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Roy Lee Involved with Scorsese's Oscar Win

Involved with the long-delayed Oscar win of U.S. film director Martin Scorsese was the insight and business skills of a Korean American producer.

At the 79th Academy Awards, Scorsese won the Best Film and Best Director awards for his film "Departed". It was Roy Lee who bought the copyright to the famed Hong Kong film "Infernal Affairs" and asked Scorsese to do a remake.

"Departed" received five nominations and won four, except for Best Supporting Actor (Michael Wahlberg).

Lee wanted to remake "Infernal Affairs", which is about a police officer and a mafia gangster who secretly infiltrate each other's organization. Lee also took part in the production to have his name listed 7th among the film's 13 producers.

He was born and raised in New York by his parents, who immigrated to the U.S. in the 1960s. In 2001, he founded Vertigo Entertainment and has produced many of the Hollywood remakes of Asian movies such as "Grudge", its sequel "The Ring Two" and "The Lake House".

Lake House was the remake of the Korean film "Il Mare" which starred Jun Ji-hyun and Lee Jung-jae. He also bought the copyrights to "My Sassy Girl" and "My Wife is a Gangster".

One of the six joint producers of the Oscar winning short film "West Bank Story" is also a Korean American who produced the TV series "I'm With Her" and "Maybe It's Me".

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