RON GOODMAN (Aerial Photography) is president of SpaceCam Systems, Inc., the company he founded in 1989 that is regarded as the world leader in high-end gyro-stabilized cinematography. As SpaceCam designer, in 1996 he was the recipient of the Academy Award of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for Scientific and Engineering Achievement. Recently, Ron completed design of the revolutionary SnakeHead Camera System, a fully articulated, computer-controlled, gyro-stabilized, horizontally-oriented periscope. Supporting full frame 70/15P format, SnakeHead is designed to capture the imagery associated with fast aircraft. Ron is also vice-president of StarDance Pictures Inc. and a script writer with several films to his credit.

A native of Canada, Ron has been based in Los Angeles for over 20 years. As a young cameraman and inventor, he spent 14 years in Europe where he established a reputation as a leader in aerial cinematography, contributing key material to Star Wars and Superman films and the longest single uncut shot in film history — the final sequence in Antonioni’s The Passenger. In 1976, Ron won the Scandinavian Commercial Cinematography award.

Over the years, many winning sequences for the Academy Award® for Cinematography have featured Ron’s aerial work. He also earned the Giant Screen Cinema Films (GSCA) Best Cinematography Award in 2001, 2004 and 2007. In 2007, he also received the GSCA Film Achievement Award for his work on The Alps.

During his period in Europe, Ron made many engineering improvement to the original Wescam camera system, finally culminating in the launch of the “X Mount” in 1980, which was later renamed GyroSphere. At SpaceCam, he designed a totally new gyro-stabilized camera system that remains the standard in the film industry for aerial cinematography.

Today, SpaceCam is utilized in 80% of large Hollywood features. Ron also successfully developed an IMAX® version of the system and has participated on numerous IMAX® films.