This morning Spike Lee opened up his Brooklyn-based production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, to select members of the press to make a big announcement. The Do The Right Thing director has decided to turn to the crowd funding website Kickstarter to raise $1.25 million to produce his next film.
During part 1 of his interview with theGrio’s Chris Witherspoon, Lee praised 26-year-old director Ryan Coogler for bringing the independent film Fruitvale Station to the big screen. Lee says that he “loved” the movie, but confessed that the film business is not set up for young directors like Coogler to succeed.
“Love it…. It’s great,” Lee said of Fruitvale Station. “But it’s something that I have been doing for 15 years — I teach film. That is my job to help young filmmakers to become professionals in this tough business, so I’m happy for him…I’m happy for any young filmmaker that gets their first feature film made, because Lord knows the odds are against you. This business is not set up for young people to succeed.”
Much like Oscar Grant’s story, the not guilty verdict for George Zimmerman in the Trayvon Martin trial has left thousands of people around the country still demanding justice.
Lee discussed whether or not Trayvon Martin’s story should also be turned in a film, just as Grant’s story was.
“I’m not saying that I’m going to do it, but I hope that there is something,” the Malcom X director said. “The first thing I think is there should be a documentary [about Trayvon Martin] before they do a narrative of it. I’m not saying that I’m doing either, I’m just saying that I would like to see it.”
“This thing is not over yet. So I don’t even know if it would be the right time to start, because it’s not over yet. Hopefully there will be some more time in court.”
Follow Chris Witherspoon on Twitter at @WitherspoonC