Simon Christidis: Renowned Gold Coast cinematographer to contest stalking charge
A significant figure in the local film industry, who has worked with household names including Ron Howard and James Cameron, will contest an allegation he stalked a person for 13 months.
A significant figure in the Gold Coast film industry who has worked with household names including Ron Howard and James Cameron will contest an allegation he stalked a person for 13 months.
Runaway Bay man Simon Evangelos Christidis, 56, an accredited member of the Australian Cinematographers Society with dozens of credits to his name, was charged earlier this year with stalking a person known to him between March 1, 2024 and March 31, 2025.
Police allege the conduct involved, in part, voluminous digital communications.
Mr Christidis’ stalking charge was mentioned in Southport Magistrates Court on November 4.
Defence lawyer Joshua Tiffin told the court his client would be contesting the charge.
The matter was listed for a review on January 22, 2026, with a hearing to follow on March 5.
The court also heard details of a dispute between the prosecution and the defence over the disclosure of certain material the defence considered relevant to its ability to contest the charge, with Mr Tiffin protesting police’s “refusal” to hand the files over.
The court was told this was because the prosecution did not consider it relevant.
However, the magistrate took a dim view of this, commenting it was “difficult for the prosecution to work out what’s relevant” to how the defence wishes to run the case, urging the parties to adopt a “pragmatic” approach.
The court heard the dispute had come to a resolution that was satisfactory to both parties.
Court documents revealed more details about the material sought by the defence – they wanted police to disclose all interactions between Mr Christidis and a witness in the case, a relative of the complainant, that were contained within the police records system QPRIME.
Mr Christidis has been involved in the film industry since the 1980s and earnt a reputation as one of the world’s foremost auteurs when it came to underwater and surf cinematography.
According to his profile on IMDb, his credits include Aquamarine (2006), Fool’s Gold (2008), Nim’s Island (2008), Unbroken (2014), Kong: Skull Island (2017), Godzilla vs. Kong (2021) and Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (2025).
He also established his own production company, Big Boy Films, in 1995, with past clients including Tourism Queensland, Sea World and Flight Centre.
More Coverage
Originally published as Simon Christidis: Renowned Gold Coast cinematographer to contest stalking charge
