Bollywood Society » Who is Spike Lee?

Who is Spike Lee?

by Ratan Srivastava
Spike Lee

Shelton Jackson or Spike Lee is indeed a filmmaker, producer, screenwriter, actor, as well as a lecturer from the United States. Since 1983, his production firm, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks has produced over 35 movies. With She’s Gotta Have It, he made his directorial debut (1986). Since then, he has written and directed a number of films, including Do the Right Thing (1989), Mo’ Better Blues (1990), Jungle Fever (1991), Malcolm X (1992), Crooklyn (1994), Clockers (1995), 25th Hour (2002), Inside Man (2006), Chi-Raq (2015), BlacKkKlansman (2018), and Da 5 Bloods (2020). Lee also appeared in 10 of his films as an actor.

Race relations, colourism in the black community, the role of media in contemporary life, urban crime and poverty, and other political topics have all been covered in Lee’s work.

Lee offered a filmmaking course at Harvard in 1991. He started teaching in the Graduate Film Program at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts in 1993. He earned his master of fine arts degree there. He was named artistic director of the school in 2002. He is presently a tenured professor at New York University.

Lee was contracted by Levi’s to direct a series of TV advertisements for their 501 button-fly jeans in the mid-1990s.

Lee was approached by Nike marketing officials who offered him a position directing ads for the firm. They planned to use Lee’s character, Mars Blackmon, as a marketing campaign for the Air Jordan brand since he liked athlete Michael Jordan. Later, Lee was asked about the situation of inner-city teenagers attempting to steal Air Jordans from other youngsters, which has resulted in violence.

Rather of criticising the producers of fashionable clothing, he added, “deal with the factors that cause a youngster to place such a high value on a pair of sneakers, a jacket, and gold.”

Lee has directed commercials for Converse, Jaguar, Taco Bell, and Ben & Jerry’s through 40 Acres and a Mule’s marketing division.

“Spike Lee Joints” is a term used to describe Lee’s films. “By Any Means Necessary,” “Ya Dig,” and “Sho Nuff” are usually included in the closing credits. After producers had it re-edited, his 2013 picture Oldboy featured the conventional “A Spike Lee Film” credit.

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