Bio
Moonyeenn Lee (1944-2020) was a South African casting director who headed the most successful talent agency in the country, Moonyeenn Lee Associates (MLA).
Moonyeenn Lee was trained by James Fraser in 1974 (then, head of Fraser and Dunlop, London) to be an agent representing actors, writers and directors.
She was renowned as one of South Africa’s leading agents and represented some of South Africa’s best known actors through her company, MLA.
She practiced as an agent from 1977 until her death in 2020. Many of her representatives were multi–award winning artists.
She formed Khulisa Productions in 2003 to make South African films. The first film produced by Khulisa Productions was Promised Land.
In 2003 Moonyeenn was nominated to the National Executive Committee of the Independent Producers Organisation and to the Film Board of Create South Africa.
Examples of Film projects that Moonyeenn was instrumental in:
Triomf
Catch a Fire
Goodbye Bafana
Blood Diamond
Tsotsi
Hotel Rwanda
Examples of Television series:
Wild at Heart
The Lab
The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency
Yizo Yizo
Heartlines
A Time of Violence
She was a judge on the SABC1 reality competition television series Class Act, in 2010. The winners of the series received an agency contract with MLA, among other prizes.
Moonyeenn was the mother of actor David Lee.
She died on Saturday 18 July, 2020, from complications related to COVID-19.