How UB Alum Clifford Lee Got Into the Television Industry

Clifford Lee is a Post Production Supervisor from Los Angeles and a 2008 graduate from UB’s Theater Department. He has worked on projects with HBO, Showtime, Hulu, Nickelodeon, Amazon, Roku, and more.

What is your educational background and how did it influence you to go into the television industry?

As a young kid living in Long Island, NY, I had always been fascinated by the entertainment industry. For nearly half of my life, I had envisioned a life in entertainment as on-screen talent. As a teen, I was involved with our school’s drama club and later attended UB’s School of Performing Arts, majoring in Music Theatre. After a brief stint dancing professionally with The Philadelphia Dance Company, I decided it was time to pursue a career as an actor and moved to California. During this time in 2008, before social media became the main platform for discovering talent, young actors would scramble trying to get “background/extra” work on primetime dramas like Grey’s Anatomy, with the goal of being Taft-Hartley’d into SAG by way of a producer offering a small impromptu one-line speaking role.

Luckily for me, this was the very beginning of the web series era, and SAG was now including New Media/Web content in its roster. I wrote and directed a web series which allowed me to Taft-Hartley myself into SAG. Through the process of writing, directing, understanding cameras, codecs, and editing platforms, I found myself even more interested in the art of production. I began editing actor reels for friends and accepting every unpaid job imaginable to gain experience since I had no formal training. If I saw a Craigslist post looking for an unpaid grip, I did it. 90% of my early years I had no clue what I was doing, and people knew it, but I was there for free and willing to do the jobs nobody wanted. I worked as a Grip, Gaffer, Assistant Camera 1&2, Assistant Director, and Director of Photography. My first paid job came nearly 2 years later when I was offered a D.I.T. (Digital Imaging Technician) position on a short film paying $200 bucks. In 2010/11, that was big money since the average rate was $175/day. For those unfamiliar with the position, the D.I.T. is responsible for collecting all shot media and organizing it for the assistant editor. During my many unpaid days working as a D.I.T., I learned how to apply LUTs for the Director and Director of Photography to preview color grades, as well as group and sync footage for editors working in all versions of Final Cut Pro and Premiere Pro.

I finally landed a job working as an Editor in Non-Scripted/Docu-Series development with Brian Graden Media. Brian Graden is responsible for greenlighting all of the 2000s MTV hits like Next, Dismissed, The Fifth Wheel, and the infamous Pimp My Ride. So editing for Brian’s development agency was like walking in the presence of greatness every day.

By then, I had made enough connections and began climbing up the Post Management food chain, with my first big show being Fox’s The Four: Battle for Stardom. The rest is currently unfolding more and more each day.

What do you do as a Post Production Supervisor and what kinds of projects/programs have you worked on?

The main job of a Post Production Supervisor is the delivery of the product, which is the television show or film, to its respective network. In short, it is the Post Sup’s job to package each episode and deliver it to the network RFA (Ready For Air). At the beginning of each show, the Post Supervisor will have the necessary conversations with the production team regarding approved cameras, frame rates, codecs, specialty needs like production stills and interviews, etc. All the technical mumbo jumbo needs to be figured out and sorted prior to anyone hitting record. Simultaneously, the Post Sup will map out how each day will play out over the run of the show, which is typically 4-6 months. Each working day will have a dollar sign associated with it, and it is the Post Sup’s job to operate within the budget while delivering the best show financially possible to the network. The Post Sup makes all deals from the hiring of Union Editors and Assistant editors, Story Producers, Graphic Artists, Mixers, Online Editors, Colorists, etc. Everyone who will be receiving a paycheck will have already been filtered through the Post Supervisor. Every dollar spent will have also been approved by the post supervisor in accordance with the budget.

I am fortunate enough to have worked with major networks like HBO, Showtime, Hulu, Nickelodeon, Amazon, Roku, and more. There are more TV shows out there in the world than people realize, but my most popular shows have been We Need to Talk About Cosby (Showtime), We’re Here and Golden Boy for HBO, and Amazon’s The G.O.A.T, which premiered May 9 (shameless plug).

What, if anything, do you wish you would have known prior to entering into this industry?

This is a tricky question because without all the struggles, I’m not sure if I would have grown to become the person I am now. I would say one thing which is a trait I have learned to develop is to not stop asking questions until you fully understand. Regardless of what other people may be thinking about you or your capabilities, your comprehension and attention to the nuances of the job will only make you stronger. Always trust your instincts, and most importantly, double-check every formula in your spreadsheets before walking into any meeting.

What organizations, clubs, or internships were you involved in during college? How did those experiences help prepare you for your current role?

During my tenure at UB, I was incredibly focused on dancing with UB’s dance company, Zodiaque, and performing in the school’s musicals. At that time, performing was my primary focus. I didn’t leave very much room for any other clubs or organizations. What that time did prepare me for was the art of surviving an incredibly long day. My days would start at 8 am and end nearly at 9:30 or 10 pm after rehearsals. Developing stamina for a long day and how to find calm in the storm helped me get through many longer 16-hour days in Film/TV. Currently, living on the West Coast, our days start early with our East Coast counterparts and end late on West Coast time. It is not uncommon for anyone working in TV to work a 12-15 hour day.

What are the biggest challenges that you typically face in your career?

One thing that could be particularly challenging to some is being mutable and accepting of change. It is very common to spend 2 days mapping through a new schedule and budget only for it to crumble before your eyes due to random acts of God 48 hours later. At the start of COVID, we had to figure out within nearly 72 hours how we were going to have our Editors, Assistant Editors, and Story team all working from home. This ended up working so flawlessly throughout the industry that hardly any shows actually edit in the office. In the end, it is now a cheaper option for everyone to work from home, and many major production companies have given up their office spaces. But when we were figuring things out, lots of numbers had to be crunched.

What other advice do you have for anyone who would want to pursue working in television production?

The best advice I can give anyone looking to work in Film and TV actually came from a TV show I was editing. I was working on this project for Spotify called Secret Genius. My episode was focused around a songwriter, Saven Kotecha, who had talked about his time trying to make it in the industry. Paraphrasing, he said, you have to stay in the game until your number is called. So many people quit before then, but when your number is called, the gates will open. You just have to keep your head in the game until then.

If a UB student wanted to talk with you, what is the best way to reach you?

You can find me on Connect-a-Bull, UB’s new alumni/student networking platform. I am also on LinkedIn.

By Ed Brodka
Ed Brodka Career Design Consultant