Spotlight: Lee Hilse – Editor, Self-Shooting PD, and Producer

Who is Lee Hilse?

Born in South Africa, I studied Film and Media at the University of Cape Town. Selected to be part of a prestigious class of only 24 students, during my first year in the Film production’s major course I won the Film Society’s main prize in the film competition. Later, I was commissioned by the head of the faculty to produce content for the department.

How did your career path develop?

After moving to London in 2006, I started as a runner at a small digital agency in Shoreditch, spending most of my time doing video compression and small edit amends. When that company was merged with Momentum (IPG) I quickly moved into a senior editor position and produced all corporate work for the agency up until the end of 2013.

What do you consider your greatest achievement/s so far?

One of my greatest achievements was getting British citizenship in 2014 and then, finally, deciding to go freelance in 2016.

Any projects you are most proud of and why?

At the end of 2013, I moved from more corporate video work to producing content for broadcast. After working across infomercial, long-form and short-form content, and mastering commercial-selling techniques, I helped land the Dyson account for the agency.

At that point, Dyson was not producing any DRTV content in the UK but wanted to run a test campaign to see if it would produce results in their home sector.

The first campaign for DC59 Cordless exceeded all expectations and built the groundwork to go on and produce more than eight campaigns with one of the UK’s biggest international brands. I still manage post-production and edit commercials for Dyson.

Share your biggest lessons in life and work

One lesson I believe strongly in is working creatively with clients to produce the best content possible…

“Don’t be afraid to push back creatively and advise clients on best practice. Work with them, but not against them. If they came to you it’s because they like what you do and the results it produces. You have the experience and that’s what they are paying for.”

View Lee’s full portfolio.