Spike Lee vs Quentin Tarantino

Spike Lee

Who is he?

Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, writer, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, has produced over 35 films since 1983.

Where is he from?

He was born in Atlanta, Georgia. His mother Jacqueline Carroll was a teacher of arts and black literature and his father, William James Edward Lee III was a jazz musician and a composer. When he was a child the family moved to Brooklyn, New York. During his childhood his mother nicknamed him "Spike". 

Where did he train?

Lee enrolled in Morehouse College, a historically black college, where he made his first student film, Last Hustle in Brooklyn. He took film courses at Clark Atlanta University and graduated with a BA in Mass Communication from Morehouse. He did graduate work at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, where he earned a Master of Fine Arts in Film & Television. Lee's thesis film, Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads, was the first student film to be showcased in Lincoln Center's New Directors New Films Festival.

In 1985, Lee began work on his first feature film, She's Gotta Have It. With a budget of $175,000, he shot the film in two weeks. When the film was released in 1986, it grossed over $7,000,000 at the U.S. box office

Spike Lee is considered an Autuer. Lee's movies have examined race relations, colorism in the black community, the role of media in contemporary life, urban crime and poverty, and other political issues. Lee has received two Academy Award nominations and won numerous other awards, including an Emmy Award as well as the 2013 Gish Prize "for his brilliance and unwavering courage in using film to challenge conventional thinking.

Awards?

 Berlin International Film Festival 1997 - Get On The Bus - Honourable Mention

 Black Reel Awards 2001 - Love And Basketball - Best Film                      

American Black Film Festival 2004 - Time Warner Innovator Award              

Black Movie Awards 2006 - Inside Man - Best Director                                 

Black Reel Awards 2011 - If God Is Willing And Da Creek Don't Rise - Best Television  Documentary

He has won a total of 39 awards and has had a further 59 nominations. 

Controversy?

In 2012 Spike Lee spoke about his intention to never watch Django Unchained. He elaborated on his dissatisfaction on Twitter, writing, "American Slavery Was Not A Sergio Leone Spaghetti Western. It Was A Holocaust. My Ancestors Are Slaves. Stolen From Africa. I Will Honor Them." 

Quentin Tarantino 

                                                                            

Who is he?                                                                                                                                  
Quentin Jerome Tarantino (born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, screenwriter, cinematographer, producer, and actor. Tarantino grew up an obsessed film fan and worked at Video Archives, a video rental store while training to act. His career began in the late 1980s, when he wrote and directed My Best Friend's Birthday, the screenplay of which formed the basis for True Romance. 

Where is he from?

Tarantino was born in Knoxville, Tennessee in 1963. He is the son of actor and amateur musician Tony Tarantino and nurse Connie McHugh. Tarantino's father, from Queens, New York, is of Italian descent, while his mother has Irish and Cherokee ancestry. When he was four years old, they moved to Torrance, California and later to the Harbor City neighborhood of Los Angeles.

Where did he train?

Tarantino did attend James Best Acting School but soon grew bored and left after two years. He then landed a job which threatened to interfere with his long-term acting ambitions. As an employee of Video Archives, a now-defunct video rental store in Manhattan Beach, he and fellow movie enthusiasts (including Roger Avary) discussed cinema and customer video recommendations at length. He paid close attention to the types of films people liked to rent and has cited that experience as inspiration for his directorial career. Tarantino has been quoted as saying: "When people ask me if I went to film school I tell them 'no, I went to films.'"

Awards?

Golden Globes 1995 – Pulp Fiction – Best Screenplay Motion Picture

Csapnivalo Awards 2000 – Jackie Brown – Best Screenplay

American Choreography Award 2004 – Kill Bill – Outstanding achievement in Choreography

Austin Film Critics Association 2009 – Inglorious Basterds – Best original screenplay             
Oscars 2013 – Django Unchained – Best writing & Original Screenplay  

Tarantino had won 122 awards and been nominated for a further 103.

Controversy? 

Spike Lee questioned Tarantino's use of racial epithets in his films, particularly the word "nigger". In a Variety interview discussing Jackie Brown, Lee said, "I'm not against the word...And some people speak that way. But Quentin is infatuated with that word. What does he want to be made–an honorary black man?" Tarantino responded on Charlie Rose by stating:

"As a writer, I demand the right to write any character in the world that I want to write. I demand the right to be them, I demand the right to think them and I demand the right to tell the truth as I see they are, all right? And to say that I can't do that because I'm white, but the Hughes brothers can do that because they're black, that is racist. That is the heart of racism, all right. And I do not accept that ... That is how a segment of the black community that lives in Compton, lives in Inglewood, where Jackie Brown takes place, that lives in Carson, that is how they talk. I'm telling the truth. It would not be questioned if I was black, and I resent the question because I'm white. I have the right to tell the truth. I do not have the right to lie."