Kay Lee is a Production Designer for feature films, television, music videos and commercials.
Growing up in a small suburb outside Chicago, Kay spent her afternoons after school experimenting with her sewing machine and constantly rearranging the furniture—much to the consternation of her parents. When she finally escaped East to attend Brown University, her passion for designing and reinventing the spaces around her followed. She devoted herself to sculpture and architecture while designing costumes for student theater productions in her spare time. She ultimately graduated with Honors in Visual Arts and Urban Studies and was awarded the Ann Belsky Moranis Prize for artistic excellence.
Kay started her career as a fashion and technical designer for major apparel companies such as Ralph Lauren and The Gap, while also costume designing Off-Broadway theater shows. Her desire to design and build spaces never left, however, so when she was offered the chance to production design her brother’s graduate thesis film, she leapt at the opportunity. This led to work on numerous NYU and Columbia short films and soon she found that she had discovered a new craft—one that incorporated all of her varied interests. She has not looked back since.
One of her first feature films that she designed was Alexandre Moor’s BLUE CAPRICE. The film was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award, two Gotham Awards, and the Sundance Audience Award. Following this success, Kay went on to work with such innovative directors as Spike Lee (DA SWEET BLOOD OF JESUS), Ben Younger (BLEED FOR THIS) and Karyn Kusama (DESTROYER). DESTROYER is soon to be released by Annapurna Pictures. Her most recent feature project is ALL DAY AND A NIGHT, written and directed by Joe Robert Cole, the award-winning co-writer of BLACK PANTHER. In addition to her feature work, Kay has production designed two Netflix television shows, GIRLBOSS and ON MY BLOCK, as well as the two-time Golden Globe-nominated HBO series INSECURE.
She currently lives in Santa Monica, CA.