Spike Lee knows who is going to make it in Hollywood: "The people who are like ‘Do or die, I'm going to do what it takes and get in this...'"

I was looking for industry wisdom from Spike Lee. I didn’t expect it to come in the form of parenting advice: "Parents kill their children's dreams more than anybody,” Spike told me.?

We were at NYC's Javits Center for the recent LinkedIn Talent Connect; the crowds had emptied out and I was asking him about the fickle business he's in. The writer's strike was over, but at that point, the actors were still on picket lines. Everyone in his industry was up in arms about the economics of their business: how would AI undercut them, how would streaming numbers change future payouts? Spike was focused more on the psyche of just making it through all the turmoil. And that, he said, required parents who had your back. “The arts are so mysterious. I mean, you want to be a doctor? We know the path. They don't understand how child's going to make a living being a poet, a painter, a filmmaker, an artist, a musician.”

Spike has long been a storyteller about the state of America, particularly its racial and societal conflicts. Films like like "Do The Right Thing," “Crooklyn,” and "BlacKkKlansman" brought issues and characters to the screen that other filmmakers weren’t touching. Spike grabbed viewers through unforgettable characters who had distinctive voices and difficult decisions.?

Recently, Spike’s been been training his eye not on the screen but on the people behind it: Who gets to make, cast, and produce films and how can he help give them a shot? It’s a personal mission as much as an artistic one. He had parents who encouraged him to succeed. He had a creative reel. But what he didn't have were GRE scores that were going to impress anyone. “When I graduated from Morehouse College, I knew I wanted to go to film school. That whole thing of moving out to LA and working your way up from the mailroom, that don't work for Black people or people of color. I did my research and applied to three film schools,” he said. He was rejected at two. “Thank God for NYU Graduate Film School. NYU understood that standardized tests should not be the barrier.”

Now a professor at NYU, Spike trains aspiring filmmakers — and also funds them. In May, he launched the Spike Fellows Program with Gersh , putting 5 HBCU grads through an 8-week paid mentoring-and-internship curriculum at Gersh. When the summer wrapped, each intern was slated to get full time work, plus $25,000 in academic debt relief.?

The graduates clearly benefited from the experience, but most film dreamers will never get such a leg up. And the chances of actually making your way through the entertainment funnel are slim. I was looking at LinkedIn data and you can see the clear path as people leave motion pictures and move into teaching, broadcasting, and marketing. Those who stick around have to have incredible drive and passion (plus, of course, luck).

"The people who are like ‘Do or die, I'm going to do what it takes and get in this MF-er.’? — [those are] the ones who will claw their way through,” Spike said. “You're not going to be the next anointed one. You’ve got to bust your ass… This film thing, TV, it's no joke. This here is business. [Know that] tough times are coming, but if in your heart, filmmaking brings you joy, that passion will carry you through the hardships."

The arts tend to be the first ones upended by disruption: New media types emerge, access to tools and distribution democratizes, and hungry newcomers never stop coming. But with AI, disruption is coming for every industry: The tools open up, industries and roles are going to overlap and bring new challenges, and being a specialist might not carry you for long as skill sets rapidly turnover. For all of us parents, leaving room for kids to dream and helping them build grit and passion might be necessary for every path, not just one in the arts.

Got questions you want to hear our This is Working hosts ask? Share a post or comment on LinkedIn using the hashtag #ThisIsWorking, or drop us a line. You can reach us at [email protected].

My co-host and LinkedIn senior producer Nina Melendez Ibarra chat more about Spike’s words of wisdom, as well as the challenges the filmmakers of tomorrow face on the latest episode of our This Is Working podcast. Give it a listen when you have a moment, it's on all the usual podcast platforms.

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