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" All directors are storytellers, so the motivation was to tell the story I wanted to tell. That's what I love. "
Spike Lee
Motivation
Love
Wanted
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" I had a great education. From kindergarten to John Dewey High School in Coney Island, I am public-school educated. "
Spike Lee
I Am
School
Education
" I think that every minority in the United States of America knows everything about the dominant culture. From the time you can think, you are bombarded with images from TV, film, magazines, newspapers. "
Spike Lee
America
Time
Culture
" I always give the example, if you turn on the radio today, black radio, Lenny Kravitz is not black. Bob Marley wasn't black: in the beginning, only white college stations played Bob Marley. "
Spike Lee
You
Today
College
" I think people who have faults are a lot more interesting than people who are perfect. "
Spike Lee
People
Perfect
Interesting
" I get offered to do stuff where the money's nice but it's not something I want to do - I get offered a lot of commercials too. "
Spike Lee
Money
Get
Something
" '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. "
Spike Lee
Film
Do The Right Thing
Right
" People think I'm this angry black man walking around in a constant state of rage. "
Spike Lee
Man
People
Walking
" People of color have a constant frustration of not being represented, or being misrepresented, and these images go around the world. "
Spike Lee
Color
People
World
" '25th Hour,' like a lot of my films, takes place in New York City. I've been very fortunate to make films in the city that I live. I mean, it's great going home at night instead of being on location. "
Spike Lee
Night
City
Great
" You have to do the research. If you don't know about something, then you ask the right people who do. "
Spike Lee
Ask
Know
People
" It has been my observation that parents kill more dreams than anybody. "
Spike Lee
Been
Parents
Observation
" Amongst black people, you have always heard it said that once a black man reaches a certain level, especially if you are an entertainer, you get a white trophy woman. I didn't make that up. "
Spike Lee
People
Man
Black
" I like to work with the same people when I can, and you want to get people with the same interests that you have, and the same aesthetic. "
Spike Lee
I Can
Get
Work
" I used the principles of Kickstarter to make 'She's Gotta Have It.' We filmed that in 1985 to 1986. The final cost was $175,000. I didn't have that money. It was friends, grants, donations. We saved our bottles for the nickel deposit. "
Spike Lee
Principles
Friends
She
" I respect the audience's intelligence a lot, and that's why I don't try to go for the lowest common denominator. "
Spike Lee
Respect
Intelligence
Go
" A lot of times, we censor ourselves before the censor even gets there. "
Spike Lee
Even
Before
Censor
" People sometimes forget all the films that we've done. They remember the likes of 'Malcolm X' and 'Do the Right Thing.' But I've been working since 1986. From the beginning, I was determined to not just be a flash in the pan. I've got to keep up with Woody Allen. He's lapping me. "
Spike Lee
Beginning
People
Do The Right Thing
" 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
Violence
Believe
Good
" I think it is very important that films make people look at what they've forgotten. "
Spike Lee
Look
Important
I Think
" A spine to my films that's become more evident to me is that many are about the choices people make, and the reverberations of those choices. You go this way, or that way, and either way, there's going to be consequences. "
Spike Lee
Me
Consequences
Choices
" I am a hybrid. I do independent films and also do Hollywood films - I love them both. "
Spike Lee
Independent
Am
Hollywood
" I don't think I'm a total pessimist, so I think you can find hope in all my films. "
Spike Lee
You
Hope
Pessimist
" Don't think that because you haven't heard from me for a while that I went to sleep. I am still here, like a spirit roaming the night. Thirsty, hungry, seldom stopping to rest. "
Spike Lee
Sleep
Think
Rest
" My cousin Malcolm Lee is also a filmmaker. "
Spike Lee
Lee
Also
Malcolm
" I'm just trying to tell a good story and make thought-provoking, entertaining films. I just try and draw upon the great culture we have as a people, from music, novels, the streets. "
Spike Lee
Great
Good
Culture
" Making films has got to be one of the hardest endeavors known to humankind. "
Spike Lee
Known
Got
Endeavors
" I don't get tripped up in technology. I use technology as a tool. 'Oldboy' we shot Two Pro 35mm. For 'Da Blood of Jesus,' we shot digitally. We shot the new Sony F55. It's a 4K camera. "
Spike Lee
Camera
Up
Two
" Violence is a part of America. I don't want to single out rap music. Let's be honest. America's the most violent country in the history of the world, that's just the way it is. We're all affected by it. "
Spike Lee
America
History
Music
" We grew up in a very creative environment and were exposed to the arts at a very young age, so it's not a surprise that all of us are in some form of the arts. "
Spike Lee
Age
Surprise
Environment
" 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
Photography
Time
You