Buckley is a member of the DGA and ACE. A native of Fort Worth, TX, he majored in history at the University of Texas at Arlington before graduating from the University of Southern California with a degree in film and television production. He was an adjunct professor at UCLA for several years, teaching editing classes to both graduate and undergraduate students. He was married to the late artist Davyd Whaley, until Whaley's death in 2014.