Full Sail Stories

Full Sail University Film Production MFA grad Kalee Griffin loves a challenge. And she found a plethora of opportunities to learn and grow working on set at Marvel Studios and Netflix, contributing to hit miniseries Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Hawkeye, and Echo, as well as the feature films Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Netflix’s The Electric State.

At Marvel Studios, Kalee started as a VFX Production Assistant for Hawkeye and Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Her day-to-day work included getting necessary gear to set, cleaning equipment, setting up cameras, and more.

“[Working with Marvel Studios] was intimidating at first,” says Kalee. “But once I was in, I learned as much as I could. I'm such a nerd, I love this industry, so getting to work for them was cool."

Soon Kalee got promoted to VFX Lead Witness Camera Operator for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, where she operated eight cameras submerged in giant tanks of water for the underwater scenes. She was also responsible for hooking up the cameras and making sure they were completely waterproof. Additionally, Kalee was the Junior Data Wrangler and kept track of data such as camera height, focal lens, color temperature, and the distance between camera and subject.

On the set of Echo, Kalee was the VFX Lead Witness Camera Operator and videoed the set to capture the movements of the cameras, lights, and actors for reference footage to use in post-production.

“I’m lucky that I got to start with Marvel and Netflix of all [production] companies, because I feel like they set the standard. I feel like they prepared me for so many other positions and different companies I could enter in the future.”

Before Kalee joined such big production companies, she worked on various short films, filling roles including assistant director, producer, and writer. A 2019 Full Sail Film Production master’s grad, Kalee had no idea she would end up where she is today.

“I’m always looking for the next challenge and the next way to step up and add that new line to my resume,” Kalee shares. “There's always something else to learn.”

Currently, Kalee works as a VFX Coordinator at Legendary Entertainment in California, and she looks forward to contributing to many more fun projects.

Kalee encourages fellow film nerds to keep learning and build meaningful connections along the way.

“The biggest thing I learned from Full Sail is realizing that everyone around you has the same goal, so there's nothing to be afraid of,” Kalee says. “Just go talk to people, go collaborate, go work with them, and you'll make something cool.

“Learn as much as you can, talk to as many people as you can, go use all the resources that Full Sail has to offer, because it will pay off.”