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I'm an independent filmmaker with complete creative control of my films. I hire who I want. I have final cut. But at the same time, I go directly to Hollywood for financing and distribution. I find it's best for me to work within the Hollywood system.

Spike Lee

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Spike Lee
Age: 67
Born: 1957
Born: March 20
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Sheldon Lee
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More quotes by Spike Lee

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I don't like acting not in front of the camera.
Spike Lee
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Sex and racism have always been tied together. Look at the thousands of black men who got lynched and castrated. The reason the Klan came into being was to protect white southern women.
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Do the Right Thing' was my first union film. I looked at the rosters, and for the most part, it was white males. Especially the Teamsters. So we had some conversations.
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I think my work shows that I love women. I understand where these types of criticisms are coming from because black people have been so dogged out in the media, they're just extra sensitive.
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I've been blessed with the opportunity to express the views of black people who otherwise don't have access to power and the media. I have to take advantage of that while I'm still bankable.
Spike Lee
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Our greatness, our talent has never been the question. It's been a matter of grappling for control over what we do.
Spike Lee
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Fight the power that be. Fight the power.
Spike Lee
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As we move toward the millennium, the year 2000, the most powerful nations are not those that have nuclear bombs, but those that control the media. That's where the battle is being fought that is how you control people's minds.
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If we became students of Malcolm X, we would not have young black men out there killing each other like they're killing each other now. Young black men would not be impregnating young black women at the rate going on now. We'd not have the drugs we have now, or the alcoholism.
Spike Lee
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I'm surprised that Hollywood and networks have not been diverse as other industries.
Spike Lee
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This film [Chi-Raq]is a declaration. It's a scream. It's a warning. And I can really break it down to one scene. That's the scene where we have the eulogy and sermon that is given by the great John Cusack.
Spike Lee
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I don't like to use the word 'remake', I think reinterpretation is a better word. It's just a matter of respecting the source, and then trying to make your own film, and trying not to be inhibited by being so beholden to every single thing... We respect the source, but we make changes to it.
Spike Lee
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Stick around long enough, you'll get some grace.
Spike Lee
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There's a lot of Americans, black and white, who think that we've arrived where we need to be and nothing else needs to be done and affirmative action needs to be dismantled.
Spike Lee
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Right now a lot of people are still choosing to go to Toronto instead of shooting in New York City, something I haven't done and something I hope I'll never have to do.
Spike Lee
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Any time you talk about the look of the film, it's not just the director and the director of photography. You have to include the costume designer and the production designer.
Spike Lee
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My grandmother lived to be 100 years old. Her grandmother was a slave, yet she was a college graduate in the Spellman class of 1917. She taught art for 50 years and she saved her Social Security checks for her children's education.
Spike Lee
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I don't dictate, you don't dictate to Stevie Wonder, not successfully.
Spike Lee
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I didn't dream about being a director. I didn't know I wanted to do something with film until the summer between my sophomore and junior years at Morris College in Atlanta, Georgia.
Spike Lee
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I'm very careful about how I portray violence in my films. I do believe that violence, especially violent video games, are not a good thing for young kids.
Spike Lee