David U. Lee

David U. Lee is a Chinese-American Hollywood film producer and entrepreneur best known for co-producing the films The Forbidden Kingdom, Shanghai, and Inseparable. He is the President of the film entertainment company, Leeding Media, which he founded in 2008.

Early Life & Career

David U. Lee was born in Taipei, Republic of China in 1975. He earned both his BA and MBA degrees from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California. He started his film entertainment career as an intern in the Los Angeles office of Miramax Films in 1997. In 1999, he joined Sony Pictures Entertainment in the Strategic Planning and Corporate Development department. In 2000, David was recruited by Revolution Studios as one of the company's initial 20 employees. In 2002, he took a hiatus from the entertainment industry to pursue a MBA degree while working at K1 Ventures, a private equity fund based in Singapore and Boca Raton, Florida. Upon completing his MBA in 2004, David joined IDG Asia, a subsidiary of IDG. There David oversaw IDG's foray in the Chinese film entertainment business, in addition to launching the Chinese version of Variety Magazine. In 2007, David was recruited by Harvey Weinstein to become the Executive Vice President of Asian Operations at The Weinstein Company, where he oversaw the company's Asian business as well as its US$285 million Asian Film Fund.

Film Producer

In 2007, David co-founded SDJS/Havenwood Media and produced Already Dead, an action-thriller starring Til Schweiger, Ron Eldard and Academy Award winning actor Christopher Plummer, which was distributed by Sony Pictures Entertainment.^[1] David was also a Co-Executive Producer of the Jackie Chan and Jet Li starring film, The Forbidden Kingdom, which went on to become the most successful China/U.S. co-production in history.^[2]^[3]

In April 2008, David founded Leeding Media as a film entertainment enterprise dedicated to bridging the U.S. and Chinese film industries. He produced Inseparable, starring two-time Academy award-winner, Kevin Spacey, who is the highest profile foreign actor to be featured in a Chinese film.^[4] The company also orchestrated the nationwide release of The Spy Next Door, starring Jackie Chan as the only non-studio foreign film released in China day-and-date with the U.S. Grossing over US$8 million, it became the highest grossing non-studio foreign film in Chinese history until the release of Sylvester Stallone's Expendables.^[5]^[6]

In 2009, David advised China Film Group on the co-production of The Karate Kid remake, starring Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith with Sony Pictures Entertainment. He also served as Co-Executive Producer of The Weinstein Company’s first Asian Film Fund production Shanghai, starring John Cusack, Gong Li, Chow Yun-fat and Ken Watanabe.^[7]

In September 2011, Perfect World Pictures signed Leeding Media into a multi-year producing deal, making the company the first U.S. based production company to secure a multi-year term deal with a Chinese studio. Films released under the collaboration include: Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, starring Nicolas Cage (grossed US$9 million), The Last Stand, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger (grossed US$8 million) and Ender’s Game starring Harrison Ford (grossed US$23 million).

Awards and Recognitions

In March 2009, David was named an inaugural member of The Hollywood Reporter’s Next Generation Asia, which celebrates the 20 most impressive young men and women in entertainment in Asia.