CANNES, France — Film and advertising creator Spike Lee has accepted the inaugural Creative Maker of the Year award at Cannes Lions Friday night in recognition of his lifetime of work.
In his acceptance speech, the director of Do the Right Thing, BlacKkKlansman, Malcolm X and Jungle Fever and founder of creative agency Spike DDB, referenced sports legends ranging from Jackie Robinson to Michael Jordan for helping him get to where he is today.
“The fact that I am up here is an accident,” Lee said. He explained that his first film, ‘She’s Gotta Have It’ included a character called Miles Blackmon who wore Air Jordans. That character was surprisingly chosen by Michael Jordan and Wieden + Kennedy for a brand campaign to promote Nike’s Air Jordan sneakers. The campaign ran for years across multiple spots.
Lee said the campaign “changed the game” of advertising and sports marketing.
“I am so inspired by the great work that you are doing. Keep doing your thing,” he concluded in a rallying cry to the ad industry after thanking some of those he had worked with in his career.
Lee has been in Cannes for several days, taking part in sessions at the Palais and at Stagwell Sport Beach. His focus has been on the intersection of creativity and culture, which he has defined throughout his career in filmmaking and advertising. The week culminated Friday night at the Palais as Lee accepted the first-of-its-kind award.
Working with Spike Lee
Barry Alexander Brown, who has been Lee’s longtime collaborator and editor for nearly four decades, spoke to Adweek about working with the Lee across multiple creative endeavours.
“You do this work, not for awards, you do the work to do as good as possible and also because we came from nothing and this is what we wanted to do. And then we got the great luck to actually go and do it,” said Brown. “An award like this is satisfying, especially when he is getting the recognition from his peers.”
Brown described Lee as “fun” which was an element he always wanted to bring to the table when creating ads or films. He singled out two campaigns he felt stood out from Lee’s career.
The first was the “Button Your Fly” Levi’s 501 jeans commercial shot in the early 1990s directed by and featuring Lee running with the bulls in Pamplona.
