Kolton Lee is a British film director, crime novelist, and former journalist and Editor of '' The Voice''.

Life and career

His parents came from the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

island of

Montserrat Montserrat ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is part of the Leeward Islands, the northern portion of the Lesser Antilles chain of the West Indies. Montserrat is about long and wide, wit ...

. They met in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in the 1950s. When the couple split, their two children were sent to a

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

-based children's home,

Reedham School Reedham may refer to: *Reedham, Norfolk, a village in Norfolk **Reedham (Norfolk) railway station in Reedham, Norfolk *Reedham, London, a locality or neighbourhood of Purley, London Purley is an area of the London Borough of Croydon in London, ...

. Lee was seven when he arrived there and remained there until he was 16. At Reedham, Lee discovered a talent for

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

. He went on to represent his county and his country at levels under-17 and U-19 and became a full, senior international player when he turned 20. He combined his playing with attending

Borough Road College The West London Institute of Higher Education (WLIHE), a two-campus academic establishment, was located in Isleworth and East Twickenham, West London, UK from 1976 until 1995 when it became Brunel University College. In 1997 it was fully integra ...

, part of

London University The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degr ...

, to study English Literature. A serious knee injury cut his

career short. He started working as a journalist freelancing for a variety of sports publications, he found a full-time job as a sports journalist for '' The Voice'' and later became the magazines

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...

. From there he left to join the ''

News on Sunday The ''News on Sunday'' was a Left-wing politics, left-wing United Kingdom, British Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper. It was launched in April 1987. Publication ceased seven months later, in November 1987. Origins The founders of the ...

'', the radical, left-wing Sunday tabloid. In joining the news team as its News Editor, Kolton became the first

black British Black British people or Black Britons"Black Briton, N." ''Oxford English Dictionary''. Oxford UP. December 2024. https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/1136579918. are a multi-ethnic group of British people of List of ethnic groups of Africa, Sub-Saharan ...

to be made the News Editor of a national newspaper. After six months the newspaper went bankrupt and Lee joined the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

as a documentary researcher. He later attended

National Film and Television School The National Film and Television School (NFTS) is a film, television and games school established in 1971 and based at Beaconsfield Studios in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England. It is featured in the 2024 ranking by ''The Hollywood Repo ...

. Upon graduating he working as a writer and/or director on a number of television programs, including a stint at Crucial Films, the production company owned by

Lenny Henry Sir Lenworth George Henry (born 29 August 1958) is a British Jamaicans, British-Jamaican comedian, actor and writer. He gained success as a Stand-up comedy, stand-up comedian and impressionist in the late 1970s and early 1980s, culminating in ' ...

. In 1998 he moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, where he lived for four years. While there he made his first independent short drama, ''American Mod''. While living in New York, Lee wrote and performed his first play, ''An Evening with Michael Jordan'', at the

National Black Theatre The National Black Theatre is a not-for-profit organization, non-profit cultural and educational corporation, and community-based theatre company located on 5th Avenue in Harlem, New York (state), New York. History The National Black Theatre (N ...

of Harlem. He arrived back in

in 2002 and promptly founded the

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

and

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

production company Prophet Pictures. Through Prophet Pictures, Lee wrote, directed and produced his first feature film ''Cherps'', winner of a

Screen Nation The Screen Nation Film & TV Awards, formerly the bfm (black filmmaker) Film and TV Awards, was founded in September 2003 by independent film producer Charles Thompson, as a platform to raise the profile of black British and international film an ...

Independent Spirit Film Award. His short film ''Blood'' was bought by

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

North America. Kolton's second feature film, ''Freestyle'', was a youth romance with a basketball back drop. Kolton's first novel, the contemporary crime thriller ''The Last Card'', received positive reviews in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' and ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'', he is currently preparing a follow-up for his publisher. Lee's second novel is about a sports psychologist who gets embroiled in dodgy dealings in a tennis camp for young stars.

Films

* ''Freestyle'' (2010) * ''Blood'' (2005) * ''Cherps'' (2005) * ''American Mod'' (2002)

Novels

* ''The Last Card'' (2007)

References

External links

*
Kolton Lee
- Independent Talent {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Kolton Black British journalists British crime fiction writers Living people British film directors Year of birth missing (living people) Black British filmmakers

Life and career

Films

Novels

See also

References

External links