Meet The Team | Ben Lee
Welcome to the latest instalment of our meet the team series, which, as the title implies will dive into the background of the amazing people that make up The Finish Line. Meet Ben Lee, who joined us this week!
Ben grew up in Northampton and always enjoyed computers. It was in fact Deluxe Paint on the Amiga that opened up his world to animation and he quickly amassed a vast collection of floppy discs to save off his craft. He-Man and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles served as the action figures of choice when it came to his stop motion efforts, which he ultimately dubbed onto VHS to future proof his viewings.
Years passed and having been tasked with making a film trailer for a thriller movie in his A-level media studies, it was his friends’ push to act out crazy stunts in front of the camera that helped Ben realise that he was a lot more comfortable behind it (like many of us in post). Whilst in 6th form Ben fancied himself as a bit of a DJ and endeavoured to put on his very own club nights, which ultimately left very little time for his studies and probably explains how he ended up in the glamorous Stoke on Trent to study Media at Staffordshire University.
Following university the bright lights of London came beckoning and Ben moved down to the big smoke to live with an old friend, who had been learning his acting trade in south London. Having dished out a bunch of CVs to various post houses Ben foolishly thought a part time job in his local bar in Brixton would allow his shooting and editing skills to flourish by cutting music videos to his favourite DJ tracks. The reality of London rent meant that a year later, now a full time bar supervisor, the world of TV had to wait a little longer. Thankfully it was meeting his future other half at said Brixton bar that kicked him into gear and his thirst to get into TV was replenished.
A bunch of CVs later and Ben eventually got in the door at a large post house, where he was amazed at the variety of roles available. So Ben made tea, worked the library, duped every tape imaginable, endured plenty of overnight digitising marathons and conforms, as well as assisting the Online department in the disappearing world of linear editing. It was here that Ben realised his passion for Picture Finishing, seeing the small but crucial decisions made by both director and editor in order to get the final product over the line and polished to perfection.
After becoming frustrated at the lack of further opportunity at the [non] aforementioned post house, Ben hopped over Oxford Street to an enviable big hitter in the industry, where after another 6 months of overnight conforms Ben was duly given the opportunity to do his first Online; a three day panorama special of epic blur proportions! That said, one can only endure being the junior for so long and picking up the slack for others, so a new challenge was on the horizon – to become a fully fledged Finishing Artist and Ben found this opportunity in Fitzrovia where he spent 5 years finishing a plethora of programmes. The Finish Line now provides the next chapter in Ben’s illustrious career.
We asked Ben if he had any advice for his younger self to which he replied:
You get out of life what you put in. It may not get any easier but the rewards certainly get greater so stop worrying and get on with it, remember life is what you make it.
If you would like to book Ben or anyone from our team get in-touch!
