Quentin Lee (; born 1971) is a Hong Kong-born Canadian-American film writer, director, and producer. He is most notable for the television series ''Comedy InvAsian'' and feature films ''

The People I've Slept With ''The People I've Slept With'' is a 2009 American Sex comedy, sex comedy film directed by Quentin Lee. Plot Angela Yang (Karin Anna Cheung) is a young woman who enjoys sex and has had a number of partners. As mementos, she photographs her lovers ...

'' (2009), '' Ethan Mao'' (2004), and ''

Shopping for Fangs ''Shopping for Fangs'' is a 1997 black comedy film directed by Quentin Lee and Justin Lin, starring Radmar Agana Jao. The film marks the debut of actor John Cho. Plot Housewife Katherine loses consciousness and loses her cell phone as a result. ...

'' (1997), which he co-directed with

Justin Lin Justin Lin (, born October 11, 1971) is a Taiwanese Americans, Taiwanese-American film and television director, producer, and screenwriter. His films have grossed over $3 billion USD worldwide . He is best known for his directorial work on ...

. Lee's films often feature male lead characters who are

Asian American Asian Americans are Americans with ancestry from the continent of Asia (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of those immigrants). Although this term had historically been used fo ...

and gay, two minority groups generally not seen as lead characters in mainstream Hollywood films.

Early life

Born in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

, Lee immigrated to

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

when he was 15 due to the

financial panic A financial crisis is any of a broad variety of situations in which some financial assets suddenly lose a large part of their nominal value. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, many financial crises were associated with banking panics, and ma ...

speculating the

handover of Hong Kong The handover of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China was at midnight on 1 July 1997. This event ended 156 years of British rule in the former colony, which began in 1841. Hong Kong was established as a specia ...

in 1997. Lee studied English at

UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...

and went on to receive an MA in English from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

in 1993. He originally went on to attend

USC School of Cinematic Arts The USC School of Cinematic Arts is an academic unit of the University of Southern California, in Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles. With a history that dates to the first years of Sound film, talkies, the school descends from America's first ...

but transferred after getting off the UCLA waitlist. Lee graduate with an MFA from the

UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television The UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television (UCLA TFT), is one of the 12 schools within the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) located in Los Angeles, California. Its creation was groundbreaking in that it was the first time a leadi ...

in 1999.

Feature films

1993–1999: Projects at UCLA Film School

Lee founded the production company Margin Films in 1996. The company later moved into theatrical film distribution, starting with the film ''

Bugis Street Bugis (; Kampong Bugis in Malay language, Malay) is an area in Singapore that covers Bugis Street, now located within the Bugis Junction shopping mall. Bugis Street was renowned internationally from the 1950s to the 1980s for its nightly gath ...

''. ''Flow'' (1996) was Lee's first feature film, which focused on a gay filmmaker talking about his work to an unseen friend behind a camera, and then became a series of films within a film, as the audience is then shown four of the filmmaker's short films. The film screened at the

Vancouver International Film Festival The Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) is an annual film festival held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, for two weeks in late September and early October. The festival is operated by the Greater Vancouver International Film Festi ...

, the Turin Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, the London Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, and

Outfest Outfest is an LGBTQ-oriented nonprofit that produces two film festivals, operates a movie streaming platform, and runs educational services for filmmakers in Los Angeles. Outfest is one of the key partners, alongside the Frameline Film Festival ...

and received positive reviews from '' L.A. Weekly'' as well as the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

''. Lee's second feature ''

'', a "gay vampire drama", was co-directed with classmate

and premiered at the

1997 Toronto International Film Festival The 22nd Toronto International Film Festival ran from September 4 to September 13, 1997. This festival was notable for the introduction of the Masters programme to TIFF. Awards Programmes Gala Opening Night * '' The Sweet Hereafter'' by Atom E ...

. The film stars

John Cho John Cho (born Cho Yo-Han; June 16, 1972) is an American actor known for his roles as Harold Lee in the '' Harold & Kumar'' films, and Hikaru Sulu in the ''Star Trek'' rebooted film series as well as '' Better Luck Tomorrow'', '' Columbus'', a ...

and is considered to be a cult classic in the Asian American independent film genre.

2000–present: Post graduation and independent work

''Drift'' (2000) was Lee's third feature film, which starred Reggie Lee, Greyson Dayne and Jonathon Roessler, and which got nominated for Best Feature film at the Torino International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival. '' Ethan Mao'' (2004) was Lee's fourth feature film, which won an Audience Award at the Torino International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival. Jun Hee Lee starred as the title character, Ethan Mao. Lee's film ''

''—which was written and produced by Koji Steven Sakai—premiered at the 2009

Hawaii International Film Festival Hawaii ( ; ) is an island state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only state not on the North American mainland, th ...

, internationally at the 2009

São Paulo International Film Festival The São Paulo International Film Festival (), also known internationally as Mostra, is an annual film festival held in the city of São Paulo, Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South Ame ...

, the 2010 Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival in Asia, and the 2010 Hamburg Lesbian and Gay Film Festival in Europe. The film stars Karin Anna Cheung as a pregnant woman who is looking for the true identity of her baby's father. '' White Frog'' is a coming of age story about an

autistic Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing di ...

teenager who struggles through the loss of his older brother. It stars

Booboo Stewart Nils Allen "Booboo" Stewart Jr. (born January 21, 1994) is an American actor, musician, and visual artist. He is known for playing Seth Clearwater in '' The Twilight Saga'', Warpath in '' X-Men: Days of Future Past'', Jay in the Disney televi ...

Gregg Sulkin Gregg Sulkin (born 29 May 1992) is an English actor. He made his television debut in the 2002 miniseries ''Doctor Zhivago (TV series), Doctor Zhivago'', and his film debut in the 2006 comedy ''Sixty Six (film), Sixty Six'', before gaining early ...

, and

Harry Shum Jr Harry Shum Jr. (born April 28, 1982) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Mike Chang on the Fox television series ''Glee'' (2009–2015), Magnus Bane on the Freeform television series ''Shadowhunters'' (2016–2019), and Dr. Bens ...

. The film premiered at the

CAAMFest CAAMFest, known prior to 2013 as the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (SFIAAFF), is presented every May (Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month) in the San Francisco Bay Area in the United States as the nation' ...

in 2012. Fortissimo Films purchased the international distribution rights in 2011.

Short films and documentaries

Lee's first foray into

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

, ''0506HK'' (2007), premiered July 2007 at the Vancouver International Film Centre ''Hong Kong Stories'' film series, commemorating the 10-year anniversary of Hong Kong's handover to China. The film explored his personal and political perspectives on whether to return to Hong Kong, as well as the evolving cultural and social climate, through interviews with family members and friends living and working in both Hong Kong and Los Angeles. His short film ''Gay Hollywood Dad'' (2018) is about the journey he underwent as a surrogate father.

Producing

As a producer, Lee joined the

Producers Guild of America The Producers Guild of America (PGA) is a 501(c)(6) trade association representing the interests Television producer, television producers, Film producer, film producers and emerging media producers in the United States. The PGA's membership inclu ...

in 2016 and has founded the AAPI Working Group at the PGA with member co-leads Alan Chu, Sibyl Santiago and Jonathan Wang in 2020. Lee is also a member of Canadian Media Producers Association and a member of the Directors Peer Group of

Academy of Television Arts & Sciences The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), also colloquially known as the Television Academy, is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the Television in the United States, television industry in the United S ...

. Films that Lee produced that he did not direct include the feature film ''Chink'' starring

Jason Tobin Jason Tobin (born 12 July 1975), credited in Chinese as To Jun Wai ( zh, 杜俊緯) is a Hong Kong-British film and television actor. He is known for his role as Young Jun in the HBO MAX series ''Warrior'' and as Mr. Lao in the Disney+ series ...

Eugenia Yuan Eugenia Yuan is an American actress and former rhythmic gymnast who has won a Hong Kong Film Award. Early life On January 22, 1976, Yuan was born in Inglewood, California, Inglewood, Los Angeles county, California. Yuan's mother is Cheng Pei ...

and

Tzi Ma Tzi Ma (;) is a Hong Kong-American actor. He has appeared in television shows including '' The Man in the High Castle'' and '' 24'', and films including ''Dante's Peak'', ''Rush Hour'', ''Rush Hour 3'', '' Arrival'', '' The Farewell'', ''Tiger ...

, directed by Stanley Yung and written by Koji Steven Sakai, who wrote his previous film, ''

''. The film premiered at the 2013

Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival (LAAPFF) – formerly known as VC FilmFest – is an annual film festival presented by Visual Communications (VC). It was established in 1983 by Linda Mabalot as a vehicle to promote Asian Pacific Amer ...

. He was also a producer on Ringo Le's feature film, '' Big Gay Love'' (2013). He has also served as a producer on the short documentary, ''Taky Kimura: The Dragon's Legacy'' (2010), directed by Mellissa Tong. He has produced and photographed ''Searching for Anna May Wong'' (2020), co-directed by Z. Eric Yang and Denise Chan and the

Wieden + Kennedy Wieden+Kennedy (W+K; earlier styled ''Wieden & Kennedy'') is an American advertising agency best known for its work for Nike. Founded by Dan Wieden and David Kennedy, and headquartered in Portland, Oregon, it is one of the largest independentl ...

PSA ''The Myth'' (2022), directed by Jackie Bao. In 2022, Lee created the stand-up comedy series '' Comedy Invasion'', highlighting comedians from diverse backgrounds including people of colour, people with disabilities and

LGBTQ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, Gay men, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning (sexuality and gender), questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, Asexuality, asexual, ...

comedians.

Writing

Lee has also published a novel, entitled ''Dress Like a Boy'' in 2000. It has received positive reviews in publications such as ''

AsianWeek ''AsianWeek'' was America's first and largest English-language print and on-line publication serving East Asian Americans. The news organization played an important role nationally and in the San Francisco Bay Area as the “Voice of Asian Americ ...

'' and ''

XY Magazine ''XY'' is a gay men's magazine which has been published in the United States since 1996. XY started as a gay male youth-oriented magazine and social network. Its name is a reference to the XY chromosome pair found in males. ''XY'' published is ...

''. Lee's novel, ''The Secret Diary of Edward Ng'', is a gay coming of age story partly inspired by his time at Berkeley. It was released in August 2019. In October 2009, Lee's graphic novel ''Campus Ghost Story'', created in collaboration with artist John Hahn was published by Fresh Fear, an imprint of Margin Films.

Personal life

Lee is openly gay. He has a younger sister. He has a son through

surrogacy Surrogacy is an arrangement whereby a woman gets pregnant and gives birth on behalf of another person or couple who will become the child's legal parents after birth. People pursue surrogacy for a variety of reasons such as infertility, danger ...

. Lee, along with 48 other patients, have accused former USC and UCLA doctor Dennis Kelly of sexual abuse.

Filmography

As director

* ''Anxiety of Inexpression and the Otherness Machine'' (1992) * ''To Ride a Cow'' (1993) * ''Flow'' (1996) * ''

'' (1997) * ''Fall 1990'' (1999) * ''Drift'' (2000) * '' Ethan Mao'' (2004) * ''0506HK'' (2007) * ''

'' (2009) * ''Little Love'' (2010) * ''Today Has Been Weird'' (2011) * '' White Frog'' (2012) * ''The Unbidden'' (2016) * ''Boy Luck Club'' (2020) * ''Comisery'' (2020) * ''Brash Boys Club'' (2020) * '' Comedy Invasion'' (2022) * ''Last Summer of Nathan Lee'' (2023)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Quentin 1971 births Living people Canadian cinematographers Canadian comedy film directors Hong Kong emigrants to Canada American film directors of Hong Kong descent Naturalized citizens of Canada Canadian male novelists 21st-century Canadian novelists Canadian writers of Asian descent Canadian LGBTQ novelists Canadian gay writers American LGBTQ people of Asian descent Canadian LGBTQ film directors LGBTQ television directors Asian-Canadian filmmakers Gay novelists 21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people