Lee Donaldson to Receive "Behind The Scenes" Award From Beaufort Film Society

Lee Donaldson on Location

Behind the Scenes Award 2025

Beaufort International Film Festival 2025

South Carolina Film/TV Specialist to be recognized for his 30 Year Career by the Beaufort International Film Festival

BEAUFORT, SC, UNITED STATES, January 10, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- South Carolina Key Grip Lee Donaldson¹ will be presented with the prestigious “Behind the Scenes” Award at the 19th annual Beaufort International Film Festival² taking place February 18th through February 23rd in the historic town of Beaufort, SC.

Lee’s career in the TV/Film industry has spanned more than 30 years beginning in 1994 when he got his first taste of the business while working on “Die Hard With A Vengeance” in Charleston, SC. After that experience, Lee stated, “ We did some really cool things like shutting down the Cooper River Bridge so we could launch a truck into the water. I knew then making movies was what I wanted to do. “

Lee soon found that breaking in to the business on a full time basis was not going to be easy. After his first film experience it would be another 4 years before he would totally immerse himself into learning all about his new passion. He worked small scale video shoots and live events and made valuable connections. Soon opportunity knocked when he found Charles Seabrook and Jack Gilchrist who would guide his path.

Through the efforts of his new mentors, Lee was soon hired by some of the biggest Key Grips in Hollywood to work on some films that were being shot in the Carolinas like, “Legends of Bagger Vance”, “Radio”, “The Notebook”, “Talladega Nights” and “Shallow Hal”.

After working hard and learning the business from the ground up, Lee set out on his own and formed Griporama, LLC in 2011.

Lee is a highly sought after Key Grip and since his 1994 debut he has amassed nearly 50 film credits and worked with some of the biggest names in Hollywood that include Danny McBride, Jamie Lee Curtis, Bradley Cooper and Patrick Fugit. Lee is quick to credit his tireless and talented crew for his success so far. With some push and encouragement from his friend John Reynolds, a talented Gaffer, he and John teamed up in the Key/Gaffer capacity and worked many live television events, International print ads, indie movies and many national and regional commercials.

Lee is a member of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) and the Carolina Film Alliance³.

For more information about the 19th Annual Beaufort International Film Festival, visit beaufortfilmfestival.com. The festival is produced by the Beaufort Film Society.

The Beaufort Film Society is a nonprofit, 501 (c) 3, member-supported organization, dedicated to providing the highest levels of entertainment and education to the public from all areas of the film industry.

Ron Tucker
Beaufort Film Society
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¹ https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1331921/
² http://www.beaufortfilmfestival.com
³ http://carolinafilm.com