(Image source: The Guardian)
BY BRICE SANDER
It’s another Spike Lee controversy. The filmmaker is making headlines after going off on Hollywood at the premiere of his latest film, ‘Red Hook Summer,’ at the Sundance Film Festival. As the New York Post reports, at a Q and A session after a screening -- actor Chris Rock sparked the tirade.
“Rock asked Lee about self-financing the film, saying, ‘You spent your own money... What would you have done differently if you'd actually gotten... studio money?’”
Lee responded…
“‘We never went to the studios with this film. I bought a camera and said we’re gonna do this mother[bleeping] film ourselves. I didn’t need a mother[bleeping] studio telling me something about Red Hook! They know nothing about black people! Nothing!’"
This is the second time this month an industry power player has criticized Hollywood’s relationship with black-fronted films—
George Lucas gave interview after interview about how difficult it was to get ‘Red Tails,’ a movie about World War II’s Tuskegee airmen, made. The movie opened to solid numbers, but took years to make with very little studio financing. (USA Today)
A writer for Big Hollywood plays devil’s advocate, explaining why Hollywood isn’t big on black-focused films at the box office.
“The truth is black-led films sometimes struggle to make money overseas, one reason why Hollywood is uneasy about such projects. But will the success of ‘Red Tails,’ combined with the recent smash ‘The Help’ start to open up the industry to the black experience?”
Comedienne Sherri Shepherd discussed the give-and-take in Hollywood on CBS’s ‘This Morning,’ saying both studios and filmmakers need to step up to better the black legacy on screen.
SHERRI SHEPHERD: “I think that it’s very well documented, Spike Lee- the problems that he has had with studios ... And I think that it’s also a shame when I see a promotion, a commercial, for ‘Red Tails’ and I don’t see faces.”
Lee’s film got people talking just as much as his rant- making the LA Times suggest Lee should let ‘Red Hook Summer’ speak for itself.
“It didn't help -- or, rather, it made things more surreal -- that the voluble Lee had just shown what was by any standard one of his most audacious films … But it was also, undeniably, Lee doing what he does best: using low-budget filmmaking and street-friendly storytelling as a means of provocation.”
After lashing out at the Q and A, Lee did apologize for his tone, but not for what he said.
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