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TONYA LEWIS LEE is a director, producer, and writer whose work often explores the personal impact of social justice issues. As a producer, Lee has produced film and television including MONSTER, which premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival and is now on Netflix. Most recently Lee co-directed and co-produced AFTERSHOCK, that premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, which examines the U.S. maternal mortality crisis. AFTERSHOCK won the Special Jury Award at Sundance for impact for change and was acquired by Onyx and ABC News to stream on Hulu.
An author of three children’s books including the classic PLEASE BABY PLEASE, Tonya has enjoyed over twenty years of producing content for television and streaming platforms including SHE’S GOTTA HAVE IT for Netflix.
Working through her production company ToniK Productions, adapting books to screen has been a sweet spot for Tonya as she produced such classics as the Jacqueline Woodson novel, MIRACLE’S BOYS, a six-part television series, and the television film THE WATSONS GO TO BIRMINGHAM, based on the Christopher Paul Curtis novel.
Tonya has also produced unscripted television including the film I SIT WHERE I WANT, THE LEGACY OF BROWN V. THE BOARD OF EDUCATION for Nickelodeon, the documentary film CRISIS IN THE CRIB for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, exploring infant mortality in the United States.
As an entrepreneur, Tonya founded MOVITA ORGANICS, an organic vitamin supplement company that not only provides tools for women to access a healthy life but content as well.
Tonya is also a member of the Writers Guild of America and a member of PGA’s Producers Council Board of Delegates, and Co-Chair of the One Guild committee advancing diversity, equity and inclusion amongst producers in the film and television industry, Tonya graduated from Sarah Lawrence College with a B.A. and from the University of Virginia School of Law with a J.D. She lives in New York City with her husband and is the mother of two children.
ToniK Productions is a content production company that focuses on provocative storytelling with an original voice working in collaboration with visionary writers, directors and other creatives.
Tonya Lewis Lee and Nikki Silver launched ToniK after Viacom paired the two to produce the mini-series MIRACLES BOYS, based on the book of the same name by MacArthur Genius Award winner Jacqueline Woodson. ToniK next produced two feature films based on Newberry Award winners, THE GIVER, by Lois Lowry and THE WATSON'S GO TO BIRMINGHAM by Christopher Paul Curtis. The company previously teamed with Netflix on the episodic series, SHE'S GOTTA HAVE IT. Most recently, ToniK’s film MONSTER, based on Walter Dean Myers’ acclaimed novel, was released on Netflix and reached Top 10 globally.
ToniK Productions develops content from the beginning stages, discovering source material, finding film financing, curating the creative team and developing strategic sales planning and execution.
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NIKKI SILVER is an Emmy-award winning producer and a founder of With a Twist and ToniK Productions.
Most recently, Nikki produced MONSTER, based on Walter Dean Myers’ acclaimed novel, which aired on Netflix in 2021 and reached Top 10 globally. The film stars Jennifer Hudson, Jeffrey Wright, A$AP Rocky and Nas and premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. She executive produced the 2019 Sundance Film Festival feature PREMATURE, directed by Rashaad Ernesto Green, which was bought by IFC Films. Nikki previously produced THE GIVER, an adaption of Lois Lowry’s Newbery Award-winning novel, alongside Academy Award winner Jeff Bridges. The film stars Jeff Bridges, Meryl Streep, Katie Holmes and Alexander Skarsgård and was distributed by The Weinstein Company. That year, Nikki also produced THE WATSONS GO TO BIRMINGHAM. Based on the Christopher Paul Curtis novel, the film, a co-production with Walmart and Proctor & Gamble, premiered on The Hallmark Channel.
Throughout her career, Nikki has produced scripted and documentary programming for a variety of networks with some of today’s top talent. For PBS, she helmed the documentary TEENAGE WITNESS, following Fanya Heller, an 83-year-old Holocaust survivor, which Richard Gere narrated, and the 2011 American Masters film, JEFF BRIDGES: THE DUDE ABIDES, on the life and family of Jeff Bridges. For Showtime, Nikki created and produced WHAT’S GOING ON?, a documentary series made in association with the United Nations and hosted by top celebrity activists including Michael Douglas, Angelina Jolie, Richard Gere and Laurence Fishburne. For Viacom’s the N, she adapted Jacqueline Woodson’s MIRACLE’S BOYS, a live-action mini-series directed by Spike Lee, Ernest Dickerson, LeVar Burton and Bill Duke.
Nikki began her career in children’s television producing the beloved READING RAINBOW for PBS. The series won 24 Emmys, including Best Children’s Series for five consecutive years. During this time, she also produced THE ZACK FILES, THE PUZZLE PLACE, BACKYARD SAFARI and OUTWARD BOUND.
Nikki received her B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania. She grew up in New York City, where she currently lives with her husband and their three children.