Gosh, BSAC, shmeesak! My ex was a BSAC instructor, and I have my PADI DM certification, and trust me, you get the good and the bad at all of the certifying agencies. IMO BSAC is great because its members are often actively diving in UK conditions and often. The dive shop you found in Koh Tao probably has the only BSAC course because everyone else teaching in Thailand is PADI certified, which is easier because PADI is more prolific.
Having taken 10,000s of underwater photos, no course is really going to make you a better underwater videographer. You need to be a good diver and a good photographer, first.
Koh Tao is famous for its Trigger fish that are always attacking people (one of my instructors was knocked out cold underwater; I've heard of multiple people losing appendages...) - why do you want to have to worry about that while doing sub-par diving?
My suggestion is to do your Open Water certification at home, with a referral, which only means that you do your actual 'open water' dives somewhere else. Go somewhere tropical where you can afford to stay for a while - if you have a tighter budget, places like Honduras or Saba in the Caribbean, and Malaysia or Indonesia (otherwise, the world is our oyster), and finish your OW, then do your advanced OW, Rescue diver and do an internship DM, and get really comfortable diving. You might even decide that you don't like diving that much! I would also do the PADI specialty: Peak Performance Buoyancy, which is absolutely imperative for taking good shots underwater.
If you have a good camera, know that UW housing is expensive, and equipment can cost you upwards of 10s of thousands of dollars.
If you do do a DM somewhere, esp. as an intern where you really get to know the people you're working with, they will likely uw photography, if not also videography, and may even be comfortable enough to let you use their equipment (even for free).
I would start with a good compact with housing and a video option for a couple of minutes, and take it from there.
This all in my very humble opinion!
I would just be going to Koh Tao to do the program. I would not be going for several months. I would like to pursue underwater videography/photography as a hobby and perhaps a career. I am in Cincinnati, so I don't have much opportunity to scuba, except on vacation. I was considering getting a few certifications around here, but it would just be in pools and maybe a quarry then heading out to try videography. I am also open to learning to dive while I'm there. Again, I'm new to most scuba stuff. Any advice on other underwater videographer programs would be a help to. This one just seems pretty notable with it being BSAC's only professional underwater videographer certification.
