Hollywood to Hawaiʻi: Chris Lee’s creative legacy at UH

Chris Lee

Chris Lee, founder of the Academy for Creative Media System (ACM System), has been named emeritus faculty by University of Hawaiʻi President Wendy Hensel. Lee served as director of ACM for more than two decades. He led the UH ACM initiative, which spans all 10 campuses and continues to empower students to pursue careers in digital storytelling, with a strong emphasis on Indigenous narratives rooted in Hawaiʻi. Reflecting the state’s unique cultural diversity, ACM is the first majority Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander media school in the country. 

Now, the Hollywood veteran is stepping down, leaving a legacy that expanded Hawaiʻi’s creative pipeline and opened doors for homegrown storytellers and creators.

Lee said, “There are so many people to mahalo for this honor. I am so grateful to the 2004 Board of Regents, which originally approved ACM as a system-wide initiative, key alumni like Roy and Hilda Takeyama who gave generously to both start and sustain us, legislators and governors who financially supported the build out of the program across the islands, the local production industry that has embraced our students, our exceptional faculty and, most of all, our talented graduates who are driving Hawaiʻi’s growing and vital creative economy.”

Under Lee’s leadership, the ACM System launched UH Mānoa ACM (now known as the UH Mānoa School of Cinematic Arts), UH West Oʻahu ACM, ACM at Maui College, and Kauaʻi Community College’s Creative Media program. It also supported the creation of ʻUluʻulu: The Henry Kuʻualoha Giugni Moving Image Archive of Hawaiʻi at UH West Oʻahu, UH Esports, and collaborated with UH Mānoa’s Information and Computer Sciences (ICS) department to develop LAVA and Creative Computational Media. Lee enhanced existing media programs at Leeward CC, Kapiʻolani CC’s New Media Arts, Hawaiʻi CC, Windward CC’s Hawaiʻi Conservatory of Performing Arts, and UH Hilo’s ICS. [Lookbook: Celebrating 20 Years of ACM System]

Uniquely, ACM fostered the first comprehensive articulation agreements between all seven community colleges and UH West Oʻahu, where Lee also led the development and funding of ACM’s state-of-the-art Student Production Center.

"Chris Lee’s foundational leadership and contributions have catalyzed creative media education across the UH System and elevated Hawaiʻi’s stories to a broader audience,” said UH President Wendy Hensel. “Drawing from his groundbreaking career in Hollywood, he helped build a thriving creative pipeline here at home. We thank him for his decades of service and are proud to honor him with emeritus status for his lasting influence at UH and our state."

Tributes and reflections on Chris Lee and his legacy at UH

A systemwide vision

Raised in Hawaiʻi and an alumnus of ʻIolani School, Lee graduated from Yale University before starting a successful career as a motion picture executive and film and television producer. The first person of Asian ancestry to lead a major Hollywood studio, serving as President of Production at TriStar Pictures and Columbia Pictures, he oversaw iconic films such as Jerry Maguire, Philadelphia, As Good As It Gets and more. 

After returning to Hawaiʻi in the early 2000s, Lee was invited to “start a film school” at UH. He imagined a cross-campus network that could elevate creative media education statewide.

“Rather than just focusing on one campus at Mānoa, I visited every campus in the UH System,” Lee said. “I met with faculty, staff and  students and saw what already existed, including the animation program at Kapiʻolani CC and  the TV studios at Leeward CC, and thought, ‘What if we built something that connected all of them?’”

In January, 2004, the UH Board of Regents formally established ACM, and Lee became its Founding Director. Over time, the initiative grew into a coordinated system offering specialized pathways in creative media, animation, gaming and digital content creation.

Empowering students and communities

At UH West Oʻahu, now the flagship for ACM, students can now pursue degrees in creative media, game design, communications and more. UH Mānoa’s School of Cinematic Arts focuses on narrative filmmaking, animation and Indigenous storytelling. The community colleges and UH Hilo offer strong foundations in production, media theory and animation.

“What made this possible was the advent of affordable digital technology,” Lee said. “Thanks to early support from donors and UH alumni, including Roy and Hilda Takayama and Jay Shidler, we gave students a ‘Digital Toolbelt’—Macs with editing software, cameras and sound equipment. It let them tell stories that were true to themselves and shareable with the world through online platforms.”

Creating an industry pathway

From the start, Lee emphasized that ACM wasn’t just about making films. “It was about preparing a workforce that could thrive in the future digital economy, in storytelling, animation, games, immersive media and beyond,” he said. Today ACM graduates from every UH campus are driving Hawaiʻiʻs growing creative economy. 

Many of those early students have gone on to make significant contributions to film and television, including Daniel Ledoux Miller, co-director and co-writer of Moana 2; Bryson Kainoa Chun, a writer for Moana 2 and Doogie Kamealoha, M.D., who, along with fellow UH alumnus Alika Tengan, was named to the inaugural Indigenous List recognizing top Native screenwriters.

ACM graduates work for Pixar, Disney, HBO, NBC and Netflix, but most have stayed in Hawaiʻi to build production companies or lead communications teams in sectors far beyond entertainment. [2025 ACM System Lookbook - The Graduates Edition]

“Every business now wants an in-house videographer and social media content,” Lee said. “While graduates from UH Manoa’s ACM like Christopher Makoto Yogi and Alika Tengan debuted their features at the Sundance Film Festival, students coming out of UH West Oʻahu are making TikTok capstones and going on to run campaigns for companies like BMW/Mini and even Honolulu City Hall.”

A hub for the future

The $37-million ACM Student Production Center at UH West Oʻahu opened in 2022 and has already become a hub for content creation, film and student collaboration. Adjacent to the facility is the proposed site of a state-of-the-art motion picture and television studio, currently under development.

The project, spearheaded by the Island Film Group team in partnership with UH, will include modern sound stages, production facilities, and a town square with live-work, retail, dining and lodging. The studio is envisioned as a transformative center for the West Oʻahu region and the state’s growing media industry.

“This is the natural next step in ACM’s evolution,” Lee said. “Combined with the UHWO Production Center, this complex will help elevate ACM to a global level. One of the project requirements is integration with ACM, which means our local students will have real opportunities—paid internships, mentorship and jobs with living wages.”

Driving innovation across the UH 

Even as he steps back, Lee is helping guide ACM’s evolution through new initiatives. Most recently, he has been actively involved with the Aloha AI Institute, a proposed UH initiative that, like ACM System, aims to unite all 10 UH campuses. The project will equip students with the tools and opportunities to explore AI’s role in creative fields, particularly in integrating Indigenous knowledge and cultural narratives.

Lee also helped create a new computational creative media degree at UH Mānoa ICS, launched in fall 2024, which prepares students to use AI tools in video games, animation and digital content. His push into esports led to Hawaiʻi’s largest tournament in 2024, the Hawaiʻi Esports Invitational, hosted at UH West Oʻahu. The event brought together six UH campuses, out-of-state universities such as Michigan State, and local high schools, showcasing how ACM initiatives are preparing students for future careers while supporting economic diversification.

A lasting impact

ACM’s transformation into a nationally recognized, culturally grounded media school stands as part of Lee’s enduring legacy—one that elevates Hawaiʻi’s stories and storytellers on the global stage.

“Everybody hopes they leave someplace better than how they found it,” Lee said. “Now we have hundreds of ACM graduates. Many of them are earning a living doing what they love, right here in Hawaiʻi, telling their stories to the broadest possible audience. That was always the goal.”