# 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 acres (160,000 m$^2$). 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. 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.
In the late 1980s, the company sought a partnership with Universal Pictures, which was reupped in September 1992, and stayed on for five years, which lasted until March 2, 1997, when it was moved to Columbia Pictures. Sam Kitt was named president of production at the Sony-based studio on June 18, 1997.
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. In 2021, the company had signed a multi-year creative partnership with Netflix to develop their film and television projects.

## Filmography

| Date | Title | Director | Co-producer | Distributor |
| August 8, 1986 | She's Gotta Have It | Spike Lee | | Island Pictures |
| February 12, 1988 | School Daze | Spike Lee | | Columbia Pictures |
| July 21, 1989 | Do the Right Thing | Spike Lee | | Universal Pictures |
| August 3, 1990 | Mo' Better Blues | Spike Lee | | Universal Pictures |
| June 7, 1991 | Jungle Fever | Spike Lee | | Universal Pictures |
| November 18, 1992 | Malcolm X | Spike Lee | | Warner Bros. (United States) Largo International (International) |
| May 13, 1994 | Crooklyn | Spike Lee | | Universal Pictures |
| October 28, 1994 | Drop Squad | David C. Johnson | | Gramercy Pictures |
| April 19, 1995 | New Jersey Drive | Nick Gomez | | Gramercy Pictures |
| May 24, 1995 | Tales from the Hood | Rusty Cundieff | | Savoy Pictures |
| September 13, 1995 | Clockers | Spike Lee | | Universal Pictures |
| March 22, 1996 | Girl 6 | Spike Lee | Fox Searchlight Pictures | Fox Searchlight Pictures |
| October 16, 1996 | Get on the Bus | Spike Lee | Columbia Pictures | Sony Pictures Releasing |
| May 1, 1998 | He Got Game | Spike Lee | Touchstone Pictures | Buena Vista Pictures |
| July 2, 1999 | Summer of Sam | Spike Lee | Touchstone Pictures | Buena Vista Pictures |
| October 22, 1999 | The Best Man | Malcolm D. Lee | | Universal Pictures |
| April 21, 2000 | Love & Basketball | Gina Prince-Bythewood | | New Line Cinema |
| August 18, 2000 | The Original Kings of Comedy | Spike Lee | MTV Productions Latham Entertainment | Paramount Pictures |
| October 6, 2000 | Bamboozled | Spike Lee | | New Line Cinema |
| July 1, 2001 | 3 A.M. | Lee Davis | | Prism Leisure Corporation |
| December 19, 2002 | 25th Hour | Spike Lee | Touchstone Pictures 25th Hour Productions Gamut Films Industry Entertainment | Buena Vista Pictures |
| July 30, 2004 | She Hate Me | Spike Lee | | Sony Pictures Classics |
| March 24, 2006 | Inside Man | Spike Lee | Universal Pictures Imagine Entertainment | Universal Pictures |
| September 26, 2008 | Miracle at St. Anna | Spike Lee | Touchstone Pictures RAI Cinema On My Own Produzioni Cinematografiche | Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures |
| August 10, 2012 | Red Hook Summer | Spike Lee | | Variance Films |
| November 27, 2013 | Oldboy | Spike Lee | Good Universe Vertigo Entertainment | FilmDistrict |
| January 25, 2015 | Cronies | Michael Larnell | Circa 1978 Productions | |
| February 14, 2015 | Da Sweet Blood of Jesus | Spike Lee | | Gravitas Ventures |
| December 4, 2015 | Chi-Raq | Spike Lee | Amazon Studios | Roadside Attractions |
| April 20, 2018 | Pass Over | Spike Lee | | Amazon Prime |
| August 10, 2018 | BlacKkKlansman | Spike Lee | Blumhouse Productions Monkeypaw Productions QC Entertainment Legendary Entertainment Perfect World Pictures | Focus Features (United States) Universal Pictures (International) |
| October 2, 2018 | Tales from the Hood 2 | Rusty Cundieff Darin Scott | Universal 1440 Entertainment Hood Productions, Inc. | Universal Pictures Home Entertainment |
| May 17, 2019 | See You Yesterday | Stefon Bristol | | Netflix |
| June 12, 2020 | Da 5 Bloods | Spike Lee | Rahway Road Lloyd Levin/Beatriz Levin Production | Netflix |
| October 17, 2020 | American Utopia | Spike Lee | HBO Films Participant River Road Entertainment Warner Music Entertainment RadicalMedia Todomundo | HBO (United States/Canada) Universal Pictures (International) |

### 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)