Spike Lee

Producer, director, writer and actor

Spike Lee’s production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, has produced over 35 films since 1983.

He made his directorial debut with She’s Gotta Have It (1986), and has since directed such films as Do the Right Thing (1989), Malcolm X (1992), The Original Kings of Comedy (2000), 25th Hour (2002), Inside Man (2006), and most recently Chi-Raq (2015). Lee has acted in ten of his own films.

Lee’s movies have examined race relations, colorism in the black community, the role of media in contemporary life, urban crime and poverty, and other political issues. Lee has received two Academy Award nominations, a Student Academy Award and an Academy Honorary Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and won numerous other awards, including an Emmy Award and the 2013 Gish Prize.