[source: worldfixer.com]
Reece Jones - University of Hawai-Manoa
I have worked with fixers in Bangladesh, India, Palestine, Israel, Morocco, the US, and Mexico and Riton is the best I have encountered. It goes without saying that he is fluent in English. He has spent a lot of time around westerners so he understands how westerners think and act. This means he knows when to step in and help out but he also knows when to step back and not interfere. He has a deep knowledge of Bangladeshi culture and easily interprets what is going on in a way that makes sense to a foreigner. He is also funny and engaging, so he is pleasant to be around. I highly recommend him. In fact, I already regularly recommend him to colleagues, and they all report back with rave reviews. Here is a quote from an email I got last month from a journalist "Thanks for hooking me up with Riton - he was brilliant and we will be working together again in the near future”
Frankie McCamley - BBC News
Riton worked with us on a very tough story in Bangladesh. He arrived after traveling overnight with little sleep, but got to work straight away. Riton is very knowledgeable about the country and has good contacts. He worked well under pressure and would not stop until the job was done. In his own words "I am trained like the SAS". Riton is a brilliant fixer & translator; he knows what journalists want and how we work, especially when it comes to vulnerable people. He also has a great sense of humor and will always find a decent place to eat! I would recommend Riton to anyone and would definitely work with him again. He's a breath of fresh air.
Youcef Koliaï - Decoupages [arte France TV]
I must say that I was very pleased to work with Riton Quiah on our series documentary entitled "People of the seas " [30 episodes, length 26 minutes, broadcasted by Arte in France & Germany]. Riton is truly committed to his work & he’ll do everything possible to solve problems, if he had the physical strengthens to move mountain for our production he would have done that. Riton is a hard worker, a smart person, he has journalist skills and moreover he’s nice & friendly. I would warmly recommend him to any journalist, media or production company willing to investigate or do a shooting in Bangladesh. Our press agency have done documentaries in 47 countries around the planet and Riton can be defined as a five stars fixer!
Luke Duggleby - Al Jazeera
I worked with Riton for 10 days in August in rural Bangladesh whilst I was shooting for Al- Jazeera. In a nutshell Riton is a brilliant fixer and I am recommending him to everyone. Great English, intelligent, completely committed to the job and fantastic with local people.
Jason Cons - University of Texas
I have had the opportunity to work with Riton three times and I can say that he is a consummate professional. He is capable in every circumstance and is an absolute pleasure to work with. He cares deeply about his job and works tirelessly to accomplish goals. Beyond his dedication, which is remarkable, he also manages to get things done by being unfailingly polite to everyone he interacts with, by thinking carefully about strategies to achieve the best outcomes on whatever project he works on, and by drawing on his vast network of contacts throughout the country. I unreservedly recommend him. In over a 12 years of working in Bangladesh, I have not met someone as serious or as well suited to the job.
Tim McDonnell- National Geographic [Nat Geo]
I worked with Riton for two days in late November, first interviewing a pair of sex workers in Dhaka and then interviewing people impacted by a government development project in his home town of Noakhali. I also stayed as a guest at his house in Noakhali for an additional day or two. Riton is highly professional and communicative, and worked hard to find the right characters for my reporting. He was also a diligent translator who was not afraid to ask tough or sensitive questions. And there was no hassle regarding payment. He knows Bangladesh very well and I would certainly recommend him to anyone traveling there for journalism or academic research. Plus he's a very generous, friendly guy! Very easy to spend time with.
IKEA - Jessica Wihlborg
Riton Quiah was working with us filming documentary materials at a social enterprise in Bangladesh which IKEA partners with, in November 2022. We had an overall approach to fit it together with our materials from other parts of the world. I was very happy to see the agile approach Riton had in taking over the brief – he ensured that the team understood the complexity and the nuances of the brief, where filming individuals in a corporate setting is a delicate balance. The chosen filmer, Wasif Kabir was excellent – he understood and did his own interpretation to the full brief and had a strong personal execution, highlighting the strong individuals working at the social enterprise together with family life. The production planning was rushed, but Riton ensured all worked out well and in time. When obstacles happened at the site of filming where there were many different stakeholders involved, he was quickly on board to solve the issue to create conditions for quality of filming. This was vital for us, since the client and creative director were working from a distance, not being able to be on the location. The final films will be a strong contribution to our portfolio where we highlight unique social entrepreneurs around the world.
Silvia Ströhmer - Producer from Germany
We were working with Riton for the German production „Jenke ohne Grenzen“ (Jenke´s Journey) für RTL and it was terrific. Riton is absolutely professional, reliable, well organized, a good researcher, friendly and a good guy to have around. He did a great job on pre-production finding locations and good characters and he also has done a stunning job during our time in Bangladesh. He always replied to emails pretty quickly. For our side he will get an A+ and I definitely recommend him to other production companies in Germany.
Troy Enekvist - TT [Swedish News Agency]
I have been working with Riton two times. The first was in 2017 for 7 days and the second what this year in July for 9 days. I am working as a photojournalist for the Swedish news agency TT, and working with Riton has always been just perfect. He makes hard things happen; he is up to all my suggestions and helps me to finish my work just perfect. He is always in time. May be doesn't sound a lot. But I have been working in Bangladesh a lot and that is something kind of unique there. And it’s very good to be able to trust him when I am working with tight deadlines. So I have just good things to say about him, and I will continue to work with him in Bangladesh.
Natalia Karachkova – Journalist RT [Russia Today TV]
We had a few days this time, but thanks to Riton, we were able to do a lot. In early April 2018 Riton assisted me with shooting a documentary film for RT news channel. The film covers Rohingya people's life in Bangladeshi refugee camps, their preparation for a monsoon season and possible return to Myanmar. Riton acted like a true professional while working with our crew. He helped us with postproduction and filming schedule issues, and on-the-spot translation. At times we would ask him for an instant change in schedule or find a new character and schedule meeting with him. Riton did everything flawlessly. His performance was so great that our colleagues have already started planning a new project with Riton's help, on a topic he proposed himself.
Heidi Lipsanen – Journalist [YLE- Finnish Broadcasting Company]
I had a very good experience with him… he was extremely hard-working, did everything he could to accommodate the program although we had a very tough and overly-ambitious schedule. He replies to emails very quickly and is extremely helpful with brainstorming for stories before you have even hired him. On top, he is a modest and kind person. I would definitely recommend him!
Jamila Paksima- Chief Creative Officer and Director at Paksima Productions - USA
Riton worked with us and clocked numerous hours by phone, WhatsApp and emails with our constantly changing pre-production plans. We asked him to do a number of things for us before arriving including: conducting site visits, scoping out and pre-interviewing characters whom were considering to include in our reporting as well as lining up logistics, lodging and transportation. He is responsive and an excellent communicator. Upon arrival he was there to great our team at the airport, he was always punctual, well versed and able to connect us and take us to any locations we needed to find interview subjects or access for filming. Riton is cool under stress, insightful and pragmatic. Riton was our right hand man, his transportation was reliable, his assistants were terrific getting us permission for filming and Riton was there and stayed with us when we traveled. Riton is eloquent and concise with his on the spot translations. He is also respectfully and appropriately handled translations for our interviews and will continue to work with us in post-production as we refine our edit. We worked with Riton both in Dhaka, Satkhira, and the Sundarbans region. As often will happen in developing countries, not all plans fall into place and sometimes western guests need extra support and all the way Riton was our man on the ground. We interviewed numerous fixers in trying to make our production a success. Based upon on his level of professionalism and his knowledge of Bangladesh and its people, our team for Plan C for Civilization highly recommends working with Riton Quiah. We had successful trip and safely traveled around the country by van and on water in numerous boats and Riton took terrific care of our team.
Chea Wan Yun: KBS [Korean Broadcasting System]
I am Chea Wan Yun working as a director for a KBS [Korean Broadcasting System]. I am writing to share my experience of making a documentary about the water pollution of Dhaka and climate change on the island of Gabura with Riton Quiah for three weeks. Although I had a long phone conversation with Riton, so trust was built up. During the filming in Dhaka and Gabura Island, there were no problems with the filming. He always tried to find a way to make it happen and even stimulating the local cameraman to work hard more than me, furthermore he has a good relationship with the local people, so everyone actively helped with the filming. With 3 weeks of filming experience with Riton, I can say with certainty that working with Riton is enjoyable and produces good results for those who want to go to Bangladesh.
Reece Jones - University of Hawai-Manoa
I have worked with fixers in Bangladesh, India, Palestine, Israel, Morocco, the US, and Mexico and Riton is the best I have encountered. It goes without saying that he is fluent in English. He has spent a lot of time around westerners so he understands how westerners think and act. This means he knows when to step in and help out but he also knows when to step back and not interfere. He has a deep knowledge of Bangladeshi culture and easily interprets what is going on in a way that makes sense to a foreigner. He is also funny and engaging, so he is pleasant to be around. I highly recommend him. In fact, I already regularly recommend him to colleagues, and they all report back with rave reviews. Here is a quote from an email I got last month from a journalist "Thanks for hooking me up with Riton - he was brilliant and we will be working together again in the near future”
Frankie McCamley - BBC News
Riton worked with us on a very tough story in Bangladesh. He arrived after traveling overnight with little sleep, but got to work straight away. Riton is very knowledgeable about the country and has good contacts. He worked well under pressure and would not stop until the job was done. In his own words "I am trained like the SAS". Riton is a brilliant fixer & translator; he knows what journalists want and how we work, especially when it comes to vulnerable people. He also has a great sense of humor and will always find a decent place to eat! I would recommend Riton to anyone and would definitely work with him again. He's a breath of fresh air.
Youcef Koliaï - Decoupages [arte France TV]
I must say that I was very pleased to work with Riton Quiah on our series documentary entitled "People of the seas " [30 episodes, length 26 minutes, broadcasted by Arte in France & Germany]. Riton is truly committed to his work & he’ll do everything possible to solve problems, if he had the physical strengthens to move mountain for our production he would have done that. Riton is a hard worker, a smart person, he has journalist skills and moreover he’s nice & friendly. I would warmly recommend him to any journalist, media or production company willing to investigate or do a shooting in Bangladesh. Our press agency have done documentaries in 47 countries around the planet and Riton can be defined as a five stars fixer!
Luke Duggleby - Al Jazeera
I worked with Riton for 10 days in August in rural Bangladesh whilst I was shooting for Al- Jazeera. In a nutshell Riton is a brilliant fixer and I am recommending him to everyone. Great English, intelligent, completely committed to the job and fantastic with local people.
Jason Cons - University of Texas
I have had the opportunity to work with Riton three times and I can say that he is a consummate professional. He is capable in every circumstance and is an absolute pleasure to work with. He cares deeply about his job and works tirelessly to accomplish goals. Beyond his dedication, which is remarkable, he also manages to get things done by being unfailingly polite to everyone he interacts with, by thinking carefully about strategies to achieve the best outcomes on whatever project he works on, and by drawing on his vast network of contacts throughout the country. I unreservedly recommend him. In over a 12 years of working in Bangladesh, I have not met someone as serious or as well suited to the job.
Tim McDonnell- National Geographic [Nat Geo]
I worked with Riton for two days in late November, first interviewing a pair of sex workers in Dhaka and then interviewing people impacted by a government development project in his home town of Noakhali. I also stayed as a guest at his house in Noakhali for an additional day or two. Riton is highly professional and communicative, and worked hard to find the right characters for my reporting. He was also a diligent translator who was not afraid to ask tough or sensitive questions. And there was no hassle regarding payment. He knows Bangladesh very well and I would certainly recommend him to anyone traveling there for journalism or academic research. Plus he's a very generous, friendly guy! Very easy to spend time with.
IKEA - Jessica Wihlborg
Riton Quiah was working with us filming documentary materials at a social enterprise in Bangladesh which IKEA partners with, in November 2022. We had an overall approach to fit it together with our materials from other parts of the world. I was very happy to see the agile approach Riton had in taking over the brief – he ensured that the team understood the complexity and the nuances of the brief, where filming individuals in a corporate setting is a delicate balance. The chosen filmer, Wasif Kabir was excellent – he understood and did his own interpretation to the full brief and had a strong personal execution, highlighting the strong individuals working at the social enterprise together with family life. The production planning was rushed, but Riton ensured all worked out well and in time. When obstacles happened at the site of filming where there were many different stakeholders involved, he was quickly on board to solve the issue to create conditions for quality of filming. This was vital for us, since the client and creative director were working from a distance, not being able to be on the location. The final films will be a strong contribution to our portfolio where we highlight unique social entrepreneurs around the world.
Silvia Ströhmer - Producer from Germany
We were working with Riton for the German production „Jenke ohne Grenzen“ (Jenke´s Journey) für RTL and it was terrific. Riton is absolutely professional, reliable, well organized, a good researcher, friendly and a good guy to have around. He did a great job on pre-production finding locations and good characters and he also has done a stunning job during our time in Bangladesh. He always replied to emails pretty quickly. For our side he will get an A+ and I definitely recommend him to other production companies in Germany.
Troy Enekvist - TT [Swedish News Agency]
I have been working with Riton two times. The first was in 2017 for 7 days and the second what this year in July for 9 days. I am working as a photojournalist for the Swedish news agency TT, and working with Riton has always been just perfect. He makes hard things happen; he is up to all my suggestions and helps me to finish my work just perfect. He is always in time. May be doesn't sound a lot. But I have been working in Bangladesh a lot and that is something kind of unique there. And it’s very good to be able to trust him when I am working with tight deadlines. So I have just good things to say about him, and I will continue to work with him in Bangladesh.
Natalia Karachkova – Journalist RT [Russia Today TV]
We had a few days this time, but thanks to Riton, we were able to do a lot. In early April 2018 Riton assisted me with shooting a documentary film for RT news channel. The film covers Rohingya people's life in Bangladeshi refugee camps, their preparation for a monsoon season and possible return to Myanmar. Riton acted like a true professional while working with our crew. He helped us with postproduction and filming schedule issues, and on-the-spot translation. At times we would ask him for an instant change in schedule or find a new character and schedule meeting with him. Riton did everything flawlessly. His performance was so great that our colleagues have already started planning a new project with Riton's help, on a topic he proposed himself.
Heidi Lipsanen – Journalist [YLE- Finnish Broadcasting Company]
I had a very good experience with him… he was extremely hard-working, did everything he could to accommodate the program although we had a very tough and overly-ambitious schedule. He replies to emails very quickly and is extremely helpful with brainstorming for stories before you have even hired him. On top, he is a modest and kind person. I would definitely recommend him!
Jamila Paksima- Chief Creative Officer and Director at Paksima Productions - USA
Riton worked with us and clocked numerous hours by phone, WhatsApp and emails with our constantly changing pre-production plans. We asked him to do a number of things for us before arriving including: conducting site visits, scoping out and pre-interviewing characters whom were considering to include in our reporting as well as lining up logistics, lodging and transportation. He is responsive and an excellent communicator. Upon arrival he was there to great our team at the airport, he was always punctual, well versed and able to connect us and take us to any locations we needed to find interview subjects or access for filming. Riton is cool under stress, insightful and pragmatic. Riton was our right hand man, his transportation was reliable, his assistants were terrific getting us permission for filming and Riton was there and stayed with us when we traveled. Riton is eloquent and concise with his on the spot translations. He is also respectfully and appropriately handled translations for our interviews and will continue to work with us in post-production as we refine our edit. We worked with Riton both in Dhaka, Satkhira, and the Sundarbans region. As often will happen in developing countries, not all plans fall into place and sometimes western guests need extra support and all the way Riton was our man on the ground. We interviewed numerous fixers in trying to make our production a success. Based upon on his level of professionalism and his knowledge of Bangladesh and its people, our team for Plan C for Civilization highly recommends working with Riton Quiah. We had successful trip and safely traveled around the country by van and on water in numerous boats and Riton took terrific care of our team.
Chea Wan Yun: KBS [Korean Broadcasting System]
I am Chea Wan Yun working as a director for a KBS [Korean Broadcasting System]. I am writing to share my experience of making a documentary about the water pollution of Dhaka and climate change on the island of Gabura with Riton Quiah for three weeks. Although I had a long phone conversation with Riton, so trust was built up. During the filming in Dhaka and Gabura Island, there were no problems with the filming. He always tried to find a way to make it happen and even stimulating the local cameraman to work hard more than me, furthermore he has a good relationship with the local people, so everyone actively helped with the filming. With 3 weeks of filming experience with Riton, I can say with certainty that working with Riton is enjoyable and produces good results for those who want to go to Bangladesh.