American Cinema Editors (ACE) will honor Spike Lee with the ACE Golden Eddie Filmmaker of the Year Award, recognizing a filmmaker who exemplifies distinguished achievement in the art and business of film. 

Newly elected ACE president Kevin Tent, ACE, said, “From She’s Gotta Have It in 1986 to Da 5 Bloods in 2020, Spike has directed an astonishing number of feature films... 24! Not to mention his work in documentaries, television, music videos and commercials. Spike’s an artist who has entertained, enlightened and challenged us. But he’s not only a prolific director, he’s been a friend, producer and guidance counselor to countless young and emerging filmmakers. His generosity is an inspiration to us all. For these reasons and more, we at ACE recognize his enormous impact on the industry and are proud to present him with this much deserved award.” 

Past recipients of the Golden Eddie include Quentin Tarantino, Kathleen Kennedy, Christopher Nolan, Lauren Shuler Donner, Guillermo del Toro, Vince Gilligan, J.J. Abrams, Nancy Meyers, Martin Scorsese, Norman Jewison, Robert Zemeckis and George Lucas. The honor will be presented to Lee at the 71st Annual ACE Eddie Awards on April 18, 2021. Exact plans for the ceremony are still to be determined but will likely be a virtual event due to the pandemic.

Lee’s iconic body of work has made an indelible mark on film and television. Most recently, his film Da 5 Bloods premiered on Netflix on June 12, 2020 to critical acclaim. Prior to Da 5 Bloods, the visionary filmmaker directed and co-wrote the Academy Award®-nominated  film BlacKkKlansman, winning the Oscar® for Best Adapted Screenplay.

His career spans over 30 years and includes: She’s Gotta Have It, School Daze, Do the Right Thing, Mo’ Better Blues, Jungle Fever, Malcolm X, Crooklyn, Clockers, Girl 6, Get on the Bus, He Got Game, Summer of Sam, Bamboozled, 25th Hour, She Hate Me, Inside Man, Miracle at St. Anna, Red Hook Summer, Oldboy, and Chi-Raq. Lee’s outstanding feature documentary work includes the Academy Award® nominated 4 Little Girls, the double Emmy® Award-nominated If God Is Willing and da Creek Don’t Rise, a follow up to his Peabody Award-winning and Emmy® Award-winning HBO documentary film When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts and the Peabody Award-winning A Huey P. Newton Story. In the television area, he launched his Netflix original series She’s Gotta Have It--a contemporary update of his classic film--which ran two seasons on the platform.

Lee is also known for his legendary Air Jordan TV commercials and marketing campaigns with Michael Jordan for Nike. In 1997 he launched the advertising agency Spike DDB, a fully integrated agency with a focus on trendsetter, cross-cultural and millennial audiences. He recently directed new additions to the Capital One “Road Trip” national campaign featuring Samuel L. Jackson and Charles Barkley.

In addition to his films, TV series and commercials, Lee has directed a number of music videos and shorts for artists such as Michael Jackson, Prince, Public Enemy, Branford Marsalis, Bruce Hornsby, Miles Davis and Anita Baker.

In addition to winning the Oscar® for Best Adapted Screenplay for BlacKkKlansman, Lee has been Oscar® nominated for Do The Right Thing for Original Screenplay and 4 Little Girls for Documentary Feature. He was awarded an Honorary Oscar in 2015 for his lifetime achievement and contributions to the state of motion picture arts and sciences. He is a graduate of Morehouse College and New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, where he is a tenured Professor of Film and Artistic Director. Lee’s Production Company 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks is based in Da Republic of Brooklyn, NY.