On Wednesday, October 5, 2005, the DGA Ethnic Diversity Steering Committee presented An Evening with Director Malcolm D. Lee. The event was held following a special New York membership screening of Lee’s
Roll Bounce, a coming-of-age comedy set in the 1970s.
The film follows the adventures of X (Bow Wow) and his roller-skating buddies who find that they have been demoted from local heroes to near zeros after their neighborhood roller rink closes and they have to move their operations to a new venue across town.
Following the screening, the committee hosted a Q&A session with the director. After opening remarks by EDSC co-chair Rolando Hudson and Committee member Candy Martinez, Lee spoke about the making of the film with moderator/DGA Director member Charles Stone, III.
“I thought the script was a sweet story, almost like something I’d write myself,” said Lee. “Having been raised on them, I had an affinity for John Hughes’ teenager movies, but I never saw anybody like me except a black extra in the background. So I felt I could draw from my own childhood to bring something to this film. I haven’t been on skates in 20 years, but I grew up in Brooklyn and Crown Heights so I went to the Empire Roller Rink, but not too much. I was never one of the guys doing tricks. But I was drawn to the backdrop of the skating world.”
Lee’s enty into the film world came as a production assistant for his cousin Spike on films like Malcolm X. Prior to directing Roll Bounce, he directed the comedy Undercover Brother and the romantic comedy/drama The Best Man. A graduate of Georgetown University, Lee joined the DGA in 1998.