By Everett Cooper
From the silver screen to the written page, and now, to the top shelf, Malcolm D. Lee continues to evolve as one of Hollywood’s most dynamic and multi-faceted creators. Best known for directing and producing The Best Man franchise, Lee has redefined the art of telling authentic Black stories rooted in love, brotherhood, and aspiration. Now, with a debut novel and a luxury bourbon brand, Lee is turning the page to a bold new chapter.
Lee sat down with UPTOWN Magazine for an intimate and wide-ranging conversation about his ever-evolving journey as a storyteller, entrepreneur, and cultural tastemaker. While The Best Man saga cemented his legacy in Black cinematic history, Lee is now turning the page, quite literally, with the debut of his first novel and the launch of Sable Bourbon, a luxury spirits brand rooted in brotherhood. Though the interview wasn’t conducted on Martha’s Vineyard, the island remains a powerful muse for Lee. A place that reflects the very themes he explores–legacy, community, and elevation. In our conversation, he unpacks what it means to expand creatively and commercially while staying grounded in authenticity.
You’ve worn many hats over the years, director, producer, writer, and now author and spirits entrepreneur. How would you describe this chapter of your journey?
Malcolm D. Lee: You know, it’s all just a part of an evolution. I wouldn’t say it’s been purposeful; it just unfolded. Each step has felt like the next logical move in my journey as a person, as an adult, and as a creator. Things have happened organically. The Best Man and The Best Man Holiday were deliberate choices—those were strategic. Becoming an author and launching a spirits brand came from that.
You published your debut novel this summer, The Best Man: Unfinished Business, which is a continuation of your The Best Man franchise, picking up where the Peacock series left off. How did this come about?
Lee: When The Best Man: The Final Chapters ended, I didn’t want to do anything else with The Best Man. I felt like I was finished with the characters, but it was suggested to me by a friend to write books about them. He was really pushing me in an entrepreneurial way—The Best Man books, The Best Man cruises, The Best Man booze. But the books kind of spoke to me because I really have always loved the written word and I consider myself a storyteller.
I had fantasies about sitting on the Vineyard, with a coffee and a muffin, writing on a typewriter like Stephen J. Cannell. So, I gave it a shot. I thought I could do it, and with a writing partner, best-selling novelist Jayne Allen, it became real.
The Best Man franchise has resonated deeply with audiences over the years. What do you think has made it such an enduring cultural touchstone?
Lee: You know, I get asked this question a lot, and I think it’s because it’s about people that we know. It shows the joy, pain, conflict, and resolution that we experience in life—especially within friendships and relationships. There’s authenticity. And it’s aspirational without being out of reach. That balance is why people have stuck with it. I have met fans of The Best Man over the years, but never in the way that I have during my book tour this summer. The venues were sold out everywhere we went, and I met people in cities all over the country who were deeply touched or entertained by these stories and these characters. That’s the real reward, knowing that something I created has shown who we are, shown our humanity, and allows people to see themselves and people they know.
Was there anything cathartic or surprising about putting your creative or emotional journey into words?
Lee: No, not really surprising. I think that I put a lot of myself, and I try to put not only humor, but also emotion and pathos and strong characters, and conflict in what I write. When I’m writing, when I’m collaborating with Jayne Allen, when I’m reading it back, when I’m listening to it now, it still resonates. I was listening to the audiobook and there are some very emotional things in there that actually made me tear up for these characters. And it’s not stuff that I’ve gone through, but it’s stuff that I know that people have gone through.
Tell us about your vision for The Best Man trilogy of novels. Book one is The Best Man: Unfinished Business. What should readers expect?
Lee: When I pitched this trilogy of books, the plan was to take each character and dedicate a chapter to them. The first book was going to center around Harper, Robyn, and Jordan, because that’s kind of the love triangle. There’s a lot of open-ended questions, a lot of emotion, a lot of humor that’s gonna come out of these characters. And then book two is going to be Lance, his new bride Jasmine, Candace, and Murch. Then, we would get into Quentin and Shelby and then bring the other characters all together.
But the characters and the story dictate where you go, so we left the readers on a bit of a cliffhanger in book one. Harper, Robyn, and Jordan’s story will continue in the second book and be mixed in with the other characters’. We hope it doesn’t get too unwieldy. I mean, The Best Man: Unfinished Business was close to 500 pages. I guess readers can probably expect around the same length for book two. Maybe less. We’ll see, but now we’ll be dealing with seven characters, as opposed to three.
You have also entered the spirits space as an entrepreneur. How did that come about?
Lee: I’m very excited about Sable Bourbon. It was a brainchild of Harold Perrineau, which came out of working with us on The Best Man franchise.
He said, “OK, we, as the characters, drink a lot of brown liquor in the show. Why don’t we make our own?” And we all thought it was a great idea and a way we could all continue to work together since The Best Man movies ended. So, Harold, Morris Chestnut, Taye Diggs, and I teamed up, and went to Bespoken Spirits, and said, “We want to try this. What do you think?” The great thing was that no one was coming to us asking us to endorse something. We came to them and said, “We want to invest. We want to own.”
Sable is an extension of The Best Man brand, if you will. It’s a representation of the brotherhood I have with these cats who’ve been to my home, and who I’ve been on vacation with, who were at my wedding. So, it’s a natural progression. Brown liquor is a very adult drink, and as I’ve gotten older, I’ve developed more appreciation for brown liquor. I think it’s just necessary also to diversify your business and not put all your eggs in one basket. It’s a tough world out there, and the film and tv industry is a tough business that is ever contracting, not expanding. It’s important for folks to expand, not for vanity’s sake or because it would be cool. Sable is very, very cool, but it’s also, potentially, a good long-term investment.
Sable Bourbon is described as smooth, bold, and luxurious. How much of that reflects your personal taste and identity?
Lee: I’m very smooth, bold, and luxurious myself. Uh, no. I mean, it was gonna be a bourbon or a whiskey. We tried a number of things—bourbons, whiskeys, rye. But I love the sound of bourbon. I love the word “bourbon.” And I love what Sable ended up tasting like.
What we wanted to get across with the liquor is that it’s all those things. It is aspirational. It is smooth, it doesn’t burn. It’s something that can be shared and sipped and savored. We wanted it to evoke a feeling of camaraderie and brotherhood and friendship.
We also wanted it to be accessible, just like The Best Man characters are. There’s an aspirational quality to the characters in The Best Man. But they’re very down-to-earth. They’re very much real people that we know. They’re not so far gone that viewers are like, “Oh, like, I can’t reach these cats, I can’t touch these cats, I can’t relate to them.” So, we wanted the bourbon to have that same feeling.
Sable is a quality beverage that you can make quality cocktails with, and you have quality time with. Also, we wanted it to be classy. Everything from the name of it, to the color, to the font, to the bottle shape, the color of the juice, the taste, the cork, the insignia, the crown, and, you know, the slogan, “Bottled in Brotherhood,” are all part of what we wanted it to sound and feel and experience.
Much of my personal taste and identity is in the bourbon. You know, I’m a Sable guy. I think that we are all Sable guys. It makes sense.
You’ve said Sable is about celebration and connection. How do you envision it fitting into the lifestyle and culture of places like Martha’s Vineyard and Oak Bluffs?
Lee: Oh, you know, it fits here like a glove. Sable IS Martha’s Vineyard. Black folks having a place to call their own, Black folks having a place to gather and celebrate, and just be is very much part of the whole Sable experience and brand. I can’t think of a better match, to be quite honest with you, when it comes to our spirit brand and Martha’s Vineyard and Oak Bluffs, specifically. I want Sable to be synonymous with Martha’s Vineyard.
