Filmmaker Quentin Lee uses the handle @gayhollywooddad on social media, which is fitting considering they work in Hollywood and are the parent to an eight-year-old son.
But there’s also the fact that, over the past 30 years, Lee’s passionate and tireless work in the industry—producing, writing, and directing an astoundingly diverse crop of independent projects—has helped father the careers of countless other actors, artists, and filmmakers, especially those telling stories about the Asian-American and LGBTQ+ communities.
In more recent years, Lee’s been able to turn their spotlight to the world of comedy, particularly by uplifting marginalized voices in standup. There were the Brash Girls Club and Brash Boys Club specials, respectively featuring queer femme and masc comics, and the Comedy InvAsian series, giving the stage to emerging Asian performers.
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And now, just in time for Pride Month, Lee is sharing their latest comedy effort, Laugh Proud, which highlights a group of nine comedians that represent the breadth of the LGBTQ+ spectrum, from veteran Jason Stuart to 7G, “the world’s first intersex comic.”
With the comedy special hitting digital platforms this week (May 30, to be exact!), we sat down with Lee for another round of our rapid-fire Q&A series, Dishin’ It. In our conversation, the filmmaker unpacks why comedy is such a great medium for queer voices to flourish, remembers when they walked their college graduation in drag, and reflects on working on a film set with Ellen Degeneres and Steven Spielberg.
Is there a piece of media—whether a movie, TV series, book, album, theater, video game, etc…—that you consider a big part of your own coming-out journey, or that has played an important role in your understanding of queerness? Why does it stand out to you?
When I was coming out or exploring my sexuality in late ’80s as a Canadian high schooler, there were literally no LGBTQ+ films that were accessible. My coming out book was Edmund White’s A Boy Own’s Story, which a fellow author friend told me about when I was attending a children’s book writing conference in the summer we landed in Montreal at 16. As a teenager, I used to think I wanted to write gay novels for teenagers LOL!
The comics featured in Laugh Proud represent a wide array of the LGBTQ+ community, and also range from up-and-comers to seasoned veterans. How did you go about “assembling the team” for your comedy special?
When I first put out the casting call, Jason Stuart reached out to me and I said sure immediately! I had also tagged 7G since I met them. The rest of the cast I met through open casting sessions. My goal of casting Laugh Proud and all of my comedy specials was less about attaching names but discovering new and unique voices.
Given LGBTQ+ comedians have been at the center of a number of the projects you’ve worked on lately, why do you see the comedy/stand-up world as such a natural place for queer voices to flourish?
I think the comedy/stand-up world is a natural place for not just queer voices but all kinds of diverse voices. As a queer and non-binary creator of color, I find the genre of stand-up comedy to be free and liberating allowing diverse stories and storytelling to flourish. Especially in the stand-up comedy genre I could present an artist’s vision and story most organic and raw. My role as a filmmaker is more similar to that of a documentary filmmaker. As a producer and director, I feel very satisfied in presenting original stories and voices from unique comics in the stand-up genre.
You’ve been involved in so many independent projects over the last 30 years as a writer/ director/producer—is there one project in particular you wish had gotten more attention?
Every independent project I’ve made I gave it my full attention since as an independent filmmaker I had no choice but to literally hand-made every film from the heart. I guess that has become my brand as a creator. Everything I’ve made is auteur-driven. I even had to act in my first few short films… thank god those days were long over.
You’ve collaborated with so many talented people and a number of big-name stars over the years—who’s a celebrity you’ve met that surprised you the most and why?
I’ll let you know a pleasant surprise… as opposed to the unpleasant ones LOL! I worked with Chris Zylka, Paris Hilton’s ex-fiancé, when he literally walked onto my set of The People I’ve Slept With after modeling for Abercrombie. It was literally his first on-screen role and he had to perform nudity. He is such a handsome man and his good looks intimidated me as a director. But he was so comfortable with himself and so nice on set… and he made working with him, then without an intimacy coordinator, so comfortable for me and the lead actress. It was such a pleasant and collaborative experience that as a filmmaker I was really grateful for.
It’s been nearly 6 years now since you first shared your documentary Gay Hollywood Dad— what has that project meant to you, and what’s something you’d say you’ve learned about Hollywood in the years since?
Funny you mention Gay Hollywood Dad as I’m finally putting it into wider distribution this Pride Month. I made it as a gift to my now 8-year-old son because I really wanted to show him how he has come to be. And in case if his friends ever asked him or wondered, he could show them the documentary. Hollywood is ever changing… and I’ve learned to be myself despite everyone was trying to tell you to be someone else.
Elsewhere, you’ve previously shared a story about how you did your Berkley graduation in drag—where did that idea come from? Had you done drag before then? From what you can remember, what was the most difficult part of pulling that off?
When I was going to Berkeley I was a real queer and feminist theory-head and I practiced drag as cultural resistance; so naturally being in drag should be what I was doing… performing what I’ve learned from the fabulous Judith Butler! It was super easy to do drag when I was young cuz I was thinner LOL. My dad laughed it off saying, “You’re very funny. No wonder you grew out your hair!” I also went to The Phantom Of The Opera with my family in drag a couple years before in Montreal.
Who is a queer or trans artist/performer/creator that you think is doing really cool work right now? Why are they someone we should all be paying attention to?
There are so many queer artists I want to work with… but off the top of my head I’d like to make a movie with Wanda Sykes as an actress, and work with actors Guillermo Díaz, Ian McKellen, Jake Choi, Lance Bass, Luke Evans, Ellen Degeneres, Neil Patrick Harris, Cheyenne Jackson, Kiley May, Neil Patrick Harris on something… call me a filmmaking slut! I’ve actually already worked with Jake Choi and Ellen Degeneres on Searching For Anna May Wong and The Love Letter where I was the producer and the assistant to director, respectively.
I remember on the set of The Love Letter in 1999 we were instructed by the production coordinator to never drink those 1.5 liter bottles of Arrowhead water in the coolers because those were Ellen’s water. And I really regretted not having taken a photo with Steven Spielberg who was on set the whole summer. A Hong Kong journalist even made me shoot Spielberg on her camcorder while she interviewed him.
Laugh Proud is available via VOD services beginning May 30.
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