Julie is a warm and engaging trainer with so much filming experience, and I would recommend any team looking to film on mobile to train with her.
Sarah Austin, Editor, Streamly, Informa PLC
What an amazing experience. Julie distilled her huge amount of experience into a simple yet informative few hours demonstrating how best to use mobile devices to create engaging content for corporate media teams and those wanting to get the best from their iPhone. I’ve got years of experience in video production and honestly didn’t regard mobile phones as good enough for quality productions but Julie has convinced me to explore the use of mobile devices on corporate projects. Highly recommended.
Paul Saxby Photography
Tim Davie, Former BBC Director General
Julie is a trailblazer. When she started as a camerawoman 36 year's ago, it was mainly a man’s world. She has left the BBC at the very highest level which is a brilliant achievement. During her time at the BBC she covered so many of the historic News stories from the troubles in Northern Ireland and nearly every conflict since.
Julie covered the recent war in Ukraine with correspondent Laura Bicker, capturing amazing footage when missiles struck, was embedded in Iraq and she also spent many years in the BBC New York and Moscow Bureaux. So many colleagues loved working with Julie and one of the best things is her legacy, sharing her talent with so many apprentices and new recruits.
Morwen Williams, Director of Media Operations at BBC
Julie is one of the greatest camera / editor’s of her generation, having covered some of the biggest news events of the last several decades. Any organisation would be fortunate to learn from her expertise. She’s also trained the next generation of camera / editor’s entering the world of journalism.
Ian Sherwood, Executive Editor, NBC News & ex-BBC