Jennifer Lee (filmmaker)

Jennifer Lee
Lee at the premiere of Disney's Frozen at the El Capitan Theatre on November 19, 2013.
Born	Jennifer Michelle Rebecchi (1971-10-22) October 22, 1971 Providence, Rhode Island, U.S.
Residence	San Fernando Valley, California
Alma mater	University of New Hampshire and Columbia University School of the Arts
Occupation	Film director, screenwriter
Years active	2004–present
Known for	Wreck-It Ralph Frozen Zootopia
Spouse(s)	Robert Monn (1999–?)
Children	Agatha

Jennifer Michelle Lee (born October 22, 1971 as Jennifer Michelle Rebecchi) is an American screenwriter and film director. Her credits include co-writing the screenplay for Disney's Wreck-It Ralph (2012), and writing and co-directing (with Chris Buck) the 2013 Disney animated feature Frozen, which won the 2013 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

Lee is the first female director of a Walt Disney Animation Studios feature film, the first writer at any major animation studio to become a director, and the first female director of a feature film that earned more than $1 billion in gross box office revenue.

Early life and career

Lee was born in 1971 to Linda Lee and Saverio Rebecchi, who were living in Barrington at the time; after their divorce, Lee and her older sister, Amy, lived with their mother in East Providence, Rhode Island. Both Lee and her older sister graduated from East Providence High School and the University of New Hampshire. Lee earned a bachelor's degree in English in 1992 and went to New York City, where she worked as a graphic artist in publishing; she designed audiobooks for Random House. As an adult, she began using her mother's maiden name, Lee, in a professional capacity and in January 1995, legally changed her last name from Rebecchi to Lee.

After the loss of a dear person at age 20, she wanted to tell her own stories. At around 30 years old, she entered Columbia University School of the Arts and earned a Master of Fine Arts in film. There she met Phil Johnston, her future writing partner on Wreck-It Ralph. Lee graduated from Columbia in 2005 and stayed in New York City, where she developed a background in live-action film, working as assistant director on and producer of the short film in 2004, "A Thousand Words".

In March 2011, Johnston called Lee to ask her to join him at Disney Animation in Burbank to help him write Wreck-It Ralph. What was supposed to be a temporary eight-week writing gig eventually turned into a much longer commitment. First, she was asked to stay on until Ralph was finished. She then became involved with Frozen, initially as screenwriter and later as director. When Lee was brought on board, she helped transition the film from an action-adventure to "more musical, with more comedy." She worked closely with the songwriters (Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez) in the writing of the script. Frozen gave her the opportunity to celebrate "wild and wonderful" girls like her childhood self, and her daughter, Agatha.

On May 17, 2014, Lee delivered the commencement address to the class of 2014 at her alma mater, the University of New Hampshire. She revealed that she had struggled with self-doubt while growing up, and then in April of her junior year of college, her boyfriend was killed in a boating accident, after which she felt "no doubt, only grief ... and for a brief moment ... [knew] better than to waste a second doubting." Years later, that memory would help her overcome her initial doubt over whether she was good enough to apply to Columbia. At Columbia, Johnston recognized she was talented but insecure, and one day asked her to "promise ... that you'll leave it out of your work, just know that you're good enough and move on." She concluded: "If I learned one thing it is that self-doubt is one of the most destructive forces. It makes you defensive instead of open, reactive instead of active. Self-doubt is consuming and cruel and my hope today is that we can all collectively agree to ban it ... Please know, from here on out, you are enough and dare I say, more than enough." UNH then awarded her the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters.

In August 2014 Variety reported that Lee's next project after Frozen would be an adaptation of Madeleine L'Engle's 1962 novel A Wrinkle in Time. Catherine Hand, the executive producer of the 2003 television film version, and Jim Whitaker are together slated to produce Lee's version for Disney. After the news broke, Lee tweeted: "Been in love with the book for over 30 years. Writing this script means the world to me." In February, 2016, Disney announced that Ava DuVernay would direct A Wrinkle in Time based on Lee's script.

In September 2014, it was announced that Lee and Buck would co-direct a short film featuring the Frozen characters called Frozen Fever. It was released in March 2015.

On March 12, 2015, Disney announced that Lee and Buck would co-direct a full length sequel to Frozen.

Lee received screen credit as one of the writers who developed the story for the 2016 film Zootopia. She was also one of several Disney writers and directors who received credit for "Creative Leadership" on the 2014 film Big Hero 6.

Personal life

Lee married Robert Monn on May 30, 1999, at the Rhode Island Country Club (they later divorced). They have a daughter Agatha Lee Monn (born in 2003), who sings on the song "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?" in Frozen. Lee and her daughter now live in the San Fernando Valley in California.

Filmography

Year	Film	Role
2004	A Thousand Words (Short)	Producer, Assistant Director
2012	Wreck-It Ralph	Writer
2013	Frozen	Director (with Chris Buck), Writer, Voice of Queen of Arendelle
2015	Frozen Fever (Short)	Director (with Chris Buck), Writer
2016	Zootopia	Story by
TBA	A Wrinkle in Time	Writer
TBA	Frozen 2	Director (with Chris Buck), Writer

External links

• Jennifer Lee at the Internet Movie Database