In Good Company: Spike Lee

In our In Good Company feature, we highlight shorter men who have made an impact.

Quarantined sports lovers drove ESPN’s Michael Jordan documentary “The Last Dance” to record ratings. Director/Knicks super fan Spike Lee (5’3”) was prominently featured as the filmmaker recounted his role in the Nike TV ads starring Lee (as Mars Blackmon) and Jordan with the tagline “It’s gotta be the shoes.”

Outside of his filmmaking (“Do the Right Thing,” “She’s Gotta Have It,” “Malcolm X,” “He Got Game,” “BlaKkKlansman”) Lee has become an influencer of pop culture and is widely credited with jumpstarting a new wave of black filmmaking. Through his production company 40 Acres and a Mule, Lee has to his credit more than a dozen feature length films that he has written, directed and/or produced.

In New York City, Lee is most often seen court-side at Madison Square Garden (Who can forget him going at it with Indiana Pacers star Reggie Miller in the ‘90s?). And around the world, Lee has transformed cinema and is influencing the next generation of filmmakers as artistic director of N.Y.U.'s graduate film program.