David Klee is vice president of media engineering and broadcast operations at A+E Global Media, a global entertainment and media company with cable television channels including A&E, History, FYI, ViceTV, and Lifetime along with 100 streaming (FAST) channels. He leads global teams encompassing Gen AI, media technology, software engineering, broadcast systems, and FAST and cable channel operations, and has helped A+E build an industry-leading, cloud-based media supply chain transformation practice.
How many years have you been a judge?
This is my first year!
What are your responsibilities in your current role and what do you love most about your job?
I work to make sure the “television” we make today can get everywhere it needs to go — streaming services big and small, home-grown websites and apps, cable channels, FAST (free streaming) channels, international partners, and many more. It is an incredibly dynamic landscape that changes very quickly, and the introduction of AI makes it change even faster. It’s great to have an opportunity to constantly be learning about our business, including new and interesting ways that people are able to consume the content we all make on a regular basis.
What was your first job in the industry? What did it teach you?
Grip, moving cables around for truck productions when they came to town (mostly for sports). One day, one of the camera guys got sick, and looked at me — a familiar face — and said, “Hey, you! Can you run a camera today?” I said, “Sure!” and started my career as a camera operator and eventually editor. Showing up is half the battle — and sometimes it leads to being in the right place at the right time.
In your experience, what is a significant change you are seeing happen in the video, television, and/or film industry, and what insight can you share about how to navigate it?
AI is obviously a significant change hitting our industry right now. To start, I think the key is to leverage it for boring stuff. There’s a lot of administrative work that most of us don’t feel particularly invested in — filling out spreadsheets, checking timecodes, validating rights and releases. There’s a lot that can be done to free us all up to spend more of our time being creative.
What excites you about judging for the Telly Awards?
This is a real full-circle moment for me. Earlier in my career, I was lucky enough to receive multiple Telly Awards, and I’m honored to have the opportunity now to judge — helping to promote and recognize the next generation of talent.
