Spike Lee filmography

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Spike Lee in 2007

Spike Lee is an American film director, producer, writer, and actor, known for films that deal with controversial social and political issues. Lee's films are typically referred to as "Spike Lee Joints" and the closing credits always end with the phrases "By Any Means Necessary," "Ya Dig," and "Sho Nuff."[1]

Lee received a Master of Fine Arts from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, which culminated in his thesis film Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads, the first student film to be showcased in Lincoln Center's New Directors/New Films Festival.[2] Lee's first feature-film She's Gotta Have It was released three years later in 1986. Lee directed, produced, wrote, and acted in his first three feature-films: She's Gotta Have It, School Daze, and Do the Right Thing. Lee has starred or acted in many of his own films, including the role of Mars Blackmon, which he reprised for a series of Nike commercials that also starred Michael Jordan.[3]

In addition to his feature-film credits, Lee has directed music videos by artists such as Prince, Michael Jackson, Anita Baker and Eminem. He has also directed music videos for songs featured in films he has directed, including "Fight the Power" by Public Enemy, which was featured heavily in the 1989 film Do the Right Thing.[4]

Filmography[]

Feature films[]

Year Title Credited as
Director Producer Writer
1983 Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads Yes Yes Yes
1986 She's Gotta Have It Yes Yes Yes
1988 School Daze Yes Yes Yes
1989 Do the Right Thing Yes Yes Yes
1990 Mo' Better Blues Yes Yes Yes
1991 Jungle Fever Yes Yes Yes
1992 Malcolm X Yes Yes Yes
1994 Crooklyn Yes Yes Yes
1995 Clockers Yes Yes Yes
1996 Girl 6 Yes Yes No
Get on the Bus Yes Executive No
1998 He Got Game Yes Yes Yes
1999 Summer of Sam Yes Yes Yes
2000 Bamboozled Yes Yes Yes
2002 25th Hour Yes Yes No
2004 She Hate Me Yes Yes Yes
2006 Inside Man Yes No No
2008 Miracle at St. Anna Yes Yes No
2012 Red Hook Summer Yes Yes Yes
2013 Oldboy Yes No No
2014 Da Sweet Blood of Jesus Yes Yes Yes
2015 Chi-Raq Yes Yes Yes
2018 BlacKkKlansman Yes Yes Yes
2020 Da 5 Bloods Yes Yes Yes
TBA Prince of Cats[5] Yes TBA No

Executive producer

Producer

Short films[]

Year Title Credited as Notes
Director Writer Producer
1979 Last Hustle in Brooklyn Yes Yes No
1980 The Answer Yes Yes No
1981 Sarah Yes Yes No
1995 Lumière and Company Yes No No Segment
2001 Come Rain or Come Shine Yes No No
2002 "We Wuz Robbed" Yes No Yes Segment of Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet
2005 "Jesus Children of America" Yes No Yes Segment of All the Invisible Children
2017 Brave: Visions for Moncler Yes No No
2020 "New York, New York" Yes Yes Yes
"3 Brothers: Radio Raheem, Eric Garner and George Floyd" Yes Yes Yes

Documentary[]

Year Title Credited as
Director Producer
1997 4 Little Girls Yes Yes
2000 The Original Kings of Comedy Yes Yes
2012 Bad 25 Yes Yes
2016 Michael Jackson's Journey from Motown to Off the Wall Yes Yes
2 Fists Up[6] Yes No
2020 David Byrne's American Utopia Yes Yes

Acting roles[]

Year Film Role Notes
1986 She's Gotta Have It Mars Blackmon
1988 School Daze Half-Pint
1989 Do the Right Thing Mookie
1990 Mo' Better Blues Giant
Lonely in America Himself
1991 Jungle Fever Cyrus
1992 Malcolm X Shorty
1994 Crooklyn Snuffy
Drop Squad Himself
1995 Lumière and Company Short film
Clockers Chucky
1996 Girl 6 Jimmy
1999 Summer of Sam John Jeffries
2000 Lisa Picard Is Famous Himself
2001 3 A.M. Filmmaker
2012 Red Hook Summer Mookie

Television[]

Year Title Credited as Notes
Director Producer Writer
2004 Sucker Free City Yes Yes No Television film
2005 Miracle's Boys Yes No No Episodes: "New Charlie" and "Bond of Brothers"
2006 Shark Yes No No Pilot
2007 M.O.N.Y. Yes No No Unaired pilot
2011 Da Brick Yes Yes No Unaired pilot
2014 Katt Williams: Priceless: Afterlife Yes Executive No Stand-up special
Jerrod Carmichael: Love at the Store Yes No No
2017–2019 She's Gotta Have It Yes Executive Yes Creator

Documentary[]

Year Title Credited as
Director Producer
1990 Spike Lee & Company: Do It a Cappella Yes No
1999 Pavarotti and Friends for Guatemala and Kosovo Yes No
2002 Jim Brown: All-American Yes Yes
2006 When The Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts Yes Yes
2009 Kobe Doin' Work Yes Yes
2010 If God Is Willing and da Creek Don't Rise Yes Yes
2021 NYC Epicenters 9/11→2021½ Yes Yes

Stage show[]

Year Title Credited as
Director Producer
1998 Freak Yes No
2001 A Huey P. Newton Story Yes No
2008 Passing Strange Yes No
2013 Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth Yes Yes
2017 Rodney King Yes Yes
2018 Pass Over Yes No
2020 American Utopia Yes Yes

Acting roles[]

Year Title Role Notes
1986 Saturday Night Live Mars Blackmon Episode: "Malcolm-Jamal Warner/Run-DMC"
1992 Ghostwriter Special Agent Pete Episode: "Into the Comics: Part 1"
2017–2019 She's Gotta Have It Joe the Bartender / Drum Major 2 episodes

Music videos[]

Year Artist Song Album
1983 Grandmaster Flash and Melle Mel "White Lines (Don't Don't Do It)"
1987 Anita Baker "No One in the World" Rapture
1988 E.U. "Da Butt" School Daze OST
1989 Public Enemy "Fight the Power" Do the Right Thing OST
and Fear of a Black Planet
1991 Fishbone "Sunless Saturday" The Reality of My Surroundings
State of Art "Understanding" Community
1992 "Laughing at the Years"
Prince and the New Power Generation "Money Don't Matter 2 Night" Diamonds and Pearls
Arrested Development "Revolution"[7] Malcolm X OST
1993 Naughty by Nature "Hip Hop Hooray" 19 Naughty III
Eros Ramazzotti "Cose della vita" Tutte storie
Bruce Hornsby "Talk Of The Town" Harbor Lights
1994 Buckshot LeFonque "Breakfast at Denny's" Buckshot LeFonque
1996 Michael Jackson "They Don't Care About Us" (Prison Version) HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I
"They Don't Care About Us" (Brazil/Olodum Version)
2000 Mau Maus "Blak Iz Blak" Bamboozled
2009 Michael Jackson "This Is It" This Is It
2014 Eminem "Headlights" The Marshall Mathers LP 2
2019 The Killers "Land of the Free"
2020 Michael Jackson "They Don't Care About Us" (2020)[8]

Video games[]

Year Title Credited as
Director Executive
Producer 		Writer
2015 NBA 2K16 Yes Yes Yes

References[]

General
  • "Spike Lee > Filmography". Allmovie. Retrieved 2008-01-15.
  • "Spike Lee – Rotten Tomatoes Celebrity Profile". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2009-02-09.
Specific
  1. ^ "Spike Lee Biography – Yahoo! Movies". Yahoo! Movies. Retrieved 2009-02-10.
  2. ^ "Spike Lee – Profile, Latest News and Related Articles". E!. Retrieved 2009-02-09.
  3. ^ Curtis, Bryan (2008-06-01). "Bro Knows Football". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-02-07.
  4. ^ Black, Johnny (August 2002). "The Greatest Songs Ever! Fight the Power". Blender. Retrieved 2009-02-09.
  5. ^ Desta, Yohana (November 14, 2019). "Spike Lee's Next Joint Is a Hip-Hop Romeo and Juliet Prince of Cats, Spike Lee's Next Joint Is a Hip-Hop Romeo and Juliet". Vanity Fair. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
  6. ^ Nemcik, Marc (May 31, 2016). "Watch: Spike Lee's ESPN Documentary 2 Fists Up, On Protests at University of Missouri". Filmmaker. Retrieved June 25, 2017.
  7. ^ "Revolution – Arrested Development - Music Video". MTV. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
  8. ^ Kreps, Daniel. "Spike Lee Updates Michael Jackson's 'They Don't Care About Us' Video With Protest Footage". Rolling Stone. rollingstone.com. Retrieved 29 August 2020.

External links[]

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