CHRIS LEE is both a motion picture producer, currently serving as the Executive Producer for Bryan Singer’s thriller for United Artists, VALKYRIE, starring Tom Cruise, and the Founder and Director of the University of Hawai‘i Academy for Creative Media (ACM), the first “film school” in his home state of Hawai‘i.
Previously, Mr. Lee was the President of Production at TriStar Pictures and Columbia Pictures, where as an executive he oversaw such Academy Award-winning films as JERRY MAGUIRE, PHILADELPHIA, and AS GOOD AS IT GETS. He also worked on numerous other hits such as MY BEST FRIEND’S WEDDING, LEGENDS OF THE FALL, THE FISHER KING, THE MASK OF ZORRO, GODZILLA and THE PATRIOT.
In addition to VALKYRIE, which United Artists will release in 2008, Mr. Lee recently Executive Produced SUPERMAN RETURNS for Warner Brothers and Produced Columbia Pictures SWAT and the ground-breaking CGI feature FINAL FANTASY.
In 2006, Mr. Lee produced his first Chinese language feature, ONE FOOT OFF THE GROUND for writer-director Chen Da Ming and Beijing’s Hua Yi Brothers. Expanding his focus on China, Mr. Lee is a consultant to Chengtian Entertainment based in Beijing, and recently partnered with Hong Kong actor-writer-director Stephen Fung for management and producing services.
Chris Lee also Executive Produced the animated television series Heavy Gear and, with director Joseph Kahn, produced music videos for artists including Janet Jackson, The Backstreet Boys, Faith Hill, Elton John and Destiny’s Child.
The first Asian-American to run production at a Hollywood studio, Mr. Lee is a frequent speaker at various events involving the globalization of popular culture and the media. Mr. Lee served on the juries of the Hawai‘i International Film Festival and the San Francisco International Asian American Film festival, and is a founding member of the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment (CAPE). Named one of A Magazine’s most influential Asian Americans, Mr. Lee served on the board of the National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium in Washington DC and as a member of the Committee of 100. He has received numerous honors including the Justice in Action Award from the New York Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, the Visionary Award from East-West Players in Los Angeles, and the Museum of Chinese in America’s Role Model Award.
Mr. Lee grew up in Honolulu, Hawai‘i, where he now makes his permanent residence. There he created the Academy for Creative Media as a platform for the indigenous stories of Hawai‘i to be told through film, video games and computer animation and as a content industry catalyst to restructure the islands’ economy away from its overwhelming dependence on tourism.
In just three years, the ACM has grown to over 270 students -- some 70% of them from diverse Asian Pacific heritages -- who have written, directed and produced over 350 short films and video games. 50 of these films have played in film festivals around the world. For a second year, ACM students attended the Shanghai International Film Festival, and the Korean National Film Commission sponsored their Filmmaker’s Development Lab in Hawai‘i with the ACM. ACM students have created original television commercials for Toyota/Scion, worked as interns on major motion pictures and television shows like SUPERMAN RETURNS and LOST, are developing the first Hawaiian language films, and are in production on the documentary, STATEHOOD.
Mr. Lee graduated from Honolulu’s Iolani School and Yale University with a degree in Political Science. His first job was with ABC’s GOOD MORNING AMERICA and then worked with director Wayne Wang as the Assistant Director and Assistant Editor for the film Dim Sum. Mr. Lee joined TriStar Pictures in Los Angeles as a script analyst, moving up the executive ranks to the post of President of Motion Picture Production and subsequently holding the same position at Columbia Pictures.
Producer:
In Production
2000s
Superman: Man of Steel (2009) (announced) (executive producer)
Valkyrie (2009) (filming) (executive producer)
... aka Walküre (Germany)
Ji quan bu ning (2006) (executive producer)
... aka One Foot Off the Ground (International: English title)
Superman Returns (2006) (executive producer)
S.W.A.T. (2003) (producer)
Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever (2002) (producer)
... aka Ballistic (Germany)
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001) (producer)
... aka Fainaru fantaji (Japan)
"Heavy Gear: The Animated Series" (2001) TV series (executive producer) (unknown episodes)
Visual Effects:
Superman Returns (2006) (assistant visual effects production coordinator)
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director:
Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart (1985) (assistant director)
Editorial Department:
Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart (1985) (assistant editor)
Self:
Requiem for Krypton: Making 'Superman Returns' (2006) (V) .... Himself
"HBO First Look" .... Himself (1 episode, 2006)
- Superman Returns: The Journey Continues (2006) TV episode .... Himself
Look, Up in the Sky: The Amazing Story of Superman (2006) (TV) .... Himself
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