40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks

40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, sometimes shortened to 40 Acres, is an American production company founded by filmmakers Spike Lee and 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 40 acre.[1] The company's logo contains a circle with the icon "40a" and it has occasionally used a parody of/homage to the Mark VII Limited logo.

The company has produced all of Lee's films, starting in 1986 with She's Gotta Have It.[2][3][4] 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.[5]

40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks has an advertising division with DDB called Spike DDB located in New York City.[6] They have done Super Bowl,[7] Nike,[8] Levi,[9] and Eckō Unltd.[10] 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.[11]

In the late 1980s, the company sought a partnership with Universal Pictures, which was reupped in September 1992, and stayed on for five years,[12] which lasted until March 2, 1997, when it was moved to Columbia Pictures for a three-year deal.[13] Sam Kitt was named president of production at the Sony-based studio on June 18, 1997.[14]

In 2001, Lee's TV film A Huey P. Newton Story won a Peabody Award.[15] In 2006, documentary series When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts won a Peabody Award.[16] In 2008, the company moved its operations from DeKalb Avenue, where it had been since the mid-1980s, due to skyrocketing rent. The headquarters moved "around the corner" to a building on South Elliott Place still in the Fort Greene neighborhood of Brooklyn.[17] In 2010, Lee's documentary If God Is Willing and Da Creek Don't Rise won a Peabody Award.[18] In 2021, the company had signed a multi-year creative partnership with Netflix to develop their film and television projects.[19]

Filmography

External links