Katherine Lee has joined Ivanhoe Pictures as head of production and development/Asia.

In the newly created role Lee will oversee the company’s growing Asian film development and production activities.  

Based out of Ivanhoe’s Beijing and Hong Kong offices, Lee will report to CEO John Penotti and will work closely with the company’s Beijing office.  

“We are thrilled to add such an experienced and successful film executive to our Asian team,” said John Penotti. “Katherine has worked closely with some of the biggest names in Chinese cinema and her relationships and expertise will help Ivanhoe grow its core business in the coming years.” 

Most recently, Lee headed Peter Chan’s company We Distribution. She started her career in production in 1992, later working as a production coordinator for Sylvia Chang and subsequently building her international experience by joining Fortissimo Film Sales and later Filmko Pictures Limited respectively. 

Ivanhoe Pictures was formed in 2013 with the backed by international financier Robert Friedland. Last year the company announced a $130m co-financing deal with Fox International Productions focused on select local-language films in China, India, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan. 

More recently, the company commenced a deal in partnership with Blumhouse Pictures and India’s Phantom Films to produce a slate of ten Hindi-language genre films.

Ivanhoe has also partnered with producer Nina Jacobson to finance and produce Kevin Kwan’s comedic bestseller Crazy Rich Asians.