Lee's success before camera gives her an edge behind it

By Paula Rath
Advertiser Staff Writer

Edgy Lee left Hawai'i as a teenager to attend the San Francisco Art Institute. Her study of painting led her to photography, and her beauty quickly moved her in front of the camera with modeling and acting jobs. Photo courtesy Edgy Lee Edgy Lee Fifth-generation Hawai'i resident. Born and raised in Makiki and still lives there. Owns her own film production company, FilmWorks Pacific. Sister Bonni Lee is a film executive who has headed DreamWorks, Wildwood and Geffen Films. Sister Laurie Lee-Goss writes television sitcoms. Trained in classical piano and violin. 'Herstory' WHAT: Junior League of Honolulu Women's Conference WHO: Edgy Lee, end-note speaker WHEN: 7:30 a.m.i4 p.m. Friday WHERE: Hilton Hawaiian Village, Tapa Ballroom FEE: $110 full day; $95 half-day; $65 for lunch with Sally Ride INFORMATION: 946-6466

Suddenly she felt a firm hand on her back and she was catapulted toward Carson as the stage manager whispered in her ear: "Don't worry. It's only 60 million people."

There was a deer-in-the-headlights moment, but it was so brief that it doesn't even show up on tapes of the show that helped launch the on-camera career of Honoluluan Edgy Lee.

"Once I did that show, I could do anything. The fear was minimal," said Lee from her cozy, eclectic living room in Makiki, a room filled with meaningful antiques and memorabilia of a richly cultured life.

Anything, indeed. The drop-dead gorgeous woman who began her career on camera has moved behind the camera in Hawai'i, producing, writing and directing films that attack crucial issues head-on with a no-holds-barred approach. She'll serve as end-note speaker for the "Herstory" conference presented by the Junior League of Honolulu on Friday.

In her courageous effort to find a voice for the Islands in film, Lee is unafraid to take on big business, the Legislature, drug lords — whoever may try to block her from telling the compelling stories in which she passionately believes.

Learning on camera

Lee left Hawai'i as a teenager to attend the San Francisco Art Institute. Her study of painting led her to photography, and her beauty quickly moved her in front of the camera with modeling and acting jobs in L.A. and New York, and appearances on television shows such as "The Streets of San Francisco," "CHiPs," and "The Rockford Files." Talk-show appearances ensued on "The Merv Griffin Show" and "The Mike Douglas Show," in addition to the Carson show.

She worked with Bill Cosby and Natalie Wood and "anyone who would mentor me. I don't care what set I was on. I learned a lot about films in front of the camera."

At the time, there were only three Asian models in the market. During casting calls. she was lumped together with Quincy Jones' daughter in the category "exotic."

Lee's agent, Nina Blanchard, told Lee, "You're never going to work as much as my leggy blondes, but you'll work." And work she did, doing television commercials, runway modeling for fashion designers, record covers and countless television shows.

One of her favorite Hollywood stories is that of a costume designer who was working with an impossible diva who treated everyone on the set with disdain. He found a way to get back at the difficult woman: Each day he took in the seams of her costume just a quarter of an inch. By the end of the week she thought she was getting fat — a development that would freak out any self-absorbed starlet.

With a strong background in music, Lee began producing film scores, records for reggae musicians and splicing together a video of Jim Morrison singing "Light My Fire."

While she was an insider in an industry based on connections, Lee said she "didn't have anything to say in those days. But now I have a lot to say."

On a trip home in the late 1980s, Lee visited some of her childhood friends from Stevenson Intermediate School who had married and lived in Papakolea. She was shocked at "what their lives had come to" and decided to make her first film, "Papakolea: Story of Hawaiian Land."

Lee has since produced award-winning documentaries "Paniolo O Hawai'i: Cowboys of the Far West," "Waikiki" in the Wake of Dreams," and "ICE: Hawai'i's Crystal Meth Epidemic."

The local girl in Lee emerges in her approach to business, as well as film. The "hui" concept comes naturally to her; she successfully partnered with businesses and Honolulu Hale in the conceptualization of "Sunset on the Beach," and set a precedent by convincing 11 local television stations to pre-empt prime-time programming to simultaneously air "ICE: Hawai'i's Crystal Meth Epidemic."

Homogenization rejected

Recent Hollywood images of the Islands make Lee's stomach turn. The trite, superficial and often negative depiction of local people in films such as "Blue Crush" and "The Big Bounce" is anathema to her.

Lee is passionate about the importance of Hawai'i finding its own voice in film and controlling its image. "It's our fault if we don't become more active in competing in the outside market. What we're selling out can never be recaptured."

By allowing offshore film and television companies to come into the Islands with "homogenized art," simply using Hawai'i as a beautiful backdrop with no concern its people and cultures, Islanders are selling out, Lee said. "For 25 years or more — since 'Hawaii Five-0' — there's been this idea that we are only capable of servicing the outsider. I am not interested in servicing the outsider. I am interested in creating something wholly new that the outsider will love, either as a co-producer or a reviewer in response to stories that are unique to Hawai'i."

Lee, a fifth-generation local girl, said, "It's in our blood to have a sensitivity that many people don't have. There's a kindness and compassion that local people have that you don't see anywhere else. We excel at empathy because of our mixed cultural environment. I think it comes from the Hawaiian host culture. We are naturally open to other cultures and traditions."

She added, however, that the Islands suffer from a "sense of fearfulness, of the outsider coming in to take away something because we have so much of what people want."

This has contributed to a lack of self-esteem, not just in the film world but in all aspects of life. "We're so self-critical as a community, and we lay it out there," she said.

Lee cited the credits in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. They listed hundreds of New Zealanders in roles both in front of and behind the camera. Why can't we do the same with films taking place in the Islands? she asked. "Why, in nine years, can't we be up there accepting Academy Awards?"

Vancouver, British Columbia; and Toronto and even Wilmington, N.C., require that film companies operating in there employ local people as well as bring money into their communities. "Why can't we do the same here? Support has to come from inside Hawai'i," Lee said. Unless this changes, she warned, Hawai'i will continue to export its considerable local talent to the Mainland and rent out the Islands to offshore production companies with no long-term benefits for locals.

Heart and sophistication

Lee's understanding of Island culture is respected by Paul "Doc" Berry of Kane'ohe, a freelance writer who has collaborated with her on several projects: "She is far and away the best filmmaker in the state. Edgy gets at the heart of the story — where the human faces are — and that makes the difference. She really cares about the place and has an understanding of the people and their cultures. "

Lee's level of sophistication has also been a defining factor in the quality of her films. Her musical ability (she plays piano and guitar) contributes to her sense of rhythm in a film.

"Film is rhythmic and musical, and she understands the rhythm of the story," Berry explained. "The form needs to fit the content," and she makes that happen.

Matt Levi of Honolulu, a former television news reporter who keeps a low profile as a private investigator, stuck his neck out for Edgy Lee. Although he had never met her when she called to ask him to appear on "ICE: Hawai'i's Crystal Meth Epidemic," Levi said, "I had confidence in her ability to do the subject justice. What makes her unique is that she has a real feel for what local people think. She looks at things through local eyes."

While working on the project, Levi was impressed that Lee "had the respect of the crew."

In addition, Levi traveled to remote communities on Neighbor Islands rather than focusing only on urban O'ahu.

What's next?

Lee is working on a sequel to "ICE." While the first film offered general information about the drug, the second will tackle the deeper issues underlying ice addiction.

Also in the works is a film about what it means to be Hawaiian.

Lee hopes that more young filmmakers will reject the homogenization of film and television that "has very little to do with the people of Hawai'i. We need our own stories and images reflected, because our kids are suffering from it."

Lee said that while women are making headway in the film industry, "A woman has to downplay her abilities in the workplace. I find myself having to do a little bit of a dance until I can prove myself."

She added, "If I can make a career from zero, anyone can. Plus, I'm female. Let's just say it. It's more difficult as a female."

Lee advises local kids to "stretch yourself. Go on an archaeological dig. Dig a ditch. Travel. Expand your horizons and the way you are looking at life. As scary as it is, get outside your comfort zone so you can learn to empathize with other people."

Story program

• 7:30 a.m. — registration and breakfast.
• 8:30 a.m. — welcome remarks, Junior League of Honolulu president Krissy Izumi-Nitao and Army Brig. Gen. Coral Wong Pietsch.
• 9:45 a.m. — break/MarketPlace.
• 10-11 a.m. — "Share-the-Care: An Inspiring Caregivers Network," with Cory Lee, Health Care Alternatives owner, Kimi Chun, Peg's Legs coordinator, Peggy Chun, Inc. COO, and Martha Torney, Peg's Legs volunteer and criminologist. Moderator: Barbara Hastings, Peg's Legs volunteer, professional communicator. After she was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease), local watercolorist Peggy Chun's network of family and friends organized a volunteer program known as Peg's Legs to provide daily care in partnership with healthcare providers. One year after Peg's Legs was founded, panelists relate for the first time how the program works and candidly discuss quality-of-life issues for all involved.
• 10-11:15 a.m. — "Small Spaces, Smart Budget: Hawaii Homework," with Shari Saiki, owner, Shari Saiki Design Studio.
• 10-11:30 a.m. — "She's Got Game: Crash Course in Yoga, Pilates and Strength Training," with Cathy Louise Broda and Dana Hershman, Purple Yoga; and Lisa Castelein, Honolulu Club.
• 11:15 a.m. — luncheon and keynote address: "Reach for the Stars" with Sally K. Ride, former NASA astronaut and the first American woman in space.
• 1:20-2:50 p.m. — "Heckathorn Hash: In the Kitchen with Joan & Glenn," with John Heckathorn, Honolulu Magazine editor, food critic, Glenn Chu, Indigo chef and owner, and Joan Namkoong, cookbook author.
• 1:20-2:50 p.m. — "Strategic Parenting" with Beth-Ann Kozlovich, Hawaii Public Radio "Town Square" host, and Dr. James LeVine, child development expert and author.
• 1:20-2:50 p.m. — "Composing Your Career," with Alison Zecha, organizational and personal coach, and Lee Anne Del Carpio, president, Inner Power International.
• 3:10 p.m. — end-note address: Edgy Lee, filmmaker.