With over 180 screenplays in the span of five decades, Ricky Lee has become the most-awarded scriptwriter in the Philippines. 90 trophies and accolades, such as National Artist for Film and Broadcast Arts, the 2015 UP Gawad Plaridel, and the 2015 Gawad CCP.

Born on March 19, 1947 in Daet, Camarines Norte, he had been a shy child, immersed in literature and cinema. He would watch or listen to films from afar, characterizing his creativity. He took AB English at the University of the Philippines Diliman while sidelining as a copywriter for the Philippine Free Press and staff member for Asia-Philippines Leader Magazine. However, before he could finish his degree, he became subjected to media silencing under the Marcos regime; regardless of this, he used media as his source of income and fortitude. 

Heavily influenced by his experiences in the Martial Law era, such as imprisonment in 1974 for co-writing the screenplay for Armando Garces' Dragnet, his works explore themes of power dynamics, marginalization, and social hierarchies. His experimentation with various narrative structures, such as flashback and long-form) has humanized characters surrounding taboo topics; including, but not limited to, murder, marital rape, underground political participation, and sexism. Ricky Lee writes with the conviction that "there is a story, there is a problem, because one's right has been violated... a person is not considered complete, until stories are written to make them whole.