Get QuoteDark Inspirational Quotes App

" My cousin Malcolm Lee is also a filmmaker. "

Related Quotes:

" The truth is I've been doing Kickstarter before there was Kickstarter; there was no Internet. Social Media was writing letters, making phone calls, beating the bushes. "

" 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. "

" Making films has got to be one of the hardest endeavors known to humankind. "

" It has been my observation that parents kill more dreams than anybody. "

" 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. "

" I'm blessed, I can afford to send my children to private school. "

" Everything I do is always scrutinised. But that's all I'll say about that. "

" 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. "

Do The Right Thing

" I'd like to state that Spike Lee is not saying that African American culture is just for black people alone to enjoy and cherish. Culture is for everybody. "

" I think the best actors in the world are here in New York City. And this city is just so vibrant the energy is just phenomenal. Great crews here. All the technicians, all the artists that work in this industry. I've just been very happy with the body that we've been able to do, especially those films we shot here in New York City. "

" A lot of times, we censor ourselves before the censor even gets there. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" A lot of times you get credit for stuff in your movies you didn't intend to be there. "

" 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. "

" I respect the audience's intelligence a lot, and that's why I don't try to go for the lowest common denominator. "

" 'She's Gotta Have It' and 'School Daze,' I really didn't know what I was doing. And the biggest indicator of that was the acting. 'Do the Right Thing' was like the first film where I really felt comfortable working with actors. "

Do The Right Thing

" I knew I was never going to play professional sport, but I loved playing and I went to all the games I could afford to. "

" I am a hybrid. I do independent films and also do Hollywood films - I love them both. "

" When I went to school, you had to take art, you had to play an instrument. You had to play an instrument. But it's all degraded since then. I do not know what kind of nation we are that is cutting art, music, and gym out of the public-school curriculum. "

" All directors are storytellers, so the motivation was to tell the story I wanted to tell. That's what I love. "

" There's an unwritten law that you cannot have a Jewish character in a film who isn't 100 percent perfect, or you're labeled anti-Semitic. "

" 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 Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. "

" 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. "

" '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. "

Do The Right Thing

" And one thing Hollywood does well is sequels. "

" 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. "

" Since the days of slavery, if you were a good singer or dancer, it was your job to perform for the master after dinner. "

" 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. "

" I don't like acting; not in front of the camera. "