Teddy Zee
Encyclopedia
Teddy Zee is a longtime producer and entertainment executive in Hollywood. Perhaps the most visible and vocal champion of Asians in Hollywood, Zee has over twenty years of experience as President of Overbrook Films and Davis Entertainment, as a studio executive for Columbia Pictures and Paramount Pictures, and as an independent producer. Most recently, he has focused on doing co-productions that bridge Hollywood with China and Asia.
Zee is producing Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey
, a computer animated, 3D, large format movie that Zee is producing for Taiwan’s Digimax. The film is being made in cooperation with NASA and Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL). Zee was also the Executive Producer of The Pursuit of Happyness
, a Columbia Pictures film starring Will Smith
. The film has earned $300 million in worldwide ticket sales. Zee produced West 32nd
, a CJ Entertainment film starring John Cho, Grace Park and Jeong Jun-Ho. It was one of 18 films selected for World Narrative Competition at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival.
In 2005, Zee produced Hitch
, a Columbia Pictures release starring Will Smith, Eva Mendes and Kevin James that earned over $365 million in worldwide ticket sales. He also produced Saving Face starring Joan Chen, official selections of the Sundance and Toronto Film Festivals. It won the 2005 Golden Horse Audience Award, Taiwan's Oscar equivalent. Previously, as President of Davis Entertainment, Zee was the Executive Producer of Life or Something Like It
, a New Regency release starring Angelina Jolie.
Zee is the Executive Producer of the annual Asian Excellence Awards broadcast on E! and AZN-TV to 100 million homes in the US. He also was the Executive Producer of the talk show DIM SUM WITH TEDDY ZEE and IVY DREAMS, a documentary that follows four Asian-American high school seniors pursuing Ivy League college admissions. Both were for AZN-TV.
As Executive Vice President of Production at Columbia Pictures, Zee oversaw such films as Charlie's Angels
, The Replacement Killers
, Anaconda
, Fools Rush In, The Devil's Own
, The Cable Guy
, First Knight
, My Girl
, Mo' Money
, Hero, and Sleepwalkers
. He championed Chow Yun Fat’s Hollywood debut. His project Charlie's Angels
was a feature film springboard for Lucy Liu. He worked with Hong Kong filmmakers John Woo, Stephen Chow and Ringo Lam. As Senior VP of Productions at Paramount Pictures, he shepherded such films as Indecent Proposal
, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
, Cousins
and The Presidio
. Zee continues to work with new and established talent producing scripts that that are national and international box office hits.
Zee has an M.B.A. from Harvard University
and a B.S. from Cornell University
. He is a long time member of AMPAS (the Executive branch of the Academy Awards), a former member of the Executive Board of the Asian American Policy Review at Harvard's JFK School of Government, a board member of Coalition for Asian Pacifics in Entertainment (CAPE), a member of the Producers Guild of America
and a trustee of the Marc Goodman Foundation for Cancer Research.
The Asian Professional Exchange (APEX) honored Zee with the 2007 Award for Excellence in the Arts and Entertainment and KCET, PBS’ Los Angeles affiliate named him “Local Hero” in 2005 for his contributions to the Asian American community. Goldsea
, the Asian American Supersite, recognized his efforts in creating positive film roles for Asian actors in Hollywood by placing him No. 54 on "The 120 Most Inspiring Asian Americans of All Time".
In 2010, under the Teddy Zee Productions banner, Zee produced a series of charity PSA videos alongside Don Le
, George Wang
, Adrian Zaw
, and APEX
founder Stephen Liu
. He executive produced the 20+ clips that featured Asian American celebrities like John Cho
, Sandra Oh
, Kaba Modern
Legacy, Justin Chon, David Choi
, and 100+ talents in a campaign to win $1 million for the Center for the Pacific Asian Family (CPAF). The charity ended up in the top 20 out of 100 charities competing for the top prize, and ended up creating awareness for the widespread but generally unspoken issues of sexual assault and domestic violence. | | | In September 2010, he also served as Executive Producer for the video coverage on the first ever AAPI Rock the Vote 2010 campaign with doctor Paul Song, Roy Choi, George Wang
, Don Le
, and Adrian Zaw
.
Zee is producing Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey
Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey
Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey is a 2010 animated educational sci-fi adventure film, written by Harry 'Doc' Kloor and directed by Kloor and Dan St. Pierre, as a science fiction film that takes the viewer on an atomic adventure in space.The voice cast originally included Christian Slater,...
, a computer animated, 3D, large format movie that Zee is producing for Taiwan’s Digimax. The film is being made in cooperation with NASA and Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL). Zee was also the Executive Producer of The Pursuit of Happyness
The Pursuit of Happyness
Varèse Sarabande released the soundtrack on January 9, 2007, which included sixteen tracks.-Box office:The film debuted first at the North American box office, earning $27 million during its opening weekend and beating out heavily promoted films such as Eragon and Charlotte's Web...
, a Columbia Pictures film starring Will Smith
Will Smith
Willard Christopher "Will" Smith, Jr. , also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor, producer, and rapper. He has enjoyed success in television, film and music. In April 2007, Newsweek called him the most powerful actor in Hollywood...
. The film has earned $300 million in worldwide ticket sales. Zee produced West 32nd
West 32nd
West 32nd is a 2007 film and the second feature film by Michael Kang. The film stars John Cho, Jun-Seong Kim, Grace Park, Jane Kim and Jeong Jun-ho....
, a CJ Entertainment film starring John Cho, Grace Park and Jeong Jun-Ho. It was one of 18 films selected for World Narrative Competition at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival.
In 2005, Zee produced Hitch
Hitch (film)
Hitch is a 2005 romantic comedy film directed by Andy Tennant and starring Will Smith. The film, which was written by Kevin Bisch, co-stars Eva Mendes, Kevin James, and Amber Valletta. Smith plays a professional matchmaker who makes a living teaching men how to woo women...
, a Columbia Pictures release starring Will Smith, Eva Mendes and Kevin James that earned over $365 million in worldwide ticket sales. He also produced Saving Face starring Joan Chen, official selections of the Sundance and Toronto Film Festivals. It won the 2005 Golden Horse Audience Award, Taiwan's Oscar equivalent. Previously, as President of Davis Entertainment, Zee was the Executive Producer of Life or Something Like It
Life or Something Like It
Life or Something Like It is a 2002 romantic comedy film directed by Stephen Herek. The film focuses on television reporter Lanie Kerrigan and her quest to find meaning in her life. The original music score was composed by David Newman...
, a New Regency release starring Angelina Jolie.
Zee is the Executive Producer of the annual Asian Excellence Awards broadcast on E! and AZN-TV to 100 million homes in the US. He also was the Executive Producer of the talk show DIM SUM WITH TEDDY ZEE and IVY DREAMS, a documentary that follows four Asian-American high school seniors pursuing Ivy League college admissions. Both were for AZN-TV.
As Executive Vice President of Production at Columbia Pictures, Zee oversaw such films as Charlie's Angels
Charlie's Angels
Charlie's Angels is a television series about three women who work for a private investigation agency, and is one of the first shows to showcase women in roles traditionally reserved for men...
, The Replacement Killers
The Replacement Killers
The Replacement Killers is a 1998 American action film, directed by Antoine Fuqua in his directorial debut. It stars Chow Yun-fat and Mira Sorvino...
, Anaconda
Anaconda (film)
Anaconda is a 1997, adventure-horror film, directed by Luis Llosa, starring Jennifer Lopez, Ice Cube, Jon Voight, Owen Wilson, and Eric Stoltz. It centers around a film crew for National Geographic who are kidnapped by a hunter who is going after the world's largest giant anaconda, which is...
, Fools Rush In, The Devil's Own
The Devil's Own
The Devil's Own is a 1997 action thriller movie starring Harrison Ford, Brad Pitt, Rubén Blades, Natascha McElhone, Julia Stiles and Treat Williams. It was the final film directed by Alan J...
, The Cable Guy
The Cable Guy
The Cable Guy is a 1996 black comedy film, directed by Ben Stiller, and starring Jim Carrey and Matthew Broderick. The film also features Leslie Mann, Jack Black, and Owen Wilson...
, First Knight
First Knight
First Knight is a 1995 American medieval film based on Arthurian legend, directed by Jerry Zucker. It stars Richard Gere as Lancelot, Julia Ormond as Guinevere, Sean Connery as King Arthur and Ben Cross as Malagant....
, My Girl
My Girl (film)
My Girl is a 1991 drama film directed by Howard Zieff and written by Laurice Elehwany. The film depicts the coming-of-age of a young girl who faces many different emotional highs and lows and stars Dan Aykroyd and Jamie Lee Curtis in their first film together since 1983's Trading Places. The film...
, Mo' Money
Mo' Money
Mo' Money is a 1992 romantic-crime-dramedy film, starring Damon Wayans, Marlon Wayans and Stacey Dash, and directed by Peter MacDonald. The screenplay was also written by Damon Wayans.-Synopsis:...
, Hero, and Sleepwalkers
Sleepwalkers (film)
Sleepwalkers is a 1992 American horror film based on an original screenplay by Stephen King and directed by Mick Garris.-Plot summary:...
. He championed Chow Yun Fat’s Hollywood debut. His project Charlie's Angels
Charlie's Angels
Charlie's Angels is a television series about three women who work for a private investigation agency, and is one of the first shows to showcase women in roles traditionally reserved for men...
was a feature film springboard for Lucy Liu. He worked with Hong Kong filmmakers John Woo, Stephen Chow and Ringo Lam. As Senior VP of Productions at Paramount Pictures, he shepherded such films as Indecent Proposal
Indecent Proposal
Indecent Proposal is a 1993 drama film, based on the novel of the same name by Jack Engelhard. It was directed by Adrian Lyne and stars Robert Redford, Demi Moore, and Woody Harrelson.-Plot:...
, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country is the sixth feature film in the Star Trek science fiction franchise and is the last of the Star Trek films to include the entire main cast of the 1960s Star Trek television series. Released in 1991 by Paramount Pictures, it was directed by Nicholas Meyer and...
, Cousins
Cousins (film)
Cousins is a 1989 remake of a French film , with Ted Danson, Isabella Rossellini, Sean Young, William Petersen, Lloyd Bridges, and Keith Coogan.-Plot summary:...
and The Presidio
The Presidio (film)
The Presidio is a 1988 American mystery film directed by Peter Hyams, starring Sean Connery and Mark Harmon. Hyams also photographed. The score was composed by Bruce Broughton.-Plot:...
. Zee continues to work with new and established talent producing scripts that that are national and international box office hits.
Zee has an M.B.A. from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
and a B.S. from Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
. He is a long time member of AMPAS (the Executive branch of the Academy Awards), a former member of the Executive Board of the Asian American Policy Review at Harvard's JFK School of Government, a board member of Coalition for Asian Pacifics in Entertainment (CAPE), a member of the Producers Guild of America
Producers Guild of America
Producers Guild of America is a trade organization representing television producers, film producers and New Media producers in the United States. The PGA's membership includes over 4,700 members of the producing establishment worldwide...
and a trustee of the Marc Goodman Foundation for Cancer Research.
The Asian Professional Exchange (APEX) honored Zee with the 2007 Award for Excellence in the Arts and Entertainment and KCET, PBS’ Los Angeles affiliate named him “Local Hero” in 2005 for his contributions to the Asian American community. Goldsea
Goldsea
Goldsea.com is a large, fully featured magazine site. It is aimed at Asian Americans and publishes interviews and profiles of successful Asian Americans. The "Goldsea 100" celebrates high-achieving Asian American businesspeople and includes several billionaires, including one aged only 32...
, the Asian American Supersite, recognized his efforts in creating positive film roles for Asian actors in Hollywood by placing him No. 54 on "The 120 Most Inspiring Asian Americans of All Time".
In 2010, under the Teddy Zee Productions banner, Zee produced a series of charity PSA videos alongside Don Le
Don Le
Don Pham Le is an American filmmaker, who started out dabbling in acting. He was featured as one of Hilary Swank's main students in the 2007 Paramount Pictures film, Freedom Writers....
, George Wang
George Wang
George Wang is a Chinese/Taiwanese-American producer in the entertainment industry.In December 2009 through January 2010, under the Teddy Zee Productions banner, Wang produced a series of public service announcement videos to be featured on the internet with Teddy Zee , Adrian Zaw, and APEX...
, Adrian Zaw
Adrian Zaw
Adrian Zaw is a Burmese American-born American actor best known for his role of Syrus Primoris on the SyFy channel television series , which is set to debut on the American television network, the SyFy channel, on October 4, 2010.-Career:...
, and APEX
Asian Professional Exchange
The Asian Professional Exchange is a not-for-profit, nonpartisan, community-based organization with multi-faceted goals and purposes that are charitable, cultural and educational in nature...
founder Stephen Liu
Stephen Liu
Stephen Christopher Liu is a prominent entrepreneur, media executive and Asian American community leader.Stephen is the CEO and “Chief Social Capitalist” at , an invitation-only niche social network and online/mobile travel platform targeted at a select group of transpacific executives and key...
. He executive produced the 20+ clips that featured Asian American celebrities like John Cho
John Cho
John Yohan Cho is an American actor and musician, best known for his roles in the American Pie films and the Harold & Kumar films . He also starred in the critically acclaimed hit film Better Luck Tomorrow...
, Sandra Oh
Sandra Oh
Sandra Oh is a Canadian actress. She is best known for the role of Dr. Cristina Yang on ABC's Grey's Anatomy, for which she has won a Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild award. She also played notable roles in the feature films Under the Tuscan Sun and Sideways, and had a supporting role on the...
, Kaba Modern
Kaba Modern
Kaba Modern is a dance group originating from Irvine, California. Kaba Modern is a spin-off of the University of California, Irvine Filipino cultural club, Kababayan, which means "countrymen" in Tagalog. Created by Arnel Calvario in 1992, Kaba Modern began as dancers that performed the hip-hop...
Legacy, Justin Chon, David Choi
David Choi
David Yong Choi is an American musician and YouTube video producer living in Los Angeles. He performs a mix of original songs and covers of pop hits. Choi released his debut album, Only You, in October 2008. His second album, By My Side, was released on May 19, 2010...
, and 100+ talents in a campaign to win $1 million for the Center for the Pacific Asian Family (CPAF). The charity ended up in the top 20 out of 100 charities competing for the top prize, and ended up creating awareness for the widespread but generally unspoken issues of sexual assault and domestic violence. | | | In September 2010, he also served as Executive Producer for the video coverage on the first ever AAPI Rock the Vote 2010 campaign with doctor Paul Song, Roy Choi, George Wang
George Wang
George Wang is a Chinese/Taiwanese-American producer in the entertainment industry.In December 2009 through January 2010, under the Teddy Zee Productions banner, Wang produced a series of public service announcement videos to be featured on the internet with Teddy Zee , Adrian Zaw, and APEX...
, Don Le
Don Le
Don Pham Le is an American filmmaker, who started out dabbling in acting. He was featured as one of Hilary Swank's main students in the 2007 Paramount Pictures film, Freedom Writers....
, and Adrian Zaw
Adrian Zaw
Adrian Zaw is a Burmese American-born American actor best known for his role of Syrus Primoris on the SyFy channel television series , which is set to debut on the American television network, the SyFy channel, on October 4, 2010.-Career:...
.
External links
- Official Production Site
- http://imdb.com/name/nm1151819/
- Teddy Zee on goldsea.com
- http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2007-06/29/content_905315.htm
- http://www.alumni.hbs.edu/bulletin/2006/march/producers.html
- http://www.kcet.org/lifeandtimes/archives/200507/20050718.php
- http://www.tvweek.com/news/2007/05/diversity_on_tv_thats_what_aud.php
- http://news.asianweek.com/news/view_article.html?article_id=207f799184e29567e3a7a83aa9eb5275%20
- CPAF Video PSA Campaign