Before Spike Lee, most Hollywood movies about Black Americans were made by white directors. Lee changed that. Born on March 20, 1957, in Atlanta, Georgia, Spike Lee grew up in Brooklyn, New York. His mother was a teacher and his father was a jazz musician. Lee studied filmmaking at New York University and made his first big movie in 1986 on a tiny budget of $175,000. That film, She's Gotta Have It, earned over $7 million. His most famous film, Do the Right Thing, came out in 1989. It tells the story of a Brooklyn neighborhood on the hottest day of the year. Tensions between different racial groups build throughout the day until the situation explodes into violence. The movie does not have a simple good-versus-evil story. Instead, it asks viewers to think about why conflicts happen. Lee is known for his distinctive filmmaking style. He uses bright colors, unusual camera angles, and jazz music. He often puts himself in his own movies, playing characters who observe the action. He has made over fifty films and won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay in 2019 for BlacKkKlansman. He also teaches filmmaking at NYU.