{BIO}
Lee Miller is a writer, director, producer and when the need arises, he also edits and composes. His film, Lessons in Self-Defense starring Alfred Molina qualified for a 2012 Academy Award®. Of the thousands of shorts that play at festivals each year, only 107 qualified last year. Currently he is in post-production with his film, "Hotline", starring Camryn Manheim. His critically acclaimed youth prison documentary, “Real Time”, explored filmmaking in a prison environment and is distributed by the National Film Network. His screenplay, “The Book of Samuel” was an Oscar’s Nicholl fellowship quarterfinalist, and was also accepted into the Emerging Narrative group of the 2005 IFP Market, and made the final round of the 2005 Sundance Filmmaker’s Lab. His feature script, “Golden-Votella” garnered an invitation to the Sundance Producer’s Workshop and was a top ten finalist in the 2009 Bruce Geller Screenwriting Award. In 2008 he completed his first narrative feature, entitled, Tween.
A three-time Sundance Screenwriters Lab final rounder Lee's films have played in Italy, Switzerland, Bulgaria, France and the U.S.A . Four have been sold to distributors. A very diverse range of his 16 feature scripts have been either optioned or have received recognition from fellowships and workshops. His past projects have included the “Dangerous Women” tv pilot made for Strike TV, starring the original Ladies of The Evil Dead.
Miller earned a BA in Photography from the pioneering progressive Goddard College in northern Vermont. Prior to completing his MFA in Creative Writing at Emerson College Miller was a professional musician based in Austin, Texas and San Francisco, California. His musical travels took him to residencies in Ireland, New Zealand, and St. Petersburg, Russia. His large format photo print work has appeared in three fine art books of legendary US photographers and has hung in museums around the world, including the MOMA and the MET in New York City. As a freelance journalist Lee's work has appeared in several national periodicals and alternative weeklies. His coverage of the screenwriting awards at the 2007 AVN (porn industry) awards made many people excited. His guerilla video journalism for the LA Time's Metromix also created much arousal. And, his pro-bono work for causes like Mothers and Others for Autism and the Scleroderma Foundation showed that he isn't in it just for the money. He does feel that his choice to become an independent filmmaker should have already proved that notion.
After Emerson Miller began teaching screenwriting and film production at UC Santa Cruz, De Anza College, and Cogswell College in San Jose, CA, where he also founded and chaired the Digital Motion Picture Department for six years.While an Associate Professor at Cogswell he served at Vice-President of the Faculty Senate, and sat on the Curriculum, Admissions, and Scholorship Committees. Courses he developed and taught were Screenwriting, Film Production and Directing, Mutlicultural Lit, Novel into Film, Mavericks of Independent Cinema, Senior Thesis, and Advanced Alternative Screenwriting.
Originally from Providence, RI, Lee currently thinks and acts upon his deep thoughts in Austin, TX.
Lee on:
also you can follow Lessons in Self-Defense's U.S. journey with
the traveling exhibition America Now+Here
{Feature Films} {Short Films} {Dangerous Women: A Strike TV Web Series} {LA Times/Metromix} {Freelance} {Film Music} {Resume} {Contact}