AN OPEN LETTER TO THE COLUMBUS COMMUNITY

THE WILLIAM LEE INTERVIEW

This is the first in a series of commentaries on filmmaking and life in
general by William Lee, president and CEO of
CINEMA LEXZIKON PRODUCTIONS LLC.

Excerpts from The William Lee Interview

1.        What is your earliest memory of taking an interest in filmmaking?

a.        I think my earliest recollection is in 1968, I was in an art class and our teacher brought in
blank strips of 16mm film. She then instructed us to paint figures on each frame. She didn’t explain
to us that when the film was to be run through the projector, that the images would move. Standard
movie film runs at 24 frames per second, so the more series of 24 images I drew, the more of my work
would be on the screen. When she did finally run that through the projector, wow. My mind was
ignited.

2.        Obviously your interest in film had other influences. Surely you didn’t come up
with your creative action films from painted images on film?

a.        No, I wish it were that easy. However, in those days, access to filmmaking equipment wasn’t
that easy, and I didn’t think my father had the money to afford such items. You see, we had just
moved cross country from New York to Ohio.

During those days, problems like racial integration and my father’s career were more important than
my burgeoning movie career. So, my nephew James and I were able to use my father’s old Polaroid
Instamatic camera and shoot single shots of actions scenes.

We’d throw a football, and get a shot of it in mid air. We’d strike action poses, make believe we were
tackling, running, etc. However, we still knew something was missing. But this was the best we could
do. Other things also interfered with the pursuit of filmmaking dreams. Like attending a new school
and fitting in. A kid from New York with a funny accent in Dayton, Ohio made me a prime target for
bullies. I began to seek a way to improve my self esteem.

This was right before the start of the “blaxploitation era”, and a 10 year old kid wasn’t going to break
into the film world. It was still largely off limits to black actors and producers. My sister would take
us to drive in movies, and we’d see flicks like Shaft, and "Across 110th Street" but one person really
ignited our passion: Bruce Lee. After seeing him, I went home and begged my father for a super 8
movie camera. There was some mail order company that allowed “payment over time” (early days of
financing) and I used my allowance to pay for the camera. When it arrived, I gathered up the local
kids and we shot “hand of the Kung Fu Dragon”, a 4-minute actioner in which, somehow, I had a
story and choreographed fight scenes. I then began to study martial arts seriously.

The rest, is shall we say, history.

3. How did you develop your film style?

a. Basically I learned to make films by trial and error. It was only after years of amateur filmmaking,
that I finally decided to pursue a college degree in Cinema. My Bachelor's degree I did for my folks. I
had to prove to them that my "hobby" could become my life's work.

When I went for my master's degree, it was for my own selfish reasons. Selfish in the sense that I did
it for myself and pushed myself. I went to night school and summer school, and finished my thesis in
a year and a half.
My film method was developed through the reality of never having anything. Never having adequate
money, never having dependable actors, never having a competent crew.

I had to film on private property or secluded park areas, or empty warehouses because I could never
secure permission or cooperation. You really learn to improvise when no one believes in you or helps
you. However, I don't regret one minute of it because it made me very strong and very creative when
obstacles come up.

All through high school I was taunted and ridiculed because I pursued something that most "normal"
black people didn't pursue. I wonder how my high school "pals" would react now? If my life proves
one thing, patience and perseverance can pay off if you don't let nay sayers side track your dream.

6. You have many unique film influences. You don't just make typical action films. Talk about this.

a. Well, since the advent of digital film making, it seems that anyone with spare time, a small idea,
and some friends has decided to become a world class filmmaker. Sometimes this works. Most of the
time, it's not such a good idea. Film making is not simply "making a film". You have to tell a story.
You have to have believable characters. From that starting point, you move on to the next most
important element: editing the film. I have always written, directed and edited all of my work. I look
to the old film masters for guidance. I was lucky enough to study under real film historians and
experts. Therefore, while many of today's generation get inspiration from MTV music videos, I prefer
to take direction from masters like Eric Von Stroheim, Fritz Lang, Billy Wilder, Frank Capra, Sergei
Eisenstein, Oscar Michaeux, Howard Hawks, and Salvador Dali. That's not to say the actions scenes
and horror elements of my films are anything more than pure Bruce Lee/ George Romero type
manifestations, but if you watch the film and what the characters say, you will not find this in
typical action/horror fare. Characters have to say SOMETHING in a film. I write unique dialog, and
put my characters in unique situations, not just words to get you to the next Kung Fu battle or
zombie killing scene. Alot of today's indie films don't say much, except that "dad lent me a million
bucks, I'm going to enter all the trendy film festivals, and I am going to make a gross out
sex/horror/comedy film to impress my friends and get famous. "

Sorry, I am a little too old for that.

MORE TO COME