Lee International

Lee Electric (Lighting) Ltd was incorporated as a business in 1961 by John Lee and Benny Lee (deceased), two film lighting electricians. Lee Electric was primarily involved in the rental of lighting equipment for commercial and documentary productions, as all principal film and television studios were at the time equipped with their own lighting equipment.

This company was originally Sunburst lighting..owned by my mother's (Florence Tween) Brother, Bill Burst..the LEE brothers worked for him. Although the lighting rental market grew throughout the 1960s, largely due to the impact of commercial television, the market was dominated by a single manufacturer of lighting equipment, Mole-Richardson (England) Ltd, which was also the largest rental house.

In 1967 Lee Electric started to purchase lighting equipment from the Italian manufacturer, Ianiro, which was itself attempting to establish a foothold in the international market. In addition, Lee Filters was formed to design, market and, from 1974, to manufacture lighting filters.

Also in 1967, BBC2 started to transmit in colour, with BBC1 and ITV following in 1969. The introduction of colour transmission entailed a substantial increase in the amount of lighting needed in studios as well as on location. With a major increase in the amount of equipment available to it as a result of purchasing Ianiro equipment, Lee Electric was able to tender for and to win a five-year contract with the BBC for the supply of lighting equipment for U.K. television outside broadcasts. The contract, which was retained by Lee Electric for many more years necessitated further substantial investment in equipment and established Lee Electric’s leading reputation and position in the lighting rental market. The contract was won from Mole Richardson (England) Ltd, which was ultimately acquired by Lee Electric in 1975, and subsequently extended to 1990.

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Wikipedia