01 November 2022
When UK-based alumni Dwayne Blee saw a motorsport company advertising a position in video production he seized an opportunity to combine his skills with one of his passions. It wasn’t until he was given the address for the interview that he found out he was stepping into the world of Formula 1.
Dwayne Blee
Video Producer/Editor
Formula 1
Bachelor of Arts Communication, Media & Culture
Dwayne Blee has spent half his career in education and the other in television. He initially enrolled in Communication Studies majoring in Professional Writing but found the collaborative learning environment of Film and Television Studies more appealing. After his studies, he was invited to tutor and later teach and enjoyed helping students achieve their vision and opening their minds to different things. Everyone wanted to be a filmmaker, but Dwayne was keen to show the breadth of television, forming the UniSA Television Association, which provided opportunities for students to create content for projects such as community television programs and daily news reports at the international Police and Firefighters’ Games in Adelaide in 2007.
His involvement in the education sector continued when he moved on to Open Access College where he worked on reformatting their hard copy learning materials for online teaching.
Relocating to the United Kingdom in 2010 with his British partner Laura, Dwayne was exposed to a much the broader television scene in London. “I was a bit naïve. If I was talking to my younger self, I would say ‘pay a bit more attention to how the industry works and who to speak to’.” However, after six months he secured a role with a small broadcaster.
In 2013 an advertisement for a role with an un-named company involved in the motorsport industry caught his eye. “Eventually when it came down to the interview rounds, they had to say where it was – once I found out it was Formula 1, I started taking it a bit more seriously.”
In recent years, with a slight hiccup during height of the pandemic, Dwayne has been sharing travel to the more than 20 races across the globe with his colleagues, usually covering two consecutive races before returning home. His role is to produce content outside the international television feed which is provided by F1 to broadcasters to top and tail with their own commentary.
“I look after content capture at the track outside the international feed and based on the pre-race phase,” says Dwayne. The Thursday prior to the event is a huge day when the teams have been allocated and the drivers are available for media duties. The day starts with bespoke filming with F1’s drivers and personalities for special features, followed by interviewing every driver from every team.
Outside the race calendar Dwayne produces driver profiles and interviews, special features and programs such as live chat shows, animations and driving challenges, all designed to “feed the beast” that is social media. “When I started, we were producing 20 to 30 videos over a race weekend for our paid subscriber app. Now we’re probably doing 30 a day available for free on YouTube and Facebook.”
While much of Dwayne’s role involves preparing for the “fun parts” he enjoys the variety. “One of the best things about producing for social platforms is the instant feedback you get from fans. It’s really great when people say they’ve learnt something new, become and F1 fan, or are rolling on the floor laughing because of the videos we’ve made.”
Dwayne’s advice is to say “yes, you never know where opportunity lies and how skills and experience that seem irrelevant today could be essential or at least helpful down the line.
“I remember someone in daily television telling me that it doesn’t matter if the show isn’t absolutely perfect, because you do it all again the next day. This really spoke to me as someone who tended to obsess about perfecting every step of the way. In sports, people often say ‘you’re only as good as your last game’ which I think is an extrapolation of this but reminds us not to rest on our laurels; one success doesn’t guarantee another.”
Working in such a fast-paced environment Dwayne is conscious of ensuring every driver gets some airtime. They are all profiled at the start of the season but not all of them are household names or have the same fan base. “You try to make every driver a star. They are the fastest drivers in the world – they are all mega stars.”
