Bruce Lee Brand to be Relaunched

LOS ANGELES: Bruce Lee’s daughter Shannon Lee is gearing up for a major expansion of her late father’s brand, with several new television projects in the works, including a Chinese-language biopic and an animated series for the worldwide market.

Shannon Lee’s efforts to reinvigorate the Bruce Lee brand include a flagship website, BruceLee.com. “BruceLee.com will be the beacon of all things Bruce Lee on the Internet,” said Shannon Lee. “The site will include everything from facts about Bruce Lee to digital content to merchandise. I’ll also be writing a blog. My father’s fans have been asking for a place to find information and communicate with each other. This site will be a meeting place for our community.”

In addition, a new licensing program is being developed. Last year, Lee acquired her family’s merchandising rights back from Universal Studios and established Bruce Lee Enterprises (BLE) to handle the licensing of the Bruce Lee name and likeness. "The ethos of Bruce Lee—action, power, grace and style—provides a broad base appeal that we are just beginning to realize,” says Alex Stephens, the VP of licensing at BLE. “Bruce smashed racial, gender and generational barriers during his lifetime and our partners understand that his image enables them to market products to a broad and attractive demographic.”

Shannon Lee also established LeeWay Media Group, a TV and film production company. Projects being coordinated by LeeWay Media Group include a Chinese-language biopic directed by noted Hong Kong director Andrew Lau, an animation project with Waddell Media and Ireland-based Flickerpix, a CG action film and a Broadway musical. Recently completed projects include a 50-part television biography of Bruce Lee that aired in China on CCTV and How Bruce Lee Changed the World, which aired on the History Channel.

Bruce Lee Enterprises also says it embarking on an "aggressive program to protect the integrity of the Bruce Lee brand in the United States and internationally." This effort is being led by Kris Storti, COO and general counsel. "We are re-doubling our efforts around the world," Storti said. "We are absolutely commited to a vigorous protection of the Bruce Lee brand and our intellectual property, and plan to pursue legal action whenever necessary. This, unfortunately, includes the recently announced biopic by JA Media and Robert Lee.”