Spike Lee recounts how an Air Jordan collab and Michael Jackson’s advice propelled his career
Lee spoke about how Jordan and Jackson helped him during a speech at Cannes Lions Festival.
In advance of receiving the inaugural Creative Maker of the Year Award at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, filmmaker Spike Lee reflected on how two globally famous Michaels elevated his career, Deadline reported.
The King of Pop, famous for his “Thriller” and “Smooth Criminal” visual productions warned, “‘Don’t ever use the term ‘music video’” to describe your body of work, Lee, also an actor and director, recounted in a speech Friday. That’s why the Morehouse College graduate, who is also an actor and director, refers to specific projects in his portfolio as “short films.”
And it was the second Michael, the NBA great who showed the world he could fly, that led to Lee’s role in memorable Nike commercials. Lee said that Nike saw his debut feature film, “She’s Gotta Have It,” and solicited his involvement in commercials featuring Michael Jordan. He directed the projects and reprised his character, Mars Blackmon from “She’s Gotta Have It,” to appear in the commercial series with Jordan.
“At the time, Michael Jordan had not seen a film nor knew what one was,” Lee said. “They could easily have found some big-time director, but Mike agreed to it, and it blew Nike up. That started my relationship with Nike and Brand Jordan.” Lee said he was taken aback at the global reaction to the commercials.
“Looking back, it was a blessing that this whole thing happened,” Lee continued.
As Lee continued to recall the projects that led him to the award at Cannes Lions, he remembered the advice Michael Jackson gave him as he talked about his work with artists such as Public Enemy, and Prince. He corrected himself and described the videos as “short films,” to give his work the reverence Jackson said they deserved.
Lee and Jackson collaborated on a short film for Jackson’s 1996 single, “They Don’t Care About Us.” Lee directed two versions – one in Brazil and another in a correctional facility.
In a seeming nod to the King of Pop, in Lee’s 2021 coffee table book, “Spike,” a collection of all his career projects, he has a chapter called “Short Films” with the words “Music Videos” crossed out.
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