Shannon Lee on the value of collaboration in show business and in life

For film and martial arts icon Bruce Lee, before there was Fist of Fury or Enter the Dragon, there was The Big Boss. The film was Lee’s 1971 big screen breakout role. He would tragically die two years later, on May 10, 1973, from a cerebral edema (swelling of the brain).  

Now, 52 years later, Lee’s daughter Shannon Lee is “The Big Boss” of the Bruce Lee Foundation and Bruce Lee Enterprises, which manages the legacy, intellectual property and image of her iconic father. For her work, Shannon was recognized by the Very Asian Foundation during their third annual Sunday Funday gala held on Sunday in Bellevue, Washington.  

Shannon was the executive producer of the 2008 television series, The Legend of Bruce Lee, and the 2009 documentary, How Bruce Lee Changed the World. She also co-produced the Cinemax (and later HBOMax/HBO) series Warrior, based on journal entries by her father, which debuted in 2019 and ran for three seasons. She has also recorded vocals and has acted opposite Lou Ferrigno, Sammo Hung, Antonio Sabato, Jr., and Rich Ting.  

"Shannon is an amazing part of I think, the culture but also Asian American culture,” says Very Asian Foundation founder Michelle Li. “She's such a creator. She has done so many amazing things. She's such a boss lady. She's really a very compelling entrepreneur.”  

The luncheon drew more than 200 guests to suburban Seattle to support the Very Asian Foundation’s May Book Project and its Creators Grant Program. JoySauce was also a sponsor for the event.

"I am a huge fan of the Very Asian Foundation due to its authenticity, humility, and impact in a world where many are clamoring to be the loudest," says JoySauce founder and CEO Jonathan Sposato. "Very Asian Foundation quietly and powerfully puts their head down to champion our community and never forgets the youth, the up and coming, the non-famous, or the marginalized. They have a lot of receipts, which is not at all a surprise given their incredible leadership by the always lead-by-example Michelle Li."

A $5,000 lead gift by Annie Kuo led off the fund-a-need portion of the fundraiser. Fundraising totals were not available at the time of publication. “Despite it being such a challenging year, I believe we will hit our goal. We had some really generous folks this year,” Li, who is also a news anchor for the St. Louis NBC affiliate, says.

The foundation also recognized this year’s winners of the Creators Grant Program, promoting artists and storytellers who amplify underrepresented voices, stories and perspectives of AA+PIs.

This year’s recipients were Peerbagh CEO Upasna Kakroo, filmmaker, playwright and organizer Diana Khong, therapist and activist Rameya Shanmugavelayutham, artist and metalsmith Kim Stahl, and musician Schoua Na Yang. They each received a $1,500 grant to pursue their work in advocating for AA+PI communities.  

Addressing the audience during a fireside chat with Ting, Shannon acknowledged the challenges for storytellers of color and emphasized the value of collaboration. “Bruce Lee is a global icon. Everyone knows the name Bruce Lee,” she acknowledged. “Everyone thinks it is easy, and says, 'Of course, we should do stuff about Bruce Lee.' Most of the key decisionmakers in Hollywood and other places are older men, typically not generally people of color. They’ll say, ‘Yeah that Bruce Lee guy, is he that kung fu guy that died 50 years ago? Why is he still relevant?’ There's a lot of that. That's not just in Hollywood. That's true also in the commercial world.”

Shannon also said that sexism and bias confines the creative process in the television and film industries. “I run into a lot of difficulty in people taking me seriously as a creator,” Shannon said. “They see me as a rights holder. They want Bruce Lee. They don't want me. It is hard for me to get projects made. People want to take what I have, but they don't want to collaborate. And, so I am always looking for the people who will collaborate, which is hard to find. And, as a woman I am not listened to a lot. You have to collaborate with life. You just have to keep going. We just try to collaborate with what's going on in the world around you.”

Sposato echoes Shannon’s call for collaboration and diverse voices in media and storytelling. "The Very Asian Foundation is totally mission aligned with JoySauce and our herculean effort to raise AA+PI visibility in media," he says. "AA+PI's are eight percent of the population nationally, and in some metro markets as high as over 20 percent. Yet the number of speaking roles for Asian Americans in movies and TV is less than three percent.  We must do better and the Very Asian Foundation is helping us all fight the good fight."