Lee started Child Hoods productions with brother Cinque around 1992, becoming the associate producer, story writer and co-screenwriter of Spike's effort "Crooklyn" (1994). Loosely based on the Lees' own childhoods, the film featured an African-American Brooklyn family in the 70s with a focus on the family's ten year old daughter. In addition to her other contributions, Lee played the family's Aunt Maxine in "Crooklyn."