Lee Daniels

Lee Daniels began his career in entertainment as a casting director and manager after a chance meeting with a Hollywood producer, who recognized that Daniels has the business and artistic savvy to succeed. He initially started out as a casting director working on projects such as Under the Cherry Moon and Purple Raine, and continued managing talent that included several Academy Award nominees and winners.

Monster’s Ball, the first production of Lee Daniels Entertainment, was a remarkable pioneering achievement. The film marked Daniels as the first African American sole producer of an Academy Award earning substantial critical and box office success, Monster’s Ball was nominated for two Academy Awards in 2002 – Best Original Screenplay and Best Actress, for which Halle Berry won an Oscar.

Daniel’s next producing effort was the Woodsman. The film, starring Kevin Bacon, Kyra Sedgwick, and Mos Def made its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in 2004. Nominated for three 2005 Independent Spirit Awards, the film received the CICAE Arthouse Prize at the Cannes Film Festival; Jury Prize, Deauville International Film Festival, and Special Mention for Excellence in Filmmaking from the National Board of Review.

Shadowboxer marks Daniels’ directorial debut. This bold and heart wrenching tale of a pair of controversial assassins starts Helen Mirren, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Stephen Dorff, Vanessa Ferlito, Mo’nique, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Macy Gray and had it’s world premiere at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival. Daniels received a nomination for the New Directors Award at the 2005 San Sebastian Film Festival on behalf of the film.

Daniels’ movie Tennessee, starring Mariah Carey a waitress, is about two brothers who embark on a journey to find their estranged father in hopes of saving the younger brother who has been diagnosed with terminal leukemia.

Daniels’ most recent film, Precious, is the grim story of an illiterate and obese African-American teenager in 1980s Harlem who is abused by her mother and pregnant with her father’s child — for the second time. The film garnered rave reviews from the Sundance Film Festival, where it received 3 awards and 3 standing ovations.

Outside of his work in film, Daniels briefly stepped into the world of politics and community development. Upon the request of Harlem neighbor and former president, Bill Clinton, Daniels produced public service announcements to inspire young people of color to vote. The effective campaign was launched in March 2004 and featured actor/musician LL Cool J and Grammy winner Alicia Keys.