The BOX – The Incredible Life of Jim Lee

by Glotime | Jul 29, 2020 | Featured

“It’s absolutely beautiful! I love the illustrations/artwork and Geraldine James’ voice is perfect. It must be invaluable to young people. And the rest of us, frankly, particularly at a time like this.” – Nina Myskow

Jim Lee

The BOX          My BOX

Narrated by          Narrated by

         Richard E. Grant           Geraldine James OBE

https://youtu.be/789UC4ARA6Q            https://youtu.be/Mlv-LyrF-W 

2 x Short Films

“I was 35 years old in 1981…my son Orlando and I had been living together, just the two of us, for eight of his thirteen years. They were to be the last eight years of his short life.”

Following on from the huge success of The BOX and My BOX both published last year, renowned photographer and film director Jim Lee has produced two wonderfully charming and emotive short-film versions narrated by Academy Award Winning actor Richard E. Grant and multi-BAFTA award nominee, acclaimed actress Geraldine James respectively.

My BOX, a new take on his original concept The Box, is aimed at children who may be suffering depression, anxiety or simply just feeling sad. It couldn’t be simpler…put your feelings down on a piece of paper, put them in the box and then revisit them once a day, in a special place. Take whatever is worrying you out of your mind so it doesn’t rule your every waking moment. If it rears its head say No Not Now and return to it only when you open the BOX.

Jim & Orlando

“My son was killed in a car crash. From the moment I was told what had happened, I found myself somewhere so far away from anywhere I had ever been…that I knew if I couldn’t deal with it, I would go mad.”

“So, I had to find a way through. I’m not an academic. I’m not a writer – in fact, I’m both dyslexic and a little dyspraxic. It was in setting out to try and survive, quite simply, that the idea of The BOX was born.”

Jim first met actress Geraldine James when she starred alongside Alan Bates in a 1992 movie titled ‘Losing Track’ which he directed. The script was written by Roger Eldridge as a dedication to Jim after losing his son and was about a 12-year-old boy having difficulties with his father. There was a common bonding on set as Alan bates had lost his 19-year-old son and tragically, the composer who scored the track has lost his 5-year-old son. It seems fitting that after close to 30 years, Geraldine is now narrating Jim’s story.

“Jim Lee has produced here with The BOX a valuable contribution to how we try and cope with major life trauma. He describes a method of confronting these by compartmentalising and using intense focus for limited periods of time. It has a powerful, clear and simple message. Jim describes a personally developed technique for addressing psychological pain, a strongly positive message from a great force for life. I cannot recommend it highly enough!” – Dr Tony Hughes

Jim Lee is best known as a London-based photographer and film director. After working as a fashion art photographer in the late sixties he switched to film directing, creating hundreds of TV commercials as well as working on several full-length features. His earlier photographs form part of the permanent collection at the V & A Museum, with additional photographs in the archives of the Multimedia Arts Museum, Moscow. A book of his life’s work Jim Lee / Arrested was launched in 2012 alongside an exhibition of photographs at Somerset House. Lee’s work is regularly exhibited at galleries around the world.

Geraldine James has been nominated four times for the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress; for Dummy (1977), The Jewel in the Crown (1984), Band of Gold (1995) and The Sins (2000). For her role as Portia in the 1989 Broadway revival of The Merchant of Venice, she was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play and won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play. She also won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the 1989 Venice Film Festival for She’s Been Away. Her film credits include Gandhi (1982), The Tall Guy (1989), Sherlock Holmes (2009), Alice in Wonderland (2010), The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011), and 45 Years (2015). Since 2017, she has starred in the Netflix series Anne with an E as Marilla Cuthbert, and in the 2019 film Downton Abbey as Queen Mary.

Richard E. Grant is a Swazi-British actor. He made his film debut as Withnail in the comedy Withnail and I (1987) and has had prominent roles in films such as How to Get Ahead in Advertising (1989), Hudson Hawk (1991), The Player (1992), Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992), The Age of Innocence (1993), Spice World (1997), Gosford Park (2001), The Iron Lady (2011), Logan (2017), and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019).

In 2018, Grant received critical acclaim for his role as Jack Hock in Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018), winning the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male as well as receiving Academy Award, BAFTA, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor.

 www.theboxbook.co.uk

The Incredible Life of Jim Lee

(Photo by Clare Park)

 ‘Life in B&W’ Documentary Film Teaser – https://tinyurl.com/y66sub6e

Jim’s father was an MI5 operative – a fact he didn’t find out until much later in life, and one that explained his upbringing of privilege and secrecy.

He has struggled all his life with dyslexia.

He emigrated to Australia in 1962 and by the age of 18 had one of his photographs published in Vogue magazine.

As a freelance photojournalist he covered performances by The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.

In 1965 he was drafted into the Australian Army to fight in the Vietnam War, but through his father’s intervention was able to return to the UK.

By 1968 he was a full-time fashion photographer for some of the biggest designers of the time including Ossie Clark, Yves Saint Lauren and Gianni Versace, with his spreads regularly featured in national press and fashion magazines including Vogue, Harpers, Fashion, Elle and The Sunday Times.

By 1973, Lee was working with Jennifer Hocking (editor of Harpers) and Anna Wintour (Jennifer Hocking’s assistant), whom he formed a strong working relationship with, working on distinctive shoots for Coca-Cola, Guinness and American Express. He followed her to New York shooting for clients such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Bloomingdales. His success here led to a 40-page fashion supplement for The New York Times in 1975.

In 1975 he decided to promote his new photo booklet using posters on the sides of London buses. Intrigued by his novel use of the unconventional space and keen to demonstrate the creative opportunities available, London Transport gave Lee a hundred bus-sides for a year to do what he liked with and chose clients of his to advertise on the side of the buses. He made headlines when he put a full-frontal nude on the side of the Number 19 for French Connection much to the consternation of campaigners such as Mary Whitehouse.

In 1978, Lee decided to pursue a career as a film director, initially producing television commercials before going on to direct full-length feature films. Over the next few years he directed many hundreds of commercials including Levi’s, Visa, BMW, Shell, Royal Mail, Johnnie Walker and British Airways.

During the 1980’s he helped set up a film company attracting various directors including David Bailey and Richard Curtis,

In 1992 he directed the full-length feature film ‘Losing Track’ starring Alan Bates. It was screened at numerous film festivals to rave reviews and was shown as part of the BBC’s Screen One strand.

In 2003 he spotted one of his own early photographs in the V&A Magazine, promoting an upcoming exhibition about Ossie Clark – contacting the museum, he was invited to submit several more images to be displayed.

Renewed interest in his photography continued in 2005 through the Nikon sponsored ‘Eyes for Images’ exhibition in London featuring more of his early work. Supported by London Fashion Week, the show was widely reviewed in television and print media, made the national evening news and led to an eight-page spread in The Sunday Times Magazine.

In 2007 he broke his pelvis falling through a roof and now boasts 2ft of metal and 34 rivets in his hip.

More recently, on a skiing trip with his children, Lee suffered three cardiac arrests and essentially died, contracting septicaemia and double pneumonia with doctors giving him a 1% chance of survival. He made a full recovery and now has a pacemaker fitted.

Praise for The BOX has come from some very high-profile people. See www.theboxbook.co.uk/reviews.