Biographie
Damon Lee is an acclaimed producer, seasoned executive, and skilled filmmaker with nearly two decades of experience in the entertainment industry. He has a proven history of creating critically praised and commercially successful film and television projects. As CEO and founder of Deacon Entertainment, a Hollywood production company, Damon develops and produces content targeted at urban audiences and their crossover demographics.
In 2011, Damon earned an NAACP Image Award as executive producer of the Lifetime movie Sins of the Mother, which won Outstanding Television Movie, Mini-Series, or Dramatic Special. The film's lead, Jill Scott, also received a Best Actress Award in the same category. Lifetime Movie Network sought Damon’s expertise to connect with their substantial African-American viewership, resulting in Sins becoming the second most-watched original film in the network's history.
Damon has executive produced two of the top five African-American themed films of the last decade: Obsessed, starring Beyoncé, and This Christmas, featuring Idris Elba, Loretta Devine, Chris Brown, Regina King, and Mekhi Phifer. Obsessed ranks as the seventh highest-grossing psychological thriller ever. His other executive producing credits include Lifetime’s Taken From Me: The Tiffany Rubin Story and the short film One Flight Stand, which was an official selection at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival.
Committed to using his extensive industry connections and experience for social impact, Damon has recently broadened Deacon’s focus to include producing high-quality public service announcements (PSAs). Beyond producing, he has taken on directing and writing roles for these campaigns. His collaborations in this space include work with Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, Sarah Jessica Parker, John Legend, and notably, President Barack Obama.
Damon is a trailblazer in leveraging the Internet as a creative incubator for major film projects. Long before YouTube’s emergence, during his tenure as Executive Vice President at Urban Entertainment, he played a key role in developing the animated web series Undercover Brother, which he later adapted into a critically acclaimed live-action feature film for Universal Pictures in 2002. The film grossed over $100 million worldwide and marked the first—and only—successful transition from animated web series to live-action feature film.
A graduate of the prestigious Peter Stark Producing Program, Damon holds a Master of Fine Arts from USC and a Bachelor’s degree from Brandeis University. After graduate school, he rapidly advanced in Hollywood, serving as Vice President of Production for renowned action producer Joel Silver, contributing to the development of The Matrix and Conspiracy Theory. He also held Vice President roles at MGM and was Executive Vice President at Our Stories Films, founded by BET creator Robert L. Johnson.
Raised by two educators, Damon has always prioritized education himself. He was an early participant in the esteemed Teach For America program, teaching in Inglewood, California during his first year out of college. Since 2011, he has served as an adjunct professor in the graduate program at UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television.
Damon resides in Santa Monica with his wife Michelle and their two sons, Carter and Beckett.
