Tonya Lewis Lee

Tonya Lewis Lee (born Tonya Linnette Lewis; March 30, 1966) is an American film and television producer, author, entrepreneur and advocate for women and infant health. Since founding her production company, Madstone Company Inc.[1] in 1998 she has been a constant fixture in media for young people publishing the children’s books Please Baby Please[2] and creating content for Nickelodeon (Television).

Lewis Lee also served as the spokesperson for A Healthy Baby Begins With You[3] an infant mortality awareness raising campaign out of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health from 2007 to 2013. Through the campaign she traveled the US speaking on issues of women’s health for the sake of their unborn children. She also produced the documentary film Crisis in the Crib: Saving Our Nation's Babies.[4] It was out of the campaign that she founded Healthy You Now,[5] a web platform for women’s health. In 2015 she founded Movita,[3] an organic vitamin company that is sold through e-commerce.

As a film and TV producer, in 2014 Lewis Lee founded ToniK Productions[6] along with her partner Nikki Silver where they produce content for the entire family. Since its founding, ToniK has produced several projects including The Watsons Go To Birmingham[7] which Lewis Lee wrote, The Giver, She's Gotta Have It and MONSTER.[8]

Career

Film and Television: Lewis Lee has been producing content for television and film for nearly 20 years. She began her career producing interstitial programming for Nickelodeon. She then went on to produce larger projects for them, ultimately producing the mini series Miracle’s Boys for the network along with the documentary, I Sit Where I Want, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education decision.[9] Eventually Lewis Lee would join forces with Nikki Silver and found the production company ToniK Productions in 2014.

Books and Scripts: Lewis Lee is also a writer having penned three children’s books, Please Baby Please, Please Puppy Please,[10] and Giant Steps to Change the World.[11] She is also the co-author of the New York Times bestselling Gotham Diaries[12] and the writer of the script, "The Watsons Go to Birmingham."

Healthy You Now: Because of her work with the infant mortality awareness raising campaign, A Healthy Baby Begins With You, Lewis Lee began the website HealthyYouNow.com as a platform for women to discover health information and inspiration.

Movita: In 2015, Lewis Lee joined forces with Robert Sires to found Movita Organics, a line of organic vitamins for women that are sold through its own website, movitaorganics.com.

Personal life

Lewis Lee was born in Yonkers, New York, to Philip Morris corporate executive George Ralph Lewis and Lillian Charlotte (Glenn), who came north from Virginia. She graduated from Sarah Lawrence College with a BA and the University of Virginia School of Law with a JD. After practicing law at Nixon, Hargrave, Devans & Doyle LLP in Washington, DC for nearly two years, she returned to New York in 1993 and married her husband Spike Lee. They have two children.

Filmography

Film
  • The Watsons Go to Birmingham
  • MONSTER

Television Series

Books
  • Please Baby Please
  • Please Puppy Please[14]
  • Giant Steps to Change the World
  • Gotham Diaries

Products

References
  1. "Madstone Films: Private Company Information - Bloomberg". www.bloomberg.com.
  2. Tillet, Salamishah (17 November 2017). "A New 'She's Gotta Have It': Spike Lee's Feminist Breakthrough" – via NYTimes.com.
  3. Terrell, Dontaira (6 March 2017). "How Tonya Lewis Lee Is Helping Women Achieve Their Best Health".
  4. "Filmmaker Tonya Lewis Lee Talks Black Female Health - EBONY". www.ebony.com.
  5. Rothkranz, Lindzy (13 February 2015). "Tonya Lewis Lee, Spike's Wife: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know".
  6. Pliska, Jessica. "These Women Show You How To Make Movies With Meaning".
  7. "'Gallagher Girls' Book Series Optioned by Producers Tonya Lewis Lee and Nikki Silver (Exclusive)".
  8. Productions, ToniK. "Tonya Lewis Lee And Nikki Silver's ToniK Productions' Film "MONSTER" To Premiere At 2018 Sundance Film Festival". www.prnewswire.com.
  9. "Filmmaker Tonya Lewis Lee Talks Black Female Health - EBONY". www.ebony.com.
  10. "This holiday season boasts a range of toys and books for black kids".
  11. Russell, Mary Harris. ""Giant Steps to Change the World" by Spike Lee & Tonya Lewis Lee".
  12. "'Gotham Diaries': Gossip of a City's Black Elite".
  13. "That's What I'm Talking About" – via www.imdb.com.
  14. "Black schoolgirl starts campaign to find 1,000 books with black girl leads". 28 January 2016.
  15. "Tonya Lewis Lee Launches Movita – Premiere Multivitamin for Women".
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