Edgy Lee

Who is Edgy Lee?

Edgy Lee is an independent Hawaii-born filmmaker. She has also produced Shanachie Records artists as varied as Joe Higgs, The Wailers, and the 14th Dalai Lama.

Her early career included on-camera work as a model, in TV commercials, series, and films including The Last Married Couple in America and Magnum Force, as co-host of the popular children's series Bill Cosby's Picture Pages, and more. Lee's music credits include co-compositions with Wayne Shorter, film composer Joseph Vitarelli; and with composer Robert Wehrman.

In 1999, Lee produced a CD for the Office of Tibet – a compilation of the Dalai Lama's symposia in Hawaii, with rare traditional Tibetan music performed by artists living in exile around the world, Hawaiian chants, and remarks by the late Reverend Abraham Akaka and kumu hula John Lake.

Lee's films include Papakolea – Story of Hawaiian Land; Paniolo O Hawai'i – Cowboys of the Far West; Waikiki – In the Wake of Dreams; and The Hawaiians – Reflecting Spirit, among others. These documentary films were made in the hope of bringing a deeper awareness of the Hawaiian culture to a national public whose image of Native Hawaiians may have been shaped by stereotypes. Waikiki – In the Wake of Dreams contains an original production of the Hawaiian classic "Waikiki", performed and arranged by Grammy winners Take 6. Warner Bros. Records released a companion soundtrack CD to the film Paniolo O Hawaii, produced by former Warner Bros. Records President Jim Ed Norman with Hawaiian kumu and performer, Nani Lim, and a Public Radio International one-hour program incorporated excerpts and music from the film.