Asian American and Pacific Islander Month Alumni Identity Spotlight: Quentin Lee ’93 MA

Meet Quentin Lee ’93 MA, multimedia creator, director, and member of the Producer’s Guild of America. Lee is a queer, non-binary, Chinese American single parent who also serves as the festival director for Yale in Hollywood Fest, an annual showcase of feature and short films that include at least one Yale student, alumnus, or current staff in the starring, producing, writing, or directing chair.

In this Asian American and Pacific Islander Month Alumni Identity Spotlight, Lee discusses the sense of belonging he felt at Yale and shares advice for those seeking to follow their passions. 

This feature is part of a series focused on amplifying the voices of alumni who are making an impact today and illuminating how the identities we bring to Yale transform both our community and the world. 

What is your most enduring memory of your time at Yale?

My most enduring memory at Yale was being in class with the late English professor Sara Suleri Goodyear, learning about post-colonialism, and being in a two-people class with former Yale professor Elizabeth Wilson where for the first time I explored the role of an intellectual in a modern society.

How has your identity shaped your Yale experience?

Being an international student and a queer immigrant from Asia, having graduated from Berkeley before, I came of age intellectually at Yale where I began making plans to stay in America. I remember staying up late with my fellow classmates at HGS watching Bill Clinton getting elected and George Bush Sr. shaking his hand. My Yale experience gave me the optimism and confidence to become American.

What is your hope for the future of the Yale alumni community?

I hope the Yale alumni community will never stop carrying the light of Yale no matter how long ago we have graduated. I remember getting a call a couple of years back from a Yale student asking me to talk to a prospective Yale hopeful who was a filmmaker. I with her, saw the short film she made, programmed it into the first Yale in Hollywood Fest, and wrote a recommendation for her for Yale. She is now a Yale student.

What advice would you give to fellow or future Yalies? 

Be unapologetically who you are and always pursue your passion... I believe that's what being a Yalie is about!

Winner of the 2020 Roddenberry Foundation Impact Awards for TV creators, a member of the Producers Guild of America, Canadian Media Producers Association and Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (Directors & Producers Peer Group), Quentin Lee is a multimedia creator and has directed and produced over ten feature films and three TV series. His latest Emmy® eligible TV series "Comedy Invasion" streams on Amazon Freevee, The Roku Channel and Tubi. His latest feature film "Last Summer of Nathan Lee" will world premiere at CAAMfest on May 14, 2023, in San Francisco. His first children's book "Pumpkin Head Lost His Head" will be published and on sale at the upcoming San Diego Comic-con 2023.