Conversations with David Lee

Today we’d like to introduce you to David Lee.

Hi David, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
As a child, I was inspired through cinema, the way I felt empowered and emboldened to be larger than life supported me as I was a very shy and introverted child. I remember taking action figures and a pop-up book to create short stories and would choreograph fight scenes with my imagination. Fast forward a bit as I was graduating college, I didn’t know what I wanted to do and being Chinese American, I really only had three options (doctor, lawyer, engineer), none of which excited me. I ended up with a degree in Philosophy as I always had a knack for questioning life and the behavior of human beings so I felt Philosophy did that for me, yet I didn’t know what to do with that degree.

Through pressure from my parents, I moved to Taiwan for a year to receive certifications through Microsoft and worked in IT for a good seven years, I made a good living and had the opportunity to travel to countries across the globe, life was good. However, in 2016 one of my friends had committed suicide and it brought a new perspective to my life – what happened to the young boy who felt inspired to help others because movies and cinema gave him that belief?

It was during this time where I started to take photos and small video clips of life all around me and by October 2016, I left my job in IT, not knowing what I would, how to make money or what type of future I wanted. All I knew was that I couldn’t sit around working for someone else’s dream. Eventually, through hours of watching YouTube videos I came across Philip Bloom’s channel, not so much for his review videos but for the documentaries he filmed and was so inspired by the stories of everyday people.

Today that is what I do, as a documentary and commercial cinematographer, I’ve been able to share stories from across the globe. Working with amazing brands like Hypebeast to everyday folks who had an inspiring story I wished to help them share.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Not at all, my first year I went through all of my savings and taking jobs left and right whether they were paid jobs or not. I learned how to be resilient and to persevere through hard times. I feel the first two-three years were important because it taught me about the financial side as an owner/operator, how the business works from DTC clients to large agencies and their business model and what type of cinematography I enjoyed and what resources I needed to further my craft.

The hardest part is not knowing budgets, whether it’s a small mom and pop establishment or a large corporation and I feel that’s where a lot of people starting out become frustrated or end up quitting early on. Nothing is personal, it’s just business and once you understand that you’ll be able to navigate clients and agencies smoother.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
As a working cinematographer in commercial and documentary, I feel the majority of people who contact me for projects see my reel or previous work and desire the emotionality I bring to their projects. Through my lighting preferences to camera movement (a lot of handheld) clients/agencies from my experience have their own preference/style and when it matches yours then you’ve found a recipe for success.

As far what I’ve been most proud of in this moment, it would be making amazing friends along the way who supported me through challenging times when I felt I wanted to give up or find a full-time position working as an editor or videographer, etc. The films and projects you get to DP will always be special but without the people around you to help you along the way, I don’t think the end result really matters. It’s fleeting you know? People might watch a really cool doc and then forget about it a week later, but the journey of how you got to support a project from paper to screen is invaluable along with the people who supported you.

Can you share something surprising about yourself?
Most likely that I didn’t go to film school, that I didn’t shoot skate videos in high school or made short films with a super eight camera, as you hear from other DPs. It was just me, action figures, a pop-up book and my imagination.

Contact Info:

• Email: contact@atdavidlee.com
• Website: www.atdavidlee.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/atdavidlee/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/atdavidleeproductions
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/atdavidlee
• Other: https://www.legendarymediahouse.com/

Image Credits:
10th Degree Weaponry Kelsey J Patel Kally Khourshid Amanda Siobhan Maurice Mack Jerimiah Sims Angelique Velez