SINCE 1974, William Lee has produced films in all formats, all genres, and all lengths. Although he has a self professed loathing for the term "short film", Mister Lee has dabbled in that arena. Here is a brief compendium of his work: WILLIAM LEE EDUCATION: Purdue University W. Lafayette, Indiana (Mass Marketing Communications)(1979) The Ohio State University Columbus, Ohio B.A. Communications/Mass Media/Photography (1983) M.A. Cinema/Sociology/Communications (1986) Photography/Film/Video Professional Experience CINEMA LEXZIKON PRODUCTIONS LLC For more than 20 years, WILLIAM LEE has been involved in the production of various film and video projects. Most notably independent film productions, including the nationally released EDGE OF Tolerance, ROOM 13 and SOULRIPPERZ. William Lee’s MAD AS HELL : controversial public access political free speech t.v. Series Appeared in HBO’S action film SUPER FIGHTS. Acted as assistant Director on BET’S TIME TO GET RIGHT VIDEO. Several films internationally distributed via indieflix.com Self Distrbuted nationally: TREASURE OF THE NINJA 1984 Received numerous awards, including honorable mentions from THE BLACK FILMMAKER FOUNDATION, THE CHICAGO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (1980), THE SAN FRANCISCO EYE MUSIC FESTIVAL, CHICAGO BLACK LIGHT FILM FESTIVAL, and THE NATIONAL BLACK PROGRAMMING CONSORTIUM. RECENT WORK ROOM 13: THE TERRORIST PROJECT 2003 SOULRIPPERZ 2004 CODE : BLACK 2006 DEMONS RISING 2008 DARK MATTER 2009 Guest Lecturer: Clark State Community College; Film Production and Business Series Sinclair Community College; Black Women in Film Symposium National Black programming Consortium; Filmmaker Profile National Lupus Foundation; Defeating Lupus ACTION: COLUMBUS! Actor training workshops Covered in various media including Columbus Dispatch, Chicago Life Newspaper, Channel 10 Columbus, WOSU –AM radio, Muscle Mag International, Iron man Magazine, Muscle and Fitness magazine. Worked as Producer, writer and Production assistant for CREATIVE CONNECTIONS VIDEO PRODUCTION: 1988-1994. Produced commercial, corporate and training videos for clients including CIBA GEIGY, STANDARD REGISTER, IBM, INDIANA FARM BUREAU, GENERAL ELECTRIC, HONDA OF AMERICA, ARBY’S, WHITE CASTLE. Worked as audio-visual technician for THE WOSU STATIONS and THE OHIO STATE LIBRARIES. Experienced in all aspects of film and video, both in front of and behind the camera. Martial Arts and fitness expert, Chinese Gung Fu 30+ years. Certified Personal trainer Former world-class break dancer, dj / nightclub manager, bouncer and bodyguard. William Lee's break dancing exploits 1987... William Lee 1990 news article after film premiere at New York's black filmmaker Foundation THE WILLIAM LEE SCHOOL OF FILM His standard pieces of equipment may be sparse, but they are state of the art. A firm believer in digital, William Lee has used this cinematic tool to create the realistic shots that are the trademarks of his films. Use of digital fits into his fast paced, guerrilla style of filming, because digital requires no film processing and he is able to view shots immediately and adapt any scenes quickly. The director is dismissive of those film pundits who are infatuated by highly sophisticated, and often difficult, cinematography. “Don’t be intimidated by what you read,” says Lee. “It doesn’t have to be an intricate process. Alfred Hitchcock primarily used camera angles and shadows to create his masterpieces and Kurosawa’s early works relied on the same techniques. Both directors created works of art without causing major headaches.” The set of a William Lee movie is constantly active, though it doesn’t always follow a fixed, daily agenda. This perfectly reflects the director’s style of project management. “I was told a long time ago by one of my professors: ‘Don’t plan results, plan plans.’ You need to be able to adapt to ever changing situations. That philosophy is shared by all the cast and crew. Actors on any given day may be asked to memorize entirely new dialogue or report to new locations at a moment’s notice. Technical people must be ready to operate the boom mike, act as drivers to new sites as a moment’s notice, and even shoot scenes with the camera whenever required. There are no story boards and the highly flexible shooting schedule has been known to change several times in the space of a few hours. There is, however, a method to this operational madness. “ Whenever I start a project there is a guiding principle that I keep in mind: ‘Shit happens!’ explains Lee. “Independent film making is not a game of chess; it’s more like dodge ball. Situations arise that are both good and bad. It’s sad, but some directors are wedded to a standard procedure on how to manage a project. They need to be more flexible if they wish to succeed. Trust me, if you can’t think outside the box; you’re going to end up in quicksand. The benefits of his approach are both short and long term. Because their profit margins are smaller than bigger studios, guerrilla film makers need to produce films quickly and get them to distribution. William Lee is generating one film per year, and this annual number will increase as the cash comes in from his nationally distributed works. Continuous filming creates a lot of pressure but Lee is undeterred. His management strategies were honed on earlier projects, so future efforts will be cost efficient and within budget. This is something investors love. That Cinema Lexzikon projects will not have cost overruns makes them attractive to those willing to risk their money in an industry that is notorious for costs far exceeding original expectations. Though he refuses to sacrifice quality, William Lee has no problem doing away with anything that slows down the work, or has more style than substance. His advice on project management to aspiring film makers is direct and to the point. “Take a good look at your set. What do you truly need and what can you reasonably do without? Get rid of the useless frills and you’ll find you have what you need to make a sellable product.” |
William Lee
Filmography
Filmography
| William Lee choreographed and performed these complicated, acrobatic and grueling fight scenes in 1983's "Dragon vs. Ninja". In 1983, Jackie Chan's producer Roy Horan sent William Lee a letter with the ultimate praise stating "Your interest in the martial arts has astounded most of the people in this company." |
| Back in the "good old days" of filmmaking with real celluloid, we had an experience that should be a lesson for all filmmakers. Always make sure you got what you think you got. Make sure you have a camera person who knows what they're doing, and don't trust anyone's eyes but your own. On 1988's NINJA HUNTER (A.K.A, ULTIMATE ASSASSINS), we shot for months, but because of the unbelievable expense of buying motion picture film, we could not develop and watch what we had shot until after EVERYTHING was in the can. This meant, we had to basically "hope and pray" our d.p. was getting what he said he was getting. What we got, after four months of shooting was a surprise that should have ended my film career. After the final week of shooting, all 36 reels of movie film were sent in for processing. We waited for two weeks for the lab to develop our "masterpiece". For some reason, our d.p. mysteriously "vanished" just before the film got back for viewing. When we finally got the film back, and began to project it, we found out why the d.p. disappeared. More than 95 percent of our feature was unusable. There were whole sections of black film, and the film that did get exposed properly, was out of focus. In effect, we had wasted four months of time and money on something that would never be shown to the public. It was a total disaster. I took the portions that were usable, and cut it into a purposely badly dubbed American chop sockey. It was hilarious. It was really the only way to hold back the tears, for all of the time and money wasted, and the mistake of trusting a d.p. who didn't know jack about photography. Since that day in 1988, I have maintained behind the camera control, as well as directing, producing and acting. It wasn't until 2007's DEMONS RISING that I was able to entrust a d.p. to shoot my film. Andy Martin holds the honor of being the first d.p. with enough talent, drive and learning ability to take the camera out of my hands. That's something that should not be taken lightly by anyone out there. I'm basically giving my baby to someone else to take care of. See what happens when you pass your baby off to someone! Don't think that would cause some panic attacks? -W.Lee |
| ABOVE: William Lee directs and acts in 1988's ill-fated NIJA HUNTER (a.k.a. "Ultimate Assassins".) Lee's d.p. (director of photography) had no idea of shooting a film, but insisted he could do the job. Thousands of dollars and four months later, it was discovered the d.p. was a total fraud and no meaningful film was left to exhibit to anyone. |
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