40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks
{{Short description|Spike Lee production company}}
{{more citations needed|date=April 2021}}
{{Infobox company
| name = 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks
| logo = 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks 2008.svg
| image = 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks by David Shankbone.jpg
| image_size =
| image_caption = 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks building
| subsid = 40 Acres and a Mule Musicworks
Spike DDB
| industry = Film
Television
| location = New York City
| foundation = {{start date and age|1979}}
| founders = Spike Lee
Monty Ross
| area_served = Worldwide
| homepage = {{URL|40acres.com}}
}}
40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, sometimes shortened to 40 Acres, is an American production company founded by filmmakers Spike Lee & Monty Ross in 1979. It has produced all of Lee's films.
History
The company's name is a reference to forty acres and a mule, a section of military orders during the American Civil War which stated that certain recently emancipated black families on the Georgia coast were to be given some surplus army mules and lots of land no larger than {{convert|40|acre|m2}}.{{cite web|work=The New York Times|title=Forty Acres and a Mule|first=Brent|last=Staples|date=July 21, 1997|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/07/21/opinion/forty-acres-and-a-mule.html}} The company's logo contains a circle with the icon "40a" and it has occasionally used a parody of the Mark VII Limited logo.
The company has produced all of Lee's films, starting in 1986 with She's Gotta Have It.{{cite web|work=The New York Times|date=August 10, 2012|first=Adam|last=Schartoff|url=http://fort-greene.thelocal.nytimes.com/2012/08/10/get-out-red-hook-summer-opens-today/#more-76464|title=Get Out: Red Hook Summer Opens Today|access-date=2014-03-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140306093933/http://fort-greene.thelocal.nytimes.com/2012/08/10/get-out-red-hook-summer-opens-today/#more-76464#more-76464|archive-date=2014-03-06|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://uptownmagazine.com/2014/02/spike-lee-rants-about-gentrification-in-brooklyn/|work=Uptown Magazine|title=Spike Lee Rants About Gentrification In Brooklyn|first=Zelena|last=Williams|date=February 28, 2014|access-date=2014-03-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140301203922/http://uptownmagazine.com/2014/02/spike-lee-rants-about-gentrification-in-brooklyn/|archive-date=2014-03-01|url-status=dead}}{{cite news |last1=Greif |first1=Coby |title=10 Actors Who Own Their Own Production Company & Its Best Project |url=https://screenrant.com/actors-own-production-company-best-movie-project-tv-show/ |access-date=1 September 2021 |publisher=Screenrant |date=3 February 2021}} After the success of his films Do the Right Thing and Malcolm X, Lee expanded the company's brand by opening clothing stores featuring its merchandise.
40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks has an advertising division with DDB called Spike DDB located in New York City. They have done Super Bowl, Nike, Lay's, and Eckō Unltd. commercial spots. They have produced commercials and music videos in addition to Lee's films. The company established a music branch, used to designate records, 40 Acres and a Mule Musicworks in 1993.{{Cite web|last=Eller|first=Claudia|date=1993-01-08|title=ICM inks to represent Spike Lee|url=https://variety.com/1993/film/news/icm-inks-to-represent-spike-lee-102768/|access-date=2021-12-21|website=Variety|language=en-US}}
In the late 1980s, the company sought a partnership with Universal Pictures, which was reupped in September 1992, and stayed on for five years,{{Cite web|last=Marx|first=Andy|date=1993-03-04|title=Lee gets a go for ‘Crooklyn’|url=https://variety.com/1993/film/news/lee-gets-a-go-for-crooklyn-104551/|access-date=2021-12-21|website=Variety|language=en-US}} which lasted until March 2, 1997, when it was moved to Columbia Pictures.{{Cite web|last=Cox|first=Dan|date=1997-03-03|title=40 ACRES & A MULE TO COL|url=https://variety.com/1997/scene/vpage/40-acres-a-mule-to-col-1117432832/|access-date=2021-12-21|website=Variety|language=en-US}} Sam Kitt was named president of production at the Sony-based studio on June 18, 1997.{{Cite web|last=Cox|first=Dan|date=1997-06-18|title=Kitt tills Lee’s 40 Acres|url=https://variety.com/1997/scene/news/kitt-tills-lee-s-40-acres-1116679375/|access-date=2021-12-21|website=Variety|language=en-US}}
In 2004, the company moved all of its operations to New York City with headquarters on South Elliott Place in the Fort Greene neighborhood of Brooklyn. In 2010, Lee's documentary If God Is Willing and Da Creek Don't Rise won a Peabody Award.{{Cite web |title=If God Is Willing and Da Creek Don’t Rise |url=https://peabodyawards.com/award-profile/if-god-is-willing-and-da-creek-dont-rise/ |access-date=2024-05-29 |website=The Peabody Awards |language=en-US}} In 2021, the company had signed a multi-year creative partnership with Netflix to develop their film and television projects.{{Cite web|last=Laws|first=Khalid|date=2021-12-17|title=Spike Lee signs multi-year creative partnership deal with Netflix|url=https://komonews.com/news/entertainment/spike-lee-signs-multi-year-creative-partnership-deal-with-netflix|access-date=2021-12-21|website=KOMO}}
Filmography
{{Main article|Spike Lee filmography}}
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| style="background:#b0c4de; text-align:center;"
! Date ! Title ! Director ! Co-producer ! Distributor |
| August 8, 1986
| rowspan="7" | Spike Lee | |
| February 12, 1988
| |
| July 21, 1989
| | rowspan="3" | Universal Pictures |
| August 3, 1990
| |
| June 7, 1991
| |
| November 18, 1992
| | Warner Bros. |
| May 13, 1994
| Crooklyn | | Universal Pictures |
| October 28, 1994
| David C. Johnson | | rowspan="2" | Gramercy Pictures |
| April 19, 1995
| |
| May 24, 1995
| |
| September 13, 1995
| Clockers | rowspan="5" | Spike Lee | | Universal Pictures |
| March 22, 1996
| Girl 6 | Fox Searchlight Pictures |
| October 16, 1996
| Columbia Pictures |
| May 1, 1998
| rowspan="2" | Touchstone Pictures | rowspan="2" | Buena Vista Pictures |
| July 2, 1999 |
| October 22, 1999
| | Universal Pictures |
| April 21, 2000
| |
| August 18, 2000
| The Original Kings of Comedy | rowspan="2" | Spike Lee | MTV Productions |
| October 6, 2000
| | New Line Cinema |
| July 1, 2001
| 3 A.M. | Lee Davis | |
| December 19, 2002
| rowspan="6" | Spike Lee | Touchstone Pictures | Buena Vista Pictures |
| July 30, 2004
| |
| March 24, 2006
| Universal Pictures | Universal Pictures |
| September 26, 2008
| Touchstone Pictures |
| August 10, 2012
| |
| November 27, 2013
| Oldboy |
| January 25, 2015
| Cronies | Michael Larnell | Circa 1978 Productions | |
| February 14, 2015
| rowspan="4" | Spike Lee | |
| December 4, 2015
| Chi-Raq |
| April 20, 2018
| |
| August 10, 2018
| Blumhouse Productions | Focus Features |
| October 2, 2018
| Rusty Cundieff | Universal 1440 Entertainment |
| May 17, 2019
| | rowspan="2" | Netflix |
| June 12, 2020
| Spike Lee | Rahway Road |
| October 6, 2020
| Rusty Cundieff | Universal 1440 Entertainment |
| October 17, 2020
| rowspan="2" | Spike Lee | HBO Films | HBO |
| August 22, 2025{{Cite web|last=Grobar|first=Matt|title=Highest 2 Lowest Trailer: First Look At Spike Lee's Kurosawa Adaptation Starring Denzel Washington|url=https://deadline.com/video/highest-2-lowest-trailer-spike-lee-denzel-washington/|website=Deadline Hollywood|date=May 5, 2025|access-date=May 5, 2025}} |
=Television=
- A Huey P. Newton Story (2001)
- Good Fences (2003)
- When the Levees Broke (2006)
- Kobe Doin' Work (2009)
- If God Is Willing and da Creek Don't Rise (2010)
- She's Gotta Have It (2017–19)
- NYC Epicenters 9/11-2021½ (2021)
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{official website|http://www.40acres.com}}
{{Spike Lee}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:40 Acres and A Mule Filmworks}}
Category:1979 establishments in New York City
Category:African-American cinema
Category:American companies established in 1979
Category:Black-owned companies of the United States
Category:Companies based in Brooklyn
Category:Film production companies of the United States
Category:Mass media companies based in New York City