Leroy “Eljay” Williams is a four-time nominated, Emmy Award-winning, senior sports editor and producer for the TNT Sports division. He is also a director.
Before college, Williams, and his siblings were always involved with sports in his hometown of Youngstown, Ohio. He graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a bachelor’s in film studies.
Shortly after college, he said he moved to Atlanta, Georgia hoping the entertainment industry “would come to him.”
“It didn’t get there fast enough, so I had to go with what I knew. Go with my love and it was sports,” said Williams. “I’ve been locked in with that ever since.”
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Williams said he never dreamed of working in sports or using his educational background in film towards pursuing a career in it. Also, a long-time disc jockey, he said his skills modifying original content easily transcended into television editing.
“Youngstown, Ohio — we didn’t have any dreams bigger than sports or being a rapper,” said Williams. “Playing sports? Yes. Working in sports? I never thought about that.”
He continued, “My dreams of becoming a director was because I grew up watching movies, but those two [sports and film] coming together – I didn’t see it. Eventually, when it did happen, I was like, ‘Is this happening?’”
Williams said learning many aspects of the behind-the-scenes workings of entertainment is what it takes to thrive in sports media and there are many ignored opportunities the average person doesn’t even take into consideration.
“Everybody sees what’s on the camera,” said Williams. “You want to be Shaq. You want to be the person that’s being seen. There’s so many other jobs behind the camera that we never really know about.”
Williams advises his mentees to know what they want, but to also be open to other opportunities without losing sight of their ultimate goals. He said before he even starts to instruct his mentees on the technical aspects of production, he first wants to know more about their goals.
When producing one of his projects like the Emmy-nominated, “The Inside Story,” Williams said his average day entails meeting with other producers, editors, graphics and audio staff, and with the television executives.
Williams said they all come together to home in on the vision for the production, and it’s a collaborative effort, but the executives get the final decision on what the audience sees.
Of course, Williams said he is a part of the decision-making process, too, and he greatly enjoys that part of the process. But he said he really likes getting involved with the routine and practical aspects as well.
“That’s more important to me,” said Williams. “I like that part of it [decision making], but just going in and being creative – taking somebody else’s vision at times and bringing it to fruition is satisfying in itself.”
In addition to being open to all aspects of television production, Williams said it is also important to network. He remembered networking being key to him never having to interview for any job he has had in entertainment.
When it comes to the sports stars, Williams said most of them are just like the average, everyday person. Some are hyper-focused on their careers, and he never sees them as stars but as coworkers.
“I go in — we have a job to do, and we do the job,” said Williams.
Williams said telling stories in sports entertainment can be tough, especially when the stories are under an umbrella like the NBA, where confidentiality legalities sometimes require omitting sensitive parts of the story.
“They have so many image protective types of things that you can’t show about the story,” said Williams.
“So, it challenges you to tell stories about these figures in light of that and still make it interesting, and still push as much boundaries as you can.”
